An analysis of the influence of music on academic achievement in urban educatio

This study sought to examine the relation between participation in music classes and achievement in reading and mathematics; additionally, it sought to determine the interaction effects between gender and participation in music classes.;Four research hypotheses were formulated and tested at the 0.05 alpha level. Two of these hypotheses specified that when third grade reading or mathematics achievement is controlled, the reading or mathematics achievement of fifth grade students who participate in music classes is higher than that of students who do not participate in music classes. The other two research hypotheses were interaction hypotheses. They specified that when third grade reading or mathematics achievement is controlled, the effect of participation in music classes on fifth grade reading or mathematics achievement is moderated by gender.;The population consisted of 801 fifth grade students attending 112 schools in an urban school district in the state of Maryland. This population included only those students who had third grade scores on the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills available. A sample of 801 students was randomly selected from the aforementioned population of fifth grade students.;The data generated from this non-experimental research design was analyzed using the analysis of covariance, (ANCOVA). The data analysis indicated that for the first two hypotheses, the null hypotheses was rejected (p 0.05). Therefore, it may be concluded that participation in music classes has a positive effect on reading and mathematics achievement for the study population. However, gender does not moderate the effect of participation in music classes on the reading and mathematics achievement of fifth grade students.