Abstract
In the fourth year of this research project, there are two main objectives. The first is to study reading abilities and establish scoring criteria for screening children at risk of reading difficulties, who require additional help to enhance their basic reading skills. This study categorizes students from Grade 1 to Grade 6 using the SWU_TU reading test, developed by the research team. The test includes five sets: reading meaningful words, meaningless words, and three short passages. The cross-sectional study involves 8 schools in Pathum Thani province, covering 5,191 students from Grade 1 to Grade 6. This allows for identifying cutoff scores to select children at risk of reading problems (scoring below the 10th percentile) and those with poor reading proficiency (scoring below the 25th percentile). The second objective research is to investigate the outcomes of interventions for atrisk children, using a Response to Intervention (RTI) approach at Level 2 in Grade 2. This is implemented in schools affiliated with Bangkok Metropolitan Administration and schools in Pathum Thani. The intervention involves supplementary teaching groups based on a curriculum developed during the project's first three years. The groups include a hybrid teaching group (49 students), where project researchers and school teachers collaborate in teaching, and a coaching group (75 students), where school teachers trained by the research team provide instruction. A control group (100 students) receives normal school-based assistance without specific supplementary teaching from the research team. This quasi-experimental study findings indicate that after one year of intervention and follow-up, there was significant improvement in various aspects of reading across all three groups. Children identified as at-risk in each group showed improvement rates of 44%, 53%, and 27% respectively in the control, hybrid teaching, and coaching groups, progressing out of the at-risk category. Additionally, 13-25% of children demonstrated minimal improvement and are recommended for Level 3 intervention in the future.
