ENHANCING THE COMPREHENSION SKILLS OF

GRADE 6 LEARNERS USING PROJECT ARISE

(ACQUISITION OF READING INNOVATION
THROUGH STRATEGIC EXERCISES)

PSYCHOLOGY AND EDUCATION: A MULTIDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL

Volume: 16
Issue 5
Pages: 515-520
Document ID: 2024PEMJ1475
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.10512283
Manuscript Accepted: 12-27-2023
 Psych Educ, 2024, 16(5): 515-520, Document ID:2024 PEMJ1475, doi:10.5281/zenodo.10512283, ISSN 2822-4353
Research Article

Enhancing the Comprehension Skills of Grade 6 Learners Using Project ARISE

(Acquisition of Reading Innovation Through Strategic Exercises)
Allan A. Talain*
For affiliations and correspondence, see the last page.

Abstract
This study determined the effectiveness of Project ARISE in enhancing the comprehension skills of Grade 6 learners
using a true experimental research design. Specifically, pretest-posttest control group design was employed to
demonstrate causality between the intervention and an outcome. The respondents involved 40 Grade 6 learners who
comprised the control and experimental groups formed through simple random sampling. In connection, the reading
performance of the respondents in both groups was assessed using the standardized passages from Phil-IRI at two
points of the experimental study: one was before the treatment (pre-test), and the other was after the treatment (post-
test). Weighted Mean was used for the analysis and interpretation of the collected data. In relation to this, the
Kolmogorov-Smirnov Test was used to determine whether the data was normal. The outcomes offer strong proof that
the data are regularly delivered. Thus, the data were statistically treated using the independent t-test, a parametric test.
Lavene's test for equality of variance was utilized to examine the differences in pre-test scores between the
experimental and control groups. Meanwhile, the results suggest no difference between the variances of both groups,
which means there is homogeneity before employing Project ARISE in the treatment group and the teacher-led reading
approach in the control group. The study revealed that there was no significant difference between the pre-test scores
of control and experimental groups in terms of comprehension, which indicated that there was homogeneity before
utilizing Project ARISE. On the other hand, after the treatment, there was a significant difference between the post-
test scores of the two groups. Therefore, there was a marked improvement in the reading performance of the
respondents. This demonstrated that the respondents’ comprehension skills have improved.
Keywords: Project ARISE, intervention program, reading comprehension

Introduction
Reading is a two-way process that involves communication between the reader and the author. It is an essential element, a vital
component, a necessity, and something that will help the students achieve (Barrot, 2016). It holds a prominent position in the student’s
education and development as individuals (Caper, 2015). In connection, reading helps students develop vocabulary and gain knowledge
that will help them read materials that are harder to understand. Additionally, it gives the readers a chance to practice and participate
in the types of thinking that readers do, like formulating goals, speculating, and asking questions (Gelzheiser et al., 2019, p. 270). Some
readers derive meaning from the text by using their prior knowledge and experiences, and they then connect the ideas in the text to
what they already know in order to understand it. The majority of people can understand the material even after reading it word for
word, and they frequently repeat the book's challenging ideas.
In accordance, students must improve their reading comprehension or their capacity to comprehend written material (Tadesse, 2018).
Reading proficiency is also seen as the essential component, a must, and a need that will allow students to achieve. They hold a
prominent position in the student’s education and development as individuals (Caper, 2015). Therefore, the impact of reading in an
academic setting on learning cannot be understated. Congruence dictates that reading comprehension, which is the process of
concurrently deriving and creating meaning via interaction and involvement with written language, is a crucial reading ability for
students (Clarke et al., 2013). Reading comprehension is a deliberate, dynamic, and engaging process in the classroom before, during,
and after students read a specific piece of writing. It is a fundamental component of reading. Learners engage in a wide range of intricate
cognitive processes when they read a book. In order to comprehend or infer meaning from the text, they are concurrently drawing on
their awareness and comprehension of phonemes—individual sound parts in language—phonics—the relationship between sounds,
letters, and words.
On the other hand, many students still struggle to read at grade level when they get to the upper elementary grades, despite all the
efforts over the years to improve the standards of reading education. Thus, the nation's educational advancements point to alarming
problems. As per the 2015 Education for All National Review Report, the nation's illiterate population—which includes children, youth,
and adults—is increasing. Two out of every five third-grade students who had reading difficulties were likely to struggle in junior high
school, according to Manaog (2020). Students in grade one have their reading skills evaluated before moving on to grade two. If
students do poorly and do not reach the necessary level of competency, they will revert to their previous grade level.
Regarding the claims, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Program for International Student
Assessment (PISA) of 2018 found that, out of 79 nations, the Philippines scored the lowest in reading comprehension. The average

