Music participation linked to academic achievement

A neat study to be published in the March, 2009 issue of Social Science Quarterly has found that children and adolescents involved in music, inside and outside of school, fare better academically than their non-musical counterparts.

The researchers, Darby Soutgate and Vincent Roscigno of Ohio State University, analyzed data from the U.S. Department of Education, and discovered that students who took music lessons and attended concerts with their parents had better scores in reading and math scores.

Unsurprisingly, according to the study, children of lower socioeconomic status had less access to music participation than those of higher socioeconomic status.

In their conclusion, the authors note that "music involvement is a form of cultural capital that seems to provide cognitive and social tools that help students successfully navigate the educational terrain."

This adds  to the growing body of evidence that  music (and art) education should be part of every child's schooling.