ARTS ADVOCACY INFORMATION “Some people think music education is a privilege, but I think it’s essential to being human.” - Jewel – singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist In a 1995 study in Hamilton, Ohio, string students who participated in pullout lessons averaged higher scores than the non-pullout students in all areas of the Ohio Proficiency Test. Sixty-eight (68) percent of the string students achieved satisfactory ratings on all sections of the test, compared to fifty-eight (58) percent of the non-pullout students. - Michael D. Wallick, “A Comparison Study of the Ohio Proficiency Test Results Between Fourth-Grade String Pullout Students and Those of Matched Ability,” Journal of Research in Music Education, 1998. According to a 2000 survey, eighty-one (81) percent of people responding believe that participating in school music corresponds with better grades and test scores. This is an increase of fourteen (14) percent over the 1997 results for the same question. - Attitudes, NAMM (International Music Products Association), 2000. Researchers at the University of California and the Niigata Brain Research Institute in Japan have found an area of the brain that is activated only when reading musical scores. - “Musical Brain – Special Brain Area Found for Reading Music Scores,” NeuroReport, 1998. The scores of elementary instrumental music students on standardized math tests increased with each year they participated in the instrumental program. - “Music Training Helps Underachievers,” Nature, May 26, 1996. In a 2000 survey, 73 percent of respondents agree that teens who play an instrument are less likely to have discipline problems. - Americans Love Making Music – And Value Music Education More Highly Than Ever, American Music Conference, 2000. Students who can perform complex rhythms can also make faster and more precise corrections in many academic and physical situations, according to the Center for Timing, Coordination, and Motor Skills. - Rhythm seen as key to music’s evolutionary role in human intellectual development, Center for Timing, Coordination, and Motor Skills, 2000. A ten-year study indicates that students who study music achieve higher test scores, regardless of socioeconomic background. - Dr. James Catterall, UCLA. Students who are rhythmically skilled also tend to better plan, sequence, and coordinate actions in their daily lives. - “Cassily Column,” TCAMS Professional Resource Center, 2000. students in the arts are found to be more cooperative with teachers and peers, more self-confident, and better able to express their ideas. These benefits exist across socioeconomic levels. - The Arts Education Partnership, 1999. College admissions officers continue to cite participation in music as an important factor in making admissions decisions. They claim that music participation demonstrates time management, creativity, expression, and open-mindedness. - Carl Hartman, “Arts May Improve Students’ Grades,” The Associated Press, October, 1999. Music students demonstrate less test anxiety and performance anxiety than students who do not study music. - “College-Age Musicians Emotionally Healthier than Non-Musician Counterparts,” Houston Chronicle, 1998. Second and third grade students who were taught fractions through musical rhythms scored one hundred (100) percent higher on fractions tests than those who learned in the conventional manner. - “Rhythm Students Learn Fractions More Easily,” Neurological Research, March 15, 1999 Practicing musicians demonstrate 25 percent more brain activity than non-musicians when listening to musical sounds. - Exposure to Music Is Instrumental to the Brain, University of Muenster. Students who participate in school band or orchestra have the lowest levels of current and lifelong use of alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs among any group in our society. - H. Con. Res 266, United States Senate, June 13, 2000. Teachers in schools with strong arts programs report greater professional interest, motiva- tion, self-development, and increased innovation in the classroom. - Champions of Change federal study, 1999.