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Research Article

reading score for the Philippines was only 340, falling 100 points shy of the 487 average for the OECD, according to the results (Baclig,
2020). This suggests that most Filipino students' comprehension abilities fell short of meeting the requirements for a standard reading
competency. Furthermore, most Grade 6 students' reading performance fell below the frustration threshold, according to the researcher's
examination of the findings of the English pre-test for the Philippine Informal Reading Inventory (Phil-IRI) for the SY 2021–2022.
Most of them have trouble comprehending what they read.
According to Tromp (2012), what most likely started out as a word recognition issue develops into a general difficulty with both spoken
and written language. Cleveland (2017) asserts that the repercussions of students reading below grade level by the fourth grade are
horrifying. This striking statistic emphasizes the significance of early schooling for future success: students who are unable to read at
grade level by the start of the fourth grade are four times less likely to graduate on time than their peers who can read at grade level.
This means that these learners require intensive intervention.
In regard, the researcher determined that Project ARISE (Acquisition of Reading Innovation Using Strategic Exercises), a multiple
strategy program designed to address comprehension difficulties in order to improve learners' reading performance, should be used
because of the apparent benefits that students may receive from using an intervention program to remediate their reading difficulties
and improve reading performance. Its foundation is Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR), an instructional strategy built on reciprocal
reading and cooperative learning that aims to enhance students' reading comprehension abilities. It emphasizes cooperative work and
well-defined procedures, uses four comprehension tactics before, during, and after reading, and incorporates many elements of effective
teaching (Annamma et al., 2011). Increasing text engagement is one of its objectives (Vaughn et al., 2011).
Meanwhile, the researcher carried out this study to ascertain Project ARISE's efficacy as a reading intervention program in improving
learners' comprehension skills.

Research Questions

This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of Project ARISE in enhancing the reading comprehension skills of the respondents.
Specifically, this sought answers to the following questions:

1. What is the reading performance of the respondents in control and experimental groups before and after the implementation of
Project ARISE in terms of comprehension?
2. Is there a significant difference in the mean scores between the control and experimental groups before the implementation of
Project ARISE in terms of comprehension?
3. Is there a significant difference in the mean scores between the control and experimental groups in terms of comprehension after
the implementation of Project ARISE?
4. Based on the results of the study, what implications on providing reading intervention can be derived?

Literature Review
Reading and a Reading Process
Reading, one of the five macro skills, is an intricate and dynamic activity that entails comprehension of written language as well as the
development and inference of meaning according to the kind of text, context, and goal. It involves the fundamental learning tools of
sensation, perception, comprehension, application, and integration. Word meanings and other information are acquired by readers,
preparing them to read texts that are more difficult. Additionally, it gives the readers a chance to practice and participate in the types
of thinking that readers do, like formulating goals, speculating, and asking questions (Gelzheiser et al., 2019, p. 270).
Similarly, Garnet (2015) describes reading as a sophisticated process of extracting meaning from print that calls for the acquisition of
all the abilities and knowledge necessary to comprehend the relationships between phonemes and speech sounds and print, as well as
the background knowledge and vocabulary necessary to support reading and comprehension, the development of suitable active
strategies to extract meaning from print, and the creation and sustenance of a reading motivation.
In regard, students must improve their reading comprehension, or their capacity to comprehend written material (Tadesse, 2018).
Reading skill is seen as the essential component, a must, and a need that will allow students to achieve.
Comprehension as a Reading Skill
Understanding what students read is a conscious, dynamic, and interactive procedure that takes place prior to, during, and following
students' reading of a specific written work. It is a fundamental component of reading. When students read a text, they use a wide range
of intricate cognitive functions. They are applying their knowledge of and comprehension of phonemes at the same time (single sounds
in a language), phonics (the relationship between letters and sounds and the connections between letters, words, and sounds), as well

