School Engagement Among Music and Non-Music Students

• In Event: Engagement and Self-Concept in Music Education

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to understand whether, and if so, the degree to which school-based music education in high school is linked to students’ engagement in school. Following Fredricks et al. (2015), we broadly defined school engagement as being comprised of behavioral, cognitive, and emotional domains. Using cross-sectional data from four nationally-representative surveys in American public and private high schools spanning the 1980s—2010s, we found that ensemble music students were significantly more engaged in school than their non-music or non-ensemble music peers. Effect sizes across cohorts centered around .20 of an SD. We posit that school engagement may be one important mechanism linking music education to improved school outcomes.

Authors

• Kenneth Elpus, University of Maryland

• Bri'Ann Wright, California State University - Fullerton