Music Education Advocacy
Top Ten Advocacy Points for Parents
Music education offers benefits that reach far beyond learning to sing or play an instrument. These research findings can help parents, teachers, and community members explain why music deserves an important place in every child’s education.
Explore Music Education Advocacy Resources on AmazonMusic Participation and Discipline
In a 2000 survey, 73 percent of respondents agreed that teens who play an instrument are less likely to have discipline problems.
Source: Americans Love Making Music – And Value Music Education More Highly Than Ever, American Music Conference, 2000.
Rhythm and Mental Coordination
Students who can perform complex rhythms can also make faster and more precise corrections in many academic and physical situations, according to the Center for Timing, Coordination, and Motor Skills.
Source: Rhythm Seen as Key to Music’s Evolutionary Role in Human Intellectual Development, Center for Timing, Coordination, and Motor Skills, 2000.
Higher Test Scores
A ten-year study indicates that students who study music achieve higher test scores, regardless of socioeconomic background.
Source: Dr. James Catterall, UCLA.
Arts Education and Mathematics
A 1997 study of elementary students in an arts-based program concluded that students’ math test scores rose as their time in arts education classes increased.
Source: Arts Exposure and Class Performance, Phi Delta Kappan, October 1998.
Music and Creativity
First-grade students who had daily music instruction scored higher on creativity tests than a control group without music instruction.
Source: K. L. Wolff, The Effects of General Music Education on the Academic Achievement, Perceptual-Motor Development, Creative Thinking, and School Attendance of First-Grade Children, 1992.
Music Training and Reading
In a Scottish study, one group of elementary students received musical training while another group received an equal amount of discussion-skills training. After six months, students in the music group achieved a significant increase in reading test scores, while the discussion-skills group showed no comparable change.
Source: Sheila Douglas and Peter Willatts, Journal of Research in Reading, 1994.
Confidence in Academic Ability
According to a 1991 study, students in schools with arts-focused curricula reported significantly more positive perceptions about their academic abilities than students in a comparison group.
Source: Pamela Aschbacher and Joan Herman, The Humanitas Program Evaluation, 1991.
Rhythm and Everyday Skills
Students who are rhythmically skilled also tend to better plan, sequence, and coordinate actions in their daily lives.
Source: Cassily Column, TCAMS Professional Resource Center, 2000.
Cooperation, Confidence, and Communication
In a 1999 Columbia University study, students involved in the arts were found to be more cooperative with teachers and peers, more self-confident, and better able to express their ideas. These benefits were found across socioeconomic levels.
Source: The Arts Education Partnership, 1999.
Music and College Admissions
College admissions officers have cited participation in music as an important factor in admissions decisions because it can demonstrate qualities such as time management, creativity, expression, commitment, and open-mindedness.
Source: Carl Hartman, Arts May Improve Students’ Grades, The Associated Press, October 1999.