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POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

AN ASSESSMENT OF THE EFFECTIVENESS, EFFICIENCY


AND ADVOCACY DIMENSIONS OF THE ENHANCED
IMPACT (Instructional Management by Parents,
Community and Teachers) SYSTEM

A Dissertation
Presented to
The Faculty of the Graduate School
Polytechnic University of the Philippines
Sta. Mesa, Manila

In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Doctor in Educational Management

by

ROSALIE AMADOR CORPUS

December 2009
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

CERTIFICATION

This dissertation entitled “An Assessment of the Effectiveness, Efficiency


and Advocacy Dimensions of the Enhanced IMPACT (Instructional
Management by Parents, Community and Teachers) System”, prepared and
submitted by Rosalie Amador Corpus in partial fulfillment of the requirements for
the degree Doctor in Educational Management, has been examined and
recommended for Oral Examination.

Dissertation Committee

JOSEPH MERCADO, DEM


Adviser

VICTORIA C. NAVAL, DEM MARIETTA P. DEMELINO, Ph.D, SFCC


Member Member
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

APPROVAL

Approved by the PANEL OF EXAMINERS on Oral Examination on


November 4, 2009 with the grade of ____________.

SAMUEL M. SALVADOR, Ed.D


Chair

VICTORIA R. NAVAL, DEM FR. MARIO EVANGELISTA, OFM


Member Member

MARIETTA P. DEMELINO, Ph.D, SFCC CARMENCITA CASTOLO, DEM


Member Member

Accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor in


Educational Management.

AMALIA C. ROSALES, DPA


Dean

Date of passing the Comprehensive Examination: September 13-14, 2007


POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY

This is to certify that the research work presented in this dissertation entitled

“An Assessment of the Effectiveness, Efficiency and Advocacy Dimensions

of the Enhanced IMPACT (Instructional Management by Parents, Community

and Teachers) System” for the award of Doctor in Educational Management

from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, Manila, embodies the result of

original and scholarly work carried out by the undersigned. This dissertation does

not contain words or ideas taken from published sources or written works by other

persons which have been taken as basis for the award of any degree from other

higher education institutions, except where proper referencing and

acknowledgement were made.

ROSALIE AMADOR CORPUS


Researcher/Candidate

Date: _____/_____/_____

Noted:

JOSEPH MERCADO, DEM


Adviser

Date: _____/_____/_____
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

ABSTRACT

Title: An Assessment of the Effectiveness, Efficiency and Advocacy


Dimensions of the Enhanced IMPACT (Instructional
Management by Parents, Community and Teachers) System”

Researcher: Rosalie Amador Corpus

Degree: Doctor in Educational Management

Institution: Polytechnic University of the Philippines

Year: 2009

Adviser: Dr. Joseph Mercado

The Problem

The main problem of the study is to evaluate the extent of implementation of

the Enhanced IMPACT (Instructional Management by Parents, Community and

Teachers) System on its effectiveness, efficiency and advocacy dimensions as

perceived by the instructional coordinators (school heads) and instructional

supervisors (teachers) in their schools.

Research Methodology

The study utilized the descriptive-evaluative research design. The

respondents of the study were the 177 instructional coordinators and instructional

supervisors of nineteen identified Enhanced IMPACT Learning Centers in eight

regions nationwide.
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

In gathering the pertinent data for this study, the researcher utilized a

validated, standardized instrument used to arrive at both qualitative and

quantitative data for this research work. Since the sources of data are distributed

nationwide, a courier service was utilized. Questionnaires were sent out July 21,

2009 and filled-out forms from all 19 respondent-schools were in by August 31,

2009 for tabulation.

Statistical tools used to test the hypotheses were frequency, percentages and

the weighted mean. The t-computed values and the p-values were also used to

test if there is a significant difference between the perceptions of the two groups of

respondents.

Findings

Findings revealed that there were more older teachers than young ones and

more female teachers than males. Most of the respondents had 1 to 5 years of

teaching experience and the longest length of tenure is 20 years and above.

There were also more married teachers among the respondents than single ones.

In terms of the respondents’ perception of the extent of implementation of the

Enhanced IMPACT System on its Effectiveness dimension, the overall rating given

was 4.36, interpreted as being “to a very large extent” implemented in the schools.

The following characteristics were examined: the school’s mission, vision, goals

and objectives; classroom assessment and evaluation; teaching and learning


POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

delivery mechanisms; curriculum; instructional materials and the learning

environment.

In terms of the respondents’ perception of the extent of implementation of the

Enhanced IMPACT System on its Efficiency dimension, the overall rating given

was 4.33, though somewhat lower than the effectiveness dimension, still

interpreted as being “to a very large extent” implemented in the schools. The

following characteristics were examined: organization structure; leadership;

professional growth and development; and school culture.

In terms of the respondents’ perception of the extent of implementation of the

Enhanced IMPACT System on its Advocacy dimension, the overall rating given

was 3.96 interpreted as being “to a large extent” implemented in the schools. The

following characteristics were examined: comprehensive school planning; physical

facilities and resources; pupil and family involvement and stakeholders and

community support.

Based on the foregoing findings, the following conclusions were drawn focusing on

the three dimensions of the Enhanced IMPACT System (EIS) being implemented in the

respondent schools:

1. Schools implementing the Enhanced IMPACT System are faithful to the

instructional system requirements of the innovation and are working within the

parameters of the effectiveness, efficiency and advocacy dimensions.

2. Components of the effectiveness dimension of implementation work well

together to bring about instructional success. Components of the efficiency


POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

dimension of implementation work well together to bring about administrative

success. Components of the advocacy dimension of implementation work well

together to bring about success in community participation. Of the three

dimensions, advocacy is the least implemented, although on a positive note, still to

a large extent.

3. Positive perceptions are deemed credible with both groups of respondents

expressing no significant difference in their assessments in all aspects of the

study.

4. Most pressing of problems encountered in the implementation of the

Enhanced IMPACT System include the lack of pertinent instructional materials

which are requisites to effective implementation, as well as the lack of the

corresponding training for the nitty gritty details of system implementation. The

instructional system is an innovation that needs a thorough grounding of

philosophy, delivery mode, methods and procedures, and other system

requirements.

5. Recommendations provided by the school implementers themselves help

to reduce the challenges in implementation articulated herein. They are practical

solutions worth looking at and address majority of the problems/ issues/ and

concerns of the EIS schools.

Based on the foregoing findings and conclusions, the following major

recommendations are being proposed:


POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

1. It is highly recommended that UNICEF continue to sponsor all schools in

the country that are implementing the Enhanced IMPACT System (EIS) since there

is empirical data that support the effectiveness and efficiency of the system.

2. All stakeholders of the EIS should put in more interest, money and effort

into the advocacy dimension of this educational innovation.

3. Intrinsic as well as other rewards for the EIS implementers are in order.

Such zeal and faithfulness to the mission, vision, goals and objectives of education

are commendable.

4. Immediate attention should be given to the lack of resources and

corresponding training articulated by the school implementers in delivering basic

education in the EIS schools.

5. Suggested solutions coming from the implementers themselves are worth

listening to, as they represent the practitioners’ practical view. Care must be taken

to dialogue regularly with the instructional coordinators and instructional

supervisors on their needs and wants.

Additional recommendations this researcher would like to make specific for

certain components or practitioners of the Enhanced IMPACT System are:

Training for Implementers

For the instructional supervisors who have mentioned that they do not feel

very confidently to teach their programmed teachers and peer group leaders higher
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

order thinking skills (HOTS) to be used during their lessons, additional training on

this strategy is recommended.

To assist the instructional supervisors who have said that they do not have

enough learning modules and posttests, another training on module and posttest

development is likewise recommended.

Likewise, a training workshop on how to develop pedagogically-appropriate

instructional materials making use of indigenous and inexpensive materials is also

recommended so that the IMPACT schools can have a bank of instructional

materials.

To address the observation of both groups of respondents on the negative

attitudes of some parents with regards to their children being tapped as

programmed teachers or peer group leaders, additional training on how to develop

and sustain advocacy relations with parents and other significant learning partners

is also recommended.

Another recommended training that the instructional supervisors can undergo

is on how to develop and sustain the motivation of programmed teachers and peer

group leaders.

Just like the instructional supervisors, the instructional coordinators also

need to have enhancement trainings on coaching and mentoring their school staff;

on creating and holding stakeholders’ interests in the school; on resource

allocation and sourcing; school-based management with R.A. 9155; and a better

appreciation of their role in the IMPACT system.


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All these trainings can be done individually in an enhancement session with

the IMPACT schools. Alternatively, convening and holding an IMPACT summit

can best address the concerns of the instructional coordinators and supervisors as

well as be a forum for an exchange of best practices and implementation how-to’s

and development of pride and ownership in their IMPACT schools.

Continuous Monitoring and Evaluation Towards Effective Implementation and

Project Sustainability

This researcher recommends that a monitoring system with continuous

enhancement training sessions be instituted in the IMPACT schools so that the

staff do not feel isolated and their concerns immediately addressed before

implementation of the IMPACT system in their schools suffer.

Project proponents should also invest in an external, and if possible,

international evaluation of the EIS. The evaluation should look at all aspects of

the system to include pupils’ perception of their roles in the system, not just

confined to records of their academic achievement. A strong research-based

portfolio for IMPACT will go a long way towards recognition of its effectiveness and

efficiency as an alternative delivery mode of basic education whose time has

come. It could be that the result of the evaluation will recommend the

institutionalization of IMPACT in the Philippines.


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Accreditation of the IMPACT Schools

There should also be accreditation of IMPACT schools so that continuous

quality improvement of the system’s instructional delivery modes, the learning

modules and posttests and the over-all management processes can be assessed,

evaluated and gathered as benchmarks. Likewise the planned IMPACT Summit

should take place so that the many improvements brought about by the

educational innovation can be presented to other educators to attract national and

international audiences.

