During the past decade urban American schools saw a decline in music programs due to value-based decisions favoring investment in subjects with high stakes testing. At the same time advances in neuroscience research point to a link between playing a musical instrument and increased literacy skills. The purpose of this case study was to understand how playing a musical instrument for five consecutive years relates to measures of literacy achievement for urban middle school students. Furthermore, how the perceptions and beliefs of educators about this relationship affect their value-based decisions was explored. The findings indicate that in seven out of eight independent t-tests of eighth grade scores from the 2014 English Language Arts MCAS exam, a statistically significant difference was found suggesting that instrumental students outscore their non-instrumental peers. Focus groups of administrators, music educators and English Language Arts educators were conducted separately and findings yielded nine major themes relating to educators' perceptions, beliefs and values. They indicate that educators have a belief system that is built on personal experiences and research. Across all three focus groups the belief was expressed that students who study a musical instrument have higher achievement on measures of literacy. This belief paired with the parallel belief that band builds skills for success, guided educators to advocate for decisions that allocate resources to increase opportunity for instrumental instruction in the studied district. Recommendations for practice include increasing opportunity for sequential instrumental instruction in urban public schools and convening small discussion groups of educators, parents or other to discuss perceptions, beliefs and values..

The purpose of this study was to explore the possible relationship between instrumental music education in Grades 8 and 11 and critical thinking as assessed by the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment. The subsets that were examined included Reading (B): Interpretation and Analysis of Fictional and Nonfictional Text, which assesses the academic standards 1.1, Learning to read independently; standard 1.2, Reading critically in all content areas; standard 1.3, Reading, analyzing and interpreting literature, and Mathematics, sections C.1 Geometry- Analyze characteristics of two and three dimensional shapes, D.2 Algebraic concepts- Analyze mathematical situations using numbers, symbols, words, tables and/or graphs, and E.1 Data analysis and probability- Interpret and analyze data by formulating answers or questions (Pennsylvania Department of Education, 2009-2010). The sample consisted of Instrumental students (N = 50) and Noninstrumental music students (N = 50) over 2 graduated high school classes. The results indicated that the Instrumental music sample consistently outscored the Noninstrumental music sample when comparing the Reading B, Mathematics M.C.1, M.D.2, and M.E.1 subsections of the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment with significant increases noted from 8th to 11th grade.

There are many problems faced by students in terms of learning or grasping what is taught in class. Students undergo difficulties where complex subjects and terms taught through conventional methods do not really have the desired effect. Theatre is a great medium for teaching school subjects as students will themselves perform the roles and involve in learning the subject, at the same time they have fun. This is what theatre does, fun learning. Children enjoy and are motivated as they themselves perform. The history of theatre can also be seen as a creative evolution of Human Art. Though theatre is one of the art forms, it is seen today with all its technicalities and creative use of all other art forms, such as painting, music, design, and architecture. It can be seen as the history of human art.

Summarizing data derived from a study of the implementation of one standards-based middle school curriculum program, Mathematics in Context, this book demonstrates the challenges of conducting comparative longitudinal research in the reality of school life.

This study examined whether or not students that participated in a school sponsored instrumental music program had higher academic achievement and attendance than students that did not participate in a school sponsor instrumental music program. Units of measurement included standardized test scores and attendance, without taking into consideration variables such as gender, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status. This study concentrated on participants from three middle schools (6-8) and three high schools (9-12) in Baltimore County, Maryland. Data were gathered on Maryland School Assessment (MSA) and Maryland High School Assessment (HSA) scores and federally reported school attendance rates were accessed based on the 2007-2008 school year. Four research questions were investigated and six null hypotheses were tested at the .05 level of significance. Independent samples t -tests were used to compare enrollment in instrumental music classes to student's academic achievement and attendance rate. There were statistically significant differences among the high school students enrolled in an instrumental music class and those that were not enrolled in instrumental music class on the English and algebra sections of the HSA, and in the attendance rates. The HSA scores of the students that were enrolled in an instrumental music class were significantly higher on both sections of the test. They also had significantly higher attendance rates than the students that were not enrolled in an instrumental music class. These findings suggest the high school students that participate in a school sponsored instrumental music program have higher academic achievement and attendance rates than high school students that do not participate in a school sponsored instrumental music program. The results of data analysis showed that in middle school there were no statistically significant differences among the students from the three middle schools that were enrolled in an instrumental music class and the middle school students that were not enrolled in an instrumental music class on the reading and mathematics sections of the MSA or in attendance rates. These findings suggest that participation in an instrumental music class on the middle school level had no significant impact on student achievement or attendance.