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Marching Band Statistics

Posted by Project on 10/28/2024, 5:37 pm

Has anyone ever compiled profiles of the top bands in the state? Just to get a better idea of what it really takes to make it to the top. There are a lot of factors to consider.

School Name:
Number of Directors:
Number of Band Members:
Total School Population:
Total Marching Band Budget:
Number of Techs:
Number of Show Design Team:
Budget provided by school:
Eco/Dis:
Band Booster Population:

etc, etc, etc.

Re: Marching Band Statistics

Posted by Bison Hill on 10/29/2024, 12:54 pm, in reply to "Marching Band Statistics"

The stat I'm interested to see not on here is number of previous times those bands had made it to State. What is the turnover rate in bands that qualify from area to state each go around....

Re: Marching Band Statistics

Posted by Not Steven Rash on 10/29/2024, 11:27 am, in reply to "Marching Band Statistics"

Steven Rash is doing a survey similar to this in the Texas Band Directors group on Facebook. I don't want to speak for him, but you could reach out for info.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/48322722244

I've tried to gather similar info before to justify a budget increase. It's hard to compare budgets school to school. Look at who pays for transportation - sometimes it's band budget, sometimes it's a separate budget. Our transportation is covered for all football events, but not for band contest. Look at who's teaching colorguard and percussion - some schools have a para position, some pay out of band budget, some have an assistant director who covers that. We have a roving percussion director who officially belongs to the high school but spends half of his day teaching middle school. Our guard director is the dance teacher. All of that gets complicated fast.

Re: Marching Band Statistics

Posted by DesertJazz on 10/29/2024, 9:23 pm, in reply to "Re: Marching Band Statistics"

My survey link: I just realized I didn't include this in the previous post I responded to here.

https://tinyurl.com/35k9pd7j

Appreciate anyone who can take the time to respond! Looking for all classifications!

Re: Marching Band Statistics

Posted by DesertJazz (Steven Rash) on 10/29/2024, 9:21 pm, in reply to "Re: Marching Band Statistics"

I was going to reply to this earlier, but it's been odd day. I am doing something similar, not focusing so much on the available budget amounts though in those questions. Just to let the OP know, this is a summarized question set I'm asking:

Name of School
School District
City
UIL Classification
UIL Region
UIL Area
Number of Student Participants on Form 1
TEA Identification Number

These are all just meant as basic stats. I plan on using the TEA numbers to help look up Title 1 and some other socio economic stats that may come into play

Number of Full-Time Certified Directors in Class Daily
Number of Certified Band Directors at Morning/Evening Only
Guard/Auxiliary Instructors
Student Teachers
Non-Certified Personnel in Class (Paras, etc three more more times per week)
Lesson Teachers
Masterclass Clinicians
Clinicians Full Band
Marching Techs

This is the heart of the data I'm looking for personally right now

Music Source
Music Cost
Marching Drill Cost
Choreography (Guard and Band included)
Program Coordinator/Designer

Props?
How did you build/buy them? (Multiple selections)
Prop Costs

Show Specific Costuming - Guard
Show Specific Costuming Band Tops/Costume

Email if people want to receive a copy of the data when I close.

I plan to run the survey until November 15th. I currently have 75, trying to aim for 400 or more schools which would be about a 3rd of Texas programs I believe.

Re: Marching Band Statistics

Posted by math guy on 10/29/2024, 10:55 am, in reply to "Marching Band Statistics"

This would actually make an excellent doctoral thesis.
You would want to apply some heavy duty statistics to the final results, such as using regression analysis to control for various factors to determine their overall importance. As one example: If you control for budget, what is the real impact of school population or number of band members that isn’t just a result of a some larger schools having more money.
Unless you did this kind of multivariate analysis, you wouldn’t really know what you were looking at in the raw data and you could draw some incorrect conclusions that seemed to make sense.
it’s a study that deserves to be done. I would seek the help of the Texas Math Educators Association.

Re: Marching Band Statistics

Posted by Also... on 10/29/2024, 9:15 am, in reply to "Marching Band Statistics"

What do they charge (dues/fees) each student to be a part of the band, and/or specifically the "competition" band?

...put on your seat belts, if any give an honest amount they charge, you'll be in for a shock.

Re: Marching Band Statistics

Posted by Respectfully on 10/29/2024, 1:48 pm, in reply to "Re: Marching Band Statistics"

Not just fees.

How much do they charge for lessons? For the trip(s) they go on? Is there a costuming fee? What's included in the band fee(s) they do charge?

Who pays for postdistrict football travel?

Do they require a model or brand of instrument? That's another hidden fee.

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