Enhancing Reading Comprehension to Improve Mathematical Problem-Solving Skills

Abstract

The study was conducted at Nampicuan National High School (NNHS), a rural public school in Nueva Ecija, Philippines, with a student population primarily from low-income families. The school experiences institutional issues because it lacks sufficient resources, such as textbooks and qualified instructors, which leads students to perform poorly in mathematical problem-solving and in understanding mathematical concepts. The research hypothesized that enhancing reading skills, specifically vocabulary and comprehension strategy, would improve students' mathematical word problem-solving abilities.

Pre-intervention assessments showed that students had low reading comprehension (average score of 45%) and mathematical fluency (average score of 40%), with vocabulary knowledge being a key factor in their problem-solving abilities. After the reading intervention, which emphasized vocabulary-building and comprehension techniques, post-intervention outcomes showed significant improvements: reading proficiency rose to 70% and mathematical fluency to 65%, an average growth of 25%. Statistical tests showed a very high positive correlation between reading proficiency and mathematical performance, with regression results indicating that a 1% increase in reading proficiency resulted in an estimated 0.80% improvement in mathematical fluency. The r-squared value of 0.72 confirmed that reading achievement explained 72% of the variation in mathematical fluency, demonstrating the wide-ranging contribution reading makes to students' ability to solve problems. The results highlight the reading intervention's contribution towards enhancing students' academic achievements in numeracy and literacy.