2022

After-school music program leads to improved academic performance in low-income communities, study finds


Participants in Harmony Project, established by UCLA Fielding School of Public Health graduate Margaret Martin, test higher in reading and math.

Young students playing violin

Students who participated in an after-school program providing four hours per week of music lessons and mentoring in five high-poverty elementary schools in Long Beach, California, not only learned to play challenging music with one another, but showed significantly improved reading and math scores after two years in the program when compared with students who didn’t participate, according to a study published in the Spring 2022 issue of the peer-reviewed Journal of Youth Development. Importantly, the greatest gains from the program, known as Harmony Project, were made by students with the lowest prior levels of achievement.

The study’s co-authors — including Dr. Margaret Martin, a UCLA Fielding School of Public Health (UCLA FSPH) alum who established Harmony Project, and Dr. Deborah Glik, a UCLA Fielding School professor of community health sciences — noted that these results could provide a roadmap for school districts across the country seeking to address disparities in academic performance and educational attainment that hinder the long-term prospects for children from low-income communities.

“Such positive outcomes suggest that a key to closing the achievement gap may be found in the capacity of music training plus mentoring to boost children’s language-related brain development, and thereby improve their capacity to learn,” Martin said. “The report shows that this brain-boosting intervention can be implemented successfully within high-poverty elementary schools. School leaders report that the intervention also effectively addresses students’ pandemic-related social and emotional needs.”

Martin launched Harmony Project in 2001, inspired by the experience of observing young gang members stop to listen to her 5-year-old son playing the violin at a farmer’s market in 1997. When the gang members put their own money into his open case, Martin, who was pursuing her doctorate at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, realized that the opportunity to learn to make music might be an effective way to productively engage young people with few resources. The program was designed to support the positive growth and development of children from low-income homes through the study, practice, and performance of music under the mentorship of professional musicians. By 2009, Martin was representing Harmony Project at the White House, where then-First Lady Michelle Obama presented her with the Coming Up Taller Award — considered the nation’s highest honor for an arts-based youth program. In 2011, Martin was awarded the Presidential Citizen’s Medal by President Barack Obama, for her work in founding Harmony Project.  In 2016, 40 standout string students from Harmony Project performed on stage at the Super Bowl halftime show with Beyonce, Bruno Mars, Coldplay and LA Philharmonic Music and Artistic Director, Gustavo Dudamel.

Harmony Project currently serves 3,500 students in 16 under-resourced Los Angeles communities, and has been replicated in school districts elsewhere in California and in several other states. Many of the program’s graduates have earned admission to top universities such as Harvard, Stanford, Dartmouth, Tulane, and NYU, according to Martin, who is no longer formally affiliated with the organization but is leading an effort by the nonprofit D’Addario Foundation — which supports more than 200 community-based music programs, including Harmony Project — to assist other districts across the country in implementing similar programs.

The new study findings grew out of an initiative launched in 2014 by the Long Beach Unified School District, the fourth largest school district in California, after the City of Long Beach adopted Harmony Project as part of its Safe Schools Initiative within the city’s larger Violence Prevention Plan. Martin said that then Police Chief Jim McDonnell advocated for the program and identified neighborhoods with elevated levels of community violence for its initial implementation. The Long Beach Unified School District selected five elementary schools located in the neighborhoods McDonnell had identified at which they initially launched Harmony Project as an after school program. In the selected schools, the vast majority of students qualified for federal meal subsidies due to low family incomes, and nearly half were English Language Learners.

Long Beach’s adoption of Harmony Project was informed by prior research into the program’s neurologic impact, led by Dr. Nina Kraus, director of Northwestern University’s Brainvolts Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory. In a randomized controlled study, Kraus’ group found that the program improved language-related brain function in participating students. Importantly, participating students met their grade-level reading targets, but non-participating students who served as controls in the study did not. The new retrospective study sought to determine whether such brain changes might have translated into better scores on standardized tests for students in the high-poverty schools who opted in to the program beginning in second grade, and who continued to participate over the next two years.

The researchers found academic improvements were made in Harmony Project students across each of the five participating schools. After one year of engagement, participants displayed higher levels of math, reading, and writing achievement scores than non-participating students. After two years, participants showed modestly higher levels of standardized test scores in reading and math, even when accounting for pre-Harmony Project achievement scores.

