Development and Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Mary’s TutoRead among Kindergarten Pupils in Lungib Elementary School of Victoria District, Division of Northern Samar, Philippines

Early childhood education (ECE) introduces children to key concepts and foundational skills, enhancing their language, numerical, and problem-solving abilities. These early learning experiences prepare children for the academic challenges ahead.  This study focused on the development and assessment of Mary’s TutoRead, a contextualised reading intervention designed for kindergarten pupils in Lungib Elementary School, Victoria District, Division of Northern Samar, Philippines. Specifically, it sought to develop Mary’s TutoRead instructional material based on the ADDIE model and evaluate the developed material in terms of content, format, presentation and organisation, and accuracy and up-to-dateness of information. The study was conducted at the Lungib Elementary School, Victoria District, Northern Samar, Philippines. It involved 18 kindergarten pupils as participants, and kindergarten teacher coordinator, a district reading coordinator, and expert assessors as evaluators. Two primary instruments guided this research:  the Evaluation Rating Sheet (ERS) and the Department of Education’s Class Observation Tool. Frequency Analysis was applied to assess and summarise the evaluations of Mary's TutorRead, and the qualitative data were analysed using the thematic analysis model of Braun and Clarke. The study employed a developmental-evaluative research design, which combined the structured development of a reading intervention with a systematic evaluation of its effectiveness and quality. These findings informed the design and development of Mary’s TutoRead, ensuring that the material addressed identified gaps through systematically sequenced and developmentally appropriate activities. The material was developed following the ADDIE model's phases of Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation. During implementation, Mary’s TutoRead guided the learners through structured, progressive literacy tasks, beginning with phonemic awareness activities and advancing toward sight word mastery and contextual reading application. Observations during classroom implementation highlighted effective classroom organisation, sustained learner engagement, strategic use of instructional materials, and differentiated supervision responsive to learners’ varied needs. Evaluation of Mary’s TutoRead demonstrated its alignment with curricular goals and developmental appropriateness. In terms of content, the material was found to be suitable for the learners’ cognitive and emotional levels, free from cultural and gender biases, and effective in promoting critical thinking and positive values. The format of the material, while generally acceptable, suggested areas for further enhancement, particularly in the quality of illustrations and layout organisation. The presentation and organisation were consistently found to be engaging, logically structured, and linguistically adapted to the pupils’ experiences. Furthermore, the material was validated as accurate, current, and relevant, with minor areas noted for further refinement. The study concluded that Mary’s TutoRead effectively addresses the literacy development needs of kindergarten pupils by providing contextually grounded, culturally responsive, and systematically designed instructional support. It affirms the significance of utilising evidence-based instructional design models like ADDIE in material development and highlights the value of integrating contextualization into early literacy interventions. The findings offer valuable implications for teachers, school leaders, curriculum developers, local government units, non-government organisations, and future researchers seeking to improve early childhood education through localised, strategic, and learner-centred innovations.