Enhancing Literacy Competencies in Grade 3 Pupils: A Comparative Study of Contextualized Digital Strategic Intervention Materials (CDSIM) Delivery Modalities

Aims: To assess the effectiveness of CDSIM in enhancing the literacy competencies of Grade 3 pupils. Study Design: The study used a quasi-experimental pre and post-test design to evaluate the literacy levels and reading scores of the pupils before and after using the intervention materials. Place and Duration of Study: Tulay Elementary School, Ibaan District, Division of Batangas, between February to October 2023. Methodology: The study involves three phases in identifying the effectiveness of using CDSIM using the online and offline modalities: literacy profiling, utilization of CDSIM, and evaluation of effectiveness. Seventeen Grade 3 pupils purposively selected utilized the online LMS version of the materials and the same number of pupils who were randomly selected used the offline slide decks intervention modality. Results: Most of the Grade 3 pupils can read simple stories with 4 to 5 sentences fluently with comprehension in both delivery modalities after using the intervention materials. Also, the pupils improved their literacy scores in the posttest from an average score of 24.35 to 28.59 in the online modality and from 21.47 to 25.59 mean scores in the classroom-based modality. There was a significant difference between the literacy levels of pupils who used the LMS home-based modality before (M=4.11; SD=1.32) and after using CDSIM (M=4.76; SD=0.83); (t (16) = -2.52; P=.02). There was a significant difference between the literacy scores of pupils who used the LMS home-based modality before (M=24.35; SD=7.57) and after using CDSIM (M=28.59; SD=5.70); (t (16) = -3.30; P=.00). There was no significant difference between the literacy levels of Grade 3 pupils after using CDSIM under the home-based modality (M=4.47; SD=0.87) and after using slide decks classroom-based modality (M=4.76; SD=0.83); (t (32) = -1.00; P = .32). Conclusion: The story level literacy of the Grade 3 pupils before the intervention improved to the story comprehension level after utilization of CDSIM. The differences between the literacy levels and reading scores of pupils before and after using CDSIM separately in the two intervention delivery modalities were significant, indicating that CDSIM is an effective material for literacy enhancement. Although there was no significant difference between the pupils' literacy performance levels in the two delivery modalities, both modalities can be used to positively affect reading performance.