When Grade One pupils in Sual Central School in Pangasinan were tested for reading proficiency from July 24 to 27, 2009, school administrators confirmed a hard fact: nine out of 10 pupils could not read and only 2% of the students were reading at the appropriate level. (View test results here)
Almost half (or 48%) of the pupils were classified as “frustrated readers” or those who commit numerous types of errors in oral reading and show signs of withdrawing from any opportunity to read.
Grappling for solutions to the problem, school authorities, teachers, and parents found hope when Project JOHN (Joint Opportunities in Helping New readers) was launched in the school.
The project – a partnership among Synergeia Foundation, the Sual municipal government, administrators, teachers, students, and parents – aims to help Sual Grade One pupils overcome their difficulty in reading through the collective effort of all stakeholders.
By the end of the school year, new reading test results showed the effectiveness of interventions initiated to improve children’s reading skills.
Based on the new test results:
- There was a significant decrease in the number of non-readers, from 93% (nine out of 10 pupils) in July to 32% (three out of 10 pupils) by the end of the school year;
- There was an increase in the number of primer readers from 3% to 17%;
- From 2%, 13% of Sual’s Grade One pupils were already reading at the appropriate level; and
- 28% became advanced readers.
Much remains to be done for Sual Grade One pupils who still cannot read. But for proponents of Project JOHN, these numbers are already a reason for them to smile.
How did proponents of Project JOHN do it?
Engaging the Community in Action
Guided by the adage that it takes a village to raise a child, Synergeia organized a pool of education stakeholders at the local community and discussed specific steps on how to work together so that quality education can be achieved and sustained.
A Project Management Team (PMT) was formed with representatives from all stakeholders—district and school administrators, local government unit executives, parents, and students—and specific goals were set. The PMT was tasked to develop a work program, mobilize and manage needed resources, coordinate activities, and evaluate the progress and impact of the project.
The mission for the PMT members was clear: to enable Sual Central School Grade One pupils to read by the end of the school year.
Distribution of Workbooks
“The inability of a child to read greatly affects his performance in school. A child who knows how to read will be able to learn all other subject matters in school. Better reading means better schoolwork, better preparation for the future and greater personal and social accomplishments”, Synergeia Foundation stated in its Progress Report on Project JOHN.
“Conversely, not being able to read means poor school work and poor preparation for the future. This begs the question: ‘How then can we help out students to read?’”
To enable the pupils to practice reading, age-appropriate English workbooks were distributed to all Grade 1 pupils in Sual’s public schools. These cover lessons for the entire school year and were designed to reinforce learning inside the classroom.
By providing students with work exercises on their day-to-day lessons, the pupils developed and improved their mastery of subjects taught in school. Exercises also enabled students to interpret lessons learned, make inferences, and apply these to new situations. Exercises provided opportunities for creativity in drawings, songs (they composed their own!), and recited poems using new sounds and words.
These workbooks were complemented with Teachers’ Manuals that provide teachers with a ready reference for their daily lessons. The manuals provided inputs for the teacher to fully discuss the different topics programmed for the entire school year, while incorporating value formation as well as fun and enjoyment in the learning process. The lessons included activities such as games, poem/rhyme recitation, group singing and storytelling.
Teacher Training
The Project Management Team (PMT) found out that much like students, teachers also needed to be assessed and given refresher courses to help them teach better. Specifically, teachers needed more training on sounds, pronunciation, and grammar. They also needed to learn more strategies in effectively teaching English as a subject.
Partnering with the University of Pangasinan, Project JOHN conducted its first Teachers Training to 27 Grade One teachers, 19 English coordinators and 19 school administrators on October 8 and 9, 2009 using the Synergeia Reading Skills Module. School officials and supervisors also participated in the training.
The training provided teachers the opportunity to improve their communication skills and to develop strategies to help children decode words and to develop comprehension. “We learned so much from this training and from our very able trainors. We have also improved our pronunciation, stress and diction. That’s why I can say that this seminar is a successful one and a great help to us Grade One teachers,” Mrs. Rudella Labarejos, a Grade One teacher from Cacao Elementary School, said.
The training also increased teachers’ capability to train and mentor other teachers on how children can read, speak, understand, and write in English effectively and how to assess the pupils’ reading performance.
Empowering Sual Parents
Recognizing that a child’s first teacher are his parents, Project JOHN made it possible to hold a workshop for parents that will give them guidance on how they can help improve the learning performance of their children, how they can strengthen their studies habits and why it is important to foster closer working relations with the school.
The first Parents Training of Sual was conducted on November 26, 2009 at the Sual Central School, attended by 81 parent-leaders from 27 Grade One sections in the school.
Members of the Federated PTA of Sual and the PMT members who were also parents themselves served as resource trainors and were each assigned to cover a topic using the Synergeia Parent Training Module.
According to Mrs. Josefina Verzosa, Project JOHN Program Manager and DepEd District Supervisor in Pangasinan, aside from reinforcing earlier efforts to improve the pupils’ reading skills, school teachers and the pupils themselves can do much to help non-readers appreciate – and benefit – from reading.
“While Project JOHN has achieved victories in its first year, much remains to be done for our pupils who still cannot read. We highly encourage that more attention be given to the slow readers for them to be able to catch up with the rest of their classmates and encourage the 10 percent advanced readers to help their classmates be able to read,” Ms. Verzosa said.
Dolch Sight Word Post-Test
