RESEARCH SUPPORTING THE ANIMATED VIDEO

Music Inspires Education

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Music Stimulates mental development in language skills and vocabulary, non verbal reasoning, and creative thinking:

· Rethinking the Essential Role of Music in Education- Music in Education National Consortium
· New England Conservatory The Music in Education National Consortuim Dissemination Project Final Report - page 13, 15

“… it is the student’s ability in musical literacy skills that ultimately predicts higher levels of performance on CST scores. Conversely, those students who do not develop musical literacy skills through participation in the program are significantly less likely to demonstrate higher levels of math and reading achievement as measured by the CST scores.” (ibid, p 40)

· FIPSE Program Evaluator report p 47

“The students actively engaged in learning that values critical thinking and problem solving. They demonstrated working cooperatively in multiple groups, sharing ideas, supporting each other, identifying each other’s strengths and talents.”

· Americans For Arts Report Achieve Research p. 2

“The research indicated that student academic ability and problem solving skills, as well as intentions for higher education, are directly correlated to the evolving roles of music and musicians in public schools.”

Music Improves Education Overall:

· FIPSE Program Evaluator report p 44

“Key Takeaways from Outcomes Studies: Sites have conducted independent research and analyses of learning within MIE activities. Three exemplified studies include those from CAPE, Amphitheatre District in Tucson, and Ramsey School in Minneapolis. The examples show a variety of gains in academic areas of ELA literacy, mathematics, world languages and social-emotional development, all in projects where the curriculum tied these subjects with music learning. The cases demonstrate a strong commitment and capacity of MLL schools, in partnership with arts organizations and higher education partners to carry out relevant and rigid research on arts learning, leading to innovative classroom projects and professional development.”

Better Attendance/Behavior/Motivation:

· FIPSE Program Evaluator report p 46

“…students who normally do not speak up in class auditioned for roles and performed before large audiences….”

· Americans For Arts Report Achieve Research p. 2-4

“In large class intervention, on average over four years time, 75% of the students who received the AM program improved their attendance, GPA and/or citizenship scores (school behavior records).”

“Pre to Post tests showed increased scores for self-esteem: student perception of ability in academic subjects improved by 78% of students.”

“Approximately four fifths, or 80%, of the students felt AM positively affected their academic school ability and increased their college interest, with 25% of those students rating it the highest on a Likert Scale in comparison to other programs for helping them enhance their abilities.”

Better Grades:

· Glazier Test Report

· FIPSE Program Evaluator report p. 27, 44

“Findings to date indicate that over the three years of the project both PAIR treatment and comparison schools appear to be improving at equal rates in combined ISAT scores (Figure 11). However, by this final year of the project (2010) longitudinal comparisons between control and treatment student cohorts reveal that: a) the treatment (PAIR) school student cohorts are outperforming the control school cohorts in both Reading and Math (Figures 12, 13) and b) treatment school students are more likely meet or exceed CPS ISAT grade level benchmarks (Figures 14, 15).”

Higher Test Scores:

· Rethinking the Essential Role of Music in Education- Music in Education National Consortium

· Glazier Test Report

· New England Conservatory The Music in Education National Consortium Dissemination Project Final Report - page 13, 15

“… it is the student’s ability in musical literacy skills that ultimately predicts higher levels of performance on CST scores. Conversely, those students who do not develop musical literacy skills through participation in the program are significantly less likely to demonstrate higher levels of math and reading achievement as measured by the CST scores.” (ibid, p 40)

MUST ORIGINAL RESEARCH:
MUSIC INTEGRATION’S EFFECTS ON LITERACY

Oakland’s MILE Program    

 In collaboration with Oakland Unified School District Visual and Performing Arts Office, (OUSD VAPA) we completed a $1,200,000, four-year study with funding from the United States Department of Education. We taught and tested over 1,000 Oakland children K – 5 from 2009 - 2013.

Hypothesis: Music Integration improves student achievement in music and language arts literacy in the context of creating music-focused projects.

Evaluation Method:

A.            Field team and teachers conducted pre-post measures of student achievement in music and language literacy using field-tested instruments and analyzing correlations among discrete factors of literacy learning shared between music and language arts literacy skills; MLST test samples were measured in the longitudinal samples across years 2-4; Test scores demonstrated significant average improvement from levels at a rate of .5 per grade level per year. (1.0-3.5 categorical scale) over grades K-5; results were tabulated annually.

