Continuous Improvement Program: Project REACH (Reading Enhancement and Comprehension Heighting)

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Reading is an important skill in being able to function in today's society. It is a vital skill pupil must learn in order to become successful in school. At the opening of classes in every school year, teachers identify struggling readers through a test in order to give the needed intervention but since the number of them is greater than those who are reading with comprehension, teachers often use the traditional ways of teaching reading. This is a common scenario in Bancod Elementary School. To solve the problem, Reading Enhancement and Comprehension Heightening or Project REaCH was formed to improve the reading capabilities of struggling readers using a variety of reading methods.

METHODS

Project REaCH aimed to diminish the struggling reader in English from 92% or 22 out of 24 Grade 4 pupils, to 71% or 17 out of 24 Grade 4 pupils of Bancod Elementary School SY 2018-2019 by the first week of February 2019, through different intervention program such as differentiated instruction during regular reading class and outside the reading class which includes utilization of computer-based reading materials, Big Brother and Big Sister, and provision of take-home reading materials.

RESULTS

The implementation of Project REaCH through various intervention activities showed that 14 out of 24 pupils or 58% improved their reading skills instead of the 17 out of 24 pupils target. This means that Project REaCH was effective to reduce the number of non-reader/slow reader in English.

DISCUSSIONS

Differentiated instructions and outside the reading class intervention activities such as computer-based reading materials, Big Brother and Big Sister, and provision of take-home reading materials contributed to the success of the project. From the observation of the reading teachers, it was found out that pupils enjoyed reading activities using computer-based reading materials and also wanted to learn reading with fellow pupils. Hence, it was suggested to continue the implementation of Project REaCH in the next school year with the remaining struggling reader of the same set of pupils.