Effect of Extension-Based Learning Enhancement Program on Good English Reading Skills of Struggling Intermediate Learners

Given the gigantic learning crisis crippling and haunting the educational sector nowadays, faculty extensionists are expected to extend their expertise and services to struggling intermediate elementary learners who are at the fringe of society, bordering on learning deficiencies through literacy training and educational programs. This research determined the reading skill level of the participants prior to, during, and after the exposure to a series of learning enhancement activities on good reading skills as a learning intervention. It describes the effect of the extension-based tutorial sessions based on their academic performance and clients’ feedback. It utilized a pre-experimental design, particularly a one-group pretest–post-test design, coupled with an explanatory sequential mixed-methods research design to ensure a comprehensive explanation of the 23 struggling intermediate learners’ exposure to the learning intervention. The findings demonstrate that the extension-based literacy enhancement program on good reading skills has significantly enhanced the reading skills of the identified learners. Also, the educational stakeholders acknowledged features of the learning intervention such as individualized and small-group interventions, regular feedback and monitoring, explicit comprehension strategy instruction, bilingual or mother-tongue-based supports, schema-boosting methodologies, and the use of varied instructional materials. The alignment of these strategies with evidence-based literacy practices validates the potential of extension-driven learning interventions as powerful tools for improving reading skills, especially among marginalized learners.