Literacy Development and School Leadership: Enhancing Grade 6 Reading Comprehension

This research examined school leadership approaches to enhancing reading comprehension and literacy development among Grade 6 learners as a basis for developing an evidence-based reading improvement framework. Specifically, it sought to describe the demographic and professional characteristics of the respondents, determine the level of implementation of school leadership approaches, assess learners’ reading comprehension and literacy development, and examine the relationship between leadership approaches and reading performance. The study focused on five leadership dimensions: instructional supervision, teacher professional development, data-driven decision-making, resource management, and parent and community engagement. Reading development was assessed in terms of reading fluency, vocabulary development, identification of main ideas and supporting details, inferential comprehension, and critical reading and interpretation. The respondents consisted of 10 school heads, administrators, and master teachers, 20 Grade 6 parents, and 60 Grade 6 learners. A researcher-developed survey questionnaire was proposed to gather data on respondents’ profiles, leadership practices, and reading-related experiences. Descriptive statistics, including frequency, percentage, weighted mean, and standard deviation, were identified for data analysis. Pearson’s product-moment correlation was proposed to examine the relationship between school leadership approaches and learners’ reading performance, subject to the assumptions and suitability of the data. The illustrative results indicated that the five leadership dimensions were generally highly implemented, while the five reading comprehension and literacy dimensions were moderately developed. The illustrative correlation results also suggested positive associations between leadership approaches and literacy outcomes. However, these numerical findings remain provisional and require verification using actual collected data before definitive conclusions can be drawn. Based on the study’s intended outcomes, an evidence-based reading improvement framework is proposed to strengthen instructional supervision, promote continuous teacher development, support data-informed literacy interventions, improve access to reading resources, and encourage meaningful family and community participation. The proposed framework aims to establish responsive, inclusive, and systematic school practices that address Grade 6 learners’ reading needs and promote sustained literacy development.