According to the World Bank report of 2022, nine out of 10 Filipino Children have

massive struggle in reading simple texts. The international lending institution also notes
the Grade 4 and Grade 5 pupils as those being deprived in learning to the extent that
they are unable to read and understand short and age-appropriate texts. Additionally, 91
percent of children in the country at late primary age “are not proficient in reading (World
Bank, 2022).
These data denotes a rather alarming occurrence in out country's educational system, let
alone, in the spectrum of reading. Reading Assessment - an initiative implemented by
Manolo Fortich Central School under the guidance of the School Principal - Ma'am Judy
D. Ducala, commences with the aim of helping to alleviate the situation of our country's
reading proficiency status.

The Reading Assessment consists of 5 levels:

LEVEL 1: Alphabet Knowledge
LEVEL 2: C-V/V-C Blend and C-V Decoding/Reading
LEVEL 3: Can Read Words and Phrases
LEVEL 4: Can Read Sentences and Paragraphs
LEVEL 5: Can Read and Comprehend (Instructional and Independent Level)

These levels are what the pupils will be going through towards better and an upgraded
reading proficiency amongst their individual progress leading to an accumulated success
of the participating group.
For Grades 1 and 2 the EGRA ARATA method was utilized in assessing the reading
level of the learners.

The EGRA-ARATA Assessment Tool consists of 8 components:

COMPONENT 1: Orientation to Print
COMPONENT 2: Letter Name Knowledge
COMPONENT 3 A: Letter Sound Knowledge
COMPONENT 3 B: Initial Sound Identification
COMPONENT 4: Familiar Word Reading
COMPONENT 5: Invented Word Decoding
COMPONENT 6 A: Reading Comprehension
COMPONENT 6 B: Reading Comprehension
COMPONENT 7: Listening Comprehension
COMPONENT 8: Dictation

For Grades 3 and 5 then, the Reading Assessment Tool and Material created by the
District Level Committee were used.

The initiative was implemented to MFCES' Grade 1 and Grade 5 learners last January 12
and January 13 of this year which resulted to the following data generated by the the
teachers of Manolo Fortich Central Elementary School. The aforementioned data are
presented in the following pages.