Supervised Reciprocal Peer Tutoring (SRPT) To Remedy Pupils’ Reading Deficiency

An Action Research Proposal

presented to

CITY CENTRAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Division of Dumaguete City

Dumaguete City

by

MA. MYLENE M. DUMAPIT

Teacher I

JEAN ANN L. GACAYAN

Teacher I

MARIA FLORITA A. OCONER

Master Teacher I
 Supervised Reciprocal Peer Tutoring

I. Context and Rationale

In the classroom setting of City Central Elementary School of Grade 3-Oconer, it is

readily observable that the learners need a learning intervention to improve their reading and

comprehension skills, all the while fostering their love for reading as an activity by itself. In this

action research, the proponents hope that the strategy used will result to a favorable outcome,

which in turn can become a solid basis for action planning.

Thus, this study aims to focus on two particular problems or issues:

a. skill set: the ability to read fluently and with comprehension

b. attitude: as learners struggle to read, they fail to develop a positive attitude

towards literacy, numeracy, language and literature.

II. Review of Related Literature

One cannot underestimate the extreme importance of teaching children to read at a

young age. When they develop fluency and comprehension early on, it becomes the

cornerstone of improved educational outcomes. This is because “strong reading skills form the

basis for learning in all subjects.” (getreadytoread.org, 2018)

Furthermore, according to the Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) Toolkit Second

Edition, the “ability to read and understand a simple text is one of the most fundamental skills a

child can learn.” (RTI International, 2016) The Toolkit’s Introduction also states there is

evidence that learning to read both early and at a sufficient rate (with comprehension) is

essential for learning to read well.

However, studies show that average student learning in most low-income countries

remain low (World Bank, 2019). Learners in the Philippines are no exemption to this

observation; the country’s Department of Education (Deped) has striven to enhance their

reading skills (Hernando-Malipot, 2018).

For very young learners, every day is an adventure: it is full of delightful surprises. In this

rapidly changing world, one who reads well and reads a lot more than his peers gets to learn

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faster. Furthermore, good reading skills help learners to be more analytical and express

themselves better in their interaction with people.

It is also a common observation that basic literacy is the very foundation children need to

be successful in all other areas of education. They first need to “learn to read” so that they can

“read to learn” (Pokharel, 2018). As children pass through grade levels, more and more

academic content is taught to them through the written word, and the acquisition of new

knowledge and skills depends largely on their ability to read and extract meaning from text.

Numeracy is a very important skill, but using a math book requires the ability to read. More

importantly, a higher level of literacy greatly enhances the learner’s capacity for self-guided and

lifelong learning beyond the confines of the classroom walls and into the harsh realities of adult

responsibilities.

Needless to say, there is the immediate need to assess reading at the earlier stages of

instruction, since children who do not learn to read in the first few grades are more likely to

become repeaters and worse, they eventually drop out of school. The common metaphor of “the

rich get richer and the poor get poorer” is often quoted in the discussions of the disparities that

occur between fluent and non-fluent readers for children who are unable to acquire reading and

comprehension skills in the early grades (Gove, A., & Wetterberg, A. (Eds.), 2011). In contrast,

the more and better children learn, the longer they tend to stay in school (Patrinos & Velez,

2009).

There are a lot of interventions and strategies to address a reading deficit in the early

grades. Among these is peer tutoring, which is a flexible, peer-mediated strategy in which some

learners act as academic tutors to their classmates.

For this study, the proponents will use Reciprocal Peer Tutoring (RPT), which was

developed by John Fantuzzo in 1984. In this procedure, students are assembled in groups of

two or more and are trained to work together on a specific academic task (Fantuzzo, Dimeff, &

Fox, 1989). Since this approach works better with older learners, the researchers opted to

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closely supervise and monitor the conduct of the intervention activities, hence the modified

Supervised Reciprocal Peer Tutoring (SRPT).

III. Research Questions

As identified, the two major issues that underlie this research are the poor reading and

comprehension skills of the learners and the resultant lack of motivation or desire to read. To

address these problems, the researchers will try reciprocal peer tutoring as an intervention,

which will hopefully find answers to the questions:

1. Can the RPT model improve the learners’ reading and comprehension skills?

2. Can this intervention improve their desire to read?

IV. Scope and Limitation

This study was undertaken inside the classroom of Grade 3-Oconer at the City Central

Elementary School (CCES) in Dumaguete City. The research started with the orientation and

initial (pretest) assessment of the respondents, partnered with the survey questionnaire that

aims to describe their level of interest and love for reading in September 2018 followed by the

administration of the SRPT to remedy the reading deficiency of the target respondents. By the

end of October the respondents were assessed once more (posttest) and made to answer the

same survey questionnaire to determine any improvement.

The tool to assess the reading and comprehension skill of the respondents is the EGRA

toolkit. The interpretation of the data gathered through the toolkit can take on many forms, but

the researchers believe descriptive statistics, though not so precise, is enough to determine the

success of the intervention given. The same survey questionnaire described earlier- upon being

answered the second time- will likewise hopefully get the pulse of the learner’s opinion.