Policy Recommendations for the Enhance IMPACT System

Curing the financial ills and lack of facilities of schools may not be an option

for IMPACT proponents at this time. However, it is recommended that IMPACT

proponents advocate for policy reforms within the Department of Education to

refrain from transferring trained Instructional Supervisors and Instructional

Coordinators. Necessary promotions must be awarded but should be within the

IMPACT school for project continuity and sustainability.

Appropriate Audience

The Enhanced IMPACT System should be present not just in multi-grade

schools as recommended by some of the respondents but more for schools in

communities where drop-out rates are high and a scarcity of teachers and school

facilities prevalent.
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

Advocacy with Business and Industry

Advocacy with business and industry should also be undertaken by the

project proponents so that additional sources and funds can be tapped for an

educational innovation such as the Enhanced IMPACT System that this study has

proven is perceived to be truly effective and efficient by its implementers.

Future Research Directions for the Enhanced IMPACT System

The Enhanced IMPACT System has survived sporadically in our nation’s

schools since 1974. Yet it is a mature technology that is backed by researches

done locally and internationally. With the state of our schools’ physical plant and

facilities and the ever-growing population, alternatives must be found to be able to

provide quality education at least cost to our children. This was IMPACT’s

founding objective in the early 1970s and is still IMPACT’s mission up to the

present time. Maybe all that is needed is for additional studies to prove that such

is still IMPACT’s reason for being now into the twenty-first century.

For future researchers, this researcher suggests that the pupils, parents and

stakeholders, and the community be part of their studies’ respondents. The

IMPACT system is not solely composed of the effectiveness, efficiency and

advocacy dimensions studied here; the instructional delivery system and the roles

that the different categories of teachers, especially those of the resource and

testing teachers, should be studied too. The role the community may play in
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

IMPACT was not studied in this paper; it is recommended that a study be made on

this, too. The personality of the researcher may have also been a factor in the

overwhelmingly positive response of the respondents; a different manner of

floating the instrument may be in order.

This researcher hopes that the policy recommendations listed in this study

can come into fruition. Likewise, recommended future directions can hopefully be

acted upon especially the recommendation on non-transfer of trained instructional

coordinators and instructional supervisors to allow the technology the time to grow

and bear fruit in the communities they serve. Expanding to a secondary school

IMPACT system is also highly recommended: this will take much time and effort,

possibly more than what was experienced in the birthing years of IMPACT in the

1970s, but if the experiment proves to be worth it, then another educational

innovation will be added to the growing alternatives to the conventional school

system. One note of caution though: an innovation will necessarily entail great

initial outputs at least in man hours and effort if not in finances. Community

support, dedication of school staff and project proponents’ vision will carry the

innovation through to its maturity if only all components will work together. Nothing

worthwhile happens overnight; but with collective effort, something worthwhile can

begin.
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

Chapter 1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

Introduction

Imagine a twelve-year old child teaching a group of six-year olds, correcting

them with the proper intonation and pronunciation of words (Lockee, Moore,

Burton, p. 547). Imagine a seemingly ordinary boy leading a group of six learners

heterogeneously composed in a nipa hut serving as a learning kiosk, an

improvised classroom to augment existing classrooms (Pasigna, p. 52). In the

school shed, a Resource Teacher, a carpenter from the village, is teaching pupils

how to construct a work bench (Respati and Mante, p.13). A teacher, holding an

umbrella over her head, goes from nipa hut to nipa hut, observing and assessing

the teaching and learning episodes going on. Another teacher prepares

instructional materials in the corner of a classroom where four simultaneous

classes (R. Mante, p. 78) for Level I pupils are going on, handled by tutors who are

themselves pupils in Level VI (Pasigna, p. 83). On the grounds, a group of six

pupils are walking in line towards the school’s Learning Resource Center to take

their posttests under the Examination Teacher (R. Mante, p. 78). In the principal’s

office, a group of parents is conferring with a teacher on their children’s progress,

while the principal meets with the barangay chairman and other officials on the

requirements of the forthcoming sports fest.


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The scenario described above is something that could be happening on an

ordinary school day in a school where the IMPACT System is being implemented.

The acronym, IMPACT, stands for “Instructional Management by Parents,

Community and Teachers.” In this system, the pupil handling the reading class is a

“Programmed Teacher” (PT) leading the class in rounds of learning chunks (R.

Mante, p. 79); the boy leading his co-pupils while learning together is a “Peer

Group Leader” (PGL) in a peer group learning class (Pasigna, p, 52); while the

professional teacher managing the pupils under her care and supervising

instruction is an “Instructional Supervisor” (IS). The school head is named

“Instructional Coordinator” (IC). She coordinates all instructional activities and

manages the school, making creative use of all community resources -- people,

time money and materials – and networking to build partnerships in pursuing

shared goals (Socrates, p. 75).

The IMPACT System was an educational innovation of the early seventies

designed to address the problem of burgeoning school population against a

backdrop of scarce classrooms, poor budgets and low academic achievement. Its

principal function was to reduce the cost of elementary education per child without

any reduction in the academic achievement of pupils (Socrates, p. 139). Its implicit

goals were: 1) effectiveness (without sacrifice to quality); 2) efficiency (producing

desired results at less expense); and 3) advocacy (generating community support

for the educative process). Its primary requirement was that it must be “more

economical but at least just as effective as the existing educational system”


POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

(Socrates, 1983, italics provided). The underscore provides a clear understanding

of the principal feature of the innovation. Utilizing a unique system of programmed

teaching, itinerant teaching, peer tutoring and self-learning, one professional

teacher can handle several classes of a total of 100 or more pupils. Instructional

materials are re-usable and community resources are harnessed as resource

persons or sources of sweat equity. All these constitute a lot of savings on per

pupil costs.

The IMPACT System has since been enhanced; thus the qualifier, “Enhanced

IMPACT System.” Its curriculum has been made more relevant by its adherence

to the existing Basic Education Curriculum of the Department of Education

(DepED). Its instructional materials have been made more multifarious with the

integration of technology and the inclusion of multi-channel materials. Its

instructional management system remains basically the same as the original,

except for the enrichment provided in the training of teachers-cum-facilitators or

instructional supervisors as they are called. The Enhanced IMPACT System (EIS)

is categorized as an alternative delivery mode of instruction for basic education. It

is currently being implemented in at least twenty-one public elementary schools

nationwide. These schools are located in mostly remote and rural communities

where the “unreached and underserved groups” of learners can be found

(Pefianco, 2006).

Interest in the EIS is legitimate. The 1987 Constitution of the Philippines

provides a legal basis in Article XIV, Section 2, thus: in # 1) The State shall
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

establish, maintain and support a complete, adequate and integrated system of

education, relevant to the needs of the people and society; and in # 4) Encourage

non-formal, informal and indigenous learning systems, as well as self-learning,

independent and out-of-school study programs particularly those that respond to

community needs.

R.A. 9155 (The Governance of Basic Education Act of 2001) reiterates the

policy and states: “It is hereby declared the policy of the State to protect and

promote the rights of all citizens to quality basic education and to make such

education accessible to all by providing all Filipino children a free and compulsory

education in the elementary level and free education in the high school level.

Such education shall include alternative learning systems and alternative delivery

modes for out-of-school youths and adult learners. It shall be the goal of basic

education to provide them with the skills, knowledge and values they need to

become caring, self-reliant, productive and patriotic citizens.”

To be adjudged truly responsive to the educational needs of the clientele it

serves, the Department of Education (DepED) is mandated to implement a

complete system of education that will serve all Filipinos, regardless of age, race,

sex, creed, economic condition and social situation in life. In this regard, it

becomes all inclusive – all Filipinos, be they of school age or not, dropouts, stay-

outs or school leavers; be they out-of-school-youths and illiterate adults; or with

differing needs and circumstances – DepED needs to serve their educational

needs (Barsaga, 2006). Hence, DepED offers a complete education system which
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

is multi-modal. It consists of either a formal or non-formal or alternative learning

system. It utilizes the conventional or traditional mode, innovative or alternative

delivery mode, or a combination of these various modes.

The Medium Term Philippine Development Plan 2004-2010 (p. 203) mentions

IMPACT and advocates its institutionalization and expansion because it addresses

the perennial education woes of overcrowded classrooms by instituting learning

kiosks to augment the number of classrooms, and using effective instructional

strategies that address professional teacher shortages.

With this renewed interest in alternative delivery modes in general, and the

IMPACT System in particular, this research study sought to determine the current

status of implementation of the Enhanced IMPACT System (EIS) in terms of its

three-fold goals: 1) effectiveness (producing intended results without sacrificing

quality), 2) efficiency (utilizing a system of learning that reaches the greatest

number of pupils with a minimum of expense), and 3) advocacy (mobilizing the

community to support their children’s learning).

Such study hopes to provide pertinent information that can guide and hasten

the possible institutionalization of the system in the elementary school.

Background of the Study

The IMPACT System was initially conceptualized in August 1972 as the major

research effort of SEAMEO INNOTECH in the 1970s (Soriano, 1983). Its focus

was the development of an effective and economical delivery system for mass
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

primary education. The idea was to design an instructional system that was more

economical but just as effective as the then existing educational systems in the

Southeast Asian region. It was initially conducted in five schools in Naga, Cebu,

Philippines and in another five schools in Solo, Central Java, Indonesia. It

underwent two phases in its development: Phase I from January to June 1974, in

which surveys and acceptance campaigns were done as well as the orientation

and training of module writers for the first semester modules for Grade IV. Initial

orientation of teachers as Instructional Supervisors (ISs) was done at this stage.

Phase II, from July 1974 to June 1975, saw the tryout of the components of the

delivery system at Grade IV; the supportive role of the community; the production

of instructional materials for non-teacher learning activities; the use of programmed

instruction, particularly programmed learning via modularized instruction; and the

evolution of the structural design of the Community Learning Center (CLC)

maximizing the use of existing buildings and other available community resources.

