Read to Live Program on Reading Performance Among High School Learners in Pasian National High School

Read to Live Program on Reading Performance Among High School Learners in Pasian National High School

Dennis L. Teves, MAED., Myrna B. Sario, EdD

The Faculty of the Graduate Studies Assumption College of Nabunturan (ACN) Nabunturan, Davao de Oro

DOI: https://doi.org/10.51584/IJRIAS.2024.904028

Received: 02 April 2024; Accepted: 22 April 2024; Published: 22 May 2024

ABSTRACT

This study “Read to Live” Program on the reading performance of Pasian National High School secondary school students aimed to 1.) describe the reading level in the “Read to Live” program based on the knowledge, vocabulary, language structure, verbal reasoning and literacy; 2) determine students’ reading performance in word recognition and reading comprehension; 3.) identify significant differences between the “Read to Live” program and students’ performance in word recognition and reading comprehension. The respondents were seventy-two (72) Junior High School students. Modified questionnaires about students’ characteristics were given to the respondents and Phil-IRI was used to determine their reading level. Data used an experimental study design to be collected using frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, and T- test. The results showed a positive response to the reading attitude and reading attitude of the respondents. Furthermore, the profile of the respondents, apart from the study behavior, influenced the performance of the respondents. Moreover, the “Read to Live” program affected the reading performance of the respondents in several areas. The researcher recommends that DepEd officials, administrators, parents and stakeholders should work together in dealing with the lack of literacy among students. An intensive reading training adapting unified reading materials was applied to thirty-two (32) females and forty(40) males in Pasian National High School. Similar studies could be conducted but focused on different reading interventions appropriate to students’ reading levels and interests as well as students’ reading comprehension and communication skills.

Keywords: Read to Live Program, Reading Performance, Level of Reading

INTRODUCTION

The Problem and Its Structure

Most people must have reading and writing skills as well as a foundational knowledge base to function in today’s increasingly complex society. This is achieved through learning at different levels of education, where one finally succeeds by learning and improving one’s capacity to function and live better (Li, et al., 2020). One of the main macro skills that students in elementary and secondary education should acquire is reading. This is the way to get more advanced abilities. Without reading instruction, students will undoubtedly struggle to fully understand academic material, achieve academic success, and reach their full potential in life (Pratama, 2023).

Celik (2020) stated that in Singapore, the epidemic caused children to neglect and slow down their academic

growth, particularly in their reading ability. Because of this, learning is more difficult. Among the natural abilities of man is the ability to read. Preschoolers interact with picture books to help them develop their reading skills. Books with short text between pictures let them read slowly until they discover new information and become more interested in reading.

Implementation issues were identified in the Phil-IRI in the Philippines, which resulted in delays in advancing students’ literacy, numeracy, and literacy skills. Some instructors did not follow or adjust to the intervention programs during the implementation phase because they too were overburdened with responsibilities from their teaching duties and conflicting papers. Inadequate reading instructional materials, lack of or restricted access to technology resources, lack of library resources, and classroom time restrictions make it difficult to implement appropriate rehabilitation in reading It is true that reading teachers have never had an easy time helping students who struggle with reading to improve their reading skills.

The aforementioned scenario was considered by Pasian National High School through the Read to Live program as a tool to develop students’ reading skills especially and due to the pandemic as well as students who in Grades 7 and 8 are still struggling to read because of the lack of guidance not only from teachers but also from their parents at home. Due to the aforementioned shortcomings, the researcher decided to focus and study it. As a teacher who currently teaches Junior High School, it was sought to evaluate the Read to Live program in the reading performance of students as a teaching method to hone and meet specific reading competencies. It also aims to determine the level of the Read to Live program in the reading performance of high school students. The level of competence of the students was also described in the pretest and post-test part of the study to see the result of using the said approach in the experimental class.

RELATED STUDIES AND LITERATURE

Presented here are related studies and literature gathered from books, journals, articles, internet and studies that have already been conducted. The following literature and studies helped the researcher to have a clear view of the subject under study.

Meaning of Reading. Understanding and extracting information from books and other works requires reading, which is an important function. Reading, in the words of Nation and Macalister (2020), is the act of giving written linguistic symbols a meaningful interpretation. It also refers to the outcome of communication between worldly knowledge and understanding the symbols used to express a language. The reader tries to align their understanding with the author’s message in this process.

