Music in the Classroom

WHY MUSIC?

• Critical Thinking - Music is not one- dimensional, it involves perceptual skills, cognitive skills as well as motor skills. These skills interact in complex ways that play a role in student intelligence and thinking abilities.

• Creative Thinking - Music is creative at every step: creation, process interpretation and performance.

• Collaboration - Music ensembles are groups of collaborators, working together regularly, which require goal setting, problem solving, and project and performance agreement.

• Communication - Music is the mediator of human relationships and is a direct expression of human emotions

• Citizenship - Music is an inclusive and engaging service to our schools and communities through public performances.

THE FACTS AND STATS

1. "The Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois has led the charge, exploring the long term neurobiological and developmental consequences of music education, particularly as they relate to students coming from disadvantaged socioeconomic conditions.   A recent study conducted by Dr. Nina Kraus, et al., shows that one year of music education programming can have significant effects in ameliorating the language deficits generally referred to as the “signature of poverty.”

2. The College Entrance Examination Board found that students involved in public school music programs scored 107 points higher on the SAT's than students with no participation. - Profiles of SAT and Achievement Test Takers, The College Board, compiled by the Music Educators National Conference (2002) U.S. Department of Education data on more than 25,000 secondary school students found that students who report consistent high levels of involvement in instrumental music over the middle and high school years show "significantly higher levels of mathematics proficiency by grade 12." - U.S. Department of Education NELLS88 Database.

3. Schools with music programs have an estimated 90.2% graduation rate and 93.9% attendance rate compared to schools without music education, which average 72.9% graduation and 84.9% attendance. Schools that have music programs have an attendance rate of 93.3% compared to 84.9% in schools without music programs.

4. Children who study music tend to have larger vocabularies and more advanced reading skills than their peers who do not participate in music lessons.

5, In the past, secondary students who participated in a music group at school reported the lowest lifetime and current use of all substances (tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs).

6. Regardless of socioeconomic status or school district, students (3rd graders) who participate in high-quality music programs score higher on reading and spelling tests. 

7. Young children who take music lessons show different brain development and improved memory over the course of a year, compared to children who do not receive musical training.

8. Much like expert technical skills, mastery in arts and humanities is closely correlated to a greater understanding of language components.

9. In an analysis of U.S. Department of Education data on more than 25,000 secondary school students, researchers found that students who report consistent high levels of involvement in instrumental music over the middle and high school years show "significantly higher levels of mathematics proficiency by grade 12." This observation holds true regardless of students' socio-economic status, and differences in those who are involved with instrumental music vs. those who are not is more significant over time. Catterall,

James S., Richard Chapleau, and John Iwanaga. "Involvement in the Arts and Human Development: General Involvement and Intensive Involvement in Music and Theater Arts." Los Angeles, CA: The Imagination Project at UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, 1999.

10. The arts also contribute to the education of young children by helping them realize the breadth of human experience, see the different ways humans express sentiments and convey meaning, and develop subtle and complex forms of thinking. Although the arts are often thought of as separate subjects, like chemistry or algebra, they really are a collection of skills and thought processes that transcend all areas of human engagement.

ARTICLES

VIDEO LINKS