Further extension of the project, from July 1976 to December 1979, saw further

development of the delivery system components; demonstration of the delivery

system in operation; a cost analysis of the entire system; continuing assessment

and evaluation, inclusive of formative and summative evaluation of the project; and

replication of the delivery system in two other sites (Socrates, 1983).

Research findings from the evaluative study done in 1978 (Tugade, p. 152)

indicated higher achievement for pupils taught through the IMPACT system

compared to that of pupils from the conventional system. The findings likewise
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indicated that the use of the IMPACT system resulted in higher achievement for

the average and slow learners, who constituted a very large segment of the school

population. It was concluded then that the IMPACT system might be more

effective than the conventional system in equalizing educational opportunities.

Recent developments have prompted SEAMEO INNOTECH, the developer of

the IMPACT Model, to review its relevance to present needs of pupils and

conditions of learning. SEAMEO is the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education

Organization, and INNOTECH is the Regional Center for Educational Innovation

and Technology. The IMPACT System is soft technology that went through a

rigorous process of research and development.

In the High School Readiness Test in 2003-2004, the following achievements

by IMPACT schools were posted: 1) San Francisco Learning Center, an IMPACT

school in Malilipot, Albay ranked 1st in the Division, 3rd in the region, and # 77.5

nationwide, notwithstanding its use of the old modules not yet attuned to the

Revised Basic Education Curriculum (RBEC); Bagong Buhay-F Elementary

School in Sapang Palay ranked # 950 nationwide; and 3) Culianan Learning

Center in Zamboanga City, still using the old IMPACT modules (version 1975),

consistently ranked at the top ten high achieving schools in the division. It ranked #

1,737 during the 2004 High School Readiness Test (Source: SEAMEO

INNOTECH Final Report on the “Implementation of the e-IMPACT System in Five

Pilot Schools,” p. 1).


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These significant evidences of high academic performance from IMPACT

schools with minimal support from the DepED prompted SEAMEO INNOTECH to

fund the second revision of the learning modules, re-aligning them with the RBEC.

For the second revision of October 2004, school staff of San Francisco Learning

Center, Malilipot, Albay were involved as developers and consultants to the

enhancement of the system. Non-print learning materials in the form of audio and

video instructional materials for English and Filipino were also developed and

incorporated into the instructional system. This was intended to make the learning

materials more interesting and abreast with the times.

In SY 2005-2006, when USAID provided support to three schools in

Mindanao (two in Region 9 and one in Basilan in the Autonomous Region for

Muslim Mindanao), the learning modules were again subjected to a third review

and validation by educational specialists and experts of Region IX, not just in

content but in making the modules culture-sensitive and appropriate to the Muslim

faith. Now known as the Enhanced IMPACT System (EIS), it has a total of 563

developed or revised learning modules categorized into 60 Programmed Teaching

(PT) modules; 448 Peer Group Learning (PGL) modules; 55 Itinerant Teaching (IT)

modules; and 68 audiotapes to support some of the learning modules in English

and Filipino (Lacuesta, 2008).

In 2007, UNICEF sponsored 19 schools within their identified Child Friendly

Schools System areas as pilot schools implementing the Enhanced IMPACT

System (Lacuesta, 2008). It is to the interest of UNICEF, as sponsoring agency;


POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

DepED, as implementing agency; and the National Economic Development

Authority (NEDA), as advocate, to determine the extent of implementation of the

EIS in terms of its three-fold goals.

Hence, this researcher decided to conduct the study in the 19 UNICEF-

sponsored schools. The two non-UNICEF sponsored schools (out of the 21

schools currently implementing EIS) are not included in the study; they are just

starting this school year, and therefore, are not able to gauge yet the effectiveness,

efficiency and advocacy qualities of the system.

Theoretical Framework

This study is based on the Effective Schools Theory centering on effective

schools correlates derived from empirical investigations and case studies of school

success (Edmonds, Brookover, Lezotte plus other school effectiveness

researchers, conducting studies from 1966 through 1976). Throughout the 1980’s,

networks of researchers and school-based practitioners probed deeper into the

school effectiveness phenomenon, observing in detail what was happening at the

school and classroom level. A list of common traits and processes present in

these schools was identified. These unique characteristics became known as the

effective schools correlates because they correlated with high levels of student

achievement. These correlates appeared consistently in high-performing schools

in many systems regardless of the backgrounds of the children.


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There are seven identified correlates or guiding principles. They describe the

culture and learning climate of schools where students are achieving. The

correlates have continually led schools, administrators and teachers towards

looking at ways to improve the culture of a school, and the achievement of its

students. This research bases its beliefs on the research results obtained from

decades of studies which have been intensive and extensive.

First of these correlates is a clear and focused mission. In the Effective

School, there is a clearly articulated school mission through which the staff shares

an understanding of and commitment to the instructional goals, priorities,

assessment procedures, and accountability. Second are high expectations for

success. In the Effective School, there is a climate of expectation in which the staff

believes and demonstrates that all students can attain mastery of essential school

skills and that they, the staff, have the capacity to help all students do so. Third is

instructional leadership. In the Effective School, the principal is the instructional

leader who shares leadership with the rest of the staff. He or she is a leader of

leaders. Fourth is the frequent monitoring of student progress. In the Effective

School, student academic progress is measured frequently. A variety of

assessment procedures are used and the results of the assessments are used to

improve individual students’ performance and to improve the instructional program.

Fifth is the opportunity to learn and student time on task. In the Effective School,

teachers allocate a significant amount of classroom time to instruction in the

essential skills. Sixth is a safe and orderly environment. In the Effective School,
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there is an orderly, purposeful business-like atmosphere which is free from threat

of physical harm. The school climate is conducive to teaching and learning.

Seventh and last is home and school relations. In the Effective School, parents

understand and support the school’s mission and are given the opportunity to play

an important role in helping the school to achieve the mission.

Effective Schools Research provides a framework for reform based on the

seven guiding principles, or correlates, stated above. It indicates the need to focus

on elements that include “a basic societal belief that schools should demonstrate

both their contributions to student learning and how they are improving their

internal transformational processes” (Elmore, 2002 as cited by Hoy and Miskel,

2008). This researcher has undertaken this study and used the Effective Schools

Theory as framework for the analysis and interpretation of data provided by the

Instructional Coordinators (school heads) and Instructional Supervisors (teachers)

in the Enhanced IMPACT System (EIS) schools.

For purposes of this study, the effectiveness component of the Enhanced

IMPACT System has been operationally defined as the ability of the educational

innovation (IMPACT) to produce the intended results of quality education. Inputs

into the EIS in terms of its components are themselves the screens used to

examine school effectiveness, which include the respondent schools’ 1) mission,

vision, goals and objectives; 2) the curriculum; 3) teaching and learning

mechanisms; 4) classroom assessment and evaluation; 5) instructional

materials; and 6) the learning environment. It is of interest here what Zammuto


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(1982) proposes and he says, “… for school administrators, the goal of creating

effective schools is continually to become effective rather than to be effective…”

Paraphrasing Zammuto, becoming an effective school is a journey, not a

destination. Toward this end, it is hoped that this study contributes to the journey

to excellence of the schools implementing the EIS.

The efficiency component of IMPACT encompasses 1) leadership; 2)

organizational structure; 3) professional growth and development; and 4) school

culture. Screens for these in the EIS schools ask about the existing conditions in

the school that allow the effectiveness component to prevail by determining the

most economical way of organizing instructional resources into a meaningful

learning system for a greater number of pupils. Efficiency and effectiveness work

hand in hand.

IMPACT’s advocacy component refers to the positive attitude towards the

educational innovation as perceived by its key informants: pupils, teachers, school

heads and learning partners of the school and its community. Advocacy activities

mobilize the community to support the educational innovation (IMPACT) for the

benefit of its children. It is to be noted that shared leadership and governance

works well in schools (Spillane, 2006). Multiple leaders in schools such as

teachers, administrators and parents identify, acquire, allocate, coordinate and use

social, material and cultural resources to advance teaching and learning. Since

principals and school officials cannot succeed alone, multiple formal and informal

leaders and their followers mobilize to guide and do the tasks necessary to
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transform or make major changes in their schools. Clearly, Spillane’s views

provide a guide as to the screens used for determining advocacy in the EIS

schools.

The research paradigm (see Figure 1) presented on the next page follows the

Input, Process and Output (IPO) Systems Model. The schematic diagram shows

the conceptual framework of the study and provides the direction of this research.

Scriven’s (1991) prescription of evaluation has also guided this research in

taking concrete steps such as “first, to identify the goals and objectives of the

program, i.e., what the program is intended to accomplish.” Scriven continues:

“An evaluation plan describes both formative (process) and summative (product)

schemes for collecting useful evidence on the effectiveness of the program. The

evidence is synthesized and analyzed to produce findings. The findings are

compared to predetermined standards and judgments about the value of the

program from the conclusions. The conclusions are framed as recommendations

and reports for stakeholders and program managers.” Following this process, this

study elicited the perceptions of key program implementers; analyzed and

interpreted data; drew conclusions; and formulated recommendations relative to

implementation.

Conceptual Framework

As earlier described, inputs to this study are the perceptions of two groups of

respondents, the Instructional Supervisors (teachers) and Instructional


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Coordinators (school heads), on the extent of implementation of the EIS in 19

implementing schools, in terms of their effectiveness, efficiency and advocacy.

Input Process Output

Feedback of respondents on the following Gathering, tabulating and · Status of


dimensions of the Enhanced IMPACT assessing the perceptions of the implementation of the
System (EIS): Instructional Supervisors Enhanced IMPACT
(teachers) and Instructional System (EIS)
Effectiveness— Coordinators (school heads)
· school’s mission, vision, regarding the Effectiveness, · Identified problems and
goals and objectives Efficiency and Advocacy their suggested
· curriculum components of the Enhanced solutions
· teaching and learning IMPACT System (EIS) through:
mechanisms · Recommendations on
· classroom assessment and · quantitative and how the implementation
evaluation qualitative data from a problems identified by
· instructional materials survey questionnaire the respondents may be
· learning environment and addressed .including
some policy
Efficiency— · secondary data from a recommendations for
· leadership review of pertinent possible implementation
· organizational structure documents. and future action.
· professional growth and
development
· school culture

Advocacy—
· comprehensive school
planning activities
· physical facilities and
resources
· pupil and family involvement
· stakeholders and community
support

Feedback to parties concerned on how to improve the Effectiveness, Efficiency and


Advocacy components of the Enhanced IMPACT System (EIS)..

