Project GABAY-BASA: A Parent-Supported Home Literacy Intervention for Improving the Foundational Reading Skills of Grade 1 ARAL Learners in Alfonso Castaneda Central School

Foundational reading difficulties among early-grade learners highlight the need for structured literacy interventions that extend instructional support beyond the classroom. This study examined changes in the foundational reading skills of 21 Grade 1 learners participating in the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) Program at Alfonso Castaneda Central School, Philippines, following the implementation of Project GABAY-BASA, a parent-supported home literacy intervention. A quantitative, one-group pretest–posttest pre-experimental design was employed over eight weeks. Learners were assessed in five domains: letter recognition, phonological awareness, phonics and decoding, word recognition, and beginning reading fluency. The intervention incorporated teacher-prepared reading materials, differentiated exercises, parent-guided home activities, and progress monitoring. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, particularly mean scores and mean differences. Results showed that the overall mean reading score increased from 42.10 to 69.81 out of 100, representing a mean gain of 27.71 points. Improvements were observed across all five domains, with word recognition recording the greatest mean gain (6.00 points), followed by phonics and decoding (5.60), beginning reading fluency (5.51), letter recognition (5.50), and phonological awareness (5.10). Despite these improvements, beginning reading fluency remained the lowest-performing domain after the intervention. The findings indicated positive descriptive changes in foundational reading performance and identified competencies requiring continued instructional support. Sustained differentiated instruction, structured home reading practice, and school–home collaboration were recommended.