B.             Outcome Objectives: Produce an annual analysis of the relationship of student achievement among areas of Language Arts and Math in comparison with data from control schools. (GPRA Requirement)

C.             Outcome Objective: Statistical analysis to demonstrate degree of association among music, language arts and math ranging from non-significant to significant predictors of association at the .60 level, r2 =.36 or higher

 Source: The Oakland Unified School District’s (OUSD) Music Integration Learning Environment (MILE) Arts in Education Model Development & Dissemination (AEMDD) Project (2009-2013) Principal Investigator’s Final Report June 2014 Submitted by Dr. Lawrence Scripp, Center for Music-in-Education, Inc.

 The lower grade levels (K-2) showed the most gains in literacy and music literacy. For students struggling with English as a second language, our study showed that music provides a bridge to early language acquisition, reading readiness, increased creativity and social emotional skills. We found that music is especially effective in reaching children who may have difficulty with conventional teaching methods.

 We learned that training classroom teachers to successfully incorporate arts integration techniques in their classrooms enhances student learning.  Our study indicated that in classes where the teaching artist provided delivery with little teacher support, children showed few gains. When classroom teachers co-taught or took the lead, student English language literacy increased.

 For a copy of the full study, contact us at info@mustcreate.orgSan Francisco’s Achieving Through Music Program

MUST’S ORIGINAL RESEARCH: MUSIC INTERVENTION’S EFFECTS ON AT-RISK YOUTH

MUST’S Achieving through Music program

 “I’ve been moved from high school to high school because of my behavior, and I was never given music. I don’t go to school, and now I’m in here. I would go to school for music.” – anonymous incarcerated youth in our program, March 2004.

In spring of 2005, Ms. Deborah Bradway, Director of Music in Schools Today’s Achieving through Music (AM) program, completed a longitudinal study of roughly 1,000 students receiving therapeutic music intervention (TMI). One hundred students at James Lick Middle School wee studied over four years and 200 for three years. We then added a program at Luther Burbank Middle School, serving 450 students at each school for the last two years of the study.

Assumption: At-risk students may arrive at school suffering from the “fight or flight” syndrome, a neurological reaction to a high stress environment. In this state, they cannot engage in logical thought. However, they can absorb music used to access and modulate their emotions. The neurotransmitters in the body allow the music message to over-ride the pain message (Deborah Bradway Masters Thesis, New York University, 1996).

Making music provides successful and inclusive experiences. It allows for purposeful transfer of ideas and creates social unity. Specific academic skill levels can be built through music, accessing math skills such as problem solving, cause and effect, spatial temporal development, relationship, ratio, logic reasoning, symbol systems, multi-tasking and depth complexity comprehension, and language skills such as phonation, long-term memory, phrasing, sequencing, contextual comprehension, aesthetic value and meaning.

 Ms. Bradway’s research on students who participated in AM for two years indicates:

• 100% of students who received one- on-one mentoring through AM increased their Grade Point Average (GPA) pre to post.

• In large class intervention, on average over four years time, 75% of the students who received the AM program improved their attendance, GPA and/or citizenship scores (school behavior records).

• Pre to Post tests showed increased scores for self-esteem: student perception of ability in academic subjects improved by 78% of students.

•  Approximately four fifths, or 80%, of the students felt AM positively affected their academic school ability and increased their college interest, with 25% of those students rating it the highest on a Likert Scale in comparison to other programs for helping them enhance their abilities.

• Surveys indicated that 62% of 8th grade middle school students graduating and going on to high school can cite the name of the college they would like to attend in correlation to their career choice.

• When asked to compare programs students had received, two thirds of the students receiving AM programs rated it as one of the most effective programs they participated in.

• Parent participation increased by approximately 70% in attendance and communication logs when students performed at their school.  Parents of students performing would attend events and communicate via phone to discuss student progress, participate in planning and assisting their child in the process.

• MUST’s school district teacher professional development evaluations showed 97% of teachers wanted to apply the TMI concepts in their classrooms after one training session.

