| Researchers of music education strongly suggest, based on the results of their studies, that students who have access to music instruction are more likely to be successful in other academic areas (President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, 1996). Yet, music education is not accessible to all students, especially those who live in low wealth (property poor) school districts that enroll large numbers of minority students. This situation is typical in many areas of the state of Texas, especially in urban areas and in school districts located on the U.S./Mexico border.; This researcher studied the academic difference between music students and non-music students in a large west Texas urban school district. The instrument used was the 2006 Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAKS) for mathematics and language arts at the 10th grade level.; Results indicate that there is a valid statistical overall difference between music students and non-music students with regard to academic achievement on the TAKS. Further, a statistical significance was found between music and nonmusic students with regard to gender. Finally, a statistical difference was found between music and non-music students regarding gender and ethnicity combined. In all statistically significant findings music students do outperform non-music students on the 2006 TAKS. |
