Elementary Music Access in U.S. Public and Charter Schools
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
3-25-2026
Department 1
Conservatory of Music
Abstract
Previous findings on music access in public and charter schools are mixed, with some evidence of reduced access in charter settings. There have been no national analyses examining elementary music access across these school types. In this study, Ankuda examined disparities in access to elementary music instruction between U.S. public and charter schools using school-level data from the 2017–2018 National Teacher and Principal Survey, focusing on third-grade music as an indicator of music availability. A zero-inflated Poisson model estimated the likelihood that schools offered any music instruction and among those that did, its frequency. Logistic regression models identified school-level predictors of music inaccessibility, supplemented by dominance analysis to assess the relative importance of predictors. Results indicated that charter schools were substantially less likely to provide elementary music instruction and that charter status was the strongest single predictor of its absence. School characteristics were also associated with differences in access and instructional time, underscoring enduring inequities in elementary students’ opportunities for music instruction.
DOI
10.1177/00224294261423
ISBN/ISSN
0022-4294
Recommended Citation
Ankuda, M. E. (2026). Elementary Music Access in U.S. Public and Charter Schools. Journal of Research in Music Education, 0(0).
