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Frederick T. Munda

Benguet State University, Philippines

 

Abstract

This qualitative study examined teachers' perspectives on the implementation of the Every Child a Reader Program (ECARP) and related reading initiatives in two adjacent Philippine public school divisions. Semi-structured key informant interviews were conducted with 34 elementary and secondary teachers in Baguio City and La Trinidad, Benguet. Thematic analysis revealed that teacher awareness of ECARP was largely nominal rather than functional: although 25 teachers (73.5%) recognized ECARP or related reading policies by name, only 11 (32.4%) demonstrated clear understanding of its objectives, assessment expectations, and operational procedures. Teachers reliably conflated ECARP with later or parallel initiatives such as Drop Everything and Read, Catch-up Fridays, and the 3Bs Initiative. Recurring implementation barriers included weak policy communication, limited ECARP-specific training, scarcity of validated and level-appropriate materials, leadership turnover, heavy reportorial workload, parental disengagement, and institutional pressure to produce cosmetically acceptable reading reports. Interpreted through top-down/bottom-up implementation theory, change management theory, social cognitive theory, and diffusion of innovations theory, the findings suggest that ECARP's persistent difficulties reflect not the absence of literacy policy but the weakness of implementation systems that should sustain teacher capacity, honest assessment, leadership continuity, and bottom-up feedback. The study concludes that improving ECARP requires accountability arrangements that reward accurate reading diagnosis as the basis for support rather than as a reputational threat. Implications include clearer implementation standards, validated reading materials, sustained professional development, protected remediation time, transparent reporting, and institutionalized teacher participation in policy review.

 

Keywords

Reading policy implementation, ECARP, teacher perspectives, literacy policy, Philippine basic education