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Chapter 1
THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND
Introduction
Every education institution in the world has its own share of problems that need to
be addressed. One of the issues besetting the school system, especially in the public
schools include low quality of education, attributed to low achievement test results. These
low achievement test results are further attributed to the poor development of reading skill
As everyone knows, reading is the mother of all skills. Without having master this
skill, a child will be left behind, thus, reading is important to develop at early age of a child.
Apparently, learning how to read and developing the reading comprehension skill of the
children are not easy tasks. Its process is complex, which includes the reader, the text,
and the factors associated with the activity of reading. Consequently, a child failed to learn
In response to this, many developing countries across the world, including the
Philippines, have established and developed programs that vary in content and design to
encourage reading and to promote the development of reading skill among young
learners. Some programs focused on improving the quality of reading instruction provided
by the teachers and supported by the parents; others are attempt to increase the quantity
of reading materials available to children; while are also programs on reading intervention
or remediation to bridge skill gaps in reading (Lonigan & Shanahan, 2009; Snow, 2013).
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Reddy and Stone (2018) described some reading literacy programs across
countries. First, the “Child Literacy Program in Laos and Guatemela,” that aims to provide
students entering the primary schools who are often struggling when learning to read for
various reasons: lack of resources, little exposure to print materials, and the languages
differ from the children home language. This program is given to the Grade 1 and 2
children. Second is the “Read Write Inc. Phonetics and Fresh Start Program” in the United
Kingdom. This is a 33-week catch up literacy program delivered to target children ages 4
to 8 who were identified as having fallen behind reading and writing. And third is Remedial
Reading in Egypt. It was found out that many Egyptian students are missing out on
foundation literary skill in the early grades while older students are being passed along
into the other grade level without having acquired the reading skill.
In the Philippines President Benigno Aquino III sets out the ten point Educational
Agenda in which one of these points concerned on literacy program to make every child
a reader in Grade 1. In fact, the Every Child is A Reader Program was introduced as
enclosure in DepEd Order no. 70, s. 2011 that aims to equip elementary pupils in public
schools with strategic reading and writing skills to make them independent young readers
and writers. Among activities lined up in ECARP are the Read-a-Thon, “A Paragraph A
Day” sessions, DEAR program, Big Brother/Big Sister, Kaklase Ko, Sagot Ko, Shared
Intensified Remedial Reading, Five Words A Week (FWAR), A Paragraph A Day (APAD),
Child A Reader Program. They are free to choose any of the reading remediation
programs which they think best fit and appropriate to the learning needs of the children in
For instance, Drop Everything and Read (DEAR) is a fifteen to twenty (15-20)
minute daily activity devoted to reading books or any materials available in the school;
Big Brother/Big Sister/Kaklase Ko, Sagot Ko/Shared Reading, in this activity, older
students or independent readers mentor pupils who are at the frustration reading level or
Reading. Remedial lessons are given to children in the frustration reading level by
Hour A Week. In this activity, the pupils are encouraged to learn and master one word a
day, five days a week, and to read aloud one or two paragraphs a day before classes
starts to develop oral communication; and Reading Camp, and activity that aims to
In support to the program, the Bureau of Elementary Education (BEE) develop the
“Philippine Informal Reading Inventory (Phil IRI) which aims to address its thrust to make
every Filipino child a reader. Its goal is to enable every Filipino child to communicate both
in English and Filipino languages through effective reading program. The Phil IRI has
been administered to all public elementary schools since 2011 up to present to assess
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the progress and levels of reading ability and comprehension of the pupils after the
many cases that a child is promoted l to another grade level without learning the skill of
reading. For instance, a pupil is promoted from one grade level to another grade level
with poor word recognition skill and poor reading comprehension, which fall under
frustration level. Thus, reading remains a problem in many of the public schools and a
culprit of low academic achievement. In the fact, in the recently conducted colloquium, a
part of the School Heads Development Program Foundation Course, the Schools Division
Office of Marinduque found out that 93% of the problems that schools heads in both
elementary and secondary schools presented concerned oral reading and reading
From the memorandum, it can be deduced that there are gaps in the
who have been promoted from one grade level to another, their reading levels have not
reading towards improving word recognition and reading comprehension skills of either
beginning readers or struggling readers have not been monitored or observed. Thus, this
longitudinal study on Philippine Informal Reading Inventory (Phil IRI) was conducted. The
Phil IRI assessment results would be used to determine the efficacy of Every Child A
Research Locale
The study was conducted in Masaguisi Elementary School, one of the complete
elementary schools in Santa Cruz East District in the Division of Marinduque. The choice
of the locale was due to the deep concern of the researcher in improving the word
recognition and reading comprehension skills of the pupils. Thus, this longitudinal study
was conducted using the Phil IRI assessment results for the last three years: 2015-2016,
This study aimed to present a longitudinal study on the Philippine Informal Reading
Inventory (Phil IRI) as assessment tool to find out the efficacy of the Every Child A Reader
1. What are the Phil IRI pre and post assessment results of Grade 6 pupils from
2. Are there significant changes in the reading skills of the pupils in terms of :
2.2 comprehension?
3. What are the challenges and concerns encountered by the teachers in the
implementation of ECARP?
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This longitudinal study on Philippine Informal Reading Inventory (Phil IRI) covered
the DepEd’s Every Child A Reader Program (Program), since the Phil IRI is an
assessment tool to find out its efficacy. The efficacy was assessed based on the results
of the Phil IRI pre- and post-assessment of the Grade 6 pupils in word recognition skill
and reading comprehension skill for last three years such as 2015-2016, 2016-2017, and
2017-2018. Data on Phil IRI were requested from respective teachers. It delved in finding
the significant changes in the reading skills. Results of pre and post-assessment were
supported by data gathered from the interview conducted among Grades 3, 4, and 5
would pave way to revisit DepEd’s reading intervention program and do some
DepEd Memorandum 244, s. 2011, to support the reading program “Every Child A
Reader.” Furthermore, results of the study would drive them to conduct ocular observation
and monitoring on how the reading intervention programs in the elementary schools are
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conducted, so that they can better trace the causes of the problems in reading. This is
also a way of validating the reading profile submitted by the schools to the district offices
For the administrators, to be more aware of the issues related to pupil’s reading
profile and for them to conduct strict monitoring on the implementation of the reading
enhancement program. Also, this would help them to think and introduce of an innovation
become effective. Results also pave way for them to intensify the in-service trainings in
respective classes.
For the elementary teachers, findings of the study would become their bases on
improving the utilization of reading intervention programs for them to make adjustment of
For the pupils, they are the primary benefactors of the study. Output of the study
may help them improve their word recognition and comprehension skill, hence they would
be provided of intervention. The classroom intervention policy would help them lessen the
and etc. Their levels of comprehension from frustration and instructional are also
As for the parents, this study would help them understand what their children
possibly lacks of, that may also, by this, parents will be updated and will prepare certain
For the future researchers, for their use of the results of this investigation as they
Definition of Terms
Addition. This error is committed when the pupil adds a syllable or a letter to the
DepEd thrust, Every Child A Reader Program (ECARP). It is determined based on the
results of the Phil Pre-Assessment and Post Assessment results for Grade 5 pupils for
4, and 5 teachers for reading intervention program. It serves as the output of the study.
Frustration Level. It is the lowest reading level. The pupil gets a score of 2 and
below in comprehension check. The pupil shows evidence of finger pointing or lip
movement. The pupil shows withdrawal from reading situations by crying or refusing to
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read. The pupil commits errors in reading such as reversal, repetition, substation,
Independent Level. It is the highest level at which a pupil can read independently
and with ease without the help or guidance of the teacher. The pupil gets 4 or 5 correct
answers to comprehension questions. The pupil is free from tension, finger pointing or
lip movement. The pupil reads with rhythm and with conversational tone and interprets
punctuation correctly.
Insertion. It pertains to way the pupils insert a word or a series of words that does
not or do not appear in the text (star “up” in the sky instead of “star in the sky).
Instructional Level. It is the level at which the pupil can profit from instruction.
The pupil answers correctly 3 out of 5 questions. The pupil’s oral reading is rhythmical
Intervention. This refers to the program in reading. In this study, intervention takes
place after the administration of the Phil IRI pre-assessment among one group of pupils.
Miscues. These are the errors committed by the pupils during oral reading that
determine the pupils’ word recognition skill. These includes mispronunciation, word by
refusal.
Mispronunciation. It happens when the pupil attempts to pronounce the word but
produces a nonsense word rather than the real one (eg. “botters” instead of brothers).
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Omission. It refers to the way the pupil omits a word or continuous of words in the
Post Assessment. This refers to the Phil IRI post-test administered at before the
school year. It is usually given on the first week of March to find out the reading level of
the pupils from Grades 2 to 6 and what progress has taken place. It is composed of oral
reading (word recognition skill) including prompt questions and silent reading.
