- Math Skills Grow Over Time With
Instrumental Music Participation
-
- Researchers at UCLA tracked the math proficiency test scores
of a
- group of 14,915 students from eighth through twelfth grade.
The
- researchers divided the group by socio-economic status
and
- involvement in instrumental music. The students in the
lowest
- quartile of family income were considered to be of low
socio-
- economic status (low SES).
-
- For this study, the researchers looked at the math proficiency
test
- scores of low SES students who participated in instrumental
music
- from eighth grade through twelfth grade. The researchers
- compared these scores to the average math proficiency test
scores
- of all students tracked.
-
- Students Achieving "High Performing" Scores on Grade 8
Math
- Proficiency Test:
- Average:19.0%
- Low SES Instrumental: 21.2%
-
- Students Achieving "High Performing" Scores on Grade 12
Math
- Proficiency Test:
- Average: 21.3%
- Low SES Instrumental: 33.1%
-
- While 2.3% more of the entire student population achieved
"high
- performing" scores in twelfth grade than in eighth grade,
11.9%
- more of the low SES students studying instrumental music
- achieved "high performing" scores on the math proficiency test
in
- twelfth grade.
-
- The results of this study clearly illustrate a connection
between
- sustained instrumental music education (in this case four to
five
- years) and higher math test scores.
-
- Source: "Involvement in the Arts and Human Development:
- General Involvement and Intensive Involvement in Music
and
- Theater Arts." by James S. Catterall, Richard Chapleau, and
John
- Iwanga, from the UCLA Graduate School of Education &
- Information Studies, 1999.
-
- This study is found in the compilation "Champions of
Change"
- published by the President's Council on the Arts and
Humanities.
- You can find the link for this study at http://www.pcah.gov
-
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