The Effect of Instrumental Music Participation and Socioeconomic Status on Ohio Fourth-, Sixth-, and Ninth-Grade Proficiency Test Performance

This study is a comparison of the Ohio Proficiency Test (OPT) results of instrumental music students and their noninstrumental classmates according to socioeconomic status (SES) over time. Subjects ( N= 15,431) were students in the Columbus Public Schools in Ohio, whose fourth-, sixth-, and ninth-grade OPT results were compared with others of like SES on the subjects of citizenship, math, science, and reading. Results show that instrumental students outperformed noninstrumental students in every subject and at every grade level. Instrumental students at both levels of SES held higher scores than their noninstrumental classmates from the fourth grade, suggesting that instrumental music programs attract higher scorers from the outset of instruction. Results also show a pattern of increased achievement by lower SES instrumental students, who surpassed their higher SES noninstrumental classmates by the ninth grade in all subjects. September 15, 2005 March 20, 2006

A Comparison Study of the Ohio Proficiency Test Results between Fourth-Grade String Pullout Students and Those of Matched Ability

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a pullout string program on student achievement in the writing, reading, mathematics, and citizenship sections of the Ohio Proficiency Test. One hundred forty-eight fourth-grade string students and 148 fourth-grade nonstring students from a southwestern Ohio city school district were ability-matched according to their performance on the verbal section of the Cognitive Abilities Test. The scores of the Ohio Proficiency Test were then recorded and compared. This study involved a two-group static-group comparison design. A two-sample independent t-test analysis was used to determine if there was a significant difference between the achievement scores of the string students who were excused from class twice a week for 30 minutes and the matched group of nonstring students who remained in class. It was hypothesized that there would be no significant difference between the two matched groups. The results revealed a significant difference in favor of the string students' achievement in reading and citizenship, with no significant difference between the two matched groups in the writing and mathematics sections of the Ohio Proficiency Test.