The rhythm's gonna get ya' - background music in primary classrooms and its effect on behaviour and attainment

Three classes in different primary schools in a west London borough were given four tests, two with music and two with silence, to see if the music had a measurable effect on the behaviour and attainment of the children during tests. The results were then cross-referenced with the children’s self-evaluation of their own musicality to ascertain if those children who experienced disruption of attainment and behaviour were in turn themselves musicians. Whilst this thesis was not proven, it is suggested that the music may have supported the reading tests but conversely disrupted the mathematics tests.