Education & Community

Home  >  Education & Community  >  Mind Over Music   

Mind Over Music

A STEM Initiative: Science, Technology, Engineering and Math 

Mind Over Music™ is the first symphony program of its kind in the nation. It is a professional development model in which teachers are trained to integrate music into STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) concepts. Teachers, in collaboration with Phoenix Symphony musicians, create ground-up lesson plans utilizing music as a means to teach STEM initiatives. The extraordinary collaboration between our musicians and the teachers results in not only truly unique lesson plans, but curriculum that has been tested and proven to significantly increase the retention, logic, and aptitude of students.

Mind Over Music in Practice

To learn more about what happens in a Mind Over Music classroom, view a lesson plan

Measurable Results

Mind Over Music utilizes an independent, external evaluator to implement a quasi-experimental design with internal treatment and control groups that measure program effectiveness. The program evaluation plan addresses both teacher and student impact, with instruments measuring growth in music knowledge, understanding and retention of STEM concepts, and teacher process and practice.

Averaged annual results show that when compared to the control groups, Mind Over Music students score:

  • 17 points higher on science questions
  • 13 points higher on math questions
  • 10 points higher on language arts questions
  • 13 points higher on all subjects combined

Students in the treatment group also show greater growth and achievement on state standardized tests than their control student counterparts. Evaluations from each Phase have reinforced the idea that Mind Over Music bolsters core academic learning outcomes, demonstrating that the students understand the lessons better when music is involved.

For more information, contact the Education and Community Engagement department at education@phoenixsymphony.org or (602) 452-0470.


The Phoenix Symphony wishes to thank the following sponsors for their generous support of Mind Over Music: