The positive relationship between music arts course-taking and math achievement mainly occurs in schools with more socially privileged students

In their journal article first published online last month in Sociological Perspectives, authors Freeman and Shifrer noted that attempts to address disparities in math scores in US high schools may actually perpetuate those disparities when arts classes are cut. While previous research “using non-representational data, limited controls, or aggregate measures of arts course-taking” has shown a link between arts education and math outcomes, Freeman and Shifrer wanted to use a large, nationally representative dataset to investigate whether student accumulation of fine arts courses across different topic areas was related to higher math test scores in high school. They also wondered if a school’s socioeconomic status affected that relationship. To answer these questions, the authors took advantage of the longitudinal design and detailed transcript data available in the nationally representative study, High School Longitudinal Study, 2009-2013 (HSLS:09) [United States] (ICPSR 36423). Conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics and distributed by the National Archive of Data on Arts & Culture, the HSLS:09 is a study of 9th graders who were followed through their secondary and postsecondary years. The study’s emphasis was on understanding students’ trajectories from the beginning of high school into postsecondary education, the workforce, and beyond. The HSLS base-year survey was conducted in the fall of 2009 with 21,444 9th graders in 944 public and private high schools in the US. The three follow-up waves thus far have occurred in 2012, 2013, and 2016 (not available from ICPSR). During Wave 1, students’ parents, math and science teachers, school administrators, and counselors also were surveyed. For their analysis, Freeman and Shifrer examined survey data from 20,590 respondents in Wave 1 and 2, as well as their linked transcript data obtained in Wave 2. They examined math test scores and arts course taking, controlling for multiple factors. Among their many findings, they showed that taking music courses at higher- or mid-socioeconomic status schools relates to higher math test scores, but not for youth attending low-socioeconomic status schools. Click here for more publications that use HSLS:09 data.