WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE PHIL-IRI

LUCKY PAUL M. DAVID

The Department of Education (DepEd) aims to make every Filipino child a reader and a writer at his/her grade level through the Every Child a Reader Program.

It is because of this that the DepEd, through the Bureau of Learning DeliveryTeaching and Learning Division (BLD-TLD), shall continue to administer the Revised Philippine Informal Reading Inventory (Phil-IRI) assessment to learners in public elementary schools nationwide effective School Year 2018-2019.

What is the Phil-IRI?

The Phil-IRI is an informal reading inventory composed of graded passages designed to determine the individual student’s performance in oral reading, silent reading and listening comprehension.

It is used as a classroom-based assessment tool aims to measure and describe the learners’reading performance in both English and Filipino languages.

These three types of assessment – oral reading, silent reading and listening comprehension – aim to determine the learner’s independent, instructional and frustration l evel s.

It is important to note that the Phil-IRI only provides an approximation of the learner’s abilities and may be used in combination with other reliable tools of assessment.

Its objectives are to design or adjust classroom, small group or individualized instruction to fit the students’needs and abilities; provide an approximation of the students’ abilities and could be used in combination with other reliable tools of assessment; and serve as one of the bases in planning, designing/redesigning the reading programs or activities in the school to improve the overall school reading performance.

The development of the Phil-IRI is one of the initiatives put in place in support of the Every Child A Reader Program (ECARP). Before teachers can design and provide appropriate reading instruction for their students, they should be armed with information about their students’current reading levels and abilities. This diagnostic approach to describing how children read embraces inclusionary principles that emphasize the need for education that is learner-oriented, responsive and culturally sensitive. The Phil-IRI is one of the diagnostic tools that teachers can use to determine students’ abilities and needs in reading.

The Phil-IRI data shall also serve as one of the bases in planning, designing/ redesigning the reading instruction of the teachers and the school’s reading programs or activities to improve the overall school’s reading performance.

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The author is Teacher III at Edilberto M. Ganzon Elementary School