The study authors hope their report provides a template for other school districts. Martin noted that one of the keys to a successful program is that it must start at a young age, when children are still learning to read, and can most easily learn new languages and instruments — and when those in low-income communities haven’t yet fallen behind their more affluent peers. Such programs, she added, should have a high level of intensity, be joyful, and be sustained throughout the child’s schooling.

“This shows that a rigorous musical training program can be implemented across multiple low-income schools,” said Glik, the UCLA Fielding School faculty member and study co-author. “The program was effective in improving reading and speaking skills among elementary school participants. This suggests this is an evidence-based practice that can be replicated nationally.”

The authors noted that the study has limitations — most notably, students chose to enroll in Harmony Project, meaning that student and family characteristics that led them to select the program might also benefit their academic progress. Nonetheless, they note, it points to a promising pathway for reducing the disparities in children’s brain development that can result from environmental influences such as trauma and poverty, and may underlie the achievement gap between students from low-income families and their more affluent peers.

Dr. Jonathan Fielding, distinguished professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at UCLA FSPH and a faculty adviser to Martin during her doctoral training, said that by improving the educational trajectory of children in low-income communities, programs such as Harmony Project have long-term impacts on broad determinants of quality of life — including health, civic engagement, social connectedness, and overall happiness.

“Very few schools around the country have Harmony-like projects, but every time you see one, you find significant achievement,” said Fielding, who is also distinguished professor of pediatrics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and has served as co-chair of Healthy People 2030, which produced the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ 10-year plan for addressing the nation’s most pressing public health priorities. “At this point we don’t need more studies; we need broad implementation. We have seen enough evidence of the auditory learning benefits of programs like this for students from low-income families that it’s time to make them an essential part of the curriculum.”


The UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, founded in 1961, is dedicated to enhancing the public's health by conducting innovative research, training future leaders and health professionals from diverse backgrounds, translating research into policy and practice, and serving our local communities and the communities of the nation and the world. The school has 761 students from 26 nations engaged in carrying out the vision of building healthy futures in greater Los Angeles, California, the nation and the world.

Faculty Referenced by this Article

glik, deborah
Deborah Glik
Community Health Sciences
Read Faculty Profile
Dr. Jonathan Fielding
Jonathan Fielding
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Dr. Randall Kuhn
Randall Kuhn
Community Health Sciences
Read Faculty Profile
Dr. Yvonne Flores
Yvonne Flores
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Dr. Stephanie Taylor
Stephanie L. Taylor

Nationally recognized health services researcher and sociomedical scientist with 25+ years' experience in effectiveness and implementation research.

Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Avram Kaplan
Avram Kaplan
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Dr. Arturo Vargas Bustamante
Arturo Vargas Bustamante
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Dr. Beth Glenn
Beth Glenn
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Dr. Ninez Ponce
Ninez Ponce
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Roshan Bastani Headshot
Roshan Bastani
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
silhoette
Ty Robbins
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Aronberg, Sandra
Sandra Aronberg
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Virginia C. Li
Virginia C. Li
Community Health Sciences
Read Faculty Profile
Dr. Chandra Ford
Chandra Ford
Community Health Sciences
Read Faculty Profile
Faculty/staff profile placeholder image
Ron Andersen

Dr. Ron Andersen is the Wasserman Professor Emeritus in the UCLA Departments of Health Policy and Management.

Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Gordon headshot
Thomas D. Gordon
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Faculty/staff profile placeholder image
Mark Litwin
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Charlotte Neumann
Charlotte G. Neumann
Community Health Sciences
Read Faculty Profile
Emily Abel
Emily Abel
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Olivia Jung
Olivia Jung
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Dr. Dylan Roby
Dylan Roby
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Diana Hilberman
Diana Hilberman
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Dr. Anne Pebley
Anne Pebley
Community Health Sciences
Read Faculty Profile
Dr. Dana Rose Garfin
Dana Rose Garfin
Community Health Sciences
Read Faculty Profile
Faculty/staff profile placeholder image
Alan Tomines
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Dr. Frederick Zimmerman
Frederick Zimmerman
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Patricia Ganz
Patricia Ganz
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Dr. Alice Kuo
Alice Kuo
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Dr. May Sudhinaraset
May Sudhinaraset
Community Health Sciences
Read Faculty Profile
Faculty/staff profile placeholder image
David Hayes-Bautista
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Dr. Thomas Rice
Thomas Rice
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
halbert, ronald
Ronald Halbert
Community Health Sciences
Read Faculty Profile
Dr. Hiram Beltrán-Sánchez
Hiram Beltrán-Sánchez
Community Health Sciences
Read Faculty Profile
Jeanne Miranda
Jeanne Miranda
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Faculty/staff profile placeholder image
Jose J. Escarce
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Dr. Michael Rodriguez
Michael Rodriguez
Community Health Sciences
Read Faculty Profile
Dr. Kenneth Wells
Kenneth Wells
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Rosenstock
Linda Rosenstock
Environmental Health Sciences Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Warren Scott Comulada
Warren Scott Comulada
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Dr. Elizabeth (Becky) Yano
Elizabeth (Becky) Yano
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Dr. Michael Prelip
Michael Prelip
Community Health Sciences
Read Faculty Profile
Faculty/staff profile placeholder image
Dawn Upchurch
Community Health Sciences
Read Faculty Profile
Vickie Mays
Vickie Mays
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Dr. Donald Morisky
Donald E. Morisky
Community Health Sciences
Read Faculty Profile
Dr. Elizabeth D'Amico
Elizabeth D’Amico
Community Health Sciences
Read Faculty Profile
David Eisenman
David Eisenman
Community Health Sciences
Read Faculty Profile
Clifford Ko
Clifford Ko
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Dr. Judith M. Siegel
Judith M. Siegel
Community Health Sciences
Read Faculty Profile
Dr. Lillian Gelberg
Lillian Gelberg
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Robert Kaplan
Robert Kaplan
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Leah Vriesman
Leah Vriesman
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Jennifer A. Wagman
Jennifer A. Wagman
Community Health Sciences
Read Faculty Profile
Ilan H. Meyer
Ilan H. Meyer
Community Health Sciences
Read Faculty Profile
Courtney Thomas Tobin headshot.png
Courtney S. Thomas Tobin
Community Health Sciences
Read Faculty Profile
Paul Chung
Paul Chung
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Jody Heymann
Jody Heymann
Epidemiology Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Dr. Naomi Zewde
Naomi Zewde
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Dr. Jennifer Wortham
Jennifer Wortham
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Laura Erskine
Laura Erskine
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Faculty/staff profile placeholder image
Neal Halfon
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Dr. Shira Shafir
Shira Shafir
Community Health Sciences Epidemiology
Read Faculty Profile
Dr. John Lu
Z. John Lu
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Nadereh Pourat
Nadereh Pourat
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Verissimio headshot
Angie Otiniano Verissimo
Community Health Sciences
Read Faculty Profile
Jack Needleman
Jack Needleman
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Dr. Michael Goldstein
Michael Goldstein
Community Health Sciences
Read Faculty Profile
Corrina Moucheraud
Corrina Moucheraud
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Faculty/staff profile placeholder image
Brennan Spiegel
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Gerald Kominski
Gerald Kominski
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Dr. Aria Fallah
Aria Fallah
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Faculty/staff profile placeholder image
Kimberley Shoaf
Community Health Sciences
Read Faculty Profile
Faculty/staff profile placeholder image
Sheba George
Community Health Sciences
Read Faculty Profile
Faculty/staff profile placeholder image
Lori Pelliccioni
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Dr. Anthony Schiff
Anthony Hunter Schiff
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Faculty/staff profile placeholder image
Emmeline Chuang
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Faculty/staff profile placeholder image
Natalie Muth
Community Health Sciences
Read Faculty Profile
Image of Dr. Susan Ettner
Susan Ettner
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Dr. William McCarthy
William J. McCarthy
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Dena Herman
Dena Herman
Community Health Sciences
Read Faculty Profile
Dr. Gilbert Gee
Gilbert C. Gee
Community Health Sciences
Read Faculty Profile
Dr. Samuel Stratton
Samuel Stratton
Community Health Sciences
Read Faculty Profile
Sarah Blenner
Sarah Blenner

Director of Field Studies and Applied Professional Training

Community Health Sciences
Read Faculty Profile
Faculty/staff profile placeholder image
Steven Teutsch
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Faculty/staff profile placeholder image
Julie A. Elginer

