Exploring the Effect of Rhythmic Interventions on First- and Second-Grade Music Students’ Oral Reading Fluency

The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of rhythmic interventions (e.g., steady beat, rhythm production, and rhythm discrimination activities) on oral reading fluency scores of first- and second-grade music students. This study was guided by the following research questions: (1) What is the psychometric quality of the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) used in the context of measuring the oral reading fluency of first- and second-grade general music students? (2) What is the effect of rhythmic interventions on firstand second-graders’ oral reading fluency scores? and (3) What is the interaction effect between rhythmic interventions and fluency achievement? Participants included two first-grade and two second-grade elementary music classes (N = 72; male, n = 37; female, n = 35). Participants were randomly assigned into control and treatment groups in each class for first-grade (N = 34; control, n = 17; treatment, n = 17) and second-grade (N = 38; control, n = 19; treatment, n = 19). All participants were administered the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) to measure oral reading fluency ability as a pretest and posttest. Treatment groups underwent rhythmic interventions throughout seven, 45-minute sessions. After controlling for differences in students’ pretest scores, results indicated an overall statistically significant treatment effect for first-grade students and a statistically significant interaction effect for the core grouping of second-grade students. The researchers discuss Implications for implementation and advocacy