struggling readers

Struggling readers are a persistent concern in Philippine elementary education, yet research has largely examined student reading outcomes rather than the professional, emotional, and instructional experiences of the teachers who support these learners in resource-constrained, multilingual classrooms. This study investigated the lived experiences of elementary English teachers in identifying and supporting struggling readers, and how they adapt their pedagogy and negotiate contextual barriers. Transcendental phenomenological design was employed. Fifteen proficient public elementary English teachers in Baguio City, Philippines, were selected through criterion purposive sampling and interviewed using semi-structured, face-to-face interviews. Transcripts were analyzed using Braun and Clarke’s six-phase thematic analysis, and trustworthiness was supported through member checking. Four themes emerged: (a) diagnostic triage through standardized literacy assessments, (b) pedagogical flexibility and differentiated scaffolded instruction, (c) ecosystemic collaboration via remedial and peer networks, and (d) socio-contextual barriers, including parental illiteracy and resource constraints. The findings suggest that Vygotskian scaffolding must be extended to account for ecological and linguistic barriers in post-colonial multilingual classrooms, because its effectiveness is bounded by the educational and socioeconomic capital of the home. Implications for teacher professional development, curriculum localization, language-in-education policy, and parental partnership are discussed.

Many children who experience reading challenges develop co-occurring mental health difficulties, such as reading anxiety. The current study tested the relationships between specific reading skills (decoding, fluency, and comprehension) and reading anxiety symptoms. Participants were 230 twins between 8 and 13 years old. Multi-level linear regression models were used to account for family relationships and covaried for age and sex. Age was positively associated and sex was not associated with reading anxiety. Lower decoding (β = -0.19, p < .001), reading fluency (β = -0.22, p < .001), and reading comprehension skills (β = -0.22, p < .001) were significantly associated with higher reading anxiety symptoms. When testing whether each reading skill contributed to reading anxiety after controlling for others, reading comprehension (β = -0.15, p = .010) remained significantly associated with reading anxiety symptoms, whereas decoding (β = 0.01, p = .90) and reading fluency (β = -0.13, p = .08) were no longer significant. Model comparisons followed a similar pattern indicating that reading comprehension (and to a lesser extent fluency) accounted for significant variance in reading anxiety over and above other reading skills, while decoding did not. Secondary analyses covarying for clinical anxiety and ADHD symptoms showed that the association between reading skills and reading anxiety could not be accounted for by these co-occurring symptoms. This study is among the first to examine relationships between specific reading skills and reading anxiety symptoms and highlights the need for improved identification and treatment of reading anxiety symptoms in struggling readers.

Background: The Philippines faces a persistent literacy crisis that extends beyond the primary grades. National and international indicators show that many learners enter secondary education without secure reading foundations, while senior high school courses demand increasingly complex disciplinary reading and writing. Objective: This narrative review synthesized contemporary evidence on reading remediation for adolescents and translated that evidence into a context-responsive framework for Grades 11 and 12 in the Philippines. Methods: A structured narrative review prioritized peer-reviewed meta-analyses, systematic reviews, randomized and quasi-experimental studies, evidence-based practice guidance, and Philippine policy and curriculum documents. Literature published mainly from 2019 to 2025 was examined across decoding and morphology, fluency, vocabulary and background knowledge, comprehension, motivation, intervention intensity, and disciplinary literacy. Results: Meta-analytic evidence showed positive effects for adolescent reading comprehension interventions (g = 0.63), broader comprehension interventions for struggling readers (g = 0.59), and targeted fluency intervention (effect size = 0.46). Motivation-focused interventions also produced gains in reading comprehension (d = 0.27). Across sources, effective remediation was explicit, diagnostically matched, multicomponent, sufficiently intensive, progress-monitored, and connected to meaningful text. Evidence also showed that gains can diminish after intervention and that fluency practice alone rarely transfers reliably to comprehension. Conclusion: Senior high school literacy recovery should combine protected foundational remediation for learners with persistent word-level or fluency deficits with subject-embedded instruction in vocabulary, comprehension, and disciplinary reading. This two-layer model preserves curricular rigor while addressing unfinished foundational learning.

زمینه: فیلیپین با بحران مداوم سوادآموزی مواجه است که فراتر از پایه‌های ابتدایی ادامه دارد. شاخص‌های ملی و بین‌المللی نشان می‌دهند که بسیاری از دانش‌آموزان بدون پایه‌های خواندن مستحکم وارد آموزش متوسطه می‌شوند، در حالی که دروس دبیرستانی نیازمند مهارت‌های پیچیده‌تر خواندن و نوشتن تخصصی هستند. هدف: این مرور روایتی، شواهد معاصر درباره‌ی بازتوانی خواندن برای نوجوانان را تلفیق کرده و آن را به چارچوبی متناسب با زمینه برای پایه‌های یازدهم و دوازدهم در فیلیپین ترجمه کرده است. روش‌ها: یک مرور ساختاریافته‌ی روایتی، فراتحلیل‌های داوری‌شده، مرورهای نظام‌مند، پژوهش‌های تصادفی و شبه‌آزمایشی، راهنمایی‌های مبتنی بر شواهد و اسناد سیاستی و برنامه‌ی درسی فیلیپین را در اولویت قرار داد. ادبیات منتشرشده عمدتاً از سال ۲۰۱۹ تا ۲۰۲۵ در حوزه‌های رمزگشایی و ساختواژه، روان‌خوانی، واژگان و دانش پیش‌زمینه، درک مطلب، انگیزش، شدت مداخله و سواد تخصصی بررسی شد. یافته‌ها: شواهد فراتحلیلی نشان داد که مداخلات درک مطلب برای نوجوانان (g = 0.63)، مداخلات گسترده‌تر درک مطلب برای خوانندگان دارای مشکل (g = 0.59) و مداخله‌ی هدفمند روان‌خوانی (اندازه‌ی اثر = 0.46) تأثیرات مثبتی داشته‌اند. مداخلات مبتنی بر انگیزش نیز موجب بهبود درک مطلب شدند (d = 0.27). در تمامی منابع، بازتوانی مؤثر به صورت صریح، متناسب با تشخیص، چندمولفه‌ای، با شدت کافی، پایش‌شده و مرتبط با متون معنادار بود. همچنین شواهد نشان داد که دستاوردها پس از مداخله ممکن است کاهش یابد و تمرین صرف روان‌خوانی به ندرت به طور قابل اطمینان به درک مطلب منتقل می‌شود. نتیجه‌گیری: بازیابی سوادآموزی در دبیرستان باید بازتوانی پایه‌ای محافظت‌شده برای دانش‌آموزان با مشکلات ماندگار در سطح واژه یا روان‌خوانی را با آموزش درون‌موضوعی در واژگان، درک مطلب و خواندن تخصصی ترکیب کند. این مدل دو‌لایه، سخت‌گیری برنامه‌ی درسی را حفظ می‌کند و در عین حال به یادگیری پایه‌ای ناتمام می‌پردازد.