Pre-Assessment. This refers to the Phil IRI pre-test administered at the beginning
of the school year. It is usually given on the second week of June to find out the reading
level of the pupils from Grades 2 to 6. It is composed of oral reading (word recognition
Repetition. This miscue occurs when the pupil repeats the word several times
before reading the line or complete sentence. It happens when the pupil is not sure of the
Reversal. It refers to the way the pupil reads the word in reverse order (eg. dew
… instead of wed).
Stammering. It refers to the refusal of the pupil to pronounce the word nor attempt
to do so. During Phil IRI oral reading, the teacher pronounces the word so that the testing
can continue.
Substitution. The pupils substitutes a real word that is incorrect (eg. dear for their)
Word by word. This refers to the manner of reading in which the pupil does not
show continuous fluency or flow of reading. During word by word reading, the pupil do not
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pay particular attention not only to words in the context as well as the interpretation of
punctuation marks.
Word Recognition Skill. This refers to the assessment of word recognition skill
using Phil IRI passages. This is determined based on the number of miscues committed
by the readers. The number of miscues is divided to the number of words in the passage
multiplied to 100%.
Acronyms
ECARP. It stands for stands for Every Child A Reader Program. It is an initiative
directly addressing the literacy thrust of the Department of Education to make every
Filipino a reader by Grade 3 and have mastery of the literacy skill at the pupil’s level. In
this, the reading programs under ECARP is assessed and the effectiveness of strategies
Phil-IRI. This term stands for Philippine Informal Reading Inventory. The Phil IRI
is an authentic reading assessment tool that attempts to evaluate the reading proficiency
the children’s use of comprehension, vocabulary, and word recognition strategies within
the context of the story, passage or poem. It provides teachers both quantitative and
Chapter 2
This chapter presents a review of literature and studies that have bearing on the
present study and are important in the understanding of the variables investigated.
children with reading at key stage that waves into: a) quality first teaching that aimed at
all children through class-based teaching; b) small group interventions aimed at children
who can be expected to catch up with their peers with some additional support; c) Reading
Recovery’ – intensive reading support in the form of a one-to-one programme for children
According to Mapacpac (2014), this program has been adopted by the Philippines,
through the Department of Education. The Every Child A Reader Program (ECARP) is a
part of the Ten Point Agenda of Aquino’s administration. It was implemented along with
Phil IRI Assessment Tool used to determine the reading levels of the learners in the public
elementary schools. ECARP aims to ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere in the
country, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling.
modules (TSLMs) and Phil IRI. The Teacher Self-Learning Modules (TSLMs) are
designed to equip primary grade teachers with the necessary materials to improve the
teaching of reading. On the other hand, the Phil IRI Informal Reading Inventory (Phil IRI)
is an authentic reading assessment tool that evaluates reading proficiency of the learners
(Mapacpac, 2014).
teaching reading which are seemed like an ambitious plan and something very possible
(Cruz, 2011). This is due to the fact, that not all schools have complete library facilities,
some schools have limited resources, some schools have resources but are already
obsolete and outdated, which means the materials are no longer aligned in the new
Furthermore, this education reform builds and improves on the Every Child a
targeted Grade 3 as the level by which every child must be a successful reader—
sometimes described as the zero nonreaders goal by Grade 4. Accordingly, Grade 3 has
been found too late in the elementary level, especially with the introduction of the
institutional reforms, the accompanying infrastructure, and the much needed teacher
training for more effective reading instruction. To echo the prevailing observation about
such initiatives from the Department of Education: there is no denying that we have
numerous pockets of excellence going on, but not a mandated standard, uniform,
sustainable program that everyone adheres to. What we have on hand instead, are
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different initiatives from different divisions around the country: a catalog of Best Reading
2010. Thus, a decade after the launch of this very catchy Every Child a Reader slogan,
our achievement scores remain nothing to crow about (Cruz, 2011; Mendoza, 2012).
ECARP in making every child a reader in specific grade level. Evidence suggests that the
ECaR programme and Reading Recovery improved children’s reading. ECaR had an
behaviors; wider impacts on pupils, such as their ability to initiate ideas and activities. The
findings pointed to the following factors, among others, influencing implementation and
delivery of the programme are: the role of Reading Recovery Teachers in schools and
the commitment of senior management to ECaR facilitating the set-up; the use of a
dedicated space, with adequate resources and in a supportive school infrastructure; and
ECARP in improving the reading skills of Grades 1 and 3 pupils in one of the public
schools in Bulacan, results revealed that ECARP was not effective in improving the
reading skills of the subject students. Moreover, there was a problem in the school’s
capacity to implement the program due to the lack of monitoring and follow-through by
the school be discontinued since it was not effective in improving the reading levels of
pupils. It further recommended that a new reading intervention be introduced in the school
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for Grade 1 and Grade 3 nonreaders, taking into consideration the specific reading
In the study of Vejerano (2012), ECARP served as the framework of the study in
which the reading strategies used by the teachers were assessed. It was determined
based on the results of Phil IRI pre and post assessment. Findings, emphasized that
based on the reading programs but on the strategies used by the teachers to teach the
skill of reading that helped the learners understand the processes in a day to day learning
Moreover, in another study conducted in the US, fourteen states have already
passed laws that require third grade students to be able to read at the third grade level
which is similar to the ECARP goal of “Every Child A Reader at age 7 or Grade 1” revealed
that students learn to read up till third grade. Beyond that, students read to learn. From
kindergarten to third grade, the expected progress in the reading ability of a student is
dramatic. At third grade, the reading level has been shown to correlate well with
reading level. Phil-IRI only provides an approximation of the learner’s abilities and may
The development of the Phil-IRI is one of the initiatives put in place in support of
the Every Child A Reader Program (ECARP). Before teachers can design and provide
appropriate reading instruction for their students, they should be armed with information
about their students’ current reading levels and abilities. This diagnostic approach to
describing how children read embraces inclusionary principles that emphasize the need
for education that is learner-oriented, responsive and culturally sensitive. The Phil-IRI is
one of the diagnostic tools that teachers can use to determine students' abilities and
needs in reading.
The Phil-IRI was revised in 2013 prior to the introduction of the K-12 Curriculum.
The readability level of the selections for oral and silent reading were based on the old
English and Filipino curricula and were validated to pupils who were products of these old
curricula; they were taught to read in Filipino and in English starting in Grade 1.
Under the K-12 curriculum, the pupils are introduced to Reading in Filipino during
the first semester of Grade 2 while Reading in English is introduced during the second
semester. For example, the curriculum in Phonics and Word Recognition for Grade 2
English during the second semester is reading short e, a and i words in consonant-vowel-
Aside from adjusting the readability level of the Phil-IRI selections based on the
present curriculum, the Phil-IRI constructed in 2013 was revalidated to the present group
of learners in 2016 to give a better assurance that the readability levels of the selections
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are appropriate for the grade levels for which they are assigned. Nineteen schools, each
representing a particular Mother Tongue, were chosen for the revalidation. Phil-IRI
Filipino was administered to Grade 3 and 4 pupils while Phil-IRI English was administered
in Filipino and English/ the class adviser who had a training in ELLN conducted the
revalidation.
The result of the examination of the literacy curriculum in both English and Filipino
as well as the revalidation were the bases for adjusting the Phil-IRI selections both in the
Screening Test and the Pretest and Posttest. The Phil-IRI Group Screening Test (GST)
can tell teachers whether students are reading at, above, or below their grade levels. The
individually administered Phil-IRI Graded Passages can be used to assess students’ Oral
When used to assess oral reading skills, the Phil-IRI may be used to describe
decoding and word recognition, fluency and comprehension. The student’s performance
in decoding (the ability to read isolated words using phonics knowledge) and word
Reading Miscue Inventory (Phil-IRI Form 3A and 3B: Grade Level Passage Rating
Sheet). The child is asked to read a passage and each word read incorrectly is noted and
marked. In terms of fluency (the ability to read with speed, accuracy and prosody), the
time taken by the child to read a passage is recorded and the number of words that he/she
can read per minute is computed. Furthermore, a qualitative description of the child’s
manner of reading is described via a checklist. Finally, test taker’s comprehension skills
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(the ability to create meaning) may be gauged by having the child answer five to eight
questions of varying difficulty based on the graded passage after it has been read.
Phil-IRI may be used to describe reading speed and comprehension. The student’s
reading speed is measured by recording the time it takes the child to read each passage
five to eight questions of varying difficulty after a passage has been read. For all three
comprehension), the aim is to find the learner’s independent, instructional and frustration
levels, so that teachers know what level of reading materials the student can read and
understand well, as well as what level of reading materials the student is not ready for.
Since the Phil-IRI is administered at the start and at the end of the school year, it can also
tell teachers about the growth and changes in students’ reading skills and levels.
With this premise, several studies were conducted to assess the reading levels of
the students using the Phil IRI assessment tools. The study of Carbado (2015)
determined the reading proficiency level of Year 1 to Year 3 students in HNHS Aplaya
Extension High School as basis for reading intervention program. It made use of
materials were used in assessing the level of reading proficiency of Years 1 to 3 students.
