Research Mission

 
What is Young Academic Music (YAM)?

YAM is an education research project that is being conducted in your district during the 2023-2024 school year. The purpose of the project is to test a new supplemental kindergarten curriculum that combines math and music education to help young children learn about numbers, patterns, music notes, and problem solving using fun, engaging activities in the classroom.

YAM uses evidence-based strategies to seamlessly weave together authentic kindergarten-level mathematics, music, and computational thinking instruction. This content addresses the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills.

This research project is being conducted by Touro Graduate School of Education (New York City), in partnership with the University of Texas at Austin, SRI International, WestEd and the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz.

What does the study involve?

  • Up to 40 kindergarten teachers and their students will participate in the study during SY2023-24.
  • Half the teachers will be randomly assigned to implement YAM in their classrooms (YAM teachers). The other half will continue instruction as normal.
  • Researchers will assess the students’ math and problem-solving skills twice during the school year.
  • Teachers will complete surveys at the beginning and end of the study about their approaches to math, music, and problem-solving instruction.
  • The research team will collect participating students' demographic data and administer teacher surveys and student assessments.
Treble and 4/4 Make Music

Animation still from “Treble and 4/4 Make Music” (circa. 2021)

What are participating teachers asked to do?

  • Your involvement will take place during the first half of the school year (approximately August-November).
  • YAM teachers will participate in about 5 hours of training to learn the YAM curriculum.
  • YAM teachers will implement two 45-minute lessons per week for 9 weeks.
  • All teachers will be asked to help obtain parent consent for students to participate in the math and problem-solving assessments.
  • All teachers will be asked to complete a survey at the beginning and end of the study.

How might schools, teachers, and students benefit?

  • All participating teachers will be provided with the YAM curriculum after the study ends.

Compensation for YAM teachers

  • All participating teachers will receive a $200 stipend for completing the PD.
  • All teachers will receive a $25 gift card for the pre-survey and $25 for post-survey ($50 total).