An Assessment of the Reading Comprehension Skills of the Grade VI Pupils towards a Guide at Kaligayahan E/S

Abstract

Reading comprehension is the heart and goal of reading since the purpose of all reading is to gather meaning from the printed page. If a student says words in the passage without gathering their meaning, one would hesitate to call it reading. Kaligayahan Elementary School is one of the progressive public schools at Novaliches, Quezon City. Some of the Grade 6 pupils have poor reading comprehension abilities. This research is designed to assess the reading comprehension skills of grade 6 Pupils. For many pupils, reading comprehension is a major problem, a problem that needs to be resolved because reading is a tool for education. The researchers used the Descriptive Method of research designed to assess the student’s reading comprehension skills. The instrument used was prepared by the researchers based on their readings and the related literature, professional subject books, and internet access about the topic. At the same time, to get more accurate data, the researchers used questionnaires, conducted interviews, and observation among its respondents. Likewise, the reading inventory of the school was also used. The respondents are described according to different demographic profiles. For pupils, most of them are 11 –12 years old, 60% are female, and 33.33% are interested in reading. For teachers, most of them are 31 –40 years old, 70% are female, 50% have MA Degrees, have 11 –20 years in the service, and 50% are ranked as Teacher III. There are various strategies used to assess the reading comprehension skills of the pupils. These strategies were used to assess the reading comprehension skills of the pupils with their varying degrees of effectiveness. There are also challenges encountered by the pupils and these were resolved. The findings of this study can be used in crafting a guide to utilize the effective strategies in assessing the pupils' reading comprehension skills, to address their needs in terms of reading and to take actions to their encountered challenges in developing and enhancing their reading comprehension skills. The guide is recommended to improve their reading abilities and performance levels.