Keeping the Peace with Pullout Lessons By David Carroll  Pullout music programs offer a host of benefits for students and teachers alike. Students are able to participate in music during school and extracurricular activities before or after school. Most importantly, pullout lessons give music ensembles equal footing during the school day as other academic classes. However, even a well-planned pullout program requires flexibility and understanding from teachers, parents, and students, particularly because instructional time is shared with other teachers.  Science labs, quizzes, and state tests will sometimes supersede lessons. Students who have missed school will periodically have to use lesson time to catch up on missed homework. The many field trips, institute days, and holidays can also lead to frequent gaps in lesson time. This diminished contact can reduce progress on an instrument for all but the most motivated students.

 Set a Consistent Policy
    The principal, music teacher, and other academic teachers should collaborate to set policies for an effective pullout program. Including other faculty members in the planning makes it easier to share concerns and more likely that policies will be enforced consistently. For example, if the director sets a policy that students will receive detention after arriving late to class three times, the policy should be enforced strictly or others will test its limits.
    This committee should determine what events should preclude a student from attending a music lesson and the specific responsibilities of music students. The group should start by compiling a list of such events as assemblies and state tests that cannot be rescheduled. The list may also include specific classroom presentations or activities that cannot be recreated on another day.
    Music teachers need to know about these dates with sufficient notice to adjust the lesson schedule. Recurring classes should not be on this list. Some academic teachers may ask that music students never be pulled from math or reading classes. This problem sets a precedent that is difficult to sustain. If one class is allowed to preempt music classes consistently, the same rationale can be used for classes in other subjects.
    Furthermore, disallowing pullouts from recurring classes presumes that students cannot make up the material under any circumstances. Studies suggest that students can make up the material and test equally to their peers who are not pulled out of classes. The committee should also identify such activities as quizzes and instructional videos that can be rescheduled without penalty.
    Any pullout policy should clearly explain student responsibilities and consequences for failing to meet these expectations. Students should understand exactly how and when to inform teachers that they have a lesson. One successful approach is for students to inform both the music teachers and academic teachers of a pending lesson before the first period of the day. This notice gives music and classroom teachers a chance to adjust the schedule if possible. If students fail to give proper notice, the lesson is treated as an unexcused absence.
    There should also be clear deadlines for making up classroom work missed as the result of lessons. If a student missed note taking, the deadline for making up the work could be at the end of the day. A quiz could be taken within a day or two of the original exam. The policy ought to indicate precise times for making up the work during recess, study halls, or after school. If these deadlines are not met, students could face additional work or other consequences.
    Once the policy has been established and distributed to students, parents, and teachers, it must be enforced uniformly by all parties. During the first several ensemble rehearsals of the year, the expected behaviors should be practiced. Spend rehearsal time discussing possible conflicts that may happen during the year and explain how to manage them. Because classroom teachers have played a role in establishing the policy, they will be more likely to enforce it.                                                                                                                                                              

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