2012-01-30 22:42:18

As if you need another reason to take a break from studying and bust out the basketball or strum your guitar! According to a recently issued College Board report, students who participate in extracurricular activities generally score 45 points higher in SAT Math and 53 points higher in Verbal than those who do not.

The difference is especially pronounced for practicing musicians and students who have taken classes in music appreciation. In 2002, The College Board quantified this as well and found students with some (formal) experience in music performance or appreciation scored between 51-61 points higher in Verbal and 39-46 points higher in Math than students with no musical background. In another study, researcher J.R. Ponter found that “instrumental music training uniquely enhances the higher brain functions required for mathematics, science, and engineering.” I’m starting to regret quitting the violin!

These findings suggest that offering and encouraging extracurricular activities should play a fundamental role in efforts to close the achievement gap between students from high and low-income families. This view is echoed in Outliers: a pretty cool book by Malcolm Gladwell that examines the source of genius. In the last chapter, Gladwell describes a study where achievement tests were given to Baltimore students at the beginning and end of each year. The study found that the achievement gap widens over the summer, as opposed to during the school year. The reason? Students from wealthier families are more likely to participate in structured summertime activities that support scholastic growth—promoting not only motivation, time-management and organization, but also, as we saw above, the skills and brain functions tested on the SAT.

So, tune your trombone, prepare your pastels, or lace up your cleats! Using your leisure time well might have even more benefits than you think.

Glossary:
These key SAT words are expertly identified by Sentia Tutors

Quantify: to express or measure the quantity of something