Assessing the reading skill of students at the initial grades of primary education and estimating the prevalence of specific reading difficulty

Abstract

Reading skill of students at initial grades of primary education is extremely importance, to be foundation for learning other skills and knowledge. This research of reading assessment was conducted at the end of academic year 2023-2024 in 8 primary schools of 4 provinces including the North and the South of Vietnam, with the sample of 927 students grade 1-3. It found that: 1) Mean (M) of reading rate of students grade 1-3 respectively achieved 50.44; 91.61 and 113.23 words/minute; with standard deviation (SD) was respectively 21.90; 31.14 and 32.60. Those reading rate indicators at grade 2 and 3 showed significant higher than the requirement by current educational curriculum; 2) Mean of reading error percentage gradually reduced from grade 1 to 3, with 5,60% reading error at grade 1, down to 2.99% at grade 2 and only 2.28% at grade 3; 3) Mean of reading comprehensive scores (scale 0-10) achieved 3.81 at grade 1; up to 6.28 at grade 2 and got 7.27 at grade 3; 4) 4) Reading rate of students grade 1-3 found to be normally distribution; and if the cut-off point of grade 1 was 1.5 SD below M (reading rate under 18 words/minute), while the cut-off point of grade 2 and 3 were 2 SD below M (reading rate under 29 words/minute at the end of grade 2, and under 48 words/minute at the end of grade 3), then the prevalence of specific reading difficulty estimated 5.93%. The findings may be used as a reference source for reading instruction and for progressive monitoring on reading skill of students with specific reading difficulty at initial grades of primary education in Vietnam.