Figure 1: Research Paradigm and Conceptual Framework

In terms of the effectiveness aspect of the EIS, the following were reviewed:

1) the school’s mission, vision, goals and objectives; 2) curriculum; 3) teaching and

learning mechanisms; 4) classroom assessment and evaluation; 5) instructional

materials; and 6) the learning environment.


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In terms of the efficiency aspect of the EIS, the following were reviewed: 1)

leadership; 2) organizational structure; 3) professional growth and development;

and 4) the school culture.

In terms of the advocacy aspect of the EIS, the following were reviewed:

1) comprehensive school planning activities; 2) physical facilities and resources;

3) pupil and family involvement; and 4) stakeholders and community support.

The research process included the gathering, tabulating, analyzing and

interpreting of data relative to the perceptions of the respondents on the

implementation of EIS in their schools. A questionnaire was administered to elicit

relevant data. Secondary data was collected from relevant reports and other

printed materials about the EIS in particular, and IMPACT in general.

The output of this study is a report on the status of implementation of the EIS

in the implementing schools and together with their identified problems and

suggested solutions. In addition, a set of recommendations is provided affecting

further implementation and possible institutionalization. All of these contribute to a

better understanding of the educational innovation.

The research results shall be disseminated to interested parties, notably

SEAMEO INNOTECH, the developer; DepED, the implementing agency; UNICEF,

the sponsoring agency; NEDA, the advocate; and other stakeholders.


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Statement of the Problem

The main purpose of the study is to evaluate the extent of implementation of

the Enhanced IMPACT (Instructional Management by Parents, Community and

Teachers) System on its effectiveness, efficiency and advocacy components. The

following specific questions served as the focus of inquiry:

1. How do the instructional coordinator and instructional supervisor respondents

perceive the extent of implementation of the Enhanced IMPACT System

(EIS) in terms of its:

1.1 Effectiveness

1.1.1 School’s Mission, Vision, Goals and Objectives

1.1.2 Curriculum

1.1.3 Teaching and Learning Delivery Mechanisms

1.1.4 Classroom Assessment and Evaluation

1.1.5 Instructional Materials

1.1.6 Learning Environment

1.2 Efficiency

1.2.1 Leadership

1.2.2 Organizational Structure

1.2.3 Professional Growth and Development

1.2.4 School Culture

1.3 Advocacy

1.3.1 Comprehensive School Planning


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1.3.2 Physical Facilities and Resources

1.3.3 Pupil and Family Involvement

1.3.4 Stakeholders and Community Support

2. Is there any significant difference in the assessment made by the two groups

of respondents on the extent of implementation of the Enhanced IMPACT

System (EIS) in terms of its:

2.1 Effectiveness?

2.2 Efficiency?

2.3 Advocacy?

3. What are the problems met by the respondents in implementing the

Enhanced IMPACT System (EIS)?

4. What are the recommendations given by the respondents to improve the

Enhanced IMPACT System (EIS)?

Research Hypothesis

The following hypothesis was tested at 5 percent level of significance:

Instructional coordinators and instructional supervisors do not differ in their

assessment of the extent of implementation of the Enhanced IMPACT System

(EIS) in terms of its 1) effectiveness, 2) efficiency, and 3) advocacy.

Scope and Delimitation

The respondents of the study were limited to the instructional supervisors

(teachers) and the instructional coordinators (school heads) of the nineteen (19)
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schools, out of twenty-one (21) implementing the EIS. These 19 respondent

schools are the UNICEF-sponsored IMPACT schools. Respondents from among

the professional teachers were randomly selected. The period under review

covered the period of implementation from School Year 2007 to present. The

review is also limited to determining the extent of implementation of the program in

terms of effectiveness, efficiency and advocacy.

Significance of the Study

The researcher hopes that the results of the study would benefit the following:

1) SEAMEO INNOTECH as developer, in its policy of continuous

improvement, may use the results of this study as additional inputs that can help

perfect the instructional management system and further enhance its

effectiveness, efficiency and advocacy qualities.

2) DepED, as implementing agency, can learn from the experience of the

respondents. The actual users of the EIS, the instructional coordinators (school

heads) and instructional supervisors (teachers), now have a collective view of each

others’ perceptions. They can come together or communicate with one another to

share and learn some more about how to improve the system, their schools, their

pupils and themselves. They get to benefit from the collegial relationship.

3) UNICEF, as sponsoring agency, will have useful information that can

guide the terms and conditions of their sponsorship. In a way, the research results

will indicate the value of their financial contribution.


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4) NEDA, as advocate, will have more information to back its advocacy as

stated in the government’s Medium Term Philippine Development Plan of 2004-

2010. It shall have more recent data to use in its advocacy.

5) The other stakeholders such as the parents and community workers

involved in the program will become aware of its progress, and accurately informed

of their children’s needs and the school’s identified problems as well as suggested

solutions.

6) The pupils in the EIS schools are the true beneficiaries, as any

improvements in the system will directly benefit their learning processes and

outcomes. As previously mentioned, the results of this study can help improve the

system.

7) Other researchers using assessment studies may use the dimensions of

effectiveness, efficiency and advocacy of a program as used in this study. Other

researchers may embark on possible offshoots of the study such as assessment of

the same program using other indicators of effectiveness, efficiency and advocacy;

and/or other studies related to either the context, input, process, or products of the

instructional management system.

Definition of Terms

For clarity and better understanding of the research paper, the following terms

are defined operationally, or as used in the study:


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1) Enhanced IMPACT System (EIS). This refers to the enhanced system of

Instructional Management by Parents, Community and Teachers, a mature

alternative delivery mode in basic education, developed in the seventies by

SEAMEO INNOTECH, and now being implemented in 21 public schools distributed

in the three island areas as follows: Luzon (Region V), Visayas (Regions VI and

VIII), and Mindanao (Regions IX, X, XII, XIII and ARMM). (You may refer to Figure

2, Location Map of Respondent Schools). Its main learning materials are modules

that have been “enhanced” by aligning its curriculum with the competencies

prescribed in the Revised Basic Education Curriculum, and by incorporating

enhancements in the lessons for Muslim learners that are culturally sensitive, using

the computer, video, audio and other media.

2) SEAMEO INNOTECH. This is one of the any SEAMEO Centers in

Southeast Asia whose mission is to provide solutions to the educational problems

confronting the Region. SEAMEO is the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education

Organization, and INNOTECH is the Regional Center for Educational Innovation

and Technology. This is the Regional Center which has developed and enhanced

the IMPACT System.

3) Effectiveness. This is an important quality of the EIS which defines the

worthwhileness of the system. It refers to the ability of the educational innovation

to produce the intended results, which is the delivery of quality basic education in

the schools. Of emphasis here is that quality should not be sacrificed for economy.

Indicators of effectiveness include the following inputs: the respondent schools’


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mission, vision, goals and objectives; the curriculum; classroom assessment and

evaluation; teaching and learning delivery mechanisms; instructional materials; and

the learning environment.

4) Efficiency. This is the second important quality of the EIS which is

equally noteworthy. It refers to the ability of the educational innovation to produce

the desired results at least expense. Among the efficiency indicators reviewed

were: leadership; organizational structure; professional growth and development;

and school culture. Screens for these in the EIS schools asked about the existing

conditions in the school that allow the effectiveness dimension to prevail by

determining the most economical way of organizing instructional resources into a

meaningful learning system for the greater number of pupils.

5) Advocacy. This is the third important quality of the EIS to sustain

implementation. It entails organizing, generating and mobilizing community

support for the benefit of the children. A positive attitude towards the educational

innovation is a requisite for success. Screens here include: comprehensive

school planning; physical facilities and resources; pupil and family involvement;

and stakeholders and community support.

6) Some terms specific to the EIS include the following:

a) Community Learning Center (CLC). This serves as the school in

the EIS set-up. It is the hub of all learning activities for pupils, parents, out-of-

school youth and the community at large.


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b) School Enrolment. This is the actual count of the total number of

pupils in a school who have registered as of August 31 in a given school year.

Pupils are assigned to certain Levels equivalent to the Grade Levels of their

counterparts in the conventional set-up.

c) Instructional Coordinator (IC). This refers to a school head or

principal in a school implementing the EIS. The IC manages all school activities

and oversees the learning experiences of the pupils as facilitated by the teachers.

d) Instructional Supervisor (IS). This refers to a professional

teacher assigned to teach in a school implementing the EIS. The IS plays an

innovative role as facilitator and instructional supervisor in the school. This set-up

is contrary to the common notion of the teacher as giver of information, the center

of all learning, and the only authority before a class.

e) Learning Kiosk. This is a gazebo-like temporary structure that

functions as a classroom or learning center in a school implementing the EIS. In a

CLC, there would be many learning kiosks to accommodate the many groups of

learners who are doing varied learning activities.


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Chapter 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

This chapter presents a review of related literature and studies that have

relevance to the present research study. Among the many sources reviewed were

books, periodicals, journals, articles published locally and internationally; so too

were web-based resources, including local policy notes, brochures, primers and

orientation materials. All these materials have provided direction to the current

study.

