Classroom Teacher Practices In Supporting Second-Grade Students With Early Reading Difficulties

Abstract

This study aimed to identify the types of early reading difficulties experienced by Grade II students, examine the support strategies implemented by the classroom teacher, explore the factors facilitating and hindering their implementation, and describe students’ documented reading development. A descriptive qualitative approach was employed at MI Muhammadiyah Kedunggudel from 5 January to 28 February 2026. The participants included the Grade II teacher, the head of the madrasah, seven students experiencing reading difficulties, and their parents. Data were collected through observations, semi-structured interviews, a simple reading assessment, and documentation, and were analysed using Miles et al.’s interactive model. The findings revealed that seven of the 24 students (29.17%) required additional support in early reading. Their difficulties included hesitant reading, challenges blending letters into syllables, confusion between similar-looking letters, omission or addition of letters, difficulty reading affixed words, limited comprehension of simple texts, and low confidence when reading. The teacher implemented eight forms of support: individual guidance, syllable-based exercises, letter and word cards, repeated reading, peer tutoring, positive reinforcement, parental collaboration, and periodic evaluation. Individual records indicated varied progress in letter recognition, syllable and word reading, sentence fluency, text comprehension, and student participation. This study highlights the importance of providing early reading support that responds to individual students’ learning needs. However, because the research was limited to one classroom and employed a non-standardized assessment without a comparison group, the documented progress cannot be interpreted as causal evidence of the effectiveness of any particular strategy.