Chorus America Impact Study and NYC Test Scores

I generally try to focus on one issue per blog post, but today I am going to give you two items, albeit briefly.

Item #1: Chorus America released an impact study today of singers, parents, general public, and K-12 educators. The study was based on an online survey and the following are the key findings:

1. Choral singing continues to be the most popular form of participation in the performing arts.
2. Adults who sing in choruses are remarkably good citizens.
3. Children who sing in choruses have academic success and valuable life skills.
4. The decline in choral singing opportunities for children and youth is a key area of concern.

Importantly, this is essentially an opinion poll. Enough said.

I do love choruses. My own Junior High School had a chorus with over 200 kids in it. See the picture below.

And, Chorus America is one terrific organization.

Here is a link to the Impact Study

Item #2: Yesterday New York State test scores for math were released showing gains in New York City, as well as most of other big cities in New York State. According to the data, the performance gap on state math tests between New York City and the rest of the state was narrowed by seven percentage points. Additionally, the data appears to indicate that the achievement gap is narrowing, and middle school scores which had be stagnant, have risen.

Now for the other side. This stuff is politics. Schools are politics. While the NYCDOE will claim that the increases are proof that their schools reforms are working, at the same time others point out that major gains were had in big city school districts that were equal or better than NYC's gains, without having the wholesale interventions seen in NYC. This has, in fact, been a storyline in the state tests for the past few years.

And of course, once the researchers have a go at it, it's get even more complicated. Daniel Koretz, one of the real experts on testing is cautioning score inflation. Mike Petrilli at the Fordham Institute is pointing to the tests going stale, essentially, or in other words teachers getting used to the tests. (they're both essentially saying the same thing...)

This is not unusual, as psychometricians will often point to the shelf life of tests. If you want to read up on it, check out this link in my archive and scroll down to the link to an excellent primer by Robert Tobias.

Here's a couple of links to the test score stories:

New York Times: New York City Shows Gains in Math.
New York Times City Room blog: The Rise in Student Math Scores: A Big Victory?
And a must view companion: NYC DOE Press Release on the Math Scores.

Okay, now that we have the math scores thing settled, and we know that choruses improve academic performance, can't we just expand the curriculum for every student and provide a well-rounded education including the arts?