Since the implementation and achievement score pressures of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, elective course offerings such as music have been drastically reduced, especially in the middle school setting. A great deal of correlational research has shown a positive correlation between music education in school and students’ overall academic achievement.
This study examined the correlation between those middle school students that participated in the District Concert Band Music Performance Assessment (MPA) versus those middle school students that did not regarding their achievement scores on the 2016 English language arts (ELA) and mathematics subtests of the Florida Standards Assessments (FSA). The theoretical framework of this study was undergirded by Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences.
The researcher used a non-experimental ex post facto research design for the collection of the study’s data. The results indicated that there was a positive, statistically significant difference between both the ELA and mathematics achievement scores of those students that participated in the MPA and those that did not. There was also a positive, statistically significant difference between both the ELA and mathematics achievement scores of those students that participated in the MPA and the level of music their band performed. However, there was not a statistically significant difference between both the ELA and mathematics achievement scores of those students that performed at the MPA and the final overall rating that their band received.
School administrators are charged with the responsibility of ensuring that effective programs are instituted in their schools so their students can be successful. The results of this quantitative non-experimental ex post facto study could provide administrators additional research-based evidence suggesting that band on the middle-school level, which is a branch of music education, could be a program to include in the school’s curriculum because it might positively contribute to the school’s ELA and mathematics achievement and academic culture. Additional research can also be conducted to observe the effects of music study on student achievement for students of all grade levels and socioeconomics. This would lead school administrators to continue practicing the notion of educating the whole child while making administrative decisions, which should be the sine qua non of education.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fiu.edu/oai:digitalcommons.fiu.edu:etd-4824 |
| Date | 20 February 2018 |
| Creators | Scavella, Arthur J. N. |
| Publisher | FIU Digital Commons |
| Source Sets | Florida International University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations |
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