Middle School math students performed their typical daily math classwork with and auditory environment of either teacher chosen music, student chosen music played through individual headphones, or silence. One day each week during a six week summer session was dedicated to each of the three listening options. On the additional two days, students were free to work with headphones or in the normal classroom noise level, according to school and classroom rules. The students were attending a segregated school for students with learning differences. Their on task behavior was observed and recorded three times during each class period. Teacher selected music consisted of a mix of classical music and world music genres. Students were found to be more focused on their work when music was being played as compared to a silent environment. Key words: music, focus, special education, attention, distraction.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of using background music on the concentration and on-task behavior of students with special needs during independent class assignments. A multiple case study approach is used to gather the data for 8 participants having different cases yet all diagnosed having problems with their concentration and attention span. Four instruments are used to collect data from different resources which are student's files and documents, parent questionnaire, student observation checklist, and student interview. Baseline data is collected for 3 consecutive weeks without music followed by an intervention period of another 3 consecutive weeks where music is played in the background. During the time students are working independently, the researcher filled the behavior charts for every student examining the amount of off-task behavior per minute and the behavior manifested when the student stops working. Results demonstrate that the introduction of music in the background has different effects on the off-task behavior of students. Six out of the eight students have a decrease in their off-task behavior during the administration of music, and two students have a negligible to minor increase in their off-task behavior during the administration of music. In general, the intervention shows that the use of music has positive implications for assignment completion rate.

The purpose of this study was to find whether the use of music had a positive effect on clean-up transitioning times, and off-task behaviors in my art room. I also wanted to find whether the use of music had a positive effect on my students learning art concepts. This nine-week study was implemented for two K/1 classes during the 2007 fall semester. Data collection included timed measurement of clean-up transitions lengths, off-task behavior checklists, pre and post assessments, and teacher journaling. The results of the study showed that music decreased clean-up transition lengths, decreased the occurrences of off-task behaviors, and had a positive effect on learning art concepts.