Foreign Literature

Effective Schools. Much of the literature on effective schools stems from

the monumental research conducted in the decade between 1966 and 1976

(Source: ERIC, School Effectiveness Research, Effective Schools Research: How

It All Started). In 1966, a federal paper was written to discuss the effectiveness of

American education. The paper was funded by the U.S. Office of Education and

written by James Coleman, a prominent education researcher. Effective Schools

Research emerged in response to this controversial paper. Concluding that public

schools didn’t make a significant difference, Coleman’s report credited the

student’s family background as the main reason for student success in school. His

findings proposed that children from poor families and homes, lacking the prime

conditions or values to support education, could not learn, regardless of what the
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school did. Ronald Edmonds, then Director of the Center for Urban Studies at

Harvard University, responded vigorously. Edmonds and others, refused to accept

Coleman’s report as conclusive, although they acknowledged that family

background does make a difference. They set out to find schools where kids from

low income families were highly successful, and thereby proved that schools can

make a difference. Edmonds, Brookover, Lezotte and other researchers (1978),

looked at achievement data from schools in several major cities – schools where

student populations were comprised of those from poverty backgrounds.

Nationwide, they found schools where poor children were learning. The puzzling

question remained why some low-income schools were successful while others

were not. To learn more about the phenomenon, researchers began to compare

high-achieving schools with schools where similar children were not learning.

What was it that the effective schools were doing differently?

Today, sources say that the effective schools research has evolved from

descriptive to prescriptive. The acquired knowledge base about practices in

effective schools is being shared to enable the processes to be replicated.

Researchers are documenting how to introduce these practices to produce positive

changes in the way adults interact with each other and with students. This

improvement model involves a collaborative effort by the principal, teachers, staff

and school community. It is characterized by a primary focus on teaching and

learning, a strong emphasis on documented outcomes, analysis of evidence to

monitor for quality and equity among student groups, and instructional
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interventions based on feedback. Thirty-five years later, the result is a body of

scientific evidence to lay Coleman’s theory to rest and claim that schools do indeed

make a difference. In today’s environment of increasing expectations for schools

to produce high levels of achievement regardless of student backgrounds, this

research base is increasingly relevant. (Source: ERIC. Updated: November 30,

2009, The Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma).

The Social Context of Effective Schools is explained by Philip Hallinger and

Joseph F. Murphy (1986) in their article which analyzes differences in the

operation of school effectiveness factors in high- and low-SES effective schools.

Observable differences are found on several effectiveness variables. The social

context of the effective schools appears to influence the breadth of the curriculum,

the allocation and use of instructional time, the instructional leadership role of the

principal, the nature of the school reward system, and the type of expectations

embedded in school policies and practices. These findings, though tentative,

indicate that practitioners should not treat the well-publicized effectiveness factors

as generalizable to all school settings. In addition, the results suggest that

researchers concerned with understanding the process of effective schooling

should focus on the manner in which these schools translate contextual

expectations into school policies and classroom practices.

In the area of family and community support, one document reviewed

shares lessons learned regarding how to strengthen public education systems

through support for parent and community organizing. It presents findings from
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two case studies of the Edward W. Hazen Foundation (Rainbow Research, 2003).

The case studies illustrate how this can be done effectively and how much value

there is in parent and community organizing for creating effective schools.

Indeed, evidence shows a strong connection between parent and family

involvement in schools and children’s academic achievement, attendance, attitude,

and continued education (Henderson & Berla, 1994; Hickman, 1996). But families

may not become involved if they do not feel that the school climate – the social and

educational atmosphere of a school – is one that makes families feel welcomed,

respected, trusted, heard and needed. Research (e.g., Corner & Haynes, 1992;

Epstein & Dauber, 1993) suggests a connection between the school climate and

the extent to which parents and families are involved in their children’s education.

When schools create a positive school climate by reaching out to families and

providing structures for them to become involved, the result is effective school-

family partnerships. Such partnerships connect families and schools to help

children succeed in school and in their future. Hence, it is recommended that

schools create the climate and structures to support parent and family involvement.

The IMPACT school relies heavily on an effective parent and community

involvement.

What makes an effective school? Effective schools are those that

successfully progress the learning and development of all of their students. There

is no simple recipe for an effective school. Many factors combine to make each

school what it is, and each school is unique. However, it is possible to identify a
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set of factors or characteristics that contribute to school effectiveness. Based on

research and consultations with parents, the ACT Council of P&C Associations

(Canberra, 2007) has identified nine characteristics of effective schools: (1) a

cohesive leadership team led by a caring and inclusive principal, (2) teachers with

a variety of skills and experiences, (3) clear positive philosophy, (4) environment

supportive of learning, (5) easily accessible student support, (6) effective school

organizational framework, (7) broad, balanced curriculum, (8) meaningful

assessment and reporting on student progress, and (9) active parent and

community participation. The ACT Council of P&C Associations in their report on

“Working with Schools” (Canberra, 2007), gave the caveat that these are a number

of important issues to bear in mind when using information on the characteristics of

effective schools.

Alternative Schools. In order to raise the quality of life of the people they

serve and care for, individuals and groups initiate programs and projects that

integrate education and livelihood as components. Both public and private sectors

join together to advance this cause.

A project supported by the United States Agency for International

Development (USAID) similar to the Enhanced IMPACT System (EIS) is

EDUCATODOS, implemented in Honduras. This project set up learning centers

within homes, maquilas, prisons, schools, vocational centers, and other available

locations. Partnerships were established with private businesses, NGOs, local


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government, and religious or community organizations. The first phase of the

program started in 1995, and by 2002 had provided over 250,000 person-years of

schooling, with over 4,000 volunteer facilitators assisting at learning centers

throughout the country. The curriculum for grades 7 to 9 was initialed by the

Improving Educational Quality Project (IEQ) and built on an approach in which

activities of interest to youth are the foundation for integrating the basic subject

areas. Delivery is print and audio learning materials and through volunteer

facilitators, in sessions that last approximately two hours a day. A service-learning

component is introduced through community projects designed, implemented, and

evaluated by youth. Several external impact assessments were conducted and

results showed that students’ academic performance in Mathematics and Spanish

were equivalent to the results achieved by students from regular schools. Further,

a qualitative study and a self-assessment study both revealed that the new

integrated curriculum is highly attractive to youth because they become active in

their own learning through problem-focused activities. Development of values and

community service learning among the youth was notable. The flexibility of

scheduling is particularly attractive to teenagers and young adults who are working

or have responsibilities that inhibit their returning to regular schools. This

component of the program has thereby reduced the drop-out rate. A study on

volunteer facilitators indicated that as a result of their participation with the program

their leadership skills have been strengthened and most of them (94%) have

become role models exemplifying values and leadership for the youth in their
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communities. The total cost for a participant to complete a year of schooling is

approximately a third of what the government invests annually per student at this

level in regular schools, which for the most part covers only teachers’ salaries (Siri

2004). This project is similar in many ways to the EIS in terms of an economic

delivery system that produces desired results.

Another example of a project similar to the EIS is the traditional vocational

education in an agricultural technical school called the PROJOVEM conducted in

Sao Paulo, Brazil. This was developed in 1995 between the Agricultural and Rural

Development Department of the University of Sao Paulo and the Paulo Souza

State Center for Educational Technology with funding from the Kellogg Foundation.

Its objective is to prepare rural youth to manage small farms or agribusinesses,

increasing productivity and increasing the standard of living of rural families. In a

span of three years, students develop individual projects with the family property

serving as a laboratory for learning, while academic subjects are integrated into the

learning process. Students and parents work together to determine the efficiency

of their farm and compare it with research-based techniques. The student projects

are intended to teach students how to conduct diagnostic studies, market research,

design, implement, manage, and evaluate projects. A cost-benefit study on the

economic benefits of participation in the program and the value of the economic

investment, as compared with agricultural technical schools, showed PROJOVEM

to be a most cost-efficient investment because the ratio of benefits to costs was


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significantly higher than the agricultural technical program. The study concludes

that “PROJOVEM has the ability to not only entice the students to remain in the

rural area and contribute to rural development, but through their personal agri-

business projects, students can increase production on the property, have the

possibility of providing others with employment, transfer technology to rural

families, act like an agricultural technician… and become more entrepreneurial”

(ibid).

Two other projects called YouthBuild (YB) and Bridge Over Troubled Waters

(BOTW) engage disconnected youth who have no apparent path to a productive

future by teaching them basic academic, life, leadership, and employability skills

through work on community housing rehabilitation projects” (Kerka, 2003). These

programs’ underlying philosophy of respect sees youth as untapped resources for

the development of their own communities. Program features include supportive

peer-group communities, community service, culturally appropriate curricula, youth

leadership development and participation in governance, and follow-up through

alumni clubs and support services such as information, counseling, and job

placement (Conescu et al. 2002; Pines 1999, cited in Kerka 2003). The youth

aged 16-24, and even those with developmental disabilities, are provided with (1)

opportunities to perform meaningful work while learning marketable skills; (2) warm

relationships with caring adults committed to youth; (3) systematic attention to

improving basic skills toward achievement of a diploma, GED certificate, or college


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entrance; and (4) a safe community in which to dream and achieve goals (Pines

1999, cited in Kerka 2003). BOTW recommends: “The identification of youth

capacities and resiliency should be strengthened as the proper way to establish

positive working relationships with youth who are runaways, homeless, or at risk.”

This is one recommendation that provides an important lesson for any alternative

program.

The Framework for Learning Alternatives Environments of Iowa, USA,

represents a research and experienced-based synopsis of basic principles to

develop and improve learning alternatives within Iowa. It serves to focus on a

critical question to guide education: “What is the purpose of education?” The

answer is: “being responsible citizens, effective workers and lifelong learners.” It

also offers insights into how individuals learn best identifying modern principles

and brain-compatible strategies for managing learning. Most importantly, it offers a

consideration of learning alternatives as a means to maximize learning for all

individuals in the community. The content of the framework was established

through broad inputs from educators involved in diverse alternative learning

environments at various levels across Iowa and the United States. It has been

formally recognized by the Iowa Association of Alternative Education and reviewed

and edited by all major education organizations within Iowa. The framework

identifies the essential components necessary for establishing and maintaining

quality learning alternative environments. These are: (1) The student as the
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center of teaching and learning. The paradigm of the learning alternative

environment considers the student first. The needs of the individual relative to

personal, social, emotional, behavioral, essential learnings and career and talent

development are carefully considered and the appropriate provisions for meeting

individual needs are developed. (2) Unique needs of students. The education

process is geared to meet the unique needs of the student. Students and

parents/guardians choose to participate as an option to fulfill the defined

educational goals. Personalized education plans direct learning and graduation.

