Statement of Purpose
The Curriculum Committee supports the implementation of the New York State Learning Standards for the Arts in all areas of music education. It provides guidance and resources for curricula that are innovative, relevant, robust, representative, and responsive to a diverse population of students.
Curriculum Committee Members – Meet our Team!
- Nikki Cole, retired from Bath-Haverling Central School District
- Dennis Creighton, Shoreham-Wading Central School District
- Dr. Deborah Cunningham, Syracuse University, retired from Jamesville-DeWitt Central School District
- Dr. Susan A. Davis, Queens College – Committee Chair
- Matt Gayle, Potsdam Central School District
- Dr. Rich Tilley, Nazareth University
- Gary West, White Plains Central School District
Join us at NYSSMA’s 90th Winter Conference
Save the date! December 3-6, 2026
Be sure to get registered for the winter conference soon!
Make a note of these engaging curriculum committee sessions!
- Thursday, December 3rd
- Bridging the Gap: From Choir to A Cappella in School, 3:30 PM in Hyatt Susan B. Anthony with Marc Silverberg
- Music as Translanguaging Space in Early Childhood, 7 PM in CC Cascade ABC with Dr. Claudia Calì
- Friday, December 4th
- Space Force Boot Camp: Gamifying Beginning Ensembles, 8:15 AM in CC Cascade DEF with Margaret Flood
- K-Pop Curriculum Hunters for Your Classroom, 9:30 AM in CC Cascade DEF with Dr. Sangmi Kang
- Bach to Rock: Engaging General Music for High School, 10:45 AM in CC Cascade DEF with Amanda Jaye Steinhoff
- Reimagining Music Education with NY Inspires, 10:45 AM in Hyatt Café on Main with CJ Oliver and William Jones
- Saturday, December 5th
- Building a BEDR Music Curriculum, 8:15 AM in Hyatt Susan B. Anthony with Dr. Rich Tilley, Kristy Jung, Zach Arenz, and more
- Portrait of a Graduate: NYSSMA Ad Hoc CMTE Review, 9:30 AM in CC Highland EF with Michael Mastrangelo, Susan Davis, and more
- Planning and Assessing the IAAP for Music, 10:45 AM in Hyatt Café on Main with CJ Oliver
Current Projects
Lesson Plan Templates (generate lesson plans for personal use)
Click on one of the template forms below to design a lesson plan for your classroom. You will be prompted to enter your lesson plan ideas and procedures. All standards are embedded in these templates via dropdown menus!!! You simply pick the ones that apply to your lesson. You can save the lesson plan for yourself after everything is submitted.
Pk-8 General Music Lesson Plan Template Information
Lesson Sample Database
(access and/or contribute to a data base of standards-based lessons)
Click the link to explore our searchable database of standards-aligned lessons. You can search by keyword, artistic processes (creating, performing, responding, connecting), anchor standard, grade level, and strand. *** If you want to contribute a lesson plan to our database, please email and share your work: curriculum@nyssma.org
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Access resources related to culturally responsive and sustaining pedagogy. Discover ways you can transform your own teaching practice through a BEDR lens (belonging, equity, diversity, and representation). View links to the NYS Culturally Responsive-Sustaining Education Framework.
NYSSMA Advocacy Committee review of Portrait of a Graduate
Portrait of a Graduate Overview
NY Inspires “is a historic transformation of education in New York State, redefining what a diploma signifies and how students demonstrate readiness for college, careers, civic life, and the world beyond high school.” New York State is moving toward one NYS diploma by June 2028. This has implications for all disciplines.
Resources and Guidance
Past Professional Development Sessions
Lesson Planning & Curricular Resources
- Band – Sequencing the Standards reference doc (2019)
- General Music – Sequencing the Standards reference doc (2019)
- Orchestra – Sequencing the Standards reference doc (2019)
- Chorus – Sequencing the Standards reference doc (2019)
- Template for Creating Standards-Based Lesson
- High School Classroom Music Exemplar
- Choral Concert Unit on Performance Preparation
- Band Programmatic Music Exemplar
- Identification of Quarter and Paired Eighth notes Lesson
- Introduction To Quality Tone Production in Beginning Violinists
- Listening Worksheet for Choir
- Additional Curricular Resources
NAfME & NYS Music Standards Resources
- FAQs about the NYS Music Standards
- Standards in action video
- Overview of 2017 NYS Standards (color)
- Process Components & Enduring Understandings
- Instructional Ideas for Process Components
- Artistic Processes
- Artistic Literacy
- National Core Arts Standards Overview
- Navigating NCAS
- NCAS Poster
- NCAS Anchor Standards & Components
- A Standards Crosswalk Between Common Core and Music
Culturally Responsive Education Resources
Assessment Resources
- Coming soon…
Modern Band Resources
- Coming soon…
Additional Materials
Importance of an Arts Curriculum
Planning, Instruction, and Assessment
Archival Resources
Curriculum Committee Photo Gallery
Do you have ideas for the NYSSMA Curriculum Committee? If so, we want to hear from you! Please reach out and share ideas, needs, interests, and more.
Contact Us: curriculum@nyssma.org