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Missing from Class The scheduling of music lessons during the busy school day can be quite a challenge. Many schools schedule students on a weekly rotating basis: one week the new musician leaves his or her 1st period class for instrument lessons, the following week music lessons take place during the 2nd period class, and so on. Parents often express concern that the loss of this classroom time will have a detrimental effect on their children's academic performance. Several studies have addressed their concern. Kvet studied over 2000 students in four different school districts and discovered that children who were removed from class to study music did not demonstrate any decrease in their reading, language, and math abilities as compared to their non-musical schoolmates. Earlier studies by Friedman** and by Groff** had also produced the same results. In all three studies, the students were matched for variables such as age, gender, I.Q., and cumulative achievement. Additionaly, the researchers' results held true despite differences in school size and socioeconomic level. Parents need not worry that missed class time due to music instruction will adversely effect their child's report card. In fact, teachers and parents may well observe that music participation leads to greater success with other academic challenges! *1985 Kvet **1963 Friedman **1963 Groff
A number of studies have examined the relationship between music instruction and reading skills. In one study*, 110 third graders were divided into two groups, equally matched on I.Q., gender, reading ability, and spelling ability. The students in the experimental group, however, recieved 25 weeks of instrumental instruction (using stringed instruments). The control group recieved no such instruction. By the end of the study, the students recieving the music instruction were reading at a level almost 2 months ahead of those who were not provided with music education. Furthermore, when the achievements of the low readers in each group were compared, it was discovered that the students in the music group had progressed a full 3 1/2 months beyond their counterparts in the control group. These findings are consistent with other, similar research, all of which point out that learning to play a musical instrument will augment the reading ability of the young musician. In addition, Pelletier's work demonstrates that the practice of discouraging or prohibiting the lower-achieving student from participation in music lessons is unwarranted. Music education has been shown to enhance, not hinder, students' performance in other academics. *1965 Pelletier
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