V. Methodology

a. Sampling. The respondents of the study are the 14 learners of section Grade 3-

Oconer of CCES. They are automatically selected and recruited as research samples.

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b. Data Collection. There are two main instruments to assess and determine the

effectivity of the intervention of SRPT. These are the Deped Early Grade Reading Assessment

toolkit for Filipino learners (EGRA toolkit) and the Survey Questionnaire design to take a poll of

the learners’ attitude towards reading.

For the reading and comprehension assessment, the researchers focused on the five

higher order thinking skill components of the EGRA: Familiar Word Reading, Invented Word

Decoding, Oral Passage Reading, Reading Comprehension, and Listening Comprehension.

Table below shows the summary of the results of the pretest:

Table 1.Summary of EGRA Diagnostic Pretest Results

Classroom-Based Early Grade Reading Assessment

Pretest Summary Scores on Selected Subtests for Fluency and Comprehension

Component
Component 4 Component 5 Component 6b Component 7
Learner # 6a
(Names Familiar Invented
Oral Passage Reading Listening
redacted for Word Word
Reading Comprehension Comprehension
privacy) Reading Decoding
CWPM CWPM CWPM C I NR C I NR
1 31 35 34 3 1 1 2 3 0
2 30 36 34 3 0 2 2 3 0
3 30 33 35 2 2 1 2 3 0
4 29 30 33 2 2 1 2 3 0
5 29 30 34 2 3 0 2 2 1
6 27 26 32 4 1 0 2 2 1
7 26 27 32 3 1 1 2 3 0
8 26 26 29 2 2 1 2 2 1
9 25 25 25 3 0 2 2 3 0
10 24 24 25 2 2 1 1 3 1
11 24 23 24 2 2 1 1 3 1
12 23 22 23 2 1 2 1 3 1
13 23 22 24 1 2 2 0 3 2
14 15 13 18 1 3 1 0 2 3

Legend: CWPM—Correct Words per minute C—Correct I—Incorrect

CNWPM—Correct NonWords per minute NR—No response

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To survey the learners’ attitude towards reading as an activity, they were made to

answer a Likert type survey form as shown in Figure 1 below:

The actual responses of the 14 respondents for the beginning survey are shown below:

Table 2. Pre-SRPT Tabulated responses to Likert Survey (shown previously as Figure 1)

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As to the actual conduct of the remediation activity, the three researchers collaborated in

the selection of the composition of each group. They based their decision in grouping the tutors

and tutees on the common method for determining dyads or groups by ranking students from

the highest performing to the lowest performing student for the particular activity or subject

(Fuchs, Fuchs, Kazdan, & Allen, 1999).

Taking into high consideration the young age of the respondents, the three researchers

closely supervised the SRPT every after lunch. Word, phrase and sentence drills were given as

much as possible. Short paragraphs and stories to read were provided, and from time to time

Reading Development Materials were utilized to check improvement in selected pupil’s reading

ability. Focusing on reading development, thirty to forty-five-minute sessions were spent for

teaching and modelling (Mastropieri & Scruggs, 2003).

c. Ethical Issues. Extra care has been taken by the researchers to ensure the

confidentiality and anonymity of the learner-respondents. Their full rights are respected and they

were treated as autonomous agents, who have the capacity to consider alternatives, make

choices, and act without undue influence or interference from others (United States National

Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research,

1979). The necessary free, prior and informed consent was also secured for participants from

their parents/guardians.

d. Data Analysis Plan. At the end of the SRPT sessions, the learners were once again

assessed using the EGRA toolkit (as posttest) and made to answer the Likert-type survey

questionnaire. The following page shows the result of this new assessment and survey, before

the actual comparison and analysis of the data gathered from the results of the two instruments

are given statistical analysis and shown in graphic results:

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Table 3. Summary of EGRA Diagnostic Posttest Results

Table 2. Post-SRPT Tabulated responses to Likert Survey

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The following chart illustrates the comparison of the responses made by the survey

participants. The figures shown are that of the weighted mean for each question.

Chart 1. Weighted Mean Responses of the Likert Survey Questionnaire

Do you enjoy having a reading partner?

Likert Questionnaire Weighted Mean

Do you like being read to?

Do you read silently in class?
Doyou read orally in class?
Comparison

Do you like to read comics and fantasy stories?

Do you like to read books about making things?
Do you like to read books about people?
Do you read books at home?
Do you read books in your spare time?
Do you read books?
Pretest Posttest 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4

The chart above indicates that the generalized opinion of the respondents on pretest is

somewhat on the value of “3,” which corresponds to the answer “Sometimes.” The weighted

means for the answers to the questions on posttest very nearly approximates the answer of

“Very Often” (4). This shows that after the intervention the learners have grown to love reading.

