Academic Achievement Correlated to Engagement with Music in New Canadian Study

A Canadian study of educational records for more than 110,000 high school students reports that children who had engaged in school-based music activities or music education showed greater academic achievement than did children who had not engaged in music. These differences, which appear independent of demographic and socioeconomic factors as well as prior academic history, were especially acute for students who played instrumental music versus those who did not. The authors of the study, published in the Journal of Educational Psychology, highlight potential differences in executive functioning, “motivation-related characteristics,” and social-personal development as pathways enabling greater academic achievement for music participants. A summary of the study by Forbes is available here.