Adopting new and rich standards, such as the Music TEKS, is only a part of the effort to increase student achievement. Raising standards for students, without ensuring that teachers are prepared to teach them, would be a fruitless exercise. Many music teachers are finding that, the more carefully they study the TEKS, the more they realize that the skills and knowledge called for are, to a large degree, the content they have always taught. On the other hand, to embrace the TEKS fully, with all of their implications, will always require further professional development for music teachers.

The TEKS call for students to learn content that teachers themselves may not have learned, or at least, taught previously. Most music teachers will benefit from content-specific learning opportunities if they are to teach improvisation, composition, or the historical and cultural context of music.

The Center for Educator Development in Fine Arts (CEDFA) is helping music educators prepare to teach the TEKS through professional development activities that no longer consist of "seat time" or "make-and-take workshops." Three themes are predominant among contemporary models of professional development: on-the-job learning, collaboration, and performance assessment of teachers and students. The pages of this section of the website explore models of professional development and new initiatives that promote effective professional development of music teachers.

In order for teachers to help students demonstrate the Music TEKS, teachers should be involved in professional development that:

• Relates to the significant content in the Music TEKS
• Helps make the Music TEKS accessible to students
• Meets the teachers' individual needs as related to the music needs of their students
• Engages thes students in experiential learning, building on what they already know and helping them progress to new levels of understanding and achievement
• Models appropriate development of music knowledge and skills for students in specific grades and courses
• Provides examples of expected student achievement in music
• Focuses on critical and creative thinking in music content
• Integrates the four content strands of music
• Promotes research-based practice that results in demonstrated excellence in student work.