“FROM SCHOOL TO LOVE”: EXPLORING THE EFFECT OF A MUSIC-INTEGRATED EARLY LITERACY INTERVENTION APPROACH ON THE EARLY LITERACY SKILLS AND READING ATTITUDES OF SECOND GRADE MULTILINGUAL LEARNERS, AND THE IDEAL CONDITIONS FOR EDUCATORS ENGAGED IN ARTS-INTEGRATED INTERVENTION COLLABORATIONS

Students in the early elementary grades deserve robust and targeted Tier 1 literacy instruction to avoid or permanently exit intervention services. This qualitative study examined the effect of a music-integrated early literacy intervention approach on second grade multilingual learners’ attitudes toward reading and their performance on early literacy assessment measures. It also described the ideal conditions for educators engaged in arts-integrated early literacy intervention collaborations.Through the frameworks of Self-Determination Theory and Arts-Integration Theory, this study sought to understand how autonomy, competence, and relatedness impact students’ reading attitudes and early literacy skill performance, as well as their teachers’ overall experiences with collaborating to teach early literacy skills using arts-integrated methods. The results of this study suggest value for both students and educators in the creation of collaborative teaching teams that work together to design and teach arts-integrated intervention classes. Students participating in this study, especially those demonstrating the most room to grow in their initial reading attitudes and early literacy skills performance results, saw above average to well above average early literacy skills growth over the course of this intervention, while educators saw increased levels of autonomy, competence, and relatedness in their practice. Recommendations include a call for a shift in traditional ways of thinking about school schedules, time, collaboration, professional development, and planning, and increased attention on the vital role that joy plays in the daily interactions of students and educators.