Examination of Relationships between Participation in School Music Programs of Differing Quality and Standardized Test Results

Abstract

The purpose of this investigation was to examine the relationship between participation in contrasting school music programs and standardized test scores. Relationships between elementary (third- or fourth-grade) students' academic achievement at comparable schools, but with contrasting music programs as to instructional quality, were investigated. Relationships also were examined between middle school (eighth-or ninth-grade) students' academic achievement and their participation in school music programs that also differed in quality. Participants (N = 4,739) were students in elementary (n = 1,119) and middle schools (n = 3,620) from the South, East Coast, Midwest, and West Coast of the United States. All scores were standardized for comparison purposes. Analysis of elementary school data indicated that students in exemplary music education programs scored higher on both English and mathematics standardized tests than their counterparts who did not have this high-quality instruction; however, the effect sizes were slight. Analysis of middle school data indicated that for both English and math, students in both exceptional music programs and deficient instrumental programs scored better than those in no music classes or deficient choral programs; however, the effect sizes were not large.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Andrews, L.J. (1997). Effects of an integrated reading and music instructional approach on fifth-grade students' reading achievement, reading attitude, music achievement, and music attitude (Doctoral dissertation, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 1997). Dissertation Abstracts International, 58, 04A, 1228.

Butzlaff, R. (2000). Can music be used to teach reading? Journal of Aesthetic Education, 34, 167-178.

Catterall,J.S. , Chapleau, R. , Iwanaga, R. (1999). Involvement in the arts and human development: General involvement and intensive involvement in music and theater arts. In Edward B. Fiske (Ed.), Champions of change: The impact of the arts on learning (pp. 1-18). The Arts Education Partnership ; The President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities; The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; and the GE Fund.

Cobb, T.A. (1997). A comparison of the academic achievement of students who have a musical background versus students who do not have a musical background (Doctoral dissertation, University of Mississippi, Oxford, 1997). Dissertation Abstracts International , 58, 11A, 4134.

Costa-Giomi, E. (1999). The effects of three years of piano instruction on children's cognitive development. Journal of Research in Music Education, 4, 198-212.

Goldhaber, D.D. , & Brewer, D.J. (1997). Why don't schools and teacher seem to matter? Assessing the impact of unobservables on educational productivity. The Journal of Human Resources, 32 (3), 505-523.

Gregory, A.S. (1988). The effects of a musical instructional technique on the mathematical achievement of third-grade students (Doctoral dissertation, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, 1988 ). Dissertation Abstracts International, 49, 08A, 2137.

Johnson, C.M. , Price, H.E. , & Tafuri,J. ( 2002). Teaching evaluations and comments by pre-service music teachers from Italy and the USA. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, 153/4, 30-35. «NEEDED?»

Johnson, C.M. , Schroeder, L.K. , & Price, H.E. (2005, April). Teaching evaluations and comments of pre-service music teachers regarding novice and expert choral conductors. Paper presented at the Sixteenth International Symposium on Research in Music Behavior, St. Louis, MO.

10.

Kemmerer, K.P. (2003). Relationship between the number of hours spent in general music class and reading skills in kindergarten through grade 3 (Doctoral dissertation, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA, 2003). Dissertation Abstracts International, 64, 12A, 4400.

11.

Miranda, J.Y. (2001). A study of the effect of school-sponsored, extra-curricular activities on high school students' cumulative grade point average, SAT score, ACT score, and core curriculum subject grade point average (Doctoral dissertation, University of North Texas, Denton, 2001). Dissertation Abstracts International , 63, 11A, 3843.

12.

Neuharth, R.H. (2000). A comparison of achievement test scores of band and non-band students in a rural public school (Doctoral dissertation, University of South Dakota, Vermillion , 2000). Dissertation Abstracts International , 61, 07A, 2513.

13.

Perry, R. (1993). Comparing two approaches to increasing academic achievement through providing structured parental support, one involving a beginning instrumental music program (Doctoral dissertation, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 1993). Dissertation Abstracts International, 54, 06A, 2085.

14.

Schneider, T.W. (2000). The effects of music education on academic achievement (Doctoral dissertation, University of Southern Mississippi , Hattiesburg, 2000). Dissertation Abstracts International, 61, 09A, 3429.

15.

Trent, D.E. (1996). The impact of instrumental music education on academic achievement (Doctoral dissertation, East Texas State University, Commerce, 1996 ). Dissertation Abstracts International, 57, 07A, 2933.

16.

Underwood, E.B. (2000). An analysis of the achievement patterns of high school students who participate in instrumental music and those who do not participate in instrumental music (Doctoral dissertation, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2000). Dissertation Abstracts International, 61, 05A, 1735.

17.

Whitehead, B.J. (2001). The effect of music-intensive intervention on mathematics scores of middle and high school students (Doctoral dissertation, Capella University, Minneapolis, MN, 2001). Dissertation Abstracts International, 62, 08A, 2710.

18.

Zanutto, D.R. (1997). The effect of instrumental music instruction on academic achievement (high school students) (Doctoral dissertation, University of California, Davis, 1997). Dissertation Abstracts International, 58, 10A, 3871.