The Importance of Music Education

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Recommended: The advantages and disadvantages of music education

“Recent studies show that being involved in music classes makes it easier to learn other subjects and improve skills in other classrooms” (Brown, “The Benefits of Music Education”). A lot of people tend to overlook how much music education has an impact on the success of a student. Because of this, schools should be required to offer fine arts and music classes as electives for the students. Not only will this improve the students test scores, but it will also give the students a broader imagination and more creativity in and out of the classroom. In a lot of schools, fine arts and musical classes are the first to go when there are budget cuts. “Seventy-one percent of the nation’s fifteen thousand school districts have cut instructional hours spent on music and other subjects” (“State of the arts: should music and art classes be brushed aside”). Not only is it affecting the teachers who have specialized in the study of fine arts, it is affecting all of the students and parents who are actively involved in these programs. “Johnson, professor of music education and music therapy and associate dean of the School of Fine Arts at KU, found jumps of twenty-two percent in English test scores and twenty percent in math scores at elementary schools with superior music education” (Lynch “Music Boosts Test Scores”). With that being said, schools should be required to offer music and fine arts classes as an elective for their students.
Students enrolled in music classes and lessons have higher test scores than the students who are not enrolled in these classes. Music education has a strong impact on the success of a student in the classroom. "Music majors have the highest SAT scores in all areas" (Mickela “Music and Student Development”). Th...

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Lynch, Brendan. "Music Boosts Test Scores." Research Matters. The University of Kansas, 31 Mar.
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Mundell, E.J.. "Sorry, Kids, Piano Lessons Make You Smarter." Forbes.com. ScoutNews LLC, 15
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Smith, Fran. “Why Arts Education Is Crucial, and Who’s Doing It Best.” Edutopia.org. The George
Lucas Educational Foundation, 28 Jan 2009. Web. 21 Feb. 2014.

“State of the arts: should music and art classes be brushed aside?” Current Events, a Weekly Reader publication 27 Apr. 2009: 7+. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 13 Jan. 2014.

Woods, Pamela. "The Advantages of Having Fine Arts Classes in High
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