The data were statistically analyzed using frequency, mean, standard deviation, t-test for
paired sample and analysis of variance. All hypothetical questions were analyzed and
interpreted at 5% level of significance. The results revealed that majority of the students
level for the oral reading in which majority of the males are less proficient in reading
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compared to females in both silent and oral reading. There is no significant difference on
the levels of reading proficiency levels of students when analyzed according to their year
levels and gender. However, a significant difference on the levels of reading proficiency
analysis of errors to further identify the level of reading proficiency of the Grade IV pupils
assessment and non-experimental methodology. It made use of items in Phil IRI as the
main tool. Strategies were developed to remedy the word recognition errors and
creatively and drawing out values on the situation or story read. The study recommended
that teachers should give pre-test in reading to determine the initial reading proficiency,
analyze the result, and adapt appropriate strategies to improve the reading proficiency
level of the pupils, plan a medium term strategies and a year to year operation plan for a
school-wide reading program involving all teachers in all subject areas. Other
proficiency of the pupils, and teachers should let the pupils as well as their parents know
reading skills of Grade I pupils of Malinao District. It determined their awareness in eight
phoneme substitution and used the results of Phil IRI of the previous year. A descriptive
method of research was used with a test questionnaire made by the researcher as the
main source of gathering data. There were eighty (80) Grade I pupils involved in this study
from Malinao District. The respondents were chosen through stratified random sampling.
The instrument used in this study was the phonemic awareness test made by the
researcher, which was a forty (40)- item multiple choice test which measured the pupil’s
ability. Scores were categorized under Phil-IRI criteria which were the independent,
instructional and frustration level. The data were analyzed and interpreted using statistical
treatment percentage. The study likewise proposed reading enhancement activities and
comprehension tools.
In another study, Tongco (2013) identified the reading proficiency level of the
Grades IV, V, and VI pupils of Bitano Elementary School in the following reading
comprehension skills: literal, inferential, critical, creativeness and valuing and devised
appropriate school reading programs. Results of the oral reading test in word recognition
and comprehension were analyzed with the use of Phil IRI reading level criteria. Findings
showed that almost all the pupils fall under frustration level, which connotes for an
intervention program.
Word Recognition
Word recognition is the act of seeing a word and recognizing its pronunciation
immediately and without any conscious effort. If reading words requires conscious,
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effortful decoding, little attention is left for comprehension of a text to occur. Since reading
comprehension is the ultimate goal in teaching children to read, a critical early objective
is to ensure that they are able to read words with instant, automatic recognition (Garnett,
2012). Teaching students word recognition so that they can achieve this automaticity,
require instruction in: phonological awareness, decoding, and sight recognition of high
frequency words (e.g., “said,” “put”). Each of these elements is defined and their
importance is described below, along with effective methods of instruction for each.
Phonological Awareness
One of the critical requirements for decoding, and ultimately word recognition, is
words), syllables (large parts of words), and phonemes (individual sounds). Hearing “cat”
and “mat,” and being aware that they rhyme, is a form of phonological awareness, and
rhyming is usually the easiest and earliest form that children acquire. Likewise, being able
to break the spoken word “teacher” into two syllables is a form of phonological awareness
hearing the word “sleigh,” children will be aware that there are three separate speech
sounds—/s/ /l/ /ā/—despite the fact that they may have no idea what the word looks like
in its printed form and despite the fact that they would likely have difficulty reading it.
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Because the terms sound similar, phonological awareness is often confused with
phoneme awareness. Teachers should know the difference because awareness of larger
phonemes, and instructional activities meant to develop one awareness may not be
suitable for another. Teachers should also understand and remember that neither
anything whatsoever to do with print or letters. The activities that are used to teach them
are entirely auditory. To help remember this, simply picture that they can be performed
by students if their eyes are closed. Adults can teach phonological awareness activities
to a child in a car seat during a drive. The child can be told, “Say ‘cowboy.’ Now say
‘cowboy’ without saying ‘cow.'” Adults can teach phoneme awareness activities as well
by asking, “What sound do you hear at the beginning of ‘sssun,’ ‘sssail,’ and ‘ssssoup’?”
or, “In the word ‘snack,’ how many sounds do you hear?” or by saying, “Tell me the sounds
you hear in ‘lap.'” Notice that the words would not be printed anywhere; only spoken words
are required. Engaging in these game-like tasks with spoken words helps children
develop the awareness of phonemes, which, along with additional instruction, will
difficulties learning the relationship between speech and print that is necessary for
learning to read. This difficulty can sometimes be linked to specific underlying causes,
difficult for some children (Rayner, et al., 2012). Phoneme awareness facilitates the
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between phoneme awareness and reading, picture the steps that children must perform
as they are beginning to read and spell words. First, they must accurately sound out the
letters, one at a time, holding them in memory, and then blend them together correctly to
form a word. Conversely, when beginning to spell words, they must segment a spoken
word (even if it is not audible they are still “hearing the word” in their minds) into its
phonemes and then represent each phoneme with its corresponding letter(s). Therefore,
both reading and spelling are dependent on the ability to segment and blend phonemes,
as well as match the sounds to letters, and as stated previously, some students have
great difficulty developing these skills. The good news is that these important skills can
be effectively taught, which leads to a discussion about the most effective ways to teach
Decoding
Another critical component for word recognition is the ability to decode words.
When teaching children to accurately decode words, they must understand the alphabetic
principle and know letter-sound correspondences. When students make the connection
that letters signify the sounds that we say, they are said to understand the purpose of the
when students can provide the correct sound for letters and letter combinations. Students
can then be taught to decode, which means to blend the letter sounds together to read
words. Decoding is a deliberate act in which readers must “consciously and deliberately
word they do not instantly recognize” (Beck & Juel, 2015, p. 9). Once a word is accurately
nor knowledge of letter-sound correspondences come naturally. Some children are able
to gain insights about the connections between speech and print on their own just from
exposure and rich literacy experiences, while many others require instruction. Such
instruction results in dramatic improvement in word recognition (Boyer & Ehri, 2014).
Students who understand the alphabetic principle and have been taught letter-sound
instruction, are well-prepared to begin decoding simple words such as “cat” and “big”
accurately and independently. These students will have high initial accuracy in decoding,
which in itself is important since it increases the likelihood that children will willingly
engage in reading, and as a result, word recognition will progress. Also, providing
The instructional practices teachers use to teach students how letters (e.g., i, r, x)
and letter clusters (e.g., sh, oa, igh) correspond to the sounds of speech in English is
called phonics (not to be confused with phoneme awareness). For example, a teacher
may provide a phonics lesson on how “p” and “h” combine to make /f/ in “phone,” and
“graph.” After all, the alphabet is a code that symbolizes speech sounds, and once
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students are taught which sound(s) each of the symbols (letters) represents, they can
The third critical component for successful word recognition is sight word
them out, yet they appear frequently in print. They are “exceptions” because some of their
letters do not follow common letter-sound correspondences. Examples of such words are
“once,” “put,” and “does.” (Notice that in the word “put,” however, that only the vowel
makes an exception sound, unlike the sound it would make in similar words such as “gut,”
Since these exception words must often be memorized as a visual unit (i.e., by
sight), they are frequently called “sight words,” and this leads to confusion among
teachers. This is because words that occur frequently in print, even those that are
decodable (e.g., “in,” “will,” and “can”), are also often called “sight words.” Of course it is
important for these decodable, highly frequent words to be learned early (preferably by
attending to their sounds rather than just by memorization), right along with the others
that are not decodable because they appear so frequently in the texts that will be read.
For the purposes of this chapter, sight words are familiar, high frequency words that must
be memorized because they have irregular spellings and cannot be perfectly decoded.
One third of beginning readers’ texts are mostly comprised of familiar, high
frequency words such as “the” and “of,” and almost half of the words in print are comprised
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of the 100 most common words (Fry, Kress, & Fountoukidis, 2014). It is no wonder that
these words need to be learned to the point of automaticity so that smooth, fluent word
Interestingly, skilled readers who decode well tend to become skilled sight word
“recognizers,” meaning that they learn irregular sight words more readily than those who
decode with difficulty (Gough & Walsh, 2011). This reason is because as they begin
learning to read, they are taught to be aware of phonemes, they learn letter-sound
correspondences, and they put it all together to begin decoding while practicing reading
books. While reading a lot of books, they are repeatedly exposed to irregularly spelled,
highly frequent sight words, and as a result of this repetition, they learn sight words to
automaticity. Therefore, irregularly spelled sight words can be learned from wide,
independent reading of books. However, children who struggle learning to decode do not
spend a lot of time practicing reading books, and therefore, do not encounter irregularly
spelled sight words as often. These students will need more deliberate instruction and
Reading Comprehension
punctuation and the way construct sentences, paragraphs and texts. To be effective
reader, the pupils should be able to (1) scan (2) skim (3) read between the lines
(4) read intensively and (5) deduce meaning from the context.
