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Music Advocacy’s Top Ten For Directors
1. In a 1995 study in Hamilton, Ohio, string students who participated in pullout lessons averaged higher scores than the non-pullout students in all areas of the Ohio Proficiency Test. Sixty-eight (68) percent of the string students achieved satisfactory ratings on all sections of the test, compared to fifty-eight (58) percent of the non-pullout students.
- Michael D. Wallick, “A Comparison Study of the Ohio Proficiency Test Results Between Fourth-Grade String Pullout Students and Those of Matched Ability,” Journal of Research in Music Education, 1998.
2. According to a 2000 survey, eighty-one (81) percent of people responding believe that participating in school music corresponds with better grades and test scores. This is an increase of fourteen (14) percent over the 1997 results for the same question.
- Attitudes, NAMM (International Music Products Association), 2000.
3. More music teachers are role models for minority students than teachers of any other subject. Thirty-six (36) percent of surveyed minority students identified music teachers as their role models, compared to twenty-eight (28) percent for English teachers, eleven (11) percent for elementary teachers, and seven (7) percent for physical education teachers.
- “Music teachers as role models for African-American students,” Journal of Research in Music Education, 1993.
4. Only thirty-one (31) percent of teenagers and adults in a 2000 survey who do not play an instrument feel they are too old to start learning.
- Americans Love Making Music – And Value Music Education More Highly Than Ever, American Music Conference, 2000.
5. Researchers at the University of California and the Niigata Brain Research Institute in Japan have found an area of the brain that is activated only when reading musical scores.
- “Musical Brain – Special Brain Area Found for Reading Music Scores,” NeuroReport, 1998.
6. In the 1998 federal study Gaining the Arts Advantage, music teachers in many of the strongest arts programs nationwide are encouraged by their schools to perform in their communities and to improve their own performing skills.
- Gaining the Arts Advantage, The President’s Council on the Arts and Humanities, 1998.
7. Ninety-two (92) percent of people who play an instrument say they were glad they learned to do so, according to a 2000 Gallup Poll.
- Gallup Poll Shows Strong Support for Putting Music in Every School’s Curriculum, Giles Communications, 2000.
8. In academic situations, students in music programs are less likely to draw unfounded conclusions.
- Champions of Change, Federal study, 1999.
9. The scores of elementary instrumental music students on standardized math tests increased with each year they participated in the instrumental program.
- “Music Training Helps Underachievers,” Nature, May 26, 1996.
10. Nine out of ten adults and teenagers who play instruments agree that music-making brings the family closer together.
- Music Making and Our Schools, American Music Conference, 2000.