Evaluating the effects of music education programming in low-income communities: A longitudinal randomized control study assessing executive function and social emotional development
To support a randomized controlled study assessing the effects of orchestral programming on youth. The study will track the impact of this programming on students' social-emotional development, executive function (a set of mental skills that include working memory, flexible thinking, and self-control), and academic performance. Furthermore, the study will expand an ongoing randomized controlled study so that kindergarteners and first graders can be tracked beyond one year of program participation. Additional research topics will include: the degree to which consistent youth music programming affects parental or familial outcomes for educational involvement, in terms of practice, self-efficacy, and social capital development; how outcomes from the programming vary by youths' race/ethnicity, gender, family income level, and by school; how outcomes vary or emerge based on length of program participation and/or across years; and how music programming participation may have a potential protective factor with regards to coronavirus-related challenges. For this study, the Social Science Research Institute at Duke is partnering with Kidznotes, a multi-site, El Sistema-inspired program serving Durham and Wake counties in North Carolina.