Assessments are regular and frequent for continuous feedback to students and to

determine success toward goals and expectations. The results of the assessment

are used to modify curriculum, instruction, methodology, support services and

management practices to benefit students. Reviews and evaluation are guided by

the principle of enhancing the worth and dignity of each student. (3) School

climate motivates learning. Students are immersed in a climate that assists them

to perceive that (a) they can learn, (b) they belong, (c) their learning style is a

personal characteristic that is valid and varied, (d) they are responsible for their

own learning, (e) learning is stimulating, (f) emotions are part and parcel to

learning, (g) forming family relationships strengthens learning and acceptance of

learning, and (h) teaming contributes to personal freedom, independence and

security. 4) Staff focus. Teachers directly influence students and reflect and model

whether they care. Choice to be in an ADM environment can improve attitudes

towards learning, cooperation and acceptance for the responsibility to learn and
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can impact learning environments positively. (5) Management and support focus.

There are six important components in this section. (a) Gaining the advice of

community members in decision-making for developing and improving the school

or programs is an established process. (b) Organization, administration, control

and decision making. (c) Meeting the needs of the students. (d) Accountability.

There is an organized plan to collect and analyze data to determine needs, assess

student performance and guide the school’s progress towards student success.

(e) Financial stability. An adequate budget is provided to administer the school with

high quality and fulfill all standards including instruction, facility, discipline, staff

development, curriculum and materials development, technology, guidance,

assessment and evaluation. (f) Adequate facilities to promote learning. Adequate

space is available for group learning, allowing cooperative learning groups to

function appropriately and to accommodate individual learning areas for

independent study.

Another important ADM is homeschooling as evidenced by this excerpt from

E. Fogle, published in Educational Connections, 2001. “… In 1985,

homeschooling became legal in Washington State. In 1995, Alternative Learning

Programs became legal. Since then Homeschooling or Home-Based Instruction

(HBI) has become legal in 50 states in the US…”. HBI focuses on one major point:

“Who is responsible for the education of the children?” In HBI, parents take full

responsibility for educating their children. Quoting the law: “…all decisions relating
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to philosophy or doctrine, selection of books, teaching materials and curriculum,

and methods, timing, and place in the provision or evaluation of home-based

instruction shall be the responsibility of the parent…” While family support is a

requirement for success in EIS, it is clearly the main criterion in HBI.

This researcher has included these related literature and studies to show the

numerous qualities, components and character of alternative learning modalities.

Differing opinions on these modalities exist. Differentiation of instruction seems to

be the norm in alternative learning systems (ALSs) and alternative delivery modes

(ADMs) although the underlying principle is that there must be a positive outcome

with regards to the question of who is responsible for educating our children. The

rhetoric of whether it is the country’s right and duty, or whether it is the parents’

right and duty, is somewhat like the trick question “Which comes first, the chicken

or the egg?” The ultimate aim of all education systems worldwide is to be able to

develop children into productive, responsible adults who can be gainfully employed

or who can earn a living.

Country Initiatives. Much closer to home are the related literature and

studies of alternative learning systems and alternative delivery modes from the

SEAMEO member countries and other countries in the world, showcasing another

component of ADM which is its equivalency character leading towards gainful

employment and opportunities for life-long learning.


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The ROSC Project in Bangladesh. One such example cited by the UNESCO

is a program that targets out-of-school youth in Bangladesh called the Reaching

Out-of-School Children (ROSC). The main objective of the project is to attract the

disadvantaged out-of-school children by compensating their opportunity cost

partially through stipend and giving them a second chance to have equivalent

education of the formal primary level. This is done with the end in view to get them

to go back to the mainstream education system.

The OBE Program in India. Another example is the Open Basic Education

Program (OBE) of India as initiated by the National Institute of Open Schooling

(NIOS), the largest equivalency program in the country. It is in response to

concerns raised by many policy documents for the need for open primary level

education. The program caters to the disadvantaged groups such as girls and

women, marginalized social groups, ethnic groups, and others. Both children and

adults are registered in this program. The program has three levels: A, B, and C,

which are equivalent to the formal classes: III, V, and VIII. The curriculum is

competency-based and the program is implemented with the help of partners both

from the government and non-government agencies. The OBE certificate is

recognized by the government for purposes of higher education and employment.

The Primary Equivalency and Re-entry Programs in Cambodia. Cambodia

is implementing equivalency programs to address the needs of a big percentage of


POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

their school-going age population who never attended school or who dropped out

of school either in the elementary or secondary levels. For the primary level out-of-

school children, a program called “Primary Equivalency” aimed at providing a

structured, nonformal, part-time primary education curriculum leading to

equivalency certification at the grade 6 level is being developed targeting poor

children and adolescents of an age or life situation at which they cannot enter or

reenter the formal system on a full-time basis. Another program called “Re-entry

Program” is a short-term activity (2003–2005) aimed at bringing recent primary

school dropouts back in the formal primary system while the primary equivalency

program is under development. This reentry program is focused on children aged

10 to 14 years who have recently dropped out of primary school. The program is

designed as two-month intensive tutorial courses, focused primarily on Khmer

language and mathematical skills, to allow students to complete their current level

of study and reenter the formal system at the next level.

In the same manner as in the primary equivalency program, the lower

secondary equivalency program is aimed at providing lower secondary education

to adolescents aged 12 to 18 years. This is nonformal, part-time, structured, and

with recognized certification at the ninth grade level. This program will be based in

the community learning centers, making it more accessible to girls. It uses self-

study materials enhanced by distance learning support through television and

radio. Some core subjects are taught by “mobile” teachers who will move from

center to center.
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

The PAMONG Project in Indonesia. In Indonesia, equivalency education is

part of the non-formal education system and consists of Paket (Package) A, B, and

C programs. Paket A is equivalent to primary school education, Paket B to junior

secondary education, and Paket C is equivalent to senior secondary school

education. The programs cater to the educational needs of certain disadvantaged

members of the public who otherwise have no access to education due to poverty

or the discontinuation of schooling. The program also serves those of productive

age who wish to improve their knowledge and skills as well as those who require

particular educational services in order to be able to cope with rising economic

standards and changes brought about by science and technology. Equivalency

programs have a very special place in the Indonesian education system and have

played a very significant role in the country’s educational development. There are

some shortcomings, obstacles, and problems in its implementation. Some of them

are: (a) Curriculum – the diversity of backgrounds, different competencies, and

age levels of learners require that the program utilize a contextualized and

customized curriculum, taking into account the local conditions, resources of the

immediate environment, and its potential in order to be relevant to the needs of the

learners and groups seeking livelihood. (b) Teaching-learning Methodologies – the

package also calls for a variety of teaching-learning methodologies that meet the

elements of constructivism, cooperative learning, and active classroom interaction.

(c) Tutor Training – this is seriously needed for enhancing tutors’ competencies,
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

capability, and professionalism. (d) Tutor Salary – This needs upgrading, if they

are to be more efficient and professional, since it is considered relatively small for

tutors. (e) ICT – this must be adopted as important media for developing network

between educational personnel, NFE institutions, and for upgrading the quality

of teaching-learning techniques. (f) Socialization – these activities involving

communities need to be undertaken more rigorously in order to disseminate

information about policies, regulations, and programs related to equivalency

education. Socialization must utilize all possible and available channels and

include not only government agencies but also related organizations and all kinds

of media. In this way, the public will not have any misconceptions as to the validity

and worth of equivalency education certificates. (g) Implementing the MOU – for

purposes of widening access to equivalency education, the Directorate General of

Out-of-school Education and Youth, Ministry of National Education, has

collaborated and signed MOUs with other directorates of other ministries. To date,

however, the MOUs formalized at the central government level have not been

filtered down well to the district level, hence, no significant collaborations have

resulted and no significant outcomes have been reached. (h) National

Examination for Equivalency Programs – service standards of the highest quality

should be applied in the management and administration of examinations for the

equivalency education programs.

The NFE Program of Basic Education in Thailand. NFE Basic Education in

Thailand is defined as an alternative education to the existing education.


POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

Equivalency essentially means the application of levels of education completed,

i.e., equivalency for some rights such as to enter public service, ordain, campaign

in politics, etc. The Ministry of Education-approved equivalency certificates give the

same rights and privileges as those of formal schools.

Target groups are those outside the school population, those who are

underprivileged or wish to return to school. Delivery mechanisms include distance

learning, classroom-type, and self-study. Equivalency programs are not without

challenges, and among these are the limited time the learners are able to devote to

the program because of family responsibilities, the capabilities of teachers or

instructors, and the limited budget which affects quality.

The VSAS Program in Thailand. Vocational Subjects in Academic Schools

(VSAS) is another initiative of the Ministry of Education of Thailand for the upper

secondary school students to provide them with greater access and wider array of

elective subjects to select from according to their interests and aptitudes. Its

curriculum and teaching methodology are tied to the students’ interests as they

perform meaningful tasks that have direct relevance to real work practices. The

reformation of the assessment methods from traditional “paper and pencil tests” to

a modular-assessment and competency-based system brought about favorable

outcomes. The students’ involvement in learning is significantly increased as the

contents are more relevant to the world of work. The general aim of VSAS is to

develop skills in relevant enterprise that would enable students to reach


POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

employment, start businesses or pursue higher levels of technical training. The

subjects offered are categorized into 5 sectors: construction, manufacturing, home

economics, agro-tech and computer applications. A regular comment by the

students is that VSAS enable them to identify a clear career path for themselves.

The reformation of the assessment methods from traditional “paper and pencil

tests” to a modular-assessment and competency-based system brought about

favorable outcomes. The students’ involvement in learning is significantly

increased as the contents are more relevant to the world of work.

