ERIC Number: EJ1015076
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2013-Jul
Pages: 20
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0022-4294
EISSN: N/A
Is It the Music or Is It Selection Bias? A Nationwide Analysis of Music and Non-Music Students' SAT Scores
Elpus, Kenneth
Journal of Research in Music Education, v61 n2 p175-194 Jul 2013
This study examined the college entrance examination scores of music and non-music students in the United States, drawing data from the restricted-use data set of the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS), a nationally representative education study ("N" = 15,630) conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics. Analyses of high school transcript data from ELS showed that 1.127 million students (36.38% of the U.S. class of 2004) graduated high school having earned at least one course credit in music. Fixed-effects regression procedures were used to compare standardized test scores of these music students to their non-music peers while controlling for variables from the domains of demography, prior academic achievement, time use, and attitudes toward school. Results indicated that music students did not outperform non-music students on the SAT once these systematic differences had been statistically controlled. The obtained pattern of results remained consistent and robust through internal replications with another standardized math test and when disaggregating music students by type of music studied. (Contains 1 table and 3 notes.)
Descriptors: College Entrance Examinations, Music Education, High School Students, Scores, Comparative Analysis, Academic Achievement, Student Attitudes, Regression (Statistics), Longitudinal Studies, Standardized Tests, Time Management, Correlation
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Publication Type: Reports - Research; Journal Articles
Education Level: High Schools; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: SAT (College Admission Test)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A