Impact assessment of the beginning reading para sa mga tsikiting in Butuan City, Philippines

Abstract

This study assessed the impacts of the beginning reading para sa mga tsikiting (beginning reading for kids) or BRPT intervention project, an initiative of the College of Education, Caraga State University, Mindanao, Philippines. Using a descriptive research design, it employed the Revised Philippine Informal Reading Inventory (Phil-IRI) Reading Profile as a baseline to assess learners’ reading progress. The intervention involved 125 primary-grade pupils, 12 teachers, and 20 parents (home teachers). The conduct of impact assessment by a third party is required and mandated by the university after project completion. Results reveal significant improvement in reading performance post-project implementation, particularly evident in reducing frustration levels and increasing independent reading achievements. In addition, School A (with intervention) outperformed School B (without intervention). Despite the challenges it faced in its implementation, the project successfully met its target objective of enhancing reading performance. The project demonstrates its efficacy in improving early readers’ literacy skills and fostering positive social and economic influences through community engagement despite issues in its implementation. The findings also highlight the project’s social and economic impacts, such as the enhancement of parental engagement and strengthening of home-school partnerships while providing cost-effective measures and utilizing local expertise. Further, findings provide novel insights into the existing and future literacy programs.