Music Advocacy’s Top Ten

for Parents

1. In a 2000 survey, 73 percent of respondents agree that teens who play an instrument are less likely to have discipline problems.

- Americans Love Making Music – And Value Music Education More Highly Than Ever, American Music

Conference, 2000.

2. 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.

- Rhythm seen as key to music’s evolutionary role in human intellectual development, Center for Timing,

Coordination, and Motor Skills, 2000.

3. A ten-year study indicates that students who study music achieve higher test scores,

regardless of socioeconomic background.

- Dr. James Catterall, UCLA.

4. 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.

- “Arts Exposure and Class Performance,” Phi Delta Kappan, October, 1998.

5. First-grade students who had daily music instruction scored higher on creativity tests than a control group without music instruction.

- K.L. Wolff, The Effects of General Music Education on the Academeic Achievement, Perceptual-Motor

Development, Creative Thinking, and School Attendance of First-Grade Children, 1992.

6. In a Scottish study, one group of elementary students received musical training, while

another other group received an equal amount of discussion skills training. After six (6)

months, the students in the music group achieved a significant increase in reading test scores, while the reading test scores of the discussion skills group did not change.

- Sheila Douglas and Peter Willatts, Journal of Research in Reading, 1994.

7. According to a 1991 study, students in schools with arts-focused curriculums reported

significantly more positive perceptions about their academic abilities than students in a

comparison group.

- Pamela Aschbacher and Joan Herman, The Humanitas Program Evaluation, 1991.

8. Students who are rhythmically skilled also tend to better plan, sequence, and coordinate actions in their daily lives.

- “Cassily Column,” TCAMS Professional Resource Center, 2000.

9. In a 1999 Columbia University study, students in the arts are found to be more cooperative with teachers and peers, more self-confident, and better able to express their ideas. These

benefits exist across socioeconomic levels.

- The Arts Education Partnership, 1999.

10. College admissions officers continue to cite participation in music as an important factor in making admissions decisions. They claim that music participation demonstrates time management, creativity, expression, and open-mindedness.

- Carl Hartman, “Arts May Improve Students’ Grades,” The Associated Press, October, 1999.