| Research shows music education improves reading literacy, fluency, and phonological awareness of primary students. This impact has been demonstrated by theorists such as Thares, Standley, and Eastlund-Gromko. Most of the available research in this area, has addressed children from suburban school districts in middle to upper class communities only. To address the gap, this study examined the effect of music education on reading test scores, as measured by standardized test scores, among primary students in inner-city, low socioeconomic situations. This study used results of the reading section of the Terra Nova for a population of students currently in Grades 3 and 4 who had been exposed to music education from kindergarten through Grade 2. The control group consisted of students currently in Grades 3 and 4 who had not been exposed to music education from kindergarten through Grade 2. The sample size consisted of 400 students from each group. Data were analyzed through descriptive statistics employing t-test and ANOVA. The findings were not statistically significant. Although the findings did not indicate a positive effect of music education test scores, other researchers can use this work as a springboard to further research. This research will guide future research efforts by allowing researchers to examine the role of music and literacy skills in an urban environment by conducting a qualitative study. The groups of educators/professionals that could benefit from reading this work would be music educators, reading teachers, and any supplemental teacher responsible for teaching reading to students. |
