The Effects of The Effects of Instrumental Pullout Instrumental Pullout Lessons on Academic Lessons on Academic

Achievement in Grades Achievement in Grades 1-5 and Teacher 1-5 and Teacher

AttitudesAttitudesJenna Stamper

Reason for studyReason for study• Pullout Lessons are a common way to incorporate instrumental

music into schools, particularly in younger grades.o 63.5% of bands use pullout lessons (Delzell & Doerksel 1998 as cited

by Hash)o 74.3% of orchestras use pullout lessons (Delzell & Doerksel 1998 as

cited by Hash)

• Teacher Concernso Will my students get behind in their schoolwork?o Will this cause my workload to increase?o Will this negatively affect students grades?

Lit. Review: Related Lit. Review: Related StudiesStudies

• Kvet (1985)o Compared 6th grade student cumulative achievement in reading,

language, matho Large Sample size: 4 districts, 26 different schoolso Varying demographics, but similar set up for pullout lessonso Used matched pairing system to control for variableso Results: No Significant Difference

• Wallick (1998)o Compared all 4th grade students in an Ohio school district (9,900

students in district) based on the Ohio Proficiency Test (OPT)o Used Matched pair systemo Results: No Difference in Writing or Mathematics. Pullout Students

significantly higher score in reading and citizenship

Lit Review Cont’dLit Review Cont’d• Hash (2011)

o Compared 8th grade scores based on ACTExplore test • Students involved in band for 5 years

o Results: Students involved in band scored significantly higher• No difference between band students and non band students that

scored above the mean

• Others with similar research (and similar results)o Holm- 5th grade o Corral- 4th and 5th gradeo Groff- 6th grade

SettingSetting• St. Benedict Preparatory School

o PreK- 12 Catholic Schoolo Around 850 students total- around 300 in elementary school

• Pullout Lessons on a Fixed Schedule• Meet twice a week for 30 minutes• Grouped by class for strings (grades 1-4)• Grouped by instrument family for band (grades 4

and 5)o Woodwindso Brass and Percussion

ParticipantsParticipants• Elementary School- Classes involved in the study

o4 first grade classeso4 second grad classeso4 third grade classeso3 fourth grade classeso2 fifth grade classes

• All teachers who have students taken out for instrumental music will take survey

Purpose of My StudyPurpose of My Study• To determine whether pullout lessons affect

academic achievement in grades 1-5o Most research focuses on 4th grade and upo Starting grade typically 4th grade for strings and 5th grade for band

(Hartley & Porter, 2009)o Based on GPA in Math, Science, Social Studies, Reading/Language artso Also cumulative grade

• Analyze teacher attitudes towards pullout lessons

LimitationsLimitations• Study takes place in one catholic school only

o Public school student population different than private school• Grading scale based on GPA, not standardized

test• Because of the relatively low number of

participants it may not represent the general population

• Study does not examine the effects of pullout lessons on their musical achievement

Research QuestionsResearch Questions1. Is there a significant difference in academic

achievement between students involved in pullout lessons and students who are not?

2. Is there a significant difference between each grade level and the academic achievement of students involved in pullout lessons and students who are not?

3. Is there a significant difference in academic achievement between subjects within each grade level?

4. What are the teacher attitudes in relation to pullout lessons?

Method/ Data Method/ Data Collection Part 1Collection Part 1

• Collect grades in the subjects of Math, Science, Social Studies and Language arts for each grade level

• Split into groups: instrumental pullout lesson students and non pullout lesson students

• Convert grades from Letter grades into Point-based scale ( A= 4.0, B= 3.0, C= 2.0, D= 1.0)

• Find the Mean, Mode, Standard Deviation of GPA within each subject in each grade

• Find the Mean, Mode, Standard Deviation of cumulative grade within each grade

Method/Data Method/Data Collection Part 2Collection Part 2

• Survey of teachers attitudes towards pullout lessons• Uses a 7 point Likert scale ranging from strongly

disagree – strongly agree• one open ended question• Most Likely paper survey• Sample Survey Questions:

o Instrumental Music is important in our schoolo Pullout lesson do not interfere with my regular teaching o Pullout lessons do not require me to spend extra time with students who

are involvedo I encourage students to join the instrumental music programo Pullout lessons are the best way to incorporate instrumental music

Data AnalysisData Analysis• Mean, Mode, Standard deviation of GPA for band

and non- band studentso By Grade Levelo By subject within Grade Level

• ANOVA (p<.05)o Is there a significant difference between pullout lessons and non-

pullout lesson students?

• Results of Surveyo Count frequency of responses o Descriptive statistics

• Could use Cronbach’s alpha

Questions?Questions?