Abstract
The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of the Yamaha Music In Education (MIE) keyboard instructional approach on selected musical and nonmusical outcomes of middle school students. One hundred and thirty-four middle school students from Miami, Florida were involved in the study. Experimental group participants (n = 68) received the MIE keyboard instructional approach, and were compared to a control group (n = 66) with no music instruction. The study was implemented for the academic school year from November 2004 to April 2005. Musical outcomes were reflected in students' music achievement and music attitudes. Music achievement was measured using the Iowa Tests of Music Literacy (ITML) (Gordon, 1991), and music attitude was evaluated through the Instrumental Music Attitude Inventory (IMAI) (Fortney, 1992). The nonmusical outcomes included students' motivation and self-esteem, using the Achievement Motivation Profile (AMP-Junior Form) (Mandel, Friedland, & Marcus, 2006), and the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory (SEI) (Coopersmith, 1981) respectively. Report card grades in math and reading, as well as school attendance records were obtained from the participating school to measure students' academic achievement and school attendance.