I am interested in the topic of music in schools due to my involvement in music and the impact it has had on my life. Also, with extreme budget cuts in majority of school districts throughout the state of Illinois, the debate on whether the art and music departments should be continued hit close to home. I have been singing since 4th grade within my school and I had first hand experience with the impact music made upon students. From my graduating class, 120 students involved in music received over 2.88 million dollars worth of scholarships, while only 6% of students were planning on pursuing a music related major. 1/3 of students received scholarships of $20,000 or greater, and we are split between 68 different universities. Even with national awards and grants given to our program, we were always fighting with the school board to keep the music program afloat. Our music department was exceptional, winning the Grammy Signature School award multiple times. My 9 years within one of the best music programs in the country taught me so much more than just how to be a musician. Everyone deserves the same opportunity to develop with music, and that is why I believe music should have a role in elementary and secondary education.

The first source I found was an article called "Art Cuts Sound Sour Note", written by a news service writer acknowledging the recent budget cuts to Illinois schools. Although the state of Illinois does have a fine arts requirement for graduation, it is very much a bare minimum, leaving room for budget cuts in weak music programs. In Johnston City, school board members managed to cut the music program down to one music teacher for both middle school and high school, and one art teacher for only 4 periods a day. This article is valid because it defines my argument as relevant, saying schools are trying to cut these important programs. The source is credible because it is informational, and just explains the problem many schools in Illinois and around the country are facing. There is an obvious preference to the continuation of music programs, creating a slight bias. 

My second source is from PBS parents, a credible source in finding information on raising children. This article is called "The Benefits of Music Education" and it elaborates on the importance of music education. Lauren Lewis Brown uses ethos, finding statistics from researchers explaining the benefit of music. She explains that "musical training physically develops the part of the left side of the brain known to be involved with processing language" (Brown). Not only is there developmental benefits, but she also shows evidence of improved I.Qs and test scores of those of musicians. This article can be used to provide evidence of the actual benefits noted by research rather just my personal experience. This article seems to have slight bias, not really discussing and negatives of music education. But overall the article is valid because of its strong evidence and multifaceted view. Brown uses multiple sources to argue each point she defines as a benefit of music education. 

My third source is a research paper written by John L. Vitale for the Canadian Journal of Education. This research paper used 25 music teachers, 25 parents, 25 students, and 25 nonmusical students in the greater Toronto area and surveyed on the extent that music education enhances performance in math and science. In addition, there was a focus group composed of five participants from each four groups to give opportunity for a discussion on the questions provided in the survey.  This source is reliable and accurate because of the lack of bias in acquiring data and not drawing conclusions until the end of the study. In my paper I will use this as evidence of the impact of music on students. This article supports the beneficial value of music in schools. The only slight issue with this article could be the fact that the research was done in a different country and there is a difference in priorities in education throughout the world.

This research question is arguable because of the ever present budget cuts in primary and secondary schooling. There is a constant reevaluation of the importance of music and other extracurriculars in schools and there needs to be an emphasis on the benefits of music in education. Some agreements within all the articles is that music does have a place within schools, but each defines the importance differently. For example the second article talks mainly about why a parent should put their kid into music classes, whereas the third discusses the impact actually made upon students in other classes based on their involvement. The first article reflects why the schools are cutting music programs, while the second and third try to argue the beneficial factors of music in education. Throughout my research I modified my research question to be more about the benefits rather than just stating we should keep music in school.

