CHAPTER-1-intro-revise-edition

CHAPTER 1: THE PROBLEM
Reading Proficiency and Factors Affecting Academic Performance

Of Selected Grade 7 Students at Baao National High School
Introduction:
Reading proficiency is a crucial skill for students as significantly impacts their

academic success, lifelong learning and personal development. People without this
critical skill are often socially and economically handicapped. Reading is one of the
most important skills that a student needs to master in order to facilitate academic
achievement. According to Torres (2019), it is the person's starting point for
learning everything around him. This is fundamental to achieving and maintaining
learning in school and throughout life.
Reading proficiency and academic performance are both of paramount

importance to a learner’s holistic academic success. Students who are better in
reading tend to performed better on school assessment. There is a correlation
between reading proficiency and academic success (Dogan, Ogut & Kim, 2015;
Schwabe, McElvany & Trendtel, 2015). Students who read proficiently often perform
well academically in all subjects (Cooper, Moore, Powers, Cleveland & Greenberg,
2014).
However, the global literacy rate of 86 per cent means there are 774 million
people in the world who cannot read or write. Illiteracy is one of the biggest social
challenges of our time. Millions of children and young adults have low or no reading
skills. UNESCO, in 2018, estimated that 258 million children are not literate.
Moreover, in a report published by UNICEF in 2022 report, only a third of 10-year-
olds globally are estimated to be able to read and understand a simple written
story. The rest around two-thirds (64%) are unable to cover this marker for
minimum proficiency in reading comprehension. This is up from 52 percent pre-
pandemic. The global problem of reading proficiency with far-reaching
consequences and alarming. However, addressing this global challenge requires a
multi-faceted approach and crucial for improving global literacy rates.
In the Philippines according to the Philstar.com published an article in June
19, 2024, Filipino students have one of the weakest creative thinking skills in the
world, based on a newly launched global benchmarking test.
Fifteen-year-old students in the Philippines scored 14 points on average in

the newly introduced creative thinking assessment of the 2022 cycle of the
Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), placing the Philippines in
the bottom four among 64 countries.
This marks the first time that the PISA tested students on how well they can
use their imagination and creativity to generate and improve upon ideas.
And also, according to the 2018 PISA Country Report for the Philippines, more
than 80% of pupils find it difficult to achieve the minimum standards for reading
ability (Parojenog & Pabalan, 2024). This emphasizes how important reading
readiness is to academic achievement because it is the cornerstone of effective
learning across all subject areas.
However, the Philippines is addressing low reading proficiency and

comprehension through various initiatives and implementing the Philippine Informal
Reading Inventory (Phil-IRI). Through assessments of comprehension, oral reading,
and silent reading, the Department of Education's "Every Child a Reader Program"
supports the Philippine Informal Reading Inventory (Phil-IRI), which measures
students' reading skills. According to DepEd Order No. 14, (2018), "Implementing
Guidelines on the Administration of the Philippine Informal Reading Inventory (Phil-
IRI)," one of the Department's priorities is to improve literacy. Its goal is to provide
effective reading instruction to empower Filipino children to communicate in both
Filipino and English.
The purpose of this assessment is to classify students' reading proficiency

into three categories: independent, instructional, and frustrated (Clamonte et al.,
2021). The informal reading inventory is intended to be used as a tool in classroom-
based instruction to measure and assess students' reading performance (Abril,
Acerbo, & Abocejo, 2022). Napiñas (2015) provides evidence that some educators
choose alternative approaches to measure reading readiness despite the availability
of these tools.
During Brigada Eskwela week, the Department assessed pupils according to
their reading level. Teachers were required by the higher office to administer the
Revised Philippine Informal Reading Inventory (Phil IRI) as a diagnostic reading test
to all grade levels upon its complete implementation.
The researchers were inspired to carry out this investigation by these findings
about academic achievement and reading proficiency. Particularly, this research
assesses the relevance of language proficiency to the academic performance of the
students in Science, Mathematics and English. In order to determine the reading
proficiency of the selected Junior High School Grade 7 students at the Baao National
High School, Baao, Camarines Sur, school year 2024-2025. The researcher was
motivated to undertake this study. and how it affected their academic performance
in school.
The research plans to develop a reading enhancement program using