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Research Article

as the capacity to interpret or extrapolate meaning from the text. The process of reading comprehension consists of two components:
text comprehension and vocabulary knowledge.
Additionally, the reader needs to be able to comprehend a text and understand the lexicon employed in the written work (Custodio,
2015). According to Clarke et al. (2013), understanding is a crucial learning ability for students because it is creating meaning and
extracting it through engagement and communication through written language.
Moreover, reading comprehension happens when readers consider what they are reading and create a comprehension of the content by
drawing on the author's words and your own expertise. Readers who believe that reading is thinking do so with the purpose of creating
meaning and put in mental effort to do this. They almost always consider the author's viewpoint. Additionally, students are learning to
comprehend and interpret the concepts while applying what they already know provided by the writer. Utilizing these various
information/knowledge sources enables readers to create thoughtful, cogent interpretations of the material that might deviate from the
interpretations made by other readers, as each reader builds comprehension through sketching details presented in the text and the
distinctive backdrop (Gelzheiser et al., 2019, p. 219-220). Therefore, comprehension involves the reader thinking and processing
information at multiple levels.
Comprehending the meaning of words, evaluating the perspectives of authors, and striving to learn new words and writing are two
crucial reading abilities that support understanding of reading (Ruiz, 2015). In actuality, students require reading comprehension
abilities need to fulfill the expectations and goals of education, which are necessary in the environments of classrooms. For instance,
being able to comprehend textual information plays a vital role in assisting students in finding information relevant to the text.
However, in spite of all the initiatives to improve the caliber of reading education, many students still struggle as they get to the upper
elementary grades, they can read at grade level. Readers who struggle cannot read at the grade-appropriate level, which causes worry
and sadness during their academic careers.
Difficulties in Comprehension
Reading difficulties are present in the world. The status majority of learners’ reading performance is far from those outlined by PISA
(Classen et al., 2020). In the global context, South African learners’ reading levels have been under scrutiny due to their poor
performance compared to their counterparts in other countries. Also, the results of the 2018 PISA revealed that students in the
Philippines performed worse in reading than students in the majority of the participating nations and economies. The nation's average
reading score was 340, which was comparable to the Dominican Republic's. Among all the PISA participating nations, the Philippines
had a notable percentage of low achievers (Baclig, 2020). In other words, eighty percent of Filipino students fell short of the required
reading proficiency. The learners' deficiency in fundamental reading and comprehension skills is the reason for their low scores in
science, math, and English.
It must be noted that reading comprehension is not an easy process and is not an easy skill to teach on the part of the teachers and
acquire in the case of pupils (Nambiar & Tengku, 2014). The reason why, despite all the attempts to improve the standards of reading
instruction over the years, many learners still fail to achieve grade-level reading when they reach the upper elementary grades. This
achievement gap tends to widen during the following grades (Toste & Ciullo, 2017). Additionally, Cleveland
(2017) stated that there are frightening consequences if students read below grade level by the time they reach the fourth grade. Because
of this, students who are unable to read at grade level by the beginning of the fourth grade have a fourfold lower chance of graduating
on time than their peers who are reading at grade level. This startling fact highlights the importance of early education for students'
future success. For this reason, intensive reading intervention programs must be undertaken to address the problems in comprehension.
Methodology
To prove a connection between the intervention and an outcome, this study used a true experimental research design. To be more
precise, a pretest-posttest control group design was employed to assess how well the treatment improved the respondents'
comprehension abilities. The study's samples consisted of two groups: control and experimental. They were observed twice during the
experiment: once prior to the treatment (pretest) and the other following it (posttest). The control group received traditional reading
instruction, which mostly featured a teacher-led reading strategy. On the other hand, Project ARISE was used to teach reading to the
treatment group.
The researcher, who is a present teacher at Tuhian Elementary School in the Catanauan II District, carried out the study there. The
frightening results of the reading evaluation using the English Phil-IRI pre-test in the SY 2022–2023 led to the selection of this research
location. The control and experimental groups, consisting of 40 randomly selected Grade 6 students, were included in the study.
The researcher utilized standardized passages from Phil-IRI to determine the individual learner’s reading performance in terms of
comprehension in both control and experimental groups. In the chosen passages, 20 questions with varying difficulty were used in the
pre-test and post-test. They were categorized as literal, interpretive, and critical and applied to measure the respondents’ comprehension.

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For the experimental study, the data collection process had three phases. First, both groups received the pretest. The Phil-IRI's
standardized passages were given to the respondents to read. They were then required to respond to 20 questions. The pretest results
were obtained to confirm with the researcher that there was no statistically significant difference between the groups before the
program's execution. Using Project ARISE in the treatment group and a teacher-led reading strategy in the control group constituted
the second half of the procedure. Lastly, the respondents completed the posttest with the same reading instrument to gauge their reading
progress following the application of the treatment.
The data gathered were analyzed and interpreted using a weighted mean. In connection, a test of the normality of data was conducted
using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov Test. Since the computed p-values (p=0.25>0.05), (p=0.45>0.05), (p=0.29>0.05), (p=0.6>0.05) are
greater than 0.05, these provide a good evidence that the data are normally distributed. This suggests that an independent t-test, as a
parametric test, can be utilized to statistically treat the data. Meanwhile, Lavene’s test for equality of variance was employed to test the
variances of pre-test scores both in control and experimental groups. In regard, based on the computed data, the p-value (p=0.30>0.05)
is greater than 0.05. This suggests that there is no significant difference between the variances of the control and experimental groups,
which means that there is homogeneity of performance before employing Project ARISE in the treatment group and the teacher-led
reading approach in the control group.
Meanwhile, the researcher initially requested permission from the head of the school to undertake action research, keeping ethical
considerations in mind. The parents of the respondents who will participate in this survey were then notified by the researcher. This
study effort followed specific guidelines to protect the respondents' rights. Informed permission was necessary first. Furthermore, the
study ensured secrecy. No one not directly involved in the study will be able to access any of the collected data, which were all handled
with the highest confidentiality.

