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Version 1.2 – Updated June 2023

Music-based reading programs

Overview

  • Influence: Music-based reading programs
  • Domain: Curricula
  • Sub-Domain: Reading, writing and the arts
  • Potential to Accelerate Student Achievement: Likely to have positive impact
  • Influence Definition: Such programs use music to promote reading among children. They have been found most effective when music activities are linked to specific reading skills, such as pairing alphabet recognition with phonetic patterns. The benefits of music education to reading is greater when specialized music-reading activities are added to the existing music curriculum rather than when these activities replace the music curriculum.

Evidence

  • Number of meta-analyses: 6
  • Number of studies: 149
  • Number of students: 5,747,987
  • Number of effects: 313
  • Weighted mean effect size: 0.38
  • Robustness index: 3

Meta-Analyses

Meta-Analyses
Journal Title Author First Author's Country Article Name Year Published Variable Number of Studies Number of Students Number of Effects Effect Size
International Journal of Music Education Cooper USA Cooper, P.K. (2020). It's all in your head: A meta-analysis on the effects of music training on cognitive measures in schoolchildren. 2020 Music training 21 5,612 105 0.28
Language, Culture and Curriculum Murphy Odo Korea Examining the influence of English songs on English L2 lexical learning: a quantitative meta-analytic review.  2021 Music on vocabulary 27 1,864 28 0.89
Frontiers in Psychology Gordon, Fehd, & McCandliss USA Does music training enhance literacy skills? A meta-analysis. 2015 Music training on literacy skills 13 901 12 0.19
Journal of Aesthetic Education Butzlaff USA Can music be used to teach reading? 2000 Music programs on reading 30 5,734,878 30 0.35
Book Bentley USA Everyday artists: Inquiry and creativity in the early childhood classroom 2013 Music interventions 20 1,647 20 0.42
Current Directions in Psychological Science Sala & Gobet UK Does far transfer exist? Negative evidence from chess, music, and working memory training 2017 Music on achievement 38 3,085 118 0.16
TOTAL/AVERAGE 149 5,747,987 313 0.38
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