information gathered from the Philippine Informal Reading Inventory (Phil IRI). The
objective of the study was to profile the demographics of the learners, including
their age, gender, parental educational background, socioeconomic level, access to
reading resources at home and at school, and length of time allotted for reading.
The results of this study could assist English teachers by providing them with
information on the students' academic performance and language proficiency
levels. They can improve their teaching methods by using essential information.
Based on the findings, the teachers could then develop methods and strategies for
integrating academic material with the student’s current areas of weakness. As
result, emphasis will be given to how to make the English reading program
effective.
Furthermore, the administration could use the results of the research as a

guide when creating strategies and programs for the school. Through the results,
they can propose and initiate in-service trainings and seminars for the teachers. The
content of the English school reading program can be gradually improved in
accordance with the needs of the students.
This study may also help parents in the future grade levels because the
results will help them decide which opportunities and interventions to give children
in order to improve their academic performance and language proficiency.
Finally, the research findings could provide important information that could
be beneficial to other researchers. Hopefully, further replication studies in this area
of interest can be conducted to better understand the connection between
academic achievement and language proficiency.
References:
 Torres, R. C. (2019). Factors affecting the reading comprehension of

intermediate level learners: Basis for an intervention program.
 Dogan, E., Ogut, B., & Kim, Y. Y. (2015). Early childhood reading skills
and proficiency in NAEP eighth-grade reading assessment. Applied
Measurement in Education, 28(3), 187-201.
doi:10.1080/08957347.2015.1042157
 Cooper, B. B., Moore, J. E., Powers, C. J., Cleveland, M., & Greenberg, M.
T. (2014). Patterns of early reading and social skills associated with
academic success in elementary school. Early Education &
Development, 25(8), 1248-1264. doi:10.1080/10409289.2014.932236
 https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2024/01/11/2325063/explainer-
students-poor-literacy-are-all-teachers-now-reading-teachers January
11, 2024
 https://www.unicef.org/bulgaria/en/press-releases/unicef-only-third-10-
year-olds-globally-are-estimated-be-able-read-and-understand
 https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2024/06/19/2364001/philippines-
ranks-bottom-new-pisa-test-creative-thinking
 https://tribune.net.ph/2024/04/19/phl-reading-comprehension-ranks-
among-bottom-10-countries
 Parojenog, R., & Pabalan, A. P. (2024). Enhancing Basic Education
Standards: A Framework for Quality Advancement. Available at SSRN
4801978.
 Clamonte, H. et al., (2021). Reading Readiness and Academic
Performance of Grade Five and Grade Six learners of Multi-grade
school in district of Maria Aurora West for the S.Y. 2020-2021. Schools
Division of Aurora of Region III of Department of Education, Philippines.
 Abril, J. G., Acerbo, C. T., & Abocejo, F. T. (2022). The Philippine
Informal Reading Inventory (Phil-IRI) Program: A Critical Analysis.
Budapest International Research and Critics in Linguistics and
Education (BirLE) Journal, 5(4), 432-441.
 Napiñas, C. (2015). Zoning the Reading Readiness Development of the
Preschoolers. Arellano University Graduate School Journal, vol.-12, no.
1.

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CHAPTER 1: THE PROBLEM

Reading Proficiency and Factors Affecting Academic Performance

Reading proficiency is a crucial skill for students as significantly impacts their

Reading proficiency and academic performance are both of paramount

Fifteen-year-old students in the Philippines scored 14 points on average in

However, the Philippines is addressing low reading proficiency and

The purpose of this assessment is to classify students' reading proficiency

The research plans to develop a reading enhancement program using

Furthermore, the administration could use the results of the research as a

 Torres, R. C. (2019). Factors affecting the reading comprehension of

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