Results and Discussion

Table 1. Reading Performance of the respondents Before and After the Implementation of Project ARISE in terms of Comprehension

Table 1 illustrates the reading performance of the respondents in control and experimental groups before and after the implementation
of Project ARISE in terms of comprehension. As shown, based on the results of the posttest, there is a mean gain of 7.05 in the control
group and 9.5 in the experimental group. However, the standard deviation of scores were reduced by 0.26 and 0.13 respectively. The
results show that Project ARISE had a beneficial impact on the respondents' comprehension abilities. Similarly, the control group's
teacher-led reading strategy raised students' reading proficiency as well. Nonetheless, Project ARISE is a superior method of teaching
reading than the conventional one, as the table illustrates. The findings can be supported by the statement of Clarke et al. (2013) that
reading program, in general, is organized and systematic as it provides whatever means are necessary for learners to learn to read as
for their capacities enable them.

Table 2. Significant Difference Between Control and Experimental Groups Before the Implementation of Project ARISE in Terms of
Comprehension

The significant difference between the pretest scores of the control and experimental groups in terms of comprehension before the
implementation of Project ARISE is shown in Table 2. As presented, there is no significant difference (p=0.58>0.05) between the pre-
test scores of both groups. This suggests that there is homogeneity before utilizing the treatment. This means that both groups have the
same reading comprehension level at the start of the experimentation.
The findings are corroborated by Talain's investigation (2021). According to the results, word recognition and comprehension pretest
scores for the experimental and control groups were not significantly different prior to Project EARES's deployment. This suggests

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that there is homogeneity in group performance and that the grouping matches.

Table 3. Significant Difference Between Control and Experimental Groups After the Implementation of Project ARISE in Terms of
Comprehension

The significant difference between the post-test scores of the control and experimental groups in terms of comprehension after the
implementation of Project ARISE is illustrated in Table 3. The data suggest that there is a significant difference (p=<0.01<0.05)
between the posttest scores of both groups. The findings suggest that improving the respondents' reading comprehension abilities is
facilitated by the implementation of Project ARISE in the treatment group. The control group's teacher-led reading strategy, meanwhile,
also raised the respondents' reading proficiency.
The findings are corroborated by a study by Talain (2021), which also found a substantial difference in the word recognition and
understanding progress of the control and experimental groups following treatment implementation. The outcomes show that Project
EARES is effective in addressing reading issues. Furthermore, it suggests that the teacher-led reading strategy used in the control group
was less successful than the intervention program in the treatment group.
The outcomes substantially resemble those of McCown's (2013) study, which examined the effects of collaborative strategic reading
(CSR) as an intervention strategy on reading comprehension for a diverse population of fourth-grade students. Students in the CSR
classrooms, especially the low-achieving students, improved more on the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test than students in the control
group did. a study conducted through both individual and group assessments.

Conclusions
In light of the findings, the following conclusions were drawn. Before the implementation of the intervention program, the reading
performance of the respondents in both groups matches. On the other hand, after the implementation of Project ARISE, there was a
marked improvement in both groups, which means that the comprehension skills of the respondents have improved. Before the
implementation of Project ARISE as a reading intervention program, there was a homogeneity between the reading performance of the
respondents in the control and experimental groups in terms of comprehension. Following the launch of Project ARISE, the
performance of the respondents in the experimental group who understood the questions obtained reading instruction through the
Project ARISE intervention program showed greater progress than the respondents in the control group who received instruction in the
conventional manner.

In light of the foregoing conclusions, the following recommendations are offered: Teachers may employ Project ARISE as a kind of
intervention program to enhance students' reading comprehension skills. School administrators must encourage the utilization of a
reading intervention program, which is intensive and parallel to the needs of the learners who encounter difficulties in mastering reading
skills to achieve reading competency standards. Future researchers may examine which elements of Project ARISE are more beneficial
and whether there are elements that can be enhanced in ways to demonstrate a more effective impact for all learners.

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Affiliations and Corresponding Information

Allan A. Talain
Tuhian Elementary School
Department of Education – Philippines

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