Continuous Assessment Program for a Struggling Reader: A Meansof Intervention

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Department of Education has always been advocating reading programs to capacitate the learners to acquire the mandated competencies at each level. It has created measures to uplift the reading skills of the Filipino learners.

In line with this, the reading teacher conducted a case study to track the progress of a struggling reader. The client (reader) underwent three stages -pre-implementation, implementation, post-implementation, to determine his needs, undergo him in a remedial reading program and evaluate his progress through appropriate reading assessments and strategies or activities.

METHODS

The program is a remedial reading program for Dexter Macuha, a Grade 6 pupil who was diagnosed to be a struggling reader. The program provides assessment processes, activities/ strategies, monitoring, and evaluation methods. It aims to improve the client's reading level based on his needs. It should be noted that the program is flexible considering circumstances such as the client's attitude, formative results, and schedule of co-and extracurricular activities.

Through explicit teaching, the researcher reviewed Dexter on his phonological awareness. Dexter was able to determine the beginning, medial and final sound of a word. Since it was observed that he had difficulty in recognizing "b" and "d", "e" and "i", and "o" and "u" the teacher focused on words having such letters.RESULTSBy conducting a summative reading test, it was realized that Dexter Macuha has reached one grade level higher. For Dolch's Wordlist, Dexter was able to recognize145 words out of 220 which tagged him as a Grade 1 reader. For the San Diego Quick Assessment, he became Independent for Primer which was Frustration before undergoing the remedial reading program.

DISCUSSIONS

A great challenge of the program was the frequent absence of the client due to health conditions and family problems. This dilemma gave the program slow progress as reflected with the formative tests given. However, Dexter was able to reach the designed second stage of the program: improving vocabulary. The pupil was able to realize that meaning changes as a phoneme was changed. He was also able to match the words to the pictures that they convey.