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interpretative, and applied reading. Reading for literal comprehension means acquiring
information that is directly stated in a selection, is important in its self and is also a
prerequisite for higher level comprehension. On the other hand, interpretative reading
is reading between the lines or making inferences. It is process of deriving ideas that are
implied rather than directly stated. Interpretive reading includes making inferences
about main ideas of passages, cause and effect relationship that are not directly
includes detecting the mood of a passage, detecting the author’s purpose in writing a
reading, at his level, the readers are about to elevate or raise your thinking one more
“notch” or level to more critical, analyzing level. This presumes that the readers are have
already reached the previous two levels. At this level, the readers are reading between
the lines and then examining the message from the author or attempting to apply that
Cloze Reading Comprehension Activity, Reading Road Map (RRM), and Survey-
reading digital informational texts. Results suggested that the 3 reading comprehension
strategies in this study have the same effect on reading comprehension when digital
Gilakjani (2016) also ventured how students can improve reading comprehension
skill using qualitative research design. Results revealed that reading strategies have a
great impact on the students’ reading comprehension ability and had documented that
students were not just passive receivers of information but they are active makers of
meaning. Successful readers try to apply numerous skills to grasp meaning from the texts.
Thus, readers should be involved in the reading process by using different strategies to
monitor their meaning. Moreover, this study emphasized the idea that comprehension
processes are influenced by a lot of strategies. All of these strategies work together to
examine the use of e-readers during guided reading instruction and its impact on 5th
grade students’ reading motivation, attitude toward reading, and reading comprehension.
For 10 weeks, 19 students received guided reading instruction by means of the traditional
readers using the same stories but in digital text format. The Motivation to Read Profile
was used to measure student motivation, the Elementary Reading Attitude Survey was
showed no significant difference between the students who used e-reader digital text
format and those that used paper/text format in regard to reading motivation, attitude
toward reading or reading comprehension. However, the qualitative data gave several
comprehension of struggling, average, and accelerated readers. Twenty two 5th grade
students in an Integrated Co-Taught class were involved. The student’s reading levels
were assessed and they were placed into struggling, average, and accelerated reading
groups. The three themes that emerged from the data were that educators are aware of
the benefits of guided reading instruction but inconsistent application hinders student
results, students need to be equal partners in their learning, and guided reading increased
the reading comprehension in average readers, but not struggling or accelerated readers.
Guided reading should not be the only component of a balanced literacy program within
a classroom.
Data were collected from comprehension assessments, teacher observations, and the
implementation of a book challenge adapted from The Book Whisperer: Awakening the
Inner Reader in Every Child by Donalyn Miller. Activities from the book challenge included
reading strategies, student comprehension can increase and students may become more
motivated readers with more reading exposure. Because of the powerful results of
implemented.
30
Iman, Mastura, and Jamil (2013), utilized the six elements of reading
reading comprehension skills and mathematics than their counterparts. While reading
mathematics performance, the case is different in public schools wherein three skills
namely understanding vocabulary in context, getting main idea, and making inference
Hence, the poor mathematics performance could be explained by other factors not related
Mirandilla (2016) examined the language learning styles of the Grade 1 pupils as
basis for developmental reading activities. Findings revealed that hand-dominance which
was used, as one of its variables did not have significant relationship with the language
learning style of the pupils; the rest of the variables were found to be significantly related.
The study was able to come up with a set of reading activities for Grade 1 pupils.
Dayan (2013) of Ateneo de Naga City did a study dealt with the comprehension
skill and its implications to language instruction. She ventured to find out the relationship
materials available at home and read by the fourth year students. Dayan employed the
descriptive and correlation design and made use of Stanford Diagnostic Test Blue Level
comprehension skill, study habits and attitudes of students. However, there is a significant
Cabuyit (2012), conducted a study to develop a new test measuring reading ability
or skill (Vocabulary and Reading Comprehension) that could be used for the above-
mentioned case. The test that was constructed was administered to 582 Grades 3 and 4
Filipino pupils. Results showed that the new test has good internal consistency (r = .87
and .74). Using Confirmatory Factor Analysis the model attained an acceptable fit.
students of Caraga State University, Cabadbaran, Agusan del Norte. It also described the
profile of the participants and the perceived factors which determine the participants’
reading habits. Findings revealed that there was no significant relationship between the
participants’ profile and factors of reading toward their reading comprehension level. It
gave way to deal with some of the levels of reading comprehensions that were weak,
program.
Reading is one of the most important skills in learning academic subjects. Reading
also has a positive effect on students’ vocabulary knowledge, on their spelling and their
writing” (Harmer, 2012, p.99). Thus, teacher must develop reading habit in students in
32
order to help them enhance reading comprehension of the students. However, in teaching
reading, several challenges and concern were impede the teaching of reading. Among
which are selecting appropriate text to be used in teaching reading, lack of reading habit
and short span of interest on the part of the students, designing reading task for specific
case of readers such as struggling readers, emergent readers, and proficient readers,
experienced in the primary reading and writing instruction, and to find out their solution
offers for eliminating these difficulties.. The research revealed two relevant findings in
reading: unreadiness of students and lack of interest during reading. Proposed solutions
include provision of suitable activities for students and consideration of readiness level.
Synthesis
The review of related literature and studies focused on the variables investigated
in the study. It emphasized various findings which are relevant to the current study in the
area of ECARP, the program, Phil IRI, the assessment tool, word recognition, reading
Literature reviewed on Every Child A Reader Program indicates that its ultimate
goal is to make every child a reader as age 7 or Grade 1. Thus, several studies were
conducted. ECARP was paired with reading recovery program which was found to be
effective because the reading recovery program was supported by facilities, resources,
and engagement of parents. In contrast, in another study is was found to be not effective
due to lack of monitoring and follow up by the administration. Meanwhile, in one study,
33
reading, but what makes it more effective are the reading strategies employed by the
It could be deduced from the studies on ECARP, that program could only be
effective if there are support, follow-up, and monitoring. Also, if teachers would make use
of appropriate strategies in improving the reading skill among pupils. Findings are relevant
to the present study since it aimed to find out the efficacy of ECARP and how the reading
intervention programs have been effective based on the results of Phil IRI assessment
tool. However, the current study made use of Phil IRI results as basis in knowing the
efficacy of ECARP, unlike the previous studies that focused mainly on factors that affect
Phil IRI was also reviewed to find out its help in assessing the reading levels. In
the documented studies, most of these used Phil IRI to describe the reading levels of the
students in both elementary and high school. These studies are related to the present
study, because it also used Phil IRI results to present the reading levels of the pupils in
both word recognition and comprehension. But unlike the previous studies, the present
Among which are guided reading, cloze reading, activity reading road map, survey-
34
and accelerated readers. These findings are connected to the current research in a way
that it implicitly wanted to find out the attributing factors for the significant changes in the
reading skills of the pupils. These attributing factors could be the strategies employed by
students’ reading habits, students’ interest, designing task to improve reading, poor
schema of the students, and unreadiness. Also these factors are relevant to the present
study, since it also wanted to find out the challenges encountered by the teachers in
Theoretical Framework
The study is anchored on dual route reading theory postulated by Tilly, et al.
lexical reading route which assumed to be restricted to low-frequency of words for which
the readers have not yet established and well-internalized its orthographic
a pre-requisite for proper reading comprehension but not sufficient to its own. Thus, in
words has to be elaborated with reference to the readers’ syntactic and semantic
In addition, the study is based on the concept that ECARP, a national program that
would address the thrust of DepEd to make every Filipino child a reader at his/her own
level which is designed to equip elementary pupils with strategic reading and writing skills
intervention program would help improve the reading skill of the pupils.
Figure 1 presents the dependent and independent variables of the study. The
dependent variables are word recognition and comprehension skills. These are the
variables which are investigated in the research. Meanwhile, the independent variable is
the implementation of the ECARP, it is the variable that changed or controlled to test its
effects on the word recognition and comprehension (dependent variables). The double
arrows that connect the two frames indicate effects of ECARP to word recognition and
Figure 2 shows the research paradigm of the study following the IPO format. The
input includes the results of the Phil IRI pre and post assessment of the Grade 6 pupils
for the last three years covering 2015-2016, 2016-2017, and 2017-2018. Results are
documented and analyzed to find significant changes in reading skills. Analysis of the
results would help determine whether there are significant changes in the reading levels.
Results are supported by documented interview among Grades 3, 4, and 5 teachers who
handled and taught the Grade 6 pupils for the last three years. Results are the basis for
Chapter 3
Methodology
This chapter presents the methodology of the research. It includes the research
Research Design
type of correlational research that involves looking at variables over an extended period
of time. It aims to discover the relationship between variables that are not related to
the same group of individuals over an extended period. Data are first collected at the
outset of the study. Doing this allows researchers to observe how variable may change
over time.
