Effects of Dance Practice in Elementary Students

The Effects of Dance Practice on Assessment Score Performance, Behavior and Attendance in a Public School District With High Rates of Economically Disadvantaged Elementary Students.

The purpose of this study is to assess changes in benchmark and state assessment scores in a public elementary school following an intervention of dance integration into the daily routine of the classroom. Furthermore, this study aims to assess if dance may improve student behavior, teacher perception of student behavior, reading level and attendance.

Study Overview

• Status: Terminated
• Conditions: Educational Activities
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Dancing

Detailed Description

The use of movement in primary school classrooms is a longstanding practice drawn upon by teachers in various ways. Dance movement in particular is popular among teachers for several reasons: it is enjoyable for students, it can be imaginative, it engages the body as well as the brain, and it can be made accessible to students of varying abilities.

In the field of education, the use of brief bouts of physical activity (PA) or 'brain breaks' have been gaining attention. Teachers have reported perceived improved student concentration during the academic school day by utilizing PA in both elementary and middle school populations. Carlson et al. suggest that PA breaks can indeed improve overall student behavior in the classroom while Donnelly and Lambourne report a 6% improvement on standardized tests in classrooms incorporating PA into academic lessons. Erwin et al. describe improvements in math and reading fluency standardized test scores following an intervention of PA incorporated into an elementary classroom. More conclusive research is indeed needed, yet incorporating PA into the culture of an academic environment appears to hold some merit.

The US Department of Education alongside the National Dance Education Organization published a paper outlining the research priorities for dance education in 2004.

"Of 20 Issues researched in the Research Dance Education project, 15 Issues were identified as gaps, and are therefore identified as Issues in need of future research…The 15 severely under-researched issues over decades impact policy and pedagogy at state and national levels, specifically: Multicultural Education, Integrated Arts, Policy, Affective Domain, Interdisciplinary Education, Student Achievement, Equity, National Content Standards, Funding, Student Performance, Children at Risk, Certification, Teacher Standards, Uncertified Teachers, and Brain Research."

Despite this call to action over a decade ago, to the investigators knowledge, a study assessing change in academic performance following an intervention of dance in a public school serving students with high rates of economic disadvantage has not been published.

The purpose of this study is to assess changes in benchmark and state assessment scores in a public elementary school following an intervention of dance integration into the daily routine of the classroom. Furthermore, this study aims to assess if dance may improve student behavior, teacher perception of student behavior, reading level and attendance. The investigators hypothesize that positive improvements may be observed in all variables by integrating dance into the academic classroom.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 349
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • New York
    • Saratoga Springs, New York, United States, 12866
      • Skidmore College

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 6 years to 12 years (Child)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion criteria:

Inclusion criteria:

• Registration in an elementary classroom at Boulevard Elementary school, Gloversville Enlarged School District; Gloversville, New York
• Registration in an elementary classroom Park Terrace Elementary school, Gloversville Enlarged School District; Gloversville, New York
• Participating in a classroom where teacher is utilizing dance integration into their curriculum.

Exclusion Criteria:

• None

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Non-Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Dancing students; Students will participate in dance activities from a video with their teacher in class.	Behavioral: Dancing; Participants in the intervention group will participate in daily dance activities with their teacher by following along with a video created by the dance researchers at Skidmore College. Teachers will be specifically asked to utilize the movement phrases just prior to administering any formal assessment activity within their classroom (tempo may be chosen at teacher's discretion). Furthermore, teachers may choose to utilize the dance phrases as 'brain breaks' at any point throughout their school day.
No Intervention: Non-Dancing Students; Students will continue with typical classroom activities in class and will not participate in dancing activities

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in Benchmark/Summative assessments	Unit/chapter assessments in Math and English Language Arts	Baseline, 8 weeks, 16 weeks, 24 weeks.
Change in State Assessment scores		Baseline and 9 months.
Attendance/tardiness	Student attendance	10 months.
Change in Reading Level	Fountas and Pinnell reading level	Baseline, 8 weeks, 16 weeks, 24 weeks.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Teacher perception of dance intervention	Survey of teachers knowledge and perception of dance in the classroom	Baseline and 9 months.
Documented Student Behavior	Referrals to principals office	10 months.

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Skidmore College

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): October 1, 2017
• Primary Completion (Actual): June 30, 2022
• Study Completion (Actual): June 30, 2022

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: August 29, 2017
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 8, 2017
• First Posted (Actual): September 11, 2017

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 11, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 10, 2023
• Last Verified: April 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: 1704-605

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO
• IPD Plan Description: A linking list for students will be compiled by the school Principal, numerically coding each student into a password protected document. This student linking list will be kept on a locked district owned, password protected computer at the school, separate from this database. It will be kept solely on that computer hard drive so it will not be accessible to Principal at home. Neither the PI, nor any other Skidmore researchers will have access to this locked computer and therefore, will not have ability to gain access to this list in any capacity. Skidmore researchers will never have access to student names/identities.

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No