A group of
second grade students in inner-city Los Angeles received piano training
twice a week, and they used specialized computer software that related the
piano lessons to math concepts. On standardized math tests, fifty (50) percent
of the second graders scored as well as fifth grade students in affluent
Orange County, California. The scores of the entire second grade group were
equal to the scores of fourth grade students in Orange County.
- "Music On the Mind." Newsweek, July
24, 2000.
In a 2000
Gallup Poll, seventy-five (75) percent of respondents believe learning a
musical instrument helps students do better in other subjects, such as math
and science.
- Gallup Poll Shows Strong Support for Putting Music
in Every School's Curriculum, Giles Communication, 2000.
Second and
third grade students who were taught fractions through musical rhythms scored
one hundred (100) percent higher on fractions tests than those who learned
in the conventional manner.
- "Rhythm Students Learn Fractions More Easily,"
Neurological Research, March 15, 1999.
Students involved
in arts programs had significantly higher class attendance rates than a
comparison group.
- Pamela Aschbacher and Joan Herman, The Humanitas Program
Evaluation, 1991.
Classroom
teachers in Rhode Island noted improved behavior and attitudes among a test
group of students given intensive arts training.
- "Music Training Helps Underachievers," Nature, May
26, 1996.
More than
nine out of ten people believe that schools should offer musical instruction
as part of their regular curriculum.
- Americans Love Making Music - And Value Music Education
More Highly Than Ever, American Music Conference, 2000.
Teachers in
schools with strong arts programs report greater professional interest,
motivation, self-development, and increased innovation in the classroom.
- Champions of Change federal study, 1999.
States should
mandate music education for all students, according to seventy-eight (78)
percent of respondents in a 2000 survey.
- Attitudes, NAMM (International Music Products
Association), 2000.
Ninth grade
students in a Chicago arts program achieved reading scores that were a full
grade level higher than students not in the program. All other variables,
including race, gender, and socioeconomic status, were equal in this study.
- CAPE Study, President's Council on the Arts and Humanities,
2000.