The three teachers of Masaguisi Elementary School were the participants of the
study. They were the Grade 3, 4, and 5 teachers of the 27 Grade 6 pupils for the last
three school year: 2015-2016, 2016-2017, and 2017-2018. The 27 Grade 6 pupils were
Research Instrument
Primarily, this research utilized results of Phil IRI pre and post assessment as the
main source of data. These were requested from the subject teachers of the Grade 6
pupils for the past three years- 2015-2016, 2016-2017, and 2017-2018.
additional data from the participants. The interview aimed to provide comprehensive
ECARP.
Ethical Considerations
This longitudinal study on Philippine Reading Inventory (Phil IRI) involved human
participants for the assessment of the efficacy of Every Child A Reader Program (ECARP)
in improving the word recognition and comprehension of the Grade 6 pupils for the last
three school years 2015-2018. Several considerations for this study were done for the
purpose of ensuring the privacy and confidentiality of the participants and the subjects.
These concerns were identified in advance so as to prevent future problems that would
rise during the research process. Among the significant issues which include informed
During conduct of the research, interview methods were drafted in a very clear and
concise manner to prevent confusion. Respondents to this research were given ample
time to respond to the questions posed on them to avoid errors and inaccuracies in their
answers. The respondents were also given a waiver regarding the confidentiality of their
39
identity and the information that they did not wish to disclose. The respondents'
cooperation was eagerly sought after, and they were assured that the data gathered
would be treated with the strictest confidence. These were done with the hope that this
Several steps were conducted to gather the data and all the information needed to
facilitate the research. First, a permission was sought from to the Public School District
Supervisor to conduct the study. Second, request letter was sent to school principal to
access the results of pretest and posttest of Phil IRI for the last three school years, 2015-
2016, 2016-2017, and 2017-2018. Third, a permission was also sought to the school
was conducted to explain to the respondents the purpose of the research. Finally, results
Data Analysis
and concerned encountered during the implementation of ECARP. These were analyzed
and carefully interpreted. In like manner, records of Phil IRI pre and post assessment
were tabulated to present the reading levels of the Grade 6 pupils for the last three years,
2015-2016, 2016-2017, and 2017-2018. Meanwhile, raw scores obtained from pretest
and posttest were tabulated and collated for the purpose of interpretation. Results were
compared to find out significant changes after using the ECARP using t-test and one-
40
tailed Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) determined using the Statistical Package for Social
Research (SPPS).
41
Chapter 4
This chapter presents the data gathered, organized, and processed statistically,
and then carefully interpreted to obtain information that would answer the problems raised
in Chapter 1.
Table 1.1. Phil IRI Pre and Post Assessment Results of Grade 6 for SY 2015-2016
Table 1.1 presents the Phil IRI pre and post assessment results for SY 2015-2016.
Data showed a higher number of frustration with (f=13) during pre-assessment while
lower number of frustration with (f=7) during the post assessment. Consequently, this
against (f=9) during the pre-assessment. Meanwhile, the number of pupils belonged to
instructional level had no change as revealed in the pre and post assessment.
were attributed to the miscues committed during oral reading assessed through word
stammering, insertion, and reversal. Others include, repetition, addition, omission, and
substitution.
It could be implied from the findings that most of the pupils at this grade level were
struggling readers. They tried to read, apparently, their fluency was not yet developed
which could be attributed to the lack of phonemic awareness, so they had confusion on
how to sound a particular letter in a word. Also, they showed hesitation in reading because
they didn’t know how to sound or utter a particular word in the sentence. As explained by
students to recognize words, it requires the phonemic awareness, decoding and sight
recognition of high frequency words. In addition, failing to develop this awareness of the
sounds in spoken words leads to difficulties learning the relationship between speech and
print that is necessary for learning to read (Rayner, et al., 2012). Once these are met, the
student can achieve automaticity in reading. Thus if not, when they read, many errors
were committed.
43
out of 27or 14.81% to answer interpretative and applied levels of comprehension where
they could only answer questions with explicit answers, like the literal level of question.
Berry (2014) explained that reading for literal comprehension means acquiring
information that is directly stated in a selection which is an important skill towards the
From the findings, it could be inferred that on this grade level, most of the pupils
had only literal level of comprehension. They could only understand and answer question
in which answers could be explicitly found in the selection, which means, if answers are
implied in the context, most of them could not answer, hence, they could not read between
the lines. This is skill is what Berry (2014) called inference. It is process of deriving ideas
that are implied rather than directly stated. Moreover, most of the pupils could not
evaluate that they have read. Their critical and analytical skills in reading were not yet
develop. As a result they could not answer questions that require their judgment or
evaluation.
could answer the literal level of comprehension skill. This goes to show that they could
answer explicit ideas stated in the selection, which connotes an understanding. The fact
that they could take note important detail in the selection is already an indication that they
had understanding of the details of the selection. Berry (2014) confirmed that the literal
At a closer look, there was an improvement in the reading skills of the pupils in
both word recognition and comprehension in this school year. Hence, the number
44
frustration during the pre-assessment had decreased from 13 to 7 out of 27 and the
increase was added to the number of independent readers from 9 to 15 out of 27 during
Table 1.2. Phil IRI Pre and Post Assessment Results of Grade 6 for SY 2016-2017
Table 1.2 shows the results of Phil IRI pre and post assessment for SY 2016-2017.
Data manifested that the number of pupils in the frustration level had decreased from 12
45
the independent level had improved from 11 out of 27 to 15 out of 27 after the post
assessment. Meanwhile, the figure of pupils in the instructional level had remained the
same.
Results indicate that as years passed by, some pupils progressed in their reading
level, which further indicates that their miscues in reading were minimized and some of
recognition. Hence, the latter was vital in the development of comprehension. Thus, in
teaching or developing reading, word recognition should be the first to develop, in which
this should focus on phonemic awareness, pronunciation, decoding, and sight words
because these are essential elements of reading. As said by Fry, Kress, & Fountoukidis,
(2014), most of the contents of beginning reading texts are sight words, these are
mastered, then there would be smooth, fluent word recognition and reading could take
place. In addition, decoding is also important in word recognition, hence when students
leaned how to blend letters and sounds, they could surely read. As claimed by (Beck and
Juel (2015) when words are accurately decoded it leads to efficient word recognition.
46
Table 1.3. Phil IRI Pre and Post Assessment Results of Grade 6 for SY 2017-2018
Table 1.3 shows the results of Phil IRI pre and post assessment for SY 2017-2018.
Results indicate a higher number of independent level in both pre-assessment and post-
assessment with (f=12) and (f=14). Data also showed the number of pupils belonged to
It could be inferred from the table, that in this year, there was only a little progress
in the post test as compared to the previous year (SY 2016-2017). Records were
attributed to the miscues committed by the pupils during the pre and post assessment as
well their ability to respond to the different levels of comprehension questions in which
most of them were able to answer only the literal and interpretative level of
comprehension.
Furthermore, findings were attributed to the lengthy passages and selections that
pupils read at this level as well as the comprehension questions which seemed difficult
Table 2.1 Significant Changes in the Word Recognition for 3 School Years
Difference bet.
Variable Mean SD Means t Value Sig
Year 2015 – 2016
Pre Word
Recognition 82.52 10.74 7.85 1.705 1.56**
Post Word
Recognition 90.37 8.94
Year 2016 – 2017
Pre Word
Recognition 89.26 8.73 3.63 1.706 0.002*
Post Word
Recognition 92.89 6.00
Year 2017 – 2018
Pre Word
Recognition 92.96 6.92 -0.33 0.088 0.47**
Post Word
Recognition 92.93 6.97
*significance (if lower than 0.05)
** not significance if greater than 0.05
48
Table 2.1 shows the significant changes in word recognition for the last three (3)
school years. The computed means revealed split findings. On SY 2015-2016, the
computed mean of the posttest was higher as compared to the pretest with 90.37 against
82.52. This lead to a higher dispersion rate of 7.85. Thus, the computed t-value of 1.705
and the significant difference of 1.56 were greater than 0.05 level of significant. This
means, that that the improvement was not significant on this year.
For SY 2016-2017, both computed means of pretest and posttest were higher with
89.26 and 92.89 with lower dispersion level of 3.63. Consequently, the computed t-value
of 1.706 gave a significant difference of 0.002 which was less than 0.05 level of significant,
which means pupils word recognition skill on this year had significantly improved.
pretest was 0.33 higher than the post test. Thus, the dispersion rate was negative. This
resulted to a computed t-value of 0.088 and significant difference of 0.47 which were
Findings revealed no significant difference between the pre and post assessment
in word recognition for SY 2015-2016 and SY 2017-2018. These were attributed to the
miscues which were still committed after the post assessment by most of the pupils
2016-2017 in which both computed means were high in the pre and post assessment. It
could be implied that on this year, the ECARP has been effective among pupils.
