Anderson, S. A., & Fuller, G. B. (2010). Effect of music on reading comprehension of junior high school students. School Psychology Quarterly, 25(3), 178-187. doi:10.1037/a0021213

Anderson and Fuller test the idea that listening to music while studying takes away from the reading performance of adolescents. They assert that there is a difference in reading comprehension scores obtained in a music free environment as opposed to an environment with lyrical music playing in the background. Also, that a gender difference exists between the 2 environments.
This was tested by administering the reading comprehension subtest of the GMRT-4 to 334 7th and 8th graders. They were split into 4 groups and given the test over 2 days with a day in between. It was administered in a typical study hall setting and a non-typical study hall setting with lyrical music playing in the background. For all 4 groups the music environment score was lower than the music-free environment score. There was also a gender difference in scores for the two environments. Girls had a greater decline in the music environment than males.
One of the strengths of this article is that they administered the test over 2 days with a mean of 1 day in between. The two study sessions were held a day apart to account for differences in students’ mood, anxiety level, or response to environment. Also, the form given in the music free environment and music environment varied across the four groups as well which day they were given on. This article however does not target the age group I wish to target.
This article is very useful. It provides support for the idea that music distracts students while studying. While listening to music they had lower scores lending to the idea that the music caused this to happen. The presence of music was the only changed factor in testing.