Many children with learning disabilities (LD) frequently exhibit attention and motivational problems as well as impulsive and physically aggressive behaviors (Hoy & Gregg, 1994). Thus, learning, for these students, is a great challenge and for teachers, providing effective instruction is a great challenge too. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of background music on the classroom behavior of students with learning disabilities. A sample of 7 students with learning disabilities from grades 4 and 5 participated in this study. They received instruction in the language arts and math in two (2) special education resource classrooms. A single subject research design with ABAB phases was used. Baseline observation data was collected to determine areas of behavior problems. The data collection continued over the intervention phase when background music was played during independent work time for 3 weeks. Then the music was withdrawn for 2 weeks serving as the withdrawal phase. Subsequently, the music was played again for 3 weeks in the re-intervention phase to determine if there were any changes of student behaviors. The results show that there was a decrease of student off-task behaviors in the intervention phases when background music was utilized.
","abstract_html":"<p>Many children with learning disabilities (LD) frequently exhibit attention and motivational problems as well as impulsive and physically aggressive behaviors (Hoy & Gregg, 1994). Thus, learning, for these students, is a great challenge and for teachers, providing effective instruction is a great challenge too. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of background music on the classroom behavior of students with learning disabilities. A sample of 7 students with learning disabilities from grades 4 and 5 participated in this study. They received instruction in the language arts and math in two (2) special education resource classrooms. A single subject research design with ABAB phases was used. Baseline observation data was collected to determine areas of behavior problems. The data collection continued over the intervention phase when background music was played during independent work time for 3 weeks. Then the music was withdrawn for 2 weeks serving as the withdrawal phase. Subsequently, the music was played again for 3 weeks in the re-intervention phase to determine if there were any changes of student behaviors. The results show that there was a decrease of student off-task behaviors in the intervention phases when background music was utilized.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Givens, Lesa DeShield"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"M.A. in Special Education","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Interdisciplinary and Inclusive Education","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Xin, Joy"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2003,"date_issued":"2003-05-15T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2003-05-15T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:14:13Z","subjects":["Learning disabled children; Music therapy for children","Special Education and Teaching"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/1308","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Xin, Joy"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Givens, Lesa DeShield"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2016-05-05T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Interdisciplinary and Inclusive Education"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["M.A. in Special Education"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Learning disabled children; Music therapy for children","Special Education and Teaching"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/1308"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Many children with learning disabilities (LD) frequently exhibit attention and motivational problems as well as impulsive and physically aggressive behaviors (Hoy & Gregg, 1994). Thus, learning, for these students, is a great challenge and for teachers, providing effective instruction is a great challenge too. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of background music on the classroom behavior of students with learning disabilities. A sample of 7 students with learning disabilities from grades 4 and 5 participated in this study. They received instruction in the language arts and math in two (2) special education resource classrooms. A single subject research design with ABAB phases was used. Baseline observation data was collected to determine areas of behavior problems. The data collection continued over the intervention phase when background music was played during independent work time for 3 weeks. Then the music was withdrawn for 2 weeks serving as the withdrawal phase. Subsequently, the music was played again for 3 weeks in the re-intervention phase to determine if there were any changes of student behaviors. The results show that there was a decrease of student off-task behaviors in the intervention phases when background music was utilized.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Using background music to reduce off-task behaviors of students with learning disabilities"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Xin, Joy"],"dc:creator":["Givens, Lesa DeShield"],"dc:date.available":["2016-05-05T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Many children with learning disabilities (LD) frequently exhibit attention and motivational problems as well as impulsive and physically aggressive behaviors (Hoy & Gregg, 1994). Thus, learning, for these students, is a great challenge and for teachers, providing effective instruction is a great challenge too. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of background music on the classroom behavior of students with learning disabilities. A sample of 7 students with learning disabilities from grades 4 and 5 participated in this study. They received instruction in the language arts and math in two (2) special education resource classrooms. A single subject research design with ABAB phases was used. Baseline observation data was collected to determine areas of behavior problems. The data collection continued over the intervention phase when background music was played during independent work time for 3 weeks. Then the music was withdrawn for 2 weeks serving as the withdrawal phase. Subsequently, the music was played again for 3 weeks in the re-intervention phase to determine if there were any changes of student behaviors. The results show that there was a decrease of student off-task behaviors in the intervention phases when background music was utilized.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/1308"],"dc:subject":["Learning disabled children; Music therapy for children","Special Education and Teaching"],"dc:title":["Using background music to reduce off-task behaviors of students with learning disabilities"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Interdisciplinary and Inclusive Education"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["M.A. in Special Education"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:14:13Z"}