Results tell us that when ECARP was first implemented during SY 2015-2016
among pupils, the pupils skill in reading had improvement, but the improvement could not
in teaching reading. Results were congruent to the study of Vejerano (2012) she claimed
that it was not the program that improved the pupils but the strategies which are used in
teaching reading that matters most. It was also jibed with the findings of Adriano (2013)
since the implementation of the program had not been effective due to some factors such
ECARP would only be effective if there were supports to the program such as facilities,
implemented the ECARP, which means, they had taken this seriously because they had
seen an improvement during year 1, as result, the implementation of ECARP had been
significantly related to the improvement in year 2. In contrast, it has not been consistent
in year 3, where there were only little progressed in the results of pre and post
assessment. This goes to show that some problems had encountered that might affect
the gradual progress in reading skill such as lack of materials, conflict of time, and the
like.
50
Difference bet.
Variable Mean SD Means t Value Sig
Year 2015 – 2016
Pre Comprehension 60.37 27.24 10.00 1.706 0.010*
Post
Comprehension 70.37 17.86
Year 2016 – 2017
Pre Comprehension 68.19 26.72 7.52 1.706 0.017*
Post
Comprehension 75.70 17.22
Year 2017 – 2018
Pre Comprehension 66.78 22.72 4.00 1.706 0.192**
Post
Comprehension 70.78 20.93
*significance (if lower than 0.05)
** not significant if greater than 0.05
Table 2.2 depicts the significant changes in comprehension for three school years.
Data revealed that on year 1, the computed mean of the post assessment was
extremely higher than the pre-assessment. Thus, the computed t-value of 1.706 gave a
significance difference of 0.010 which was less than 0.05 level of significant. This means,
that the comprehension skill of the pupils on year 1 had significantly improved. It could be
implied that during this year, ECARP was effective among pupils, hence teachers were
providing interventions regularly to the learners. Thus, big changes had been recorded.
This could also be attributed to the fact that reading selections during Grades 3 and 4
51
were not as complicated as those in Grade 5. Thus, pupils were able to answer questions
Consequently, in SY 2017-2018, the results of the computed means in the pre and
post assessment had not significant improved the comprehension skill of the pupils.
Findings could be attributed to the fact that reading selections in this year level started to
get complicated and longer as compared to the reading selections on the previous two
school years. Thus, pupils had difficulty understanding some contents of the selections
that led to their inability to answer some questions on interpretative and applied levels.
This could be verified also from their records of comprehension in the previous years,
where most of them could only answers literal level of comprehension and some could
answer the interpretative level of comprehension. The changes are little, which entails for
Looking at the data, there were improvement during year 1 because most of pupils
could answer both literal and interpretative levels of comprehension, yet some failed to
answer the applied level of comprehension. The progress and improvement had been
comprehension. This connotes, that ECARP had been effective during these years. In
contrast, pupils very little improvement in comprehension during year 3. This could be
these could be short span of interest in reading, hence, during this level, the number of
words in the passage is higher as compared to the number of passages during their
previous level. Also, the passage had complicated questions as compared to previous
readings or passages. This goes to show, that as pupils were given lengthy passages or
52
selections their tendency is not read carefully the content, nor not to analyze the
questions, consequently, they got low scores during the post test. Moreover, on the part
of the teacher, it could be deduced they had also hard time looking for selections which
would suit to the reading level of the pupils and designing reading materials, since at this
level, there were already pupils with developed and undeveloped reading skill. This jibed
with the findings of Stott (2011) in which designing of reading task and appropriate
materials for reading were two of the challenges of teachers of reading. Moreover, it
became a problem because the pupils begun to lose interest in reading as the selections
Implementation of ECARP
Below are results of the interview conducted among participants of the study:
Teacher 1
For me… hmmm… the problem lies with the materials… as you observed… most
of our materials are already outdated… We had limited modules… most of time I used
textbooks from private schools or download selections for reading. “Problema ito sa akin
kasi need ko na humanap ng material ung may mga short yet interesting selections then
Teacher 2
To me… reading materials are really essential… Kaya kung walang materials na
Another thing, sa ECARP, dapat may provisions yan ng reading materials, pero sa
Division natin ay wala. So make use of our available materails… na need pang i-align or
Teacher 3
Actually adequate naman ang number ng reading materials, ang problem outdated
na. Ung mga skills dito ay wala na sa learning competencies. Syempre ang target natin
One more thing, during reading remediation (ECARP) ang hirap talagang
humanap ng reading materials for specific reading level… dapat kasi ina level din… alin
ang pang frustration, pang instructional, at pang independent. Kasi kung pareho pareho
ang ibibigay sa bata, di na mag iimprove ung nasa independent pa…di na sila
maeenhance pa.
materials for reading. These problems include, outdated materials, limited appropriate
materials for specific grade level, and limited learning modules. Since, most of the pupils
had short span of interest in reading, they need short stories or short selection for reading.
Most of the available materials in school were obsolete and were no longer aligned to the
competencies in specific grade level. Hence, they were looking for congruency of
Teacher 1
mahirap talaga. There are lots of consideration. Dapat iba iba per reading level. At dapat
ung mag address talaga ng reading gap nila, like sa mispronunciation, dapat may reading
kit na may pronunciation. Isa rin problema kasi di na develop ang phonemic awareness
Teacher 2
Problema rin talaga yung iba iba na ang reading levels nila. Paano ba ipapapriorize
yung nasa frustration at instructional.. Ano bang reading task ang for them. Sa ECARP,
madalas ang ginamit ko dun ay yung Big Brother and Big Sister, yung mga independen
readers ang pinag guguide ko sa mga nasa frustration. Pero nag dedesign ako ng mga
reading materials for this. So pag wala akong design… walang maipapabasa talaga.
Teacher 3
natin. We have to very carefully din sa mga comprehension questions kung paano ito
makakatulong to improve the reading level from literal to interpretative and applied. It
All teachers disclosed that there were pupils could really read and comprehend.
Thus, they see the importance of levelling the tasks to be given to the pupils. As revealed
in the Phil IRI, there were independent readers, instructional readers, and frustration
readers. This means that the reading tasks for them should be according to their reading
levels. Since teachers had lots of things do in class, they lack time on preparing specific
tasks for specified needs of the learners. Thus, the usual sentiment was, if there were
only reading materials for the implementation of ECARP, teachers would have not
encountered problems on designing specific task for individual needs of the learners.
Teacher 1
Actually, matagal na itong ECARP na ito, maganda sana kaya lang walang
Teacher 2
Kung Pull out naman, paano? Minsan conflict sa time ng teacher at bata, walang
Kaya usually ang Friday ay ginanawa kung day to implement ECARP. At least
Teacher 3.
No guidelines. Dapat meron talaga… kasi iba-iba ang ways ng pag implement.
Anyway, what matters is that pupils, should be taught of the skill of reading… kaya most
of time implement naming ang program pero sarili naming strategies in reading ang
ginamit.
memorandum was out and teachers were told to implement the sub programs of ECARP.
Apparently, only short descriptions of the subprograms were given. No other explanations
or guidelines to follow on how to implement the program. Thus, it was a problem for the
teachers on how to properly implement the program. They had their own ways of
implementations. And it seemed that they were not competent if what they had been doing
was right. Like using the Pull out method, the DEAR method. No standards on how to
conduct this program. For instance, one teacher revealed she did not understand how to
use DEAR, what she knew only was pupils should be given 10- to 15 time to read and
drop what they read. She doesn’t even know how she would assess the reading progress
4. Lack of resources
Teacher 1.
Like what I said… out dated na mga books natin sa library at mga downloaded
naman ung naka display sa reading corner. Sana may materials talaga para dito. Yung
Teacher 2.
57
resources.
Teacher 3
All teachers revealed that all programs in ECARP were helpful, however, due to
lack of materials to support the program, they were the ones who make materials. Most
5. Conflict of time
Teacher 1.
Actually lahat ng naman program ng ECARP maganda and ideal. Pero minsan isa
For instance sa Pull Out reading especially for the struggling readers, minsan kasi
may talagang di marunong mag “sound” kailangan nasa pull out. Di nag match ang time
naming ng pupil. Minsan naman pag pina iwan mo sa room, susunduin ng parent tapos
sasabihin dun na lang pagbabasahin sa house nila. Kaya minsan problem din yung non-
engagement of parents.
Teacher 2.
Conflict of time.. Hay… minsan di mo na alam kung paano hahatiin ang oras. Even
if I like all the pupils to become independent readers, sometimes, I failed… kasi hindi
Teacher 3
58
Conflict of time talaga when and where and how… Paano nga ba talaga implement
All teachers disclosed that they wanted the programs in ECARP because these
were ideal. However, most of time, they encountered conflict of time. For instance, using
Pull Out Reading, if the teacher is available the learner is not. Even during meal time, if
the teachers allot 15 minutes reading time, the learner would be fetch by parents.
appropriate materials, difficulty in designing task for various levels of readers, no specific
time. The challenges and concerns were similar to the findings of several researchers
From the findings, it could be inferred that teachers were really doing their best to
implement the program. They tried and gave their best to help pupils improve their reading
levels. Apparently, to succeed in any endeavor, there should be support and resources.
