Reading Comprehension and its Effect in Increasing the Academic Performance of Grade III Pupils of Dona Carmen Elementary School

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Reading is one of the skills that every pupil must acquire in the elementary level. To be able to test its effectiveness, the Department of Education issued memorandum no. 324 s. 2004 for the administration of the Philippine Informal Reading Inventory (Phil IRI) and initiated an “Every Child a Reader Program” (ECARP) which aims for efficient communication skills in English and Filipino through effective instruction.

METHODS

The study used the descriptive correlational research design to describe the relationship between reading comprehension and academic performance of the Grade three pupils of Dona Carmen Elementary School. Purposive sampling was used to get the actual number of pupils needed in the research. The statistical tools used were the following; 1. Frequency Counts was used to individually count the level of the pupils comprehension and the level of academic performance . 2. Percentage Distribution was used to determine the level of academic performance in terms of final grade of the pupils in English 3. Pearson r was used to determine the correlation between the reading comprehension and academic performance.

RESULTS

Out of 28 respondents, there were 3 non-readers and 15 pupils belonged in the frustration level, 8 were instructional and 2 in the dependent level. In terms of academic performance, 3 pupils were identified in the beginning level, 9 pupils were in the developing level. Meanwhile, 8 pupils were in the proficiency level and 8 were in the proficient level. The table 3 noted the significant correlation between reading comprehension and academic performance in English which had a strong relation of 0.59. Therefore, reading comprehension level of students significantly influence their academic performance in English.

DISCUSSIONS

As reflected in the study, there is a need to have an intervention to be able to maximize the capacity of the readers to be independent. The initiated reading program of the teacher would be of great help to improve their academic performance as well as their reading comprehension.