Does music make you smarter? - 04/10/2008 4:24 AM
Many counties across that US will have to fight to keep their music programs in the next several months. It seems that music educators all around the nation are always looking for research that will help validate the music programs. We defend music by saying how music involves science, history, math and language. It has also been stated by some that music makes you smarter.
I must let you know that it has not been proven that music makes people smarter. There have been research studies that have tested the relationship between participation in school music programs and standardized test scores. There are studies that show that there are relationships between participation in school music programs and standardized test scores. The research has also found the students in successful music programs do have a higher average than students that do not participate in music programs. There have been studies that have shown no difference in averages from students that were in music programs and students that were not. No study has shown that music students received lower scores than students that were not in a program.
As much as it would be nice to hear, this does not necessarily mean that music EFFECTS student�s grades.
Possible Scenarios:
Higher average students tend to join music programs.
Students in band may be from a higher socio-economic status (They are able to afford an instrument and possibly lessons).
In order to prove the effect of music on there grade average, students with the same socio-economic status and students with similar averages would have to be split in to two groups. The students would all have to WANT to be in a music class. One group would take music and the other would not be allowed to. This study would not be possible because students that want to take music classes would be told that they could not.
This does not mean it is not true but iff we were to find research that concludes that music did affect grades, than it would only be a tool to strengthen other things. AS SOON AS a school does not achieve higher grades, they will get rid of music because the higher grades would have been the only value.
OVERALL- We should not have to say that music�s only benefit is through its value to helping students get better grades. The benefit of music is music itself. We should spend time thinking about how we can show that music is important on it's own. What makes it dificult is that music does not involve a spoken language and it communicates so many different things. Music is more than words and that is not easy to describe.
I must let you know that it has not been proven that music makes people smarter. There have been research studies that have tested the relationship between participation in school music programs and standardized test scores. There are studies that show that there are relationships between participation in school music programs and standardized test scores. The research has also found the students in successful music programs do have a higher average than students that do not participate in music programs. There have been studies that have shown no difference in averages from students that were in music programs and students that were not. No study has shown that music students received lower scores than students that were not in a program.
As much as it would be nice to hear, this does not necessarily mean that music EFFECTS student�s grades.
Possible Scenarios:
Higher average students tend to join music programs.
Students in band may be from a higher socio-economic status (They are able to afford an instrument and possibly lessons).
In order to prove the effect of music on there grade average, students with the same socio-economic status and students with similar averages would have to be split in to two groups. The students would all have to WANT to be in a music class. One group would take music and the other would not be allowed to. This study would not be possible because students that want to take music classes would be told that they could not.
This does not mean it is not true but iff we were to find research that concludes that music did affect grades, than it would only be a tool to strengthen other things. AS SOON AS a school does not achieve higher grades, they will get rid of music because the higher grades would have been the only value.
OVERALL- We should not have to say that music�s only benefit is through its value to helping students get better grades. The benefit of music is music itself. We should spend time thinking about how we can show that music is important on it's own. What makes it dificult is that music does not involve a spoken language and it communicates so many different things. Music is more than words and that is not easy to describe.