Just like the implementation of ECARP, for years that it had been implemented in schools,
its effect was not consistent due to some factors. Thus, yearly, there are still pupils under
frustration and instructional levels based on Phil IRI pre and post assessment.
Nevertheless, pupils were promoted from one grade level to another despite the lack the
skill of reading. Thus, it entails that teachers must have done classroom intervention
Rationale
The intervention program is known as Dual Reading Strategies. Dual connotes two
groups of strategies for reading skills in one program, the word recognition and the
comprehension skill are the target skills for improvement. In improving the word
recognition skill, this program will focus on the pronunciation techniques while for
Dual Reading Strategies aims to bridge skills gap in word recognition and reading
comprehension. In word recognition, pupils will be provided of speech kit and basic sight
words. The speech kit is comprised of 100 frequently mispronounce words which are
common in day to day conversations in school among pupils and teachers. Each word in
the speech kit has pronunciation key and sample phrase in which the word is a model. In
this way, the pupils will not only learn to pronounce or sound the words, but also
taken from the intended reading selection. The vocabulary words will be taught using
various vocabulary strategies such as Context Clues, Word Association, and Structural
Analysis. There will a model for teach strategy, so that pupils would know how it is done
questions have no choices. This is a test of what they understand from the readings. Also,
it would help the pupils to develop their writing skill, since they will be answering the
questions in a brief yet concise sentence. In addition, the comprehension kit, has mini-
60
skill. In this interactive activity, their oral language fluency, pronunciation, and
1. Pronunciation instruction:
Model:
Pupil 1: /Hot/
Teacher: /'sʌn.i/
Pupil: /wɔːrm/
3. Choral repetition
Model:
1. Monitoring Comprehension
For instance, "I don't understand the second paragraph on page 76."
For example, "I don't get what the mini dialog that that says, “Arriving in
Example: "Oh, so the author means that coming to another country was a
e. Look forward in the text for information that might help them to resolve the
difficulty
2. Answering Questions
o Help pupils to review content and relate what they have learned to what they
already know
how to answer questions better. Pupils are asked to indicate whether the
information they used to answer questions about the text was textually explicit
62
information (information that was directly stated in the text), textually implicit
information (information that was implied in the text), or information entirely from
1."Right There”
Questions found right in the text that ask students to find the one right answer
Questions based on the recall of facts that can be found directly in the text.
Answers are typically found in more than one place, thus requiring pupils to "think" and
Example: Why was Frog sad? Answer: His friend was leaving.
Questions require pupils to use what they already know, with what they have
learned from reading the text. Pupil's must understand the text and relate it to their prior
Example: How do think Frog felt when he found Toad? Answer: I think that Frog
felt happy because he had not seen Toad in a long time. I feel happy when I get to see
Reading the text may not be helpful to them when answering this type of question.
Example: How would you feel if your best friend moved away? Answer: I would
feel very sad if my best friend moved away because I would miss her.
4. Generating questions
By generating questions, pupils become aware of whether they can answer the
questions and if they understand what they are reading. Pupils learn to ask
segments of text. For example, pupils can be taught to ask main idea questions
story structure through the use of story maps. Instruction in story structure
6. Summarizing
64
are reading and to put it into their own words. Instruction in summarizing helps
pupils:
7. Direct Explanation
The teacher explains to pupils why the strategy helps comprehension and when to
8. Modeling
"thinking aloud" while reading the text that the pupils are using.
9. Guided practice
The teacher guides and assists pupils as they learn how and when to apply the
strategy.
10. Application
The teacher helps pupils practice the strategy until they can apply it
work together to understand texts, helping each other learn and apply
Chapter 5
Chapter 1. The conclusions that were drawn from the findings are also presented in the
Summary of Findings
Presented below are the results obtained from the conduct of the study. These are
as follows:
revealed that each year, the number of pupils under independent level increased
comprehension skill, findings showed that there was an improvement each year.
lack of resources, conflict of time, and personal issues of pupils such as short span
Conclusions:
67
In the light of the findings, this research concludes that there were improvement in
the pre-assessment and post-assessment of Grade 6 pupils for the last three years in
areas of word recognition and comprehension skill. The number of pupils in frustration
level had decreased as the number of independent level had increased. Apparently, not
all the pupils had improved in both skills after the implementation of ECARP. Thus, there
were school years where ECARP had been effective and not effective. In other words the
efficacy of ECARP had not been consistent for the last three years when implemented at
This is to say that whether or not ECARP was used in improving reading, the
reading levels of pupils gradually improved each year, which connotes that pupils
improved from the teaching of reading where various teaching strategies were used and
did not depend on the implementation of ECARP. The challenges encountered were also
Recommendations
1. DepEd curriculum implementers should revisit the ECARP program to see the
used in their respective classes. Such training may include writing and designing
big books, books lets, short stories, and speech kit for the development of both
References:
Adriano, R. (2013). Evaluation of the implementation and effectiveness of ECARP in
improving the reading skills of Grades 1 and 3 pupils in one of the public schools
in Bulacan. Retrieved from https://www.academia.edu/27383330
Beck, I. L., & Juel, C. (2015). The role of decoding in learning to read. American
Educator, 19, 8-25. Retrieved from
http://www.scholastic.com/Dodea/Module_2/resources/dodea_m2_pa_roledecod.
Boyer, N., & Ehri, L. (2014). Contribution of phonemic segmentation instruction with
letters and articulation pictures to word reading and spelling in beginners.
Scientific Studies of Reading, 15, 440-470. doi:10.1080/10888438.2010.520778
Brady, S. (2014). Efficacy of phonics teaching for reading outcomes: Indicators from
post-NRP research. In S. A. Brady, D. Braze, & C. A. Fowler (Eds.), Explaining
69
individual differences in reading: Theory and evidence (pp. 69–96). New York,
NY: Psychology Press.
Dayan, B. E. (2013). Reading comprehension skills of fourth year high school students
of the Ateneo de Naga. It’s Implication to Language Instruction
(Unpublished Master’s Thesis). Bicol University Graduate School, Legazpi City).
Fry, E., Kress, J., & Fountoukidis, D. (2014). The reading teacher’s book of lists (4th
ed.). Paramus, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Gilakjani, A. (2016). How can students improve their reading comprehension skills?
Retrieved from http://wwwresearchgate.net/publication/303742915
Gundogmus, H. (2018). The difficulties experienced by teachers in the process of
primary reading and writing instruction and their solution offers for eliminating
these difficulties. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 6(2), pp. 333 – 339.
Retrieved from DOI: 10.13189/ujer.2018.060216
Hansen, K. (2016). Guided reading and how it affects reading comprehension in
struggling, middle level, and high level reader. Retrieved
http://fisherpub.sjfc/edu/education_ETD_master.
Harmer, J. (2012). How to teach English. England:Longman Pearson. Retrieved from
http://www.academypublication.com/issues/past/tpls/vol04/02/22.pdf
Rayner, K., Foorman, B. R., Perfetti, C. A., Pesetsky, D., & Seidenberg, M. S. (2012).
How psychological science informs the teaching of reading. Psychological
Science in the Public Interest, 2, 31-74.
Reddy, P. & Stone R. (2018). Literacy around the world. Retrieved from
http://www/air.org.recource/literacy_around_world.
Snow, C. (2013). Preventing reading difficulties in young learner. Retrieved from
http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=6023&page=15
Stott, R. (2011). Emergent readers and the joy of reading: A finished perspective.
Retrieved from https://www.scirp.org/journal/PaperInformation.aspx?
Tongo, M. B. (2013). A reading program for grades iv-vi pupils in Bitano Elementary
School. (Unpublished Master’s Thesis). Bicol University Graduate School,
Legazpi City.
APPENDIX A
___________________________
LOLITA M.LU
72
Madam:
Greetings!
In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree, Master of Arts in
Education in Philippine Women’s University, Taft Avenue, Manila, I am presently
conducting a study entitled “The Efficacy of Every Child A Reader Program for
Enhanced Intervention Strategies”. In lieu, may I have the honor to request your
permission to conduct my study at Masaguisi Elementary School, one of the complete
Elementary Schools in Santa Cruz East District.
I hope that this request merits your preferential attention and favorable
consideration.
Thank you so much for your usual support.
Genelyn J. Regio
Researcher
APPENDIX B
_________________________________
GERRY P.RIVAMONTE
73
Principal I
Masaguisi Elementary School
District of Santa Cruz East
Division of Marinduque
Sir:
Greetings!
May I have the honor to seek permission from your good office to allow me to
conduct my thesis entitled “THE EFFICACY OF DEPED’S EVERY CHILD A READER
PROGRAM FOR ENHANCED INTERVENTION STRATEGIES.” The said study will be
conducted in partial fulfillment for my master’s degree at Philippine Women’s University,
Taft Avenue, Metro Manila.