EMPH Academic Program Director with expertise in healthcare marketing, finance, and reproductive health policy, teaching in the EMPH, MPH, MHA program

Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Sangeeta Ahluwalia
Sangeeta Ahluwalia
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Michael Ong
Michael Ong
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Moira Inkelas
Moira Inkelas
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Faculty/staff profile placeholder image
Robert Brook
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Philip Massey headshot
Philip Massey
Community Health Sciences
Read Faculty Profile
Kimberly Gregory
Kimberly Gregory
Community Health Sciences
Read Faculty Profile
Galper, Michael
Michael Galper
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Isomi Miake-Lye
Isomi Miake-Lye
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Dr. Jessica Gipson
Jessica Gipson
Community Health Sciences
Read Faculty Profile
Davidson - headshop
Pamela Davidson
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Balgrosky headshot
Jean Balgrosky
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Faculty/staff profile placeholder image
Ondine S. von Ehrenstein
Community Health Sciences Epidemiology
Read Faculty Profile
Dana Hunnes
Dana Hunnes
Community Health Sciences
Read Faculty Profile
Ron D. Hays
Ron D. Hays

@UCLA since 1997

Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Freund, Deborah
Deborah Anne Freund
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Dr. Daniel Eisenberg
Daniel Eisenberg
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Mangione, C
Carol Mangione
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Cathy Lang
Cathy Lang

Assistant Dean for Research & Adjunct Associate Professor of Community Health Sciences

Community Health Sciences
Read Faculty Profile
Burt Cowgill
Burt Cowgill
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Faculty/staff profile placeholder image
Barbara Berman
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Marjorie Kagawa-Singer
Marjorie Kagawa-Singer
Community Health Sciences
Read Faculty Profile
Dr. Paul Fu, Jr.
Paul Fu, Jr.
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Dr. Samuel Sessions
Samuel Sessions
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Michelle Keller
Michelle S. Keller

Dr. Michelle S. Keller is a health services researcher whose research focuses on the use and prescribing of high-risk medications.

Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
May Wang headshot
May C. Wang
Community Health Sciences
Read Faculty Profile
Bo-Kyung Elizabeth Kim headshot.png
Bo-Kyung Elizabeth Kim
Community Health Sciences
Read Faculty Profile
Dr. Alina Dorian
Alina Dorian
Community Health Sciences
Read Faculty Profile
Paula Tavrow
Paula Tavrow
Community Health Sciences
Read Faculty Profile
James Macinko
James Macinko

Professor of Community Health Sciences & Health Policy and Management, and Associate Dean for Research

Community Health Sciences Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Dr. Joann Elmore
Joann G. Elmore
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Faculty/staff profile placeholder image
Wendelin Slusser
Community Health Sciences
Read Faculty Profile
Comanor, Bill
William Comanor
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Yusuke Tsugawa
Yusuke Tsugawa
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Robert Kim-Farley
Robert J. Kim-Farley

Robert J. Kim-Farley, MD, MPH, is a Professor-in-Residence with joint appointments in the Departments of Epidemiology and Community Health Sciences

Community Health Sciences Epidemiology
Read Faculty Profile
Kadiyala, Srikanth
Srikanth Kadiyala
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Dr. Kristen Choi
Kristen Choi
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Vilsa Eliana Curto
Vilsa Eliana Curto
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Dr. Risha Gidwani
Risha Gidwani
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Dr. Elizabeth Yzquierdo
Elizabeth Yzquierdo
Community Health Sciences
Read Faculty Profile
Faculty/staff profile placeholder image
Annette Maxwell
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Dr. Xi Zhu
Xi Zhu
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Dr. Felicia Hodge
Felicia Hodge
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Faculty/staff profile placeholder image
Thomas Priselac
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile
Faculty/staff profile placeholder image
Arlene Fink
Health Policy and Management
Read Faculty Profile

Related Content

2024_Alumni_Dinner
October 30, 2024
2024 Hall of Fame Induction and Alumni Dinner
Read Full Article
September 22, 2024
New art installations beautify UCLA Fielding’s first floor, celebrating public health and the school

If you haven’t visited the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health’s first-floor corridor lately, a vastly different environment awaits.

Read Full Article