Predictors of Taking Elective Music Courses in Middle School Among Low-SES, Ethnically Diverse Students in Miami
Abstract
Researchers attempting to show that music has positive effects on children need to understand and control for preexisting differences between those who do and do not select into musical participation in the first place. Within a large-scale, communitywide, prospective, longitudinal study of predominantly low-income, ethnically diverse students ( N = 31,332), we examined characteristics of students who did and did not enroll in music elective courses (band, choir, orchestra, guitar, other) in public middle schools (sixth, seventh, and eighth grades) in Miami. Predictor variables included gender, ethnicity, poverty, special education, English language learner status, fifth-grade English proficiency, prior academic performance (fifth-grade grade point average [GPA], standardized math and reading test scores), and initial school readiness skills (social, behavioral, cognitive, language, and motor skills) at age 4. Only 23% of middle school students enrolled in a music class in sixth, seventh, or eighth grade, with band having the highest enrollment, followed by choir, orchestra, and guitar. Being male and having greater cognitive skills at age 4 and higher fifth-grade GPA and reading skills were related to later music participation. Black students, students in special education, and those not proficient in English were less likely to participate in middle school music classes. Results varied somewhat by type of music.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Lack of access to school music classes for Black students in Miami, Florida, significantly contributed to less middle school music participation among Black students compared with students of other ethnicities.
“lack of access to school music classes for Black students in Miami, Florida, significantly contributed to less middle school music participation among Black students when compared with students of other ethnicities”
From Understanding Participation in Secondary Music Classes: A Literature Review (2020) · cites this paper as Alegrado & Winsler, 2020
Students who were English Language Proficient by fifth grade had three times greater odds for school music participation compared with students who were not ELP.
“students who were English Language Proficient (ELP) by fifth grade had three times greater odds for school music participation when compared with students who were not ELP”
From Understanding Participation in Secondary Music Classes: A Literature Review (2020) · cites this paper as Alegrado & Winsler, 2020
Students enrolled in special education are less likely to participate in secondary music classes.
“students enrolled in special education are less likely to participate in secondary music classes”
From Understanding Participation in Secondary Music Classes: A Literature Review (2020) · cites this paper as Alegrado & Winsler, 2020
A student's ethnicity is sometimes related to the type of music class they join.
“a student's ethnicity is sometimes related to the type of music class they join”
From Understanding Participation in Secondary Music Classes: A Literature Review (2020) · cites this paper as Alegrado & Winsler, 2020
Middle school ELL students in Miami enrolled in music classes at similar rates to their peers.
“middle school ELL students in Miami enrolled in music classes at similar rates to their peers”
From Understanding Participation in Secondary Music Classes: A Literature Review (2020) · cites this paper as Alegrado & Winsler, 2020
High academic performance is one of the primary predictors of participation in secondary music classes, even when controlling for other demographic factors such as ethnicity or poverty.
“High academic performance is one of the primary predictors of participation in secondary music classes, even when controlling for other demographic factors such as ethnicity or poverty”
From Understanding Participation in Secondary Music Classes: A Literature Review (2020) · cites this paper as Alegrado & Winsler, 2020
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Understanding Participation in Secondary Music Classes: A Literature Review
Pendergast, S. (2020) · Update: Applications of Research in Music Education · doi:10.1177/8755123320928479 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Participation and Persistence in High School Elective Music Ensembles
Elpus, K., & Abril, C. R. (2025) · Journal of Research in Music Education · doi:10.1177/00224294241247267 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
- Authors
- Alegrado, A., & Winsler, A.
- Affiliations
- George Mason University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Alegrado, Alenamie
- ORCID
- Winsler, Adam
- Venue
- Journal of Research in Music Education
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2020-03-13
- Volume
- 68
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 5-30
- ISSN
- 0022-4294 (ISSN-L)
- 1945-0095
- OpenAlex
- W3011910256
- Cited by
- 36
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 1
- FWCI
- 52.84
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Research in Music Education (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Endowment for the Arts (15-3800-7015)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Music › Diverse Music Education Insights
- Social Sciences › Safety Research › Youth Development and Social Support
- Social Sciences › Education › Music Education and Analysis
- Keywords
- music participation, junior high school students, low socioeconomic status, ethnic diversity, bands, choir, orchestras, guitar, gender differences, English language learners, special education, prior academic achievement, poverty, Miami
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