To illustrate further the improvement of the learners’ attitude towards reading, a

comparative graph by percentage is also shown below:

Pretest Survey Responses Posttest Survey Responses

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The results of the EGRA selected subtasks pretest and posttest also show encouraging

results. The learners’ scores have improved after the SRPT. The percentage of the learners’

correct words increased; the number of correct answers in the comprehension subtest has also

increased while that of incorrect and no response decreased, as demonstrated in Charts 2 and

3.

Chart 2. Comparison of Correct responses percentage of EGRA pretest and posttest

EGRA Assessment Pretest and Postest

Comparison
Pretest Posttest

61% 62% 64%

53% 57%
52%

Familiar Word Reading Invented Word Decoding Oral Passage Reading

Chart 3. Comparison of Correct, Incorrect and No Response Answers

Comparison of Correct, Incorrect and No Response

Answers EGRA Comprehension Subtests
Number of Correct Responses

60
50
40
30
20
10
0
C I NR C I NR
Reading Comprehension Listening Comprehension
Component 6b Component 7
Pretest 32 22 16 21 38 11
Postest 49 12 9 48 16 6

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VI. Work Plan

The following work plan and timeline is used for the duration of the research process. It

is also graphically shown on a Gantt Chart.

Research Writing Preliminaries September 3-7, 10-14, 2018 (10 days)

Orientation of Respondents September 17-21, 2018 (5 days)

Administration of Supervised Reciprocal September 24-28, October 1-5, 8-12, 15-19

Peer Tutoring Activities and 22-26 (25 days)

Tabulation of Data Results November 5-24, 2018 (21 days)

Presentation, Interpretation, and Analysis December 3-22, 2018 (21 days)

of Data

Encoding and Proofreading January 2-19, 2019 (18 days)

Finalizing the Paper January 21-February 9, 2019 (21 days)

Submission of Final Research Report February 11, 2019

September November December

Month/Year October 2018 January 2019 February 2019
2018 2018 2018
Week 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
Research Writing
Preliminaries
Orientation of
Respondents
Administration of
Supervised Reciprocal Peer
Tutoring Activities
Tabulation of Data Results
Presentation,
Interpretation, and
Analysis of Data
Encoding and Proofreading
Finalizing the Paper
Submission of Final
Research Report

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VII. Cost Estimates

The expenditures for the study are near negligible. The respondents were given a

healthy treat as they were answering the questionnaire, and during some of the reciprocal peer

tutoring sessions candies and chocolates were also provided for motivation.

The preparation of the reports also cost little, from bond paper to ink.

VIII. Action Plan

In conclusion, the researches found that the study and its processes produced generally

favorable results. The pupils who themselves actively performed their roles as peer tutors and

tutees deserve to be congratulated, inasmuch as the efforts of the teacher-researches are also

appreciated. It is with high hopes that the researchers will use the results of the study for future

reference and modifications.

Needless to say, the teacher-researchers will graciously share their learning experiences

with the SRPT model with other teachers who might try this approach. It is hoped that by

sharing the techniques and strategies used, mentors will try SRPT and see for themselves how

peer tutoring can bolster reading achievement.

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IX. List of References

References

Fantuzzo, J. W., Dimeff, L. A., & Fox, S. L. (1989). Reciprocal Peer Tutoring: A Multimodal Assessment of
Effectiveness with College Students. Teaching of Psychology, 16(3), 133-135.
Fuchs, L. S., Fuchs, D., Kazdan, S., & Allen, S. (1999). Effects of peer-assisted learning strategies in
reading with and without training in elaborated help giving. The Elementary School Journal,
99(3), 201-219.
getreadytoread.org. (2018, January). Retrieved from http://www.getreadytoread.org/early-learning-
childhood-basics/early-literacy
Gove, A., & Wetterberg, A. (Eds.). (2011). The Early Grade Reading Assessment: Applications and
interventions to improve basic literacy. Research Triangle Park, NC: RTI Press.
Hernando-Malipot, M. (2018). Manila Bulletin. Retrieved from Manila Bulletin News:
https://news.mb.com.ph/2018/01/01/deped-strives-to-enhance-reading-skills-of-students/
Mastropieri, M., & Scruggs, T. &. (2003). Reading Comprehension Instruction for Secondary Students:
Challenges for Struggling Students and Teachers. Learning Disability Quarterly, 26(2).
Patrinos, H. A., & Velez, E. (2009). Costs and benefits of bilingual education in Guatemala: A partial
analysis. International Journal of Educational Development, 594-598.
Pokharel, P. K. (2018). Learning to Read and Reading to Learn in English. Journal of NELTA Surkhet, 75-
81.
RTI International. (2016). Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) Toolkit: Second Edition. Global: RTI
International.
United States National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral
Research. (1979). The Belmont Report.
World Bank. (2019). datatopics. Retrieved from worldbank.org:
http://datatopics.worldbank.org/education/wRsc/news

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