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When it comes to administering the Philippine Informal Reading Inventory (Phil-IRI) in Junior High School, one essential step often gets overlooked: Step 1 – Determine the Starting Point. Many educators might jump straight to oral reading assessments, but without this foundation, the reliability of the results can be compromised.
Understanding how to determine the starting point is not just a procedure—it’s a diagnostic move that ensures learners are being assessed at the right reading level. As emphasized in the 2024 Phil-IRI Manual for Junior High School, this step uses the learner’s raw score from the Graded Screening Test (GST) to decide which passage level is most appropriate to begin with.
🔍 Why the Starting Point Matters in Phil-IRI
In reading diagnostics, accuracy is everything. This is especially true for the Phil-IRI, the country’s official tool for assessing reading performance among learners. According to DepEd, identifying the correct starting passage allows for an authentic measure of a student’s oral reading fluency and comprehension.
If a learner starts at a level that's too difficult, frustration can quickly follow, leading to inaccurate reading results. On the other hand, if the text is too easy, the assessment may underestimate the learner’s actual reading potential. That’s why Step 1 isn’t optional—it’s essential.
📊 Understanding the Formula: GST Score and Passage Level
The learner’s raw score in the GST directly informs which passage they should read first:
A score of 0–15 means the learner should begin 3 grade levels below their current grade.
A score of 16–27 means they should begin 2 grade levels below their current grade.
This ensures the learner reads a passage within their zone of proximal development, a concept backed by educational theorists like Vygotsky and affirmed in DepEd’s reading framework.
📚 Phil-IRI Step 1 Table: GST Score and Reading Passage Level
| Learner’s Grade Level | GST Raw Score Range | Starting Passage Grade Level | Grade Level Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 7 | 0–15 | Grade 4 | 3 levels below |
| Grade 7 | 16–27 | Grade 5 | 2 levels below |
| Grade 8 | 0–15 | Grade 5 | 3 levels below |
| Grade 8 | 16–27 | Grade 6 | 2 levels below |
| Grade 9 | 0–15 | Grade 6 | 3 levels below |
| Grade 9 | 16–27 | Grade 7 | 2 levels below |
| Grade 10 | 0–15 | Grade 7 | 3 levels below |
| Grade 10 | 16–27 | Grade 8 | 2 levels below |
✅ This table is based on the official instructions from the DepEd Phil-IRI Manual 2024, which all schools are encouraged to follow for consistent assessment procedures.
👦 Sample Scenario: Sandro's Starting Point
Let’s apply the formula:
If Sandro, a Grade 7 student, receives a GST raw score of 14, the test administrator must begin with a Grade 4 passage. That’s three levels below his current grade. This selection is strategic—it’s where he is most likely to demonstrate his current reading ability without being overwhelmed or discouraged.
Once Sandro completes this passage, the teacher can observe his fluency and comprehension to determine if he should move up, stay at that level, or even move further down. That diagnostic judgment is then used in Step 2: Oral Reading, which involves scoring the learner’s miscues and comprehension responses.
🧠 Teacher’s Insight: Trust the Data, But Know the Learner
It’s important to remember that raw scores are not everything. While they guide the starting point, teachers should remain attentive to each learner’s confidence, anxiety levels, and background. Some students might underperform on the GST due to test anxiety, not necessarily low reading ability.
As emphasized in formative assessment research (Black & Wiliam, 1998), data must be interpreted with context. The Phil-IRI process, while standardized, still requires the teacher’s discernment and professional judgment to make meaningful conclusions about a learner’s reading development.
🚀 What Happens After Step 1?
Once the correct starting point is determined, the administrator proceeds to Step 2: Conduct the Oral Reading Assessment using the selected passage. This is where miscue analysis and comprehension checking happen. But remember: without a solid Step 1, Step 2 may produce flawed data.
By ensuring the learner begins at an appropriate difficulty level, teachers set the stage for more accurate results, and ultimately, more targeted reading interventions.