Exploring the long-term associations between adolescents’ music training and academic achievement

Abstract

There is a positive relationship between learning music and academic achievement, although doubts remain regarding the mechanisms underlying this association. This research analyses the academic performance of music and non-music students from seventh to ninth grade. The study controls for socioeconomic status, intelligence, motivation and prior academic achievement. Data were collected from 110 adolescents at two time points, once when the students were between 11 and 14 years old in the seventh grade, and again 3 years later. Our results show that music students perform better academically than non-music students in the seventh grade (Cohen's d = 0.88) and in the ninth grade (Cohen's d = 1.05). This difference is particularly evident in their scores in Portuguese language and natural science; the difference is somewhat weaker in history and geography scores, and is least pronounced in mathematics and English scores (η 2 p from .09 to .21). A longitudinal analysis also revealed better academic performance by music students after controlling for prior academic achievement (η 2 p = .07). Furthermore, controlling for intelligence, socioeconomic status and motivation did not eliminate the positive association between music learning from the seventh to the ninth grade and students' academic achievement (η 2 p = .06). During the period, music students maintained better and more consistent academic standing. We conclude that, after controlling for intelligence, socioeconomic status and motivation, music training is positively associated with academic achievement.

Longitudinal Analysis of Music Education on Executive Functions in Primary School Children

“…The authors found no significant difference between both groups on tests associated with mathematical skills, thus no far transfer from music to mathematics (Mehr et al, 2013 ). Contrary to these findings, a recent study has investigated a possible transfer from music education to academic achievement in a 3-year follow-up in 11 and 14-year-old children (dos Santos-Luiz et al, 2015 ). Controlling for intelligence, socioeconomic status, and motivation, the authors have found evidence of a far transfer effect from music education to increased Portuguese language skills and marks in natural science.…”

“…In sum, inconclusive results (Detterman, 1993 ; Halpern, 1998 ; Barnett and Ceci, 2002 ; Engle, 2002 ; Ho et al, 2003 ; Costa-Giomi, 2004 ; Schellenberg, 2006 ; Degé and Schwarzer, 2011 ; Degé et al, 2011 ; Moreno et al, 2011 ; Tsang and Conrad, 2011 ; Rickard et al, 2012 ; Corrigall et al, 2013 ; Mehr et al, 2013 ; Roden et al, 2013 , 2014 ; Rodrigues et al, 2013 ; Benz et al, 2015 ; dos Santos-Luiz et al, 2015 ; Flaugnacco et al, 2015 ; Zuk et al, 2015 ; Slevc et al, 2016 ; Swaminathan and Schellenberg, 2016 ; Dumont et al, 2017 ; Holochwost et al, 2017 ; Kraus and White-Schwoch, 2017 ; Sala and Gobet, 2017 ) often find their origin in being set up as correlational. Investigations using a longitudinal design are often quasi-experimental designs lacking randomization (Roden et al, 2014 ) or use non-active control groups (Engle, 2002 ; Ho et al, 2003 ; Costa-Giomi, 2004 ; Schellenberg, 2006 ; Degé et al, 2011 ; Moreno et al, 2011 ; Tsang and Conrad, 2011 ; Rodrigues et al, 2013 ; Roden et al, 2014 ; Slevc et al, 2016 ; Dumont et al, 2017 ; Holochwost et al, 2017 ).…”

Music playschool enhances children’s linguistic skills

“…The relationship between music training and intelligence has been a much debated issue during recent years. Music training 30 – 33 , and its duration 34 have been positively associated with intelligence in children 31 , adolescents 30 and adults 32 , 35 in numerous studies. Forgeard et al .…”

Behavioral Specialization During the Neolithic—An Evolutionary Model

“…One argument could be that learning one task makes the next one easier to learn. For example, some studies find that children with music training outperform their peers in one or more other disciplines (dos Santos-Luiz et al, 2016). However, there can be an argument against this: if tasks are sufficiently different, there could be a task switching cost (Goldsby et al, 2012), or simply different tasks could need mutually exclusive skills.…”