Music Education andAcademic Performance © 2001, Daniel R.

Zanutto

A longitudinal study of the effects upon key academic indicators at the secondary

level – grades 7-11.

Introduction © 2001, Daniel R. Zanutto

Achievement profiles for 1,415 students were compared to analyze trends to determine if significant differences existed between music and non-music students.

The entire student population (and each subset) remained constant during the 5-year period of analysis.

Science GPA

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

7th 8th 9th 10th 11th

Instrumental

No Music

Science TableGroup 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th

Music

Mean 3.52 3.34 3.17 2.89 2.79

SD 0.87 0.63 0.75 0.89 0.98

N 41 97 99 95 80

No Music

Mean 3.45 2.95 2.81 2.55 2.48

SD 0.77 0.92 0.90 0.98 1.03

N 343 698 887 841 636

Mean Dif 0.08 0.39 0.35 0.34 0.31

t-value 0.53 5.42 4.33 3.47 2.66

p-value 0.60 <0.01 <0.01 <0.01 <0.01

Mathematics GPA

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

7th 8th 9th 10th 11th

Instrumental

No Music

Mathematics TableGroup 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th

Music

Mean 3.35 3.30 2.90 2.73 2.47

SD 0.64 0.83 0.83 0.86 1.05

N 91 98 99 99 101

No Music

Mean 3.19 3.01 2.61 2.36 2.29

SD 0.78 0.88 0.95 1.00 1.15

N 646 713 864 901 885

Mean Dif 0.17 0.29 0.29 0.36 0.17

t-value 2.23 3.22 3.27 3.90 1.56

p-value <0.05 <0.05 <0.01 <0.01 0.12

English GPA

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

7th 8th 9th 10th 11th

Instrumental

No Music

English TableGroup 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th

Music

Mean 3.36 3.43 3.14 2.98 2.79

SD 0.66 0.62 0.73 0.89 1.06

N 92 97 103 103 103

No Music

Mean 3.18 3.19 2.81 2.69 2.47

SD 0.72 0.75 0.87 0.99 1.12

N 649 697 924 920 926

Mean Dif 0.18 0.24 0.33 0.29 0.32

t-value 2.46 3.48 4.22 3.08 2.90

p-value <0.05 <0.01 <0.01 <0.01 <0.01

Social Science GPA

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

7th 8th 9th 10th 11th

Instrumental

No Music

Social Science Table

Group 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th

Music

Mean 3.35 3.41 3.05 3.26 3.06

SD 0.66 0.65 1.19 0.73 0.87

N 92 97 10 96 97

No Music

Mean 3.15 3.14 2.80 2.68 2.60

SD 0.80 0.79 0.98 0.99 1.09

N 649 697 110 865 892

Mean Dif 0.20 0.27 0.25 0.58 0.46

t-value 2.57 3.70 0.64 7.04 4.86

p-value <0.05 <0.01 0.54 <0.01 <0.01

CTBS Reading

58

60

62

64

66

68

70

72

74

76

7th 8th

Music

No Music

CTBS Reading TableGroup 7th 8th

Music

Mean 67.81 75.33

SD 16.88 15.00

N 91 97

No Music

Mean 65.09 68.32

SD 18.20 18.54

N 645 694

Mean Dif 2.72 7.01

t-value 1.43 4.18

p-value 0.16 <0.01

CTBS Language

58

60

62

64

66

68

70

72

74

76

7th 8th

Music

No Music

CTBS Language Table

Group 7th 8th

Music

Mean 67.49 74.58

SD 20.06 17.46

N 91 97

No Music

Mean 64.58 66.69

SD 19.24 18.96

N 645 694

Mean Dif 2.91 7.89

t-value 1.30 4.12

p-value 0.19 <0.01

CTBS Mathematics

646566676869707172737475

7th 8th

Music

No Music

CTBS Math TableGroup 7th 8th

Music

Mean 73.15 74.18

SD 19.31 19.38

N 91 97

No Music

Mean 67.59 67.98

SD 21.74 19.68

N 645 694

Mean Dif 5.56 6.20

t-value 2.53 2.94

p-value <0.05 <0.01

Degrees of Reading Power

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

7th 8th 9th 10th 11th

Music

No Music

DRP TableGroup 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th

Music

Mean 66.06 77.57 78.48 63.75 81.50

SD 12.71 11.12 11.49 8.62 3.54

N 92 63 42 4 2

No Music

Mean 63.29 71.41 74.09 70.09 69.80

SD 12.03 11.43 11.95 11.68 13.03

N 631 439 488 138 60

Mean Dif 2.74 6.16 4.39 -6.34 11.70

t-value 1.95 4.10 2.37 -1.43 3.88

p-value 0.06 <0.01 <0.05 0.02 0.06

Writing Proficiency

6.26.46.66.8

77.27.47.67.8

88.28.4

9th 10th 11th

Music

No Music

Writing Proficiency TableGroup 9th 10th 11th

Music

Mean 8.23 7.89 7.50

SD 1.38 1.49 1.22

N 98 19 6

No Music

Mean 8.05 7.38 6.97

SD 1.42 1.53 1.47

N 810 206 112

Mean Dif 0.18 0.51 0.53

t-value 1.24 1.43 1.02

p-value 0.22 0.17 0.35

Math Proficiency

60

62

64

66

68

70

72

74

76

7th 8th 9th 10th 11th

Music

No Music

Math Proficiency TableGroup 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th

Music

Mean 70.74 74.92 75.02 69.47 74.22

SD 15.68 14.39 9.16 10.51 7.92

N 92 63 61 17 2

No Music

Mean 65.96 68.15 70.34 68.03 74.25

SD 16.65 15.56 12.33 11.45 11.14

N 603 444 599 287 162

Mean Dif 4.78 6.77 4.68 1.44 -0.03

t-value 2.63 3.21 3.66 0.55 -0.01

p-value <0.01 <0.01 <0.01 0.59 0.06

Unexcused Absences

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

7th 8th 9th 10th 11th

Music

No Music

Unexcused Absence Table

Group 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th

Music

Mean 0.26 0.14 0.18 0.24 0.08

SD 0.78 0.52 0.67 0.60 0.36

N 94 98 100 103 104

No Music

Mean 0.23 0.38 0.34 0.58 0.27

SD 0.72 0.99 0.80 1.13 0.75

N 653 704 819 875 930

Mean Dif 0.03 -0.24 -0.16 -0.34 -0.19

t-value 0.30 -3.74 -2.24 -4.79 -4.41

p-value 0.76 <0.01 <0.05 <0.01 <0.01

What This Means There are significant observable differences in

academic profiles between music and non-music students.

While GPA trends show declining scores in all groups, music students do better.

Mean differences show that music students outperform non-music students in CTBS & proficiency testing over time.

While no direct claim is made relating to cause and effect, positive correlations infer that participation in music education can contribute to positive outcomes in academic achievement and attitudes/attendance relating to school.

Next Steps © 2001, Daniel R. Zanutto

Future study should include baseline information before music instruction occurs.

Further research could include case-studies that allow more detailed information, i.e. “outside musical influences.”

Study non performance-based music classes. What effect does elementary general- music

instruction have upon academic profiles at the secondary level?