Music Programs on the Chopping Block

The last few posts I've been addressing how music can be used in schools as memory devices and as content in the 4 subject areas. This post I'll show the benefits of musical training (especially for low SES students) in public schools and the issue of budget cuts that are threatening these programs.

• A article published in the Neurological Research journal showed math skills improve with exposure to music training. The article also discusses how UCLA found that high exposure to the arts among 8th to 10th graders resulted in a decreased dropout rate.
• The director of the Institute for Music and the Mind, argues that even a year or two of music training increases attention and memory abilities.
• Students with experience performing music scored on average 57 and 41 points higher on the SAT verbal and math sections respectively.

Some people look at the above research and argue that students who have access to musical training (instruments, private teachers, etc) are generally from higher socio-economic backgrounds. The fact is musical training costs money. Students who can afford music lessons also have resources to help them succeed at school. Thus their background (not the musical training) would account for the increase in academic achievement.

I argue this view is incorrect, and here is why.

Although it is obvious that high SES students have more access to musical training, all students can experience the benefits of musical training no matter their economic background. Many schools offer free music programs (symphony, band, choir, etc). For example, my cousin went to a school in Kansas where any student could have free access to instruments and instruction. Programs like these can have a huge impact on low SES students. Check out this study that tracked more than 25,000 students for more than 10 years. They found that among lower-income students without music involvement, only 15.5% achieved high math scores but among the low-income students with music involvement more than twice as many excelled at math. James Catterall, the lead author of the study, said, "It's not a matter of economic advantage. It's a matter of something happening with the arts for kids."

The unfortunate situation is that schools across the board are facing budget cuts, and typically the music programs are the first to go. It seems counter intuitive to me. If these music programs help low SES students achieve academically, have lower drop out rates, and lessen the gap between achievement among the economic levels, then low SES schools especially need these programs. Without them, students at these schools oftentimes have no other access to music instruction and thus no access to its benefits. It's not all doom and gloom though, organizations such as Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation,the Lang Lang Foundation, and others are working to put music back in public schools. I understand budget cuts are a complex issue, but I don't think music programs should be the first to go.

What are your opinions about the cutting of school music programs?