Who is Here?: An Analysis of Middle School Music Enrollment

• In Event: Prevalence of Arts Engagement in Childhood and Associated Benefits for Cognitive, Physiological, and Social-Emotional Outcomes

Abstract

Objective: Extant research in music education has highlighted the social, emotional, and creative benefits of creating and consuming music (Hallam, 2010; Koops, 2018). Existing demographic research of music students (Alegrado & Winsler, 2020; Elpus & Abril, 2019) has shown that only a small portion of the middle school population in the U.S. enrolls in school music programs. Using data from the Longitudinal Study of American Youth (LSAY) Third Cohort, I examined what personal and social contextual predict the likelihood that a seventh-grader will enroll in a band, choir, or orchestra (BCO) class during their spring semester.

Method: Four logistic regressions were used to examine potential influential factors on student enrollment in music courses including parental education, parental engagement, students’ extracurricular activities, and peer influences. Model 1 contains variables that represent environmental aspects of a student’s life, Model 2 contains variables that are related to a student’s internal desire to make music, Model 3 contains variables that represent external navigation of a student’s music making, and Model 4 contains variables that represent a combination of internal and external navigation.

Data source: The LSAY Third Cohort consisted of 3,721 seventh-graders enrolled in public schools across the U.S. Students were in the Fall of 2015 and Spring of 2016, and their parents were surveyed in the Spring of 2016.

Results: In the second model (Table 1), controlling for all other variables, the odds of a seventh-grader being enrolled in BCO increased by a factor of 13.36 (p< 0.001) if they reported playing a musical instrument at home on a weekly basis. The odds of a student enrolling in BCO increased by a factor of 2.3 (p< 0.001) if the student reported playing music for fun on a weekly basis, and increased by a factor of 2 (p< 0.001) if they reported having friends who also played musical instruments. In the third model (Table 2), controlling for all other variables, the odds of a seventh-grader enrolling in BCO increased by as factor of 1.53 (p< 0.01) if they reported playing music with their parents over the summer, and increased by a factor of 5.32 (p< 0.001) if they reported that there was a musical instrument for them to play at home.

Scholarly significance: The results highlight the importance of recognizing numerous factors that are associated with a student enrolling in school-music classes. While there are definite demographic characteristics that contribute to the association of enrollment, there are also significant factors that are both in and out of a student’s control. Factors out of a student’s control, such as having an instrument at home or a parent’s education, are important to recognize as influential associations because this information provides insight into who has access to music education and who does not. These factors are then compounded with variables related to a caregiver’s willingness, ability, and availability to provide additional support, such as the provision of time spent together making music or additional summer lessons outside of school.

Author

• Allison Reisinger Durbin, University of Maryland - College Park
  Presenting Author