Dorothy Straub

MENC President 1992-1994

Born 1941

Education:

B.M.E., M.M.E. Indiana University

Work:

Music Coordinator, Fairfield Public Schools, Fairfield, Connecticut

Violist, Greenwich Symphony and Greater Bridgeport Symphony

Significant Publications:

Straub, Dorothy. “The Impact of the National Standards on Music Performance.” In

Teaching Music Through Performance in Orchestra, ed. David Littrell and Laura

Reed Racin. Chicago: GIA Publications, Inc., 2001.

Straub, Dorothy, Louis Bergonzi, and Anne C. Witt, eds. Strategies for Teaching Strings

and Orchestra. Reston, VA: Music Educators National Conference, 1996.

Professional Accomplishments:

Chair, MENC Committee for String and Orchestra Education

Editor, “School Teachers Forum,” American String Teacher, 1985-87

Chair, MENC String and Orchestra Task Force, 1995

American String Teachers Association Citation for Exceptional Leadership and Merit

National School Orchestra Association Lifetime Achievement Award, 1995

One of only two American String Teachers Association members to serve as MENC president, Dorothy Straub took office at a time when the national focus was on curriculum and standards. Her presidency was marked by concerns for advocacy and promotion of the National Arts Standards, and in March of her term, the standards were completed and delivered to Secretary of Education Richard Riley. Although many of Straub’s monthly president’s columns in Music Educators Journal and Teaching Music focused on the standards, she also wrote about the importance of providing each child with rewarding musical experiences. In her columns for American String Teacher, she encouraged string teachers to provide students with a challenging and enjoyable curriculum, calling it a “myth” that children learning string instruments could not produce good sounds for several years.

Quotes:

“Nurturing and enabling the capacity for each child to experience the excitement of music is what we are all about.”

Dorothy Straub, “The Gift of Giving: Holiday Reflections,” Music Educators Journal 79,

no. 4 (December 1992): 4.

“Our overriding agenda, however, is the survival of music and the other arts for our children’s sake. The commonalities we share as music educators are far greater than the factors that separate us. In these commonalities we have great strength.”

Dorothy Straub, “Synthesis,” Music Educators Journal 79, no. 1 (September 1992): 4.

“The emerging standards are a part of real education reform. They will have an impact on current practitioners, textbooks authors and publishers, and teacher-training institutions, all of which will result in higher expectations and greater educational opportunity for all students in our nation’s schools, from pre-kindergarten through grade 12.”

Dorothy Straub, “The Impact of National Standards,” Music Educators Journal, 79, no.

5 (January 1993): 51.

Sources Used:

Howe, Sondra W. “Leadership in MENC: The Female Tradition.” Bulletin of the Council

for Research in Music Education 141 (Summer 1999): 59-65.

Straub, Dorothy. “The Importance of a Good Start.” American String Teacher 35, no. 2

(Spring 1985): 62-63.

________. “Instrumental Lessons – Designed for Success.” American String

Teacher 35, no. 4 (Autumn 1985): 70-71.

________.“MENC Connections: President’s Messages.” Music Educators

Journals 79-80 (1992-1993) and Teaching Music 1 (1993-94).

________. “Music as an Academic Discipline: Breaking New Ground.” National

Association for Secondary School Principals Bulletin 78 (April 1994): 30-33.

“Straub Made ‘Connections’ During Era of National Change.” Teaching Music 1, no. 6

(June 1994): 18.

“Straub Receives Lifetime Achievement Award.” Teaching Music 3, no. 3 (December

1995): 16.

Submitted by Kaye Ferguson, November 2002