Evaluation of the Program "Evaluation of Reading Ability with Scheme to Enhance Reading Skills" (ERASERS): Basis for Program Enrichment

The ERASERS Program (Evaluation of Reading Ability with Scheme to enhance Reading Skills) was designed and led by the researcher as the program coordinator for the past years to improve students’ reading skills through systematic interventions focused on fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Hence, this research study aimed to evaluate the said reading program on its improvement in students' reading skills across the three reading areas— fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. The purpose of this evaluation was to detect specific reading deficiencies that still existed in the reading intervention to make the program more effective. To achieve this, the researcher gathered data from the last academic Phil-Iri Pre-test and Post-test to evaluate if there was a significant difference before and after the intervention. Also, the researcher aimed to evaluate the perceptions of students and teachers on the program’s implementation, materials used, and schedule through 4 Likert scale survey questionnaires as the main instrument of data gathering. The perceptions provided firsthand insights into program ERASERS' effectiveness, strengths, and areas for improvement. 55 students who underwent the ERASERS program and 15 reading teachers at Gen. Tomas Mascardo National High School participated in the survey. The researcher utilized descriptive research, specifically a quantitative design. To evaluate the significant differences of the pre-test and post-test scores, the researcher used paired sample t-tests. On the other hand, mean and standard deviation were applied in analyzing the respondents’ perceptions towards the program. The result showed a significant difference across the three reading areas–fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary. However, the findings showed that the program was effective in improving reading fluency but less effective in comprehension and vocabulary. The findings implied that the large gains in the mean scores in fluency indicated that students read faster and recognized more words after the program, and the slight increase in the comprehension and vocabulary suggested further enrichment. Moreover, the way the program was carried out and the scheduling were found to be highly effective, while the materials used need further improvement, particularly in terms of their length, quantity, the words used, and the time allotted. This present study hereby recommends that the ERASERS implementers should improve the reading materials that strengthen students’ comprehension and vocabulary skills, following the developed plan.