A Look At How The Study Of Instrumental Music Affects The Reading Skills Of Sixth Grade Students PDF Download

During the past decade urban American schools saw a decline in music programs due to value-based decisions favoring investment in subjects with high stakes testing. At the same time advances in neuroscience research point to a link between playing a musical instrument and increased literacy skills. The purpose of this case study was to understand how playing a musical instrument for five consecutive years relates to measures of literacy achievement for urban middle school students. Furthermore, how the perceptions and beliefs of educators about this relationship affect their value-based decisions was explored. The findings indicate that in seven out of eight independent t-tests of eighth grade scores from the 2014 English Language Arts MCAS exam, a statistically significant difference was found suggesting that instrumental students outscore their non-instrumental peers. Focus groups of administrators, music educators and English Language Arts educators were conducted separately and findings yielded nine major themes relating to educators' perceptions, beliefs and values. They indicate that educators have a belief system that is built on personal experiences and research. Across all three focus groups the belief was expressed that students who study a musical instrument have higher achievement on measures of literacy. This belief paired with the parallel belief that band builds skills for success, guided educators to advocate for decisions that allocate resources to increase opportunity for instrumental instruction in the studied district. Recommendations for practice include increasing opportunity for sequential instrumental instruction in urban public schools and convening small discussion groups of educators, parents or other to discuss perceptions, beliefs and values..