 Supporting Statistics

 Ms. Bradway’s research of at-risk students receiving therapeutic drumming intervention at James Lick Middle School compared to a control group at Luther Burbank over a two year period  indicates that weekly TMI can increase school attendance and grade average by more than 50%!

 Information collected in 2005 by San Francisco’s Department of Children, Youth and Their Families indicates that  1/3 of African American males age 15-17 will be arrested and put in Juvenile Hall in a given year. Our study shows that of 1,078 Gear Up students who received AM services for two years (48% African American, Special Education, and students identified as exhibiting high-risk behaviors), less than 1% of the students have ended up in Juvenile Hall over a four year period.In urban areas almost all of the children are at risk and the most at-risk of these come from under-served neighborhoods. The drop out rate is a staggering one third to one half of all students. Eighty-four per cent of African American students skip school at least once very two weeks. African American and Latinos are over-represented in Bay Area juvenile correction facilities, reinforcing studies that show a direct correlation between truancy, juvenile delinquency and adult incarceration. (San Francisco Chronicle, 3/2/04).

 Student crime costs the city of San Francisco $10 million in state revenue annually – (Joan Ryan, SF Chronicle, march 2004).

 “I remember that my home was sketchy, and I didn’t always go to school or do what I was supposed to do. I went to school because of the music. It gave me something else to think about besides my problems.” – AM Program Youth Leader John Minor

 A music therapy pilot project at James Lick Middle School Sponsored by Remo, Inc..

 In October, 2000, Deborah Bradway, a certificated music teacher and board certified music therapist, was hired by the San Francisco Unified School District as a seventh grade resource teacher for James Lick Middle School (JLMS).  It was agreed by the principal and dean of JLMS that in conjunction with the requirements of the position a year- long pilot project might be carried out simultaneously, measuring the effects of therapeutic music techniques and community drumming on student attendance, behavior and academic performance. 

 The school selected different groups from the seventh grade and a few individuals to receive services.  One group was a lunch- time drumming group, geared toward improvisation drum circle performance. However, the group most easily measured (due to consistency) was the academic enrichment (AE) class that met daily for a 50-minute class period.  The lunch-time group named themselves Rhythmic Groove, and became the schools focus of entertainment for school assemblies and at the talent show.

 The AE groups, both control and music began in September with 16 students, and increased to 18 after teachers suggested that the community drumming might be helpful for 2 students who were struggling.  The control group was selected from regular Academic Enrichment classes held by academic teachers and did not receive arts courses in their matriculation. Also, the control group was selected after the first quarter marks were available. The control group was selected for a tight fit:

The control group was hand picked to match:  Gender, Ethnicity, Personality (behavior issues), Ability Level (Spec. Ed., Special Day Class, Mainstreamed, etc.), and Starting Grades in first quarter marking period.  

The study was focused on what motivates culturally diverse students to learn, feel validated and accepted by our San Francisco Unified Schools community through the use of a community drum circle.

 7th Grade Academic Enrichment Class 

·      Began in October 2000, and went through June 2001
·      Met 5 days a week for 50 minutes during school class time
·      18 students in music therapy group receiving: music therapy and therapeutic language arts combined, taught by a certified music teacher and masters level music therapist
·      18 control group students received regular AE academic class curriculum

 End of the Year Results:

Behavior:  Music Intervention Group: 18 out of 18 students maintained or improved their behavior as marked by other teachers in citizenship marks on their report cards.

Control Group:  11 out of 18 students showed a decrease in positive behaviors as indicated by their citizenship marks, that’s a 61% deficit in behavior.

Academics:  Music Intervention Group: 14 out of 18 students maintained or improved their grade point average (GPA), with the largest decrease in GPA being 3 points for the remaining 4 students. These 4 students went from a higher level “B” to a medium level “B”.

Control Group:  9 out of 18 students maintained or improved their GPA, with the largest decreases in GPA being 24, 16, and 15 points, bringing their grades from a “B” to a “D”, or a “C” to an “F”.

Absenteeism:  Music Intervention Group:  6 out of 18 students had attendance problems, with the highest records indicating 30, 28, and 22 days absent during the year.  Each student in this group missed an average of 11 days a year.

Control Group:  13 out of 18 students had attendance problems, with the highest records indicating 53,43, and 41 days absent during the year. Each student in this group missed an average of 22 days a year, which is double in comparison to the intervention group.