GENELYN J. REGIO
Researcher
74
APPENDIX C
__________________________________
Phil- IRI Pre and Post Test Result from SY 2015-2016 to SY 2017-2018
75
APPENDIX C
_________________________________
Rationale
Reading Intervention is a vital aspect of systematic learning for struggling students,
that is, learners under frustration level, who need additional support in developing skills
to improve comprehension and read at grade level. However, a problem lies in the
readers. In the Every Child A Reader Program these are as follows: Drop Every and Read
Remedial Reading, Five Word A Week (FWAW) A Paragraph A Day (APAD)/Library Hour
strategies that teacher can make use for the enhancement of the program:
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Description:
This intervention provides training for both tutors (Big Brothers) and tutees (Little
Brothers) in the increase of sight word vocabulary. It takes approximately 30 minutes,
including tutor training, tutor-tutee practice and testing, and graphing test results.
Materials:
1. Tutor Folders: one for each tutor-tutee pair. The folders have 3 paper
pockets: a) the "GO" pocket contains 10 cards at a time, b) the "STOP"
pocket receives the cards when the tutee has met the criterion, and c) the
"STAR CARD" pocket contains the names of the pair and a grid with space
for up to 10 stickers/stamps. It also has: a) a bar graph on the left hand side
of the folder and b) a picture of a "smiley face" and a large "X" on the back
of the folder.
2. Word Cards for each session: one set per pair. Cards can be individualized
based on the pupils' individual needs.
3. Stickers
4. Timer/Watch
Procedure/Steps:
1. Divide the pupils into tutors and tutees. Half of the tutors will be pupils of
high reading level. Pair the highest performing tutor with the highest
performing tutee, the next highest performing tutor with the second highest
performing tutee, and so on.
2. Divide the tutors into groups of 3-4 pupils and call them "Tutor Huddles".
3. Conduct a 30-minute classwide orientation session about the procedures
described below. Follow-up with two 30-minute sessions for each Tutor
Huddle and then conduct reviews periodically as needed.
4. Give a signal so that each tutor gets his of her tutee's folder from a
designated area in the classroom. Have the tutees do seatwork.
5. Each tutor in each Tutor Huddle reads orally the words and the other
members give him/her feedback. This Tutor Huddle session lasts 5 minutes.
77
6. If the tutor identifies the word correctly, the other members say "yes". If the
tutor is incorrect, they try to say the correct word. If they can't, they ask for
the teacher' s help.
7. After 5 minutes, signal the end of the Tutor Huddle and the beginning of the
peer tutoring.
8. Each pair practices the GO pocket words. The tutors present the cards as
many times as possible for 5 minutes. If the tutee makes an error for the first
time, the tutor should say, "Try again". If the tutee makes an error again, the
tutor provides the correct word (e.g., "Say 'cat' ").
9. Signal the end of the practice period and the beginning of the test period.
Tutors present again the GO words but only once and they give no
feedback. If the tutee says the word correctly, the tutor places it on the
"smiley face". If the tutee makes an error, the tutor places the card on the
"X".
10. Have the tutors mark the back of the card with a smile or with an X
depending on the tutee's answer.
11. When the tutee identifies the word correctly on three testing sessions, the
tutor moves it to the STOP pocket and colors a square on the bar graph with
a different color for each session. Have them draw a line on the graph if no
cards were moved.
12. Have tutors return the folders to their proper place.
Evaluation of Effectiveness:
1. Compare the pupils' scores on the same test of 30-100 words before and
after implementation of this intervention.
2. Compare the pupils' scores on daily or weekly drills before and after
implementation.
Description:
This intervention is useful for slow readers. Pupils read repeatedly short passages
until they achieve a satisfactory level of fluency. In this way, they spend less time
on reading the words and they can focus on understanding the content. Pupils are
told that they are going to be asked comprehension questions. The optimal number
of repetitions appears to be four.
Materials:
Procedure/Steps:
1. Explain to pupils that they will be learning a way of improving their reading
comprehension similar to the type of practice that helps athletes develop
skill at their sports.
2. Give the first student the assigned reading passage and tell the following
directions:
"I want you to read this story out loud. I want you to remember as much
about the story as you can. The important thing is to find out as much about
the story as you can. When you are done, I am going to ask you to retell the
story to me [or answer some questions about the story]."
3. Record the time needed for each reading.
4. If desired, record the number of errors on your copy of passage or on a
sheet of paper.
5. When the student finishes reading the passage, ask him/her to read it again.
Repeat a shortened version of the directions.
6. Have the student retell the story or answer different comprehension
questions after each reading. After the final reading, praise the student for
understanding the story.
7. Follow the same procedure with the other pupils in the reading group.
Evaluation of Effectiveness:
Compare the pupils' scores on comprehension skill sheets or end-of-unit reading
tests before and after implementation of this intervention.
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Description:
This intervention, which is based on Schema Theory, engages pupils in enrichment
activities prior to reading the passage. In this way, pupils have the opportunity to
activate and enhance existing knowledge before reading. Pre-teaching vocabulary
words will enhance comprehension.
Materials:
1. Stickers (optional)
2. Sheets of paper or copies of the reading passages for marking errors
(optional)
Procedure/Steps:
1. Start by the last section in the reading lesson, often called "Enrichment
Activities". Conduct several of these activities to build background
information and vocabulary.
2. Teach the skill lessons in the teacher's manual in the context of the story
rather than with isolated sentences or paragraphs.
3. Ask the pupils questions about the reading in order to help them make
predictions about the content or outcome of the story.
4. Have the pupils read the story silently to apply background knowledge and
skills on their own.
5. After the reading, conduct a brief discussion to evaluate the lesson's four
instructional goals:
o Building story background to enhance comprehension;
o Teaching specific vocabulary;
o Teaching reading subskills, such as predicting outcomes;
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Evaluation of Effectiveness:
Compare the pupils' scores on daily vocabulary or comprehension skill sheets or
end-of-unit reading tests before and after implementation of this intervention.
Description:
This intervention, which is based on Schema Theory, emphasizes linking previous
knowledge structures (schemata) with reading materials. A pre-reading technique
(see "My Story Map") provides a framework that directs pupils' attention to
important interrelated information, such as setting, characters, problem, goal,
action, and outcome.
Materials:
1. Overhead Projector
2. "My Story Map" transparency and individual student paper copies one per
student.
3. List of 10 comprehension questions for each student, one list per story.
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Procedure/Steps:
Four phases of implementation: Phase 1: Modeling the use of Story Mapping
1. Display the overhead transparency of the story map. Have the pupils
complete their own copies as you call on pupils for responses.
2. Have the pupils hand in their story maps, put away their reading materials,
and answer the comprehension questions individually.
1. Have the pupils fill in their story maps individually. Tell them that they can fill
in the maps as they read their story or after they read or both.
2. After silent reading and map completion, call on pupils to identify story map
elements. Record the answers on the transparency and provide corrective
feedback.
3. Again, have the pupils hand in their story maps, put away their reading
materials, and answer the comprehension questions.
1. Have the pupils silently read the story and complete their story maps. Do
not call on pupils to identify story map elements.
2. Test comprehension by having again the pupils hand in their story maps,
put away their reading materials, and answer the comprehension questions.
Phase 4: Maintenance
Have the pupils silently read the story and answer comprehension questions
without the story maps. If scores falls below 80% accuracy for 2 consecutive days,
use the maps again.
Evaluation of Effectiveness:
Compare the pupils' scores on comprehension questions or skill sheets or daily,
weekly, or end-of-unit reading tests before and after implementation of this
intervention.
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Description:
This intervention emphasizes the importance of metacognitive or active reading
strategies to improve comprehension. It directs pupils' attention on story structure
by teaching them to ask five "wh" questions about the settings and episodes of the
story.
Materials:
1. Overhead Projector
2. Transparency and individual student paper copies of the five "wh"
questions or the Detective Reader, one per student.
3. Three or four narrative passages.
4. Poster board chart listing the 5 "wh" questions (optional)
Procedure/Steps:
1. Tell the pupils that they are going to play a game to help them become
better readers. The game is called "Reading Mysteries" and "Storyteller"
and "Detective Reader" are the main characters.
2. Tell them that the job of the Storyteller is to provide specific clues to enable
readers to make predictions about the story based on past experiences.
3. Tell them that their job as Detective Reader is to search for clues in the
story, ask questions, and make predictions based on background
knowledge.
4. Read them a story.
5. Introduce the five "wh" story grammar questions by using an overhead or
poster board chart.
6. Call on pupils to answer these questions and write the answers on the
transparency and have them write the answers on their copies, too.
7. Tell the pupils that to be good Detective Readers, they need to think of
these questions during silent reading.
8. Practice using the questions at least two more times as a classwide activity
or in reading groups.
9. Gradually eliminate the use of paper copies for the five "wh" questions.
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Evaluation of Effectiveness:
Compare the pupils' scores on comprehension questions or skill sheets or daily,
weekly, or end-of-unit reading tests before and after implementation of this
intervention.
5 "wh" questions
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CURRICULUM VITAE
I. PERSONAL DATA