Contribution of Reading to Students’ Learning Performance. The significant impact of reading on student learning outcomes has been well researched and proven in the fields of education and science. A student who struggles with reading does not become proficient in class activities, and this deficiency will continue to limit his academic life, claim Bar-Kochva et al. (2021). Reading is important for spreading concepts and ideas that support national socioeconomic development as well as individual growth (Torgesen, et al., 2021).

Student Literacy. In a more complex world, learning to read and write and having a basic level of knowledge is the basis for almost all people to begin life in society. This is accomplished by studying at different levels in school which can improve the ability to work and improve life, eventually achieving success (Moats, 2020); (Li, et al., 2020). The National Literacy Act of 1991 mentioned in the research of Oktarina et al., (2022) aims to improve the literacy and basic skills of adults in order to achieve the best job opportunities, strengthen and link other programs -adult literacy.

Most Students Read. Reading is usually done on paper with ink – a book, magazine, newspaper, brochure, or diary. In addition, different types of reading materials for academic purposes are journals, textbooks, encyclopedias, dictionaries, personal diaries, textbooks, and handbooks. For voluntary reading, students may enjoy materials such as books, fiction, comics, and newspapers. Support by purchasing or donating reading materials is a major challenge for readers (Ma, et al., 2022).

Poor Comprehension. In examining poor decoding as a source of difficulty in reading comprehension, As reviewed, comprehension is a product of decoding and language comprehension. It follows that children identified as having comprehension difficulties had deficits either in decoding, language comprehension, or both. This logic forces the conclusion that deficits in reading comprehension cannot be specific, but rather must be related to weaknesses in one or both of these areas. It is not the case that poor comprehension has accurate but slow reading, indicating subtle decoding problems that cause a new device and interfere with reading comprehension: it is entirely possible to recognize non good comprehension with good reading along with good reading accuracy (Regassa, 2022).

Statement of the Problem

The purpose of this study was to determine the level of the Read to Live program in the reading performance of selected Junior High School students of Pasian National High School, school year 2023-2024.

Specifically, it sought to answer the following questions:

1. What are the pretest scores of the control and experimental groups?
2. What are the post test scores of the control and experimental groups?
3. Is there a significant (significant difference) between the pretest and post test scores of the control group?
4. Is there a significant difference between the pretest and post test scores of the experimental group?
5. Is there a significant difference between the pretest and post test scores of the control group and the experimental group?

METHODOLOGY

This study used a quantitative design featuring a quasi-experimental two-group design that focused on students’ reading performance and research data collection. The quasi-experimental design was proposed by Donal T. Campbell to generate general inferences. The design of the research is to conduct a pretest and a posttest in the same group, where the pretest will be given before the implementation of the approach and the posttest will be given in the last part (Padua, 2000).

Research Participants

The respondents of this study are seventy-two (72) Junior High School students of Grade 8 at Pasian National High School, Monkayo East District Division of Davao de Oro. The purpose of the study is to show the level of the Read to Live program in the reading performance of the students. The researcher used purposive sampling in determining the respondents as well as its sample size because the selected respondents were based on the reading results of the students in the Philippine Informal Reading Inventory (Phil-IRI).

Table A Distribution of the Respondent

Research Instrument

There are two (2) parts of the instrument used to collect data in the study. First, a questionnaire derived from the University of Florida Student Academic Resource Center and modified by Cutamura (2015) for the respondents and the Philippine Informal Reading Inventory (Phil IRI) Tool as a basis for determining the reading level of the respondents in the word recognition and reading comprehension rules through oral reading and comprehension tests. The students’ reading level will be categorized as Independent, Dependent, Instructional and Frustration. It was also used to determine the sample size of the study.

Method of Data Acquisition

After obtaining approval from the panel and evaluator, the researcher collected data through the following methods: prepared and sent a letter to the Division of Schools Superintendent of Davao de Oro to request permission to conduct the study at the specified school. Once authorized, the researcher will seek permission from the school principal of the selected school. During the visit, the researcher contacted the reading coordinator and teachers to identify the target respondents. On the set date for the data collection of Junior High School students, the researcher will distribute the survey questionnaire to the class advisers of the identified respondents.

Statistical Use of Data

The data gathered in this study were collected, analyzed, and interpreted using statistical methods specifically SPSS software. For better data analysis and interpretation, statistics such as paired t-test, independent t-test, mean, and standard deviation were also used to describe the Read to Live program and the reading performance of the students. -student

RESULT

This chapter presents, analyzes, and interprets the data collected by the researcher from the questionnaires and the tests given to the respondents to assess the level of the Read to Live program in the reading performance of selected children. Junior High School student of Pasian National High School, school year 2023 -2024. The presentation of data is based on the sequence in the problem statement.

