ABSTRACT
This qualitative-phenomenological study was conducted to determine the teachers’ experiences in the implementation of School-based Reading Program as bases for a sustainability plan. Emergent themes drawn from the results of the School-based Reading Program were: high scores in post-test, increased reading speed, improved reading comprehension, recognition of more words, and successful School-based Reading Program. The implications of the results were: enhanced the reading comprehension skills of struggling readers, effective strategies were used by teachers, improved reading performance, and evidence of regular monitoring and evaluation by school heads and reading coordinator. The themes on teachers’ experiences were divided into positive and negative experiences. The positive themes were progress for struggling readers, rewarding experience for reading teachers, and all-out support from school heads and teachers, while the negative experiences were learners’ absenteeism, negative attitude, and poor study habits; learners’ lack of interest, and teachers’ lack of instructional materials. A sustainability plan was proposed on the basis of the results of the study.
Keywords: Teachers’ Experiences, School-based Reading Program, Sustainability Plan
INTRODUCTION
One of the most vital macro skills that learners need to acquire in school is reading. Being able to read is significant for learners to understand their lesson. It serves as an indicator of learners' success in school and in life.
However, for some students, learning to read is challenging. One of the problems that teachers are facing nowadays is teaching students to read fluently.
According to research, at least one out of five students have serious difficulties in learning to read (Therrien, 2004; in Hausheer, 2011). Additionally, the World Bank's 2022 learning poverty statistics shows that at least 90% of Filipino children under the age of ten have difficulty reading or comprehending simple texts. Furthermore, the Philippines placed 79th out of 81 nations in regard to reading proficiency based on the results of PISA 2022. This is also evident in the Division of Iloilo Data, where the Phil-IRI pre-test assessment, which measures reading proficiency, conducted for the schoolyear 2022–2023 revealed that 75% of the more than 180,000 students are performing below average, either as non-readers or as frustrated readers.
During the first month of the opening of classes, the researcher, together with the English teachers of Igbaras National High School, administered the Phil-IRI assessment to the learners. The Philippine Informal Reading Inventory results showed that many learners had reading difficulties.
This reality is extremely alarming and disheartening since there are many high school learners who are already in higher grade levels that are non-readers and a great number of them are slow readers. Even with the advantages of reading and the teachers' efforts to help learners develop the aforementioned macro skill, it is still a major issue in the classroom.
Hence, to improve the reading acquisition, fluency, and understanding of students who face such problems, the Department of Education (DepEd) launched a number of programs. The School-based Reading Program is one of these programs that the DepEd launched.
Although school-based reading programs have been the subjects of several studies, it is nevertheless interesting to know about the outcomes and the experiences of teachers who have implemented these programs. Despite the efforts of the DepEd, especially the English teachers, in conducting the reading program, there are still gaps in this context.
The researcher, who has taught English subjects for seven years and is also a reading program teacher, felt that more research is necessary to enhance the reading strategies and instructional practices of the teachers as well as the School-based Reading Program itself. This would help in addressing issues related to the program’s delivery and conduct, which in turn would help improve the learners' literacy skills and enable effective learning to happen.
It was because of the situations prevailing in the field, that the researcher embarked on this study.
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