Table 1 Read to Live Pretest Program

Table 2 Read to Live Program Final Exam Scores

Table 3 Pretest and Post test Control Group

Table 4 Pre-test and Final Test of the Experimental Group

Table 5 Post Test Mean Scores

DISCUSSION

This chapter presents a summary of the findings based on the data collected. They respond to hypotheses and lead to conclusions and recommendations being drawn.

Read to Live Program Pre-Test. Most respondents from the control and experimental groups scored lower on the pretest. The findings indicated that both groups needed intervention because they performed poorly during the pretest. The study also shows that there is a need to facilitate intervention that can help academic success. It is assumed that at the end of the intervention, the performance of Pasian National High School students will improve.

Final Exam Results in the Read to Live Program. The findings indicated that the reading performance of the control group significantly improved, from 32.2% which means No Achieved Expectations becomes 50.8% which means quite satisfactory. This means that the traditional research method used in the control group was not effective in improving their reading performance, as shown in the post test scores.

Pretest and Post test Reading Performance under the Control Group. Paired t-test was conducted to check if there was a significant difference between the pretest and the final test of the control group. The mean in the pretest is 16.4 and the mean in the final test is 25.4, p value is 0.000 which means significant. This result shows that the students’ learning has increased or is greater compared to their previous learning. This indicates that the general attitude of the students towards the subject is very positive.

Read to Live Program Preliminary Exam and Final Exam under the Experimental Group. A very positive attitude towards learning means students are highly motivated to learn. Guido (2018) emphasized that students’ attitude towards the subject is important in improving reading performance. Students who have negative notions about the subject will find it difficult to improve academically. On the contrary, those who showed a positive attitude towards the subject will strive better to achieve academic targets. Students have a very positive self-esteem in the subject and the use of the Read to Live Program has made a significant impact on students’ attitudes toward learning.

Pre-Test and Final Test Reading Performance of Both Groups. From table 5, the reading performance of the Read to Live Program under the experimental group was significantly higher than the control group. The post test scores of the experimental group improved significantly compared to their pretest scores while those of the control group showed no significant difference. In the control group, the pretest score of the students was 16.4 while 25.4 in their post test and the experimental group had a mean of 18.1 while 30.2 in the post test.

CONCLUSIONS

Based on the data obtained from the study, the following conclusions are drawn:

The Junior High School respondents of the Pasian National High School were all identified as frustration readers. Parental support for students’ school needs, especially in reading, had an impact on students’ performance development. The constant encouragement and follow-up of parents in the school creates a positive development in the performance of the students. However, some parents may fail to monitor students in school due to several factors such as full-time work and unstable employment that may cause their educational attainment. Moreover, respondents encountered difficulties due to poor reading habits and poor reading attitudes.

Because of this, it has a great impact on the respondent’s reading skills. In depth training, through the Read to Live program, respondents’ reading skills in background knowledge, vocabulary, language structure, verbal reasoning and literacy were improved despite the fact that the areas were statistically significant in respondents’ reading performance. Thus, respondents should learn the value of attitude in their studies. In all of these findings, the Read to Live program is effective for students’ reading development.

RECOMMENDATIONS

1. In light of the above findings and conclusions, the following recommendations are forwarded:
2. Officials of the Department of Education should provide intensive training to secondary teachers on reading remediation. Interventions such as additional reading subjects in the curriculum will be of great help to boost the acceleration and comprehension of independent readers as it enhances and improves word recognition, speed and vocabulary instruction and failure in readers;
3. School administrators should adopt a special class for frustration readers. In this way, the needs of the students will be met;
4. Teachers should be compassionate and optimistic in dealing with frustration/ struggling readers;
5. Students should be focused on the importance of reading in their lives. An information drive such as symposium, student conference, and even community Through this, students will realize that reading is a tool for the development and improvement of reading. Acknowledge their reading ability. Instead of feeling ashamed, we should learn to respect and help each other;
6. Parents help their children cultivate reading skills at home through one-on-one monitoring;
7. External stakeholders should help these students develop their reading skills by providing various forms of support; and Conduct similar studies but focus more on students’ reading comprehension and communication skills.

REFERENCES

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Read to Live Program on Reading Performance among High School Learners in Pasian National High School

DENNIS L. TEVES, MAED

Author

MYRNA B. SARIO, EdD

Co-Author

December 2023

The Faculty of the Graduate Studies Assumption College of Nabunturan (ACN) Nabunturan, Davao de Oro