The Smart Schools Program of Malaysia. The project framework of the

Smart Schools Program (SSP) is embedded in the research on, and theories of,

multiply intelligences and social constructivism. Its pedagogical philosophy is not

total “student-centeredness” but an appropriate mix of learning strategies to ensure

mastery of basic competencies and promotion of holistic development. Teaching

and learning in SSP utilize the browser-based teaching and learning materials in

four core subjects namely: Bahasa Malaysia, English, Science and Mathematics.

These materials are designed to accommodate different needs and abilities,

resulting in fuller realization of other capabilities and allow children to take greater

responsibility in managing their own learning The SSP has also encouraged the

development of teaching and learning coursewares for the classroom. These

coursewares are designed to be incorporated into the Smart School Integrated

System (SSIS). All coursewares are launched through the networked computer
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system provided to all Smart Schools. Currently the Math and Science

coursewares are being translated into English to support the Ministry of

Education’s initiative in the teaching of Math and Science in English.

The NDESAA Project in Southeast Asia. The Agriculture, Natural

Resources, and Social Sectors Division (RSAN) and the Asian Development Bank

(ADB) education committee and network commissioned SEAMEO INNOTECH to

investigate the distribution of effective schools across the Asian region and see

whether public and private, large and small, rural and urban, coed and single

gender schools are servicing their communities efficiently. This project has been

titled the National Databases for Education Achievement (IAEA) public release

data banks of school achievement among 13 year-olds in Asia as bases for the

study, the Center shall prepare database files for analysis and presentation of

findings in 12 country reports. The countries are the Philippines, Indonesia,

Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Australia,

Turkey, and New Zealand. Work is still in progress.

Local Literature

Public Sector Initiatives. The Philippines cannot be left behind when it

comes to ALS and ADM. With focus on certification and equivalency, one of the

best known certification and equivalency programs within the country is the

Accreditation Equivalency Program (AEP) of the Bureau of Alternative Learning


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Systems (BALS), Department of Education (DepED). School dropouts completing

this program reenter the formal school subsystem or gain work in a company

through the accreditation of knowledge and skills acquired via a variety of non-

formal avenues. Learning in this program is based and culminates in the Philippine

Educational Placement Test (PEPT) which is used to assess student proficiencies.

Some models that illustrate a multiple delivery modality scheme for

delivering elementary and secondary school programs include: (a) DepED’s

Project EASE (Effective and Affordable Secondary Education) that addresses the

learning needs of students who cannot attend secondary school programs

regularly due to personal, economic or financial reasons. EASE students enter into

a contract with the school to study at home for a period of time until they are ready

to return to the formal school system. EASE students are provided learning

modules. More recently, EASE has been re-packaged as a Balik Paaralan Para sa

Out-of-School Adults (BP-OSA) Program and now provides education and

assistance on entrepreneurial and employability skills. (b) The University of the

Philippines Open University (UPOU) System is a program that recognizes the

“perennial challenge of providing quality higher education to a growing population”

in the Philippines. The UP-Distance Education Program (UP-DEP) was established

to implement distance education as an alternative mode of instruction. UP Los

Banos initiated the first school-on-the-air program called Paaralang

Panghimpapawid over DZLB. In 1988 the first degree program offered by distance

education was approved and was popularly known as STUDE, an acronym for
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Upgrading Science Teachers Using Distance Education. (c) SEAMEO INNOTECH

recently completed research and development work for two projects that offer

options to teachers and training through multiple delivery modality. These are: (1)

Project COMPETE or Competency Based Education and Training of Teachers

consisting of 50 modules developed in multi-media format for on-line instruction

and/or distance education delivery. COMPETE is now being offered for academic

credits in graduate education programs by some of the Center’s partner

institutions, namely: the Philippine Normal University at the National Capital

Region, the Pangasinan State University in Northern Philippines, the West Visayas

State University in Central Philippines and the University of Southeastern

Philippines in Southern Philippines. (2) LearnTech eXCELS refers to a program

on “Excellence in Educational Leadership for School Heads in Southeast Asia.”

LearnTech eXCELS is based on a competency framework for school heads

developed with the active participation of representatives of ministries of education

in the Southeast Asian region. This framework consists of 13 competency strands

all of which require more than 150 learning modules in print, audio and video,

accessible by open learning through distance education and/or on-line learning.

Modules have been developed and are being used by participating teacher

education institutions in the Philippines, Vietnam and Cambodia. The modules are

translated into the languages of the region and used in an open source learning

platform system.
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

Such initiatives have likewise influenced the present study in looking at its

clientele as the marginalized sector of society; the EIS as an alternative learning

system; and its research framework as a function of input, process and output.

Private Sector Initiatives. Private citizens, NGOs and foundations have

also lent their hands towards providing OSYs with a better chance in life. Some

examples are: (a) A Better Chance (ABC) Foundation founded in 2001 by Mr.

Lewis Edwards; through the support of its friends and other donors, the foundation

has been working with Sienna College in Taytay, Rizal to help over 90 high school

students finish their studies through its Night High School program. These high

school students are provided with books and other supplies that they need for their

classes. Teachers of Sienna College volunteer their time and services to train

these students every night. (b) RVM Skills Training Program for OSY by St. Mary’s

College launched in May 1995. Different vocational and skills trainings were

offered using a modified Dual Training System approach. The RVM-STP is now

on its tenth year of helping out-of-school youth go back to the mainstream of life.

The program is also very closely linked with existing industries in Tagum City

where the on-the-job training of the OSYs is conducted using the existing facilities,

tools and equipment of the workshop and where the expertise of potential trainers

is tapped. (c) The Immaculate Conception College (ICC) – La Salle Night High

School in Ozamiz City. Started in SY 2002-2003 by ICC-La Salle, through the

initiative of the Schools of Business and Education in coordination with the Office
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of Community Extension Services, the free night high school for the financially

deprived elementary graduates and in particular for the household helpers and out-

of-school youth opened with 39 first year high school students as its first enrollees.

Classes are held from four in the afternoon and last up to nine in the evening.

Instruction is provided by volunteer teachers who are not paid nor given

honorarium. (d) The Alternative Home Education Agenda for Development

(AHEAD) program is a modularized ADM for OSY and adults. It is an adaptation of

the Home Study Program conceptualized by Fr. Rogelio Alarcon, O.P., former

rector of the Angelicum College, Quezon City. His project was replicated by Notre

Dame of Marbel University (NDMU) with his encouragement and assistance in the

earlier implementation of the program. With the Department of Education’s

approval to operate the program, NDMU incorporated innovative strategies to

make the project more appropriate in the context of Mindanao; the project is seen

as a viable means of addressing the educational concerns of the out-of-school

youth and adults of South Cotabato, Sarangani, General Santos City, Sultan

Kudarat, and Maguindanao areas. (e) The Miriam College Adult Education Unit

(MAE), established in 1967, it conducts a DepED approved night high school

program and a special ungraded elementary course. MAE also linked up with the

Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) to strengthen the

quality of its vocational instruction and to provide the students the opportunity to

get a college degree in technical courses. (f) The ABS-CBN Talent Center

opened in 1998 a distance-learning high school program accredited by the


POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

Department of Education to cater to the needs of young talents with hectic show

business schedules to pursue their high school education. Graduates of the Center

are eligible for admission in colleges and universities, and so far, majority of their

graduates are now enrolled in the University of Santo Tomas, while some qualified

in De La Salle University, Ateneo de Manila University, and the University of the

Philippines. (g) DepED’s Modified In-School Off-School Approach (MISOSA) this

approach can be traced back to the late Dr. Liceria B. Soriano when she was then

the Director of the Bureau of Public Schools Ministry of Education, Culture, and

Sports (now Department of Education, DepED) in 1973. The approach is a

restructured organization setup in which a teacher with 80 pupils in a class can

divide the class into two groups. One group stays with the teacher in school for one

week, while the other group goes off the school with self-learning kits as tutors in

the absence of a teacher while at home. The shift is implemented gradually, from

two half-day sessions to two one-day sessions in order to acquaint the children

little by little with the processes involved. Finally, the children go through the year

with one week in school and one week off school. Self-learning kits (SLKs) follow

the learning continuum sequenced according to learning tasks. SLKs are

community-based. This means that the learners are advised to seek varied

resources in the community to help him/her in carrying out the activities provided in

the kits. The learners are also taught to seek the help first of their parents or elders

assuring family participation in the child’s education. Learners progress at different

rates and evaluation of learner’s progress is criterion-referenced rather than norm-


POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

referenced. The In School-Off School Approach, if successfully implemented will

produce learners who are well-prepared with life skills that will enable them to learn

by themselves and to find a place in this complex world.

Foreign Studies

Effective Schools. Sammons, et al (1995) analyzed information found in

School Effectiveness Research to determine key characteristics of effective

schools. This review provided an analysis of the key determinants of school

effectiveness in elementary and secondary schools. The literature review

identified the following key correlates of effectiveness: (1) professional leadership;

(2) shared vision and goals; (3) a learning environment; (4) concentration on

teaching and learning; (5) purposeful teaching; (6) high expectations; (7) positive

reinforcement; (8) monitoring progress; (9) pupil rights and responsibilities; (10)

home-school partnership; and (11) a learning organization. The majority of

effectiveness studies have focused exclusively on students’ cognitive outcomes,

but there is less evidence about school and classroom processes that are

important in determining schools’ success in promoting social or affective

outcomes. Because of this focus, the review revealed more about the correlates of

academic effectiveness. Results of the review did not support the view that any

one particular teaching style is more effective than others, but did indicate that

flexibility and the ability to adapt teaching approaches are more important than

notions of any single style.


POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

Levine and Lezotte (1990) did a review and analysis of the research

(conducted from 1985 to 1990) and practice of unusually effective schools. Three

major issues were addressed: (1) the viability of the effective school concept in

contemporary school reform; (2) the correlation between recent research and basic

findings; and (3) the congruency of school level practices with research on

classroom and district practices and policies. The first part discusses issues

involving the identification of unusually effective schools based on academic

achievement criteria, such as effective schools correlates and achievement criteria

of effectiveness. The two following major sections address school practices within

different contexts – such as grade level, socioeconomic status, and rural schools –

and the effectiveness of such practices. Findings indicate that effectiveness

correlates should be viewed as prerequisites rather than guarantees of success;

that policy and practices at the school level should consider contextual variables

and set priorities accordingly; that tests should encourage the development of

higher order thinking skills; and that research should focus on both effective

teaching skills and school practices. Recommendations for successful change

models call for a focus on the single school and a collegial effort between

administration and staff.

In the search for effective schools, Edmonds and others (1977), conducted

research on the identification and analysis of city schools that are instructionally

effective for poor and/or minority children. This study is related in some ways to

the present research in that it focuses on the poor and culturally disadvantaged. It,
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

therefore, provides some direction to the present investigation. The “Search For

Effective Schools” project attempted to answer the question: are there schools

that are instructional effective for poor children? Two thousand five hundred pupils

in twenty schools in the model cities’ neighborhood were randomly sampled. The

mean math and reading scores of these schools were compared with citywide

norms. Effective schools were defined as those schools whose pupils were above

city average grade equivalent in reading and mathematics and an ineffective

school’s pupils were defined as those who scored below the city average. Nine

schools were judged effective in teaching reading and five were judged effective in

teaching both reading and math. The results of the study indicated that pupil

family background neither caused nor precluded elementary school instructional

effectiveness. A re-analysis of the 1966 Equal Educational Opportunity Survey

(EEOS) indicated that large differences in performance between the effective and

ineffective schools could not be attributed to differences in the social class and

family background of pupils enrolled in those schools. The report recommended

future studies of school and teacher effectiveness which would consider the

stratification design as a means for investigating the separate relationship of

programs and policies for pupils of differing family and social background.

A most recent study (Mosen-Lowe, Vidovich and Chapman, 2009) titled

“Students “At-Risk” Policy: Competing Social and Economic Discourses”, drew

attention to both policy and practice. Within a context of global reform agendas

that promote economic ideologies in education, the discourses surrounding “school


POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

failure” have shifted from “individual risk” to “a nation at-risk”. Enhancing the

quality of schooling through improving educational outcomes and standards for all,

and thereby reducing “school failure,” is simultaneously constructed as enhancing

both social justice and a nation’s economic advantage in the global marketplace.

Within this broader context, this research explored the complexity of issues

related to policy for students at educational risk through an analysis of the

Education Department of Western Australia’s “Making the Difference: Students at

Educational Risk Policy.” This research adopted a theoretical framework of a

“policy cycle” that allowed for an exploration of power relations within the policy

process. Primarily, consideration is given to the competing social and economic

discourses found within the policy text and subsequent tensions reflected and

retracted throughout the policy process from macro (system), to meso (district) and

finally to micro levels within the schools and classrooms.

Alternative Schools. The Alternative Schools Research Project by the

College of Education and Human Development, University of Minnesota, is a

three-year project funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special

Education Programs starting in October 2001 which gathered and synthesized

information about the policies and practices of alternative schools across the USA,

especially in relation to students with disabilities.

The study is entitled “Alternative Schools and the Students They Serve:

Perceptions of State Directors of Special Education” by authors Camilla A. Lehr


POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

and Cheryl M. Lange. This study has provided some influence on the current

research in terms of its descriptive methodology. Data gathered from a national

survey estimated that there are around 20,000 alternative schools existing in the

U.S.A., and that about 12% of all students in alternative schools are students with

disabilities. Forty-nine state directors of special education took part in the study to

describe their perceptions of (a) basic characteristics of alternative schools, (b)

major issues for alternative schools, (c) major issues for state education agencies,

(d) major issues for students with disabilities, and (e) educational reforms

impacting alternative schools. The study concluded with a discussion of trends that

require further study.

State-level research conducted in Minnesota found that students with

emotional/behavioral disabilities were attending alternative programs in much

higher proportions than traditional public schools (Gorney and Ysseldyke, 1993)

raising questions about the schools’ characteristics and use. Likewise, a

commonly accepted definition of alternative schools did not exist until the U.S.

Department of Education, in 2005 defined an alternative education school as “a

public elementary/secondary school that addresses needs of students that typically

cannot be met in regular, special education or vocational education” (U.S.

Department of Education, 2002, p. 55). Lange and Slettern (2002) found that

alternative schools are generally characterized as having small enrollment, one-on-

one interaction between teachers and students, supportive environments,


POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

opportunities and curriculum relevant to student interests, flexibility in structure,

and an emphasis on student decision-making. Most educators, researchers and

policymakers do seem to agree that alternative schools are designed for students

at risk of school failure (Raywid, 1994). As alternative schools continue to evolve

and play a more prominent role in response to educational, political, economic and

social forces today, the need for current information about these schools and the

students they serve grows.

When asked to describe alternative schools, respondents referred to five

characteristics: small size (e.g, class size, overall enrollment, student/teacher

ratio), flexibility (hours, class schedule, individualized), and a creative curriculum

(nontraditional, hands-on, experiential). The instructional program was typically

described as including a core curriculum tied to district or state requirements

and/or a vocational/career planning/service learning component. Governance -

occurs primarily at the local level. Students - the majority of alternative schools

are designed for high school age students although the demand for alternative

schools serving middle school and elementary grade levels appear to be

increasing. Students who attend alternative schools are generally described as

being at risk of dropping out of school, having a history of behavioral or disciplinary

problems in school (e.g., suspended or expelled) or failing school (e.g., behind in

credits or poor academic skills or achievement.

With regards to major issues for alternative schools, results of a study

pointed out three pressing problems: funding, staffing and accountability. It was
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found out that there is a perennial lack of funding, a lack of sufficient funds to

provide for quality facilities and instructional resources. Alternative

schools/programs may be the first to be affected by budget cuts. In terms of

staffing, there may be a need for dual certification (in subject area and special

education), training and more licensed educators to teach in alternative schools.

And in terms of accountability, there is a need for clearly documented measures of

effectiveness and student success (outcomes).

Because officials within state education agencies are often given the

responsibility of oversight, respondents were asked to provide their perspectives

on major issues for state education agencies in relation to alternative schools their

replies were: monitoring and compliance, legislation and policies, technical

assistance and growth. In Monitoring and Compliance there is a need for

increased monitoring to determine quality instructional programs, student

enrolment and demographic information as well as progress and outcomes. There

is a need for monitoring of special education’s due processes and procedures.

Legislation and policies may be minimal and state policy may not be

comprehensive (lack of definition, limited description of policies and procedures).

Issues related to Technical Assistance and Growth means an increased demand

for technical assistance and difficulty providing such due to inadequate resources

(time, staff or money)

Another section of the study looked at reforms impacting alternative

schools. Respondents were also asked to describe the impact of major


POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

educational reforms on alternative schools in their state: (1) Efforts to Decrease

Dropout and Increase school completion – pressure to keep kids in school and

increase the rate of school completion for all students. (2) Standards-based

Reform and Accountability – perceived impact includes increased numbers of

students enrolling in alternative schools, increase in students choosing to obtain

GED certificates, efforts to align curriculum with state standards, and efforts to

raise test scores. (3) IDEA Disciplinary Requirements – helping to keep students

with disabilities who are expelled or suspended in school, increase awareness of

positive behavioral supports and use of alternative programs as interim alternative

education settings (IAES).

In conclusion, the study said that understanding the role alternative schools

play in the education of students at risk of school failure will enhance services and

help to facilitate successful school outcomes for students with disabilities.

The International Development Research Center (IDRC) of Canada funded

several studies on the IMPACT approach in the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia

and other countries. Interestingly, the Malaysian InSPIRE (Integrated System of

Programmed Instruction for the Rural Environment) project, also aimed to develop

a Malaysian system for mass primary education, having as its origins the

successful Philippine and Indonesian experiences. Project objectives were two-

fold: (1) to provide a systematic diagnosis of the problems of teaching and

learning in the rural part of the country; and (2) to design and test alternative
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

approaches to increase the effectiveness of instruction in the rural primary schools.

The project examined the instructional performance of the teacher, the

effectiveness of learning modules, and the role of the administrative structure of

the educational system in enhancing or inhibiting the teaching-learning process.

From mid 1977, three learning modes were determined: teacher mediated,

peer mediated, and module mediated. The director of education for Sabah

expressed interest in the InSPIRE approach and project researchers agreed to

experiment with InSPIRE materials in 10 Sabah schools with continuing support for

a second phase. Phase 2 started in July 1, 1981 till official closure date of January

1, 1985. Researchers completed new instructional materials for Grades II and III.

However, a new educational system was introduced in 1983.

Research assessing the impact of InSPIRE on teaching style in mathematics

and the national language found a substantial improvement in language teaching

styles but only marginal changes for mathematics. A study of student academic

achievement and attitudes showed that InSPIRE facilitated the learning process of

pupils. Project results were reported in national and international seminars and

journals; and InSPIRE became a basic component of education in Sabah.

IDRC’s research on programmed instruction was known as Proyek PAMONG

and implemented in Phase 1 in four schools in Solo, Central Java, Indonesia.

Research results seen in the Philippine experience were more or less seen in

Indonesia as well. Additional findings from the PAMONG experience advocated

three major actions to be undertaken: (1) reconsider the feasibility of the strategy
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of volunteerism; (2) simplify the role of the Instructional Supervisor (IS) or the

teacher in the IMPACT system, and the system operation; and (3) provide the IS

with continuing education programs and training to ensure the success of the

experimental delivery system.

With background materials on IMPACT’s developmental phases and

subsequent enhancement and implementation such as has been presented herein,

a desire to review the enhanced IMPACT system has emerged. This research

study was undertaken in an attempt to see if the initial objectives of IMPACT were

still being met at this current time wherein the educational problems that existed in

the 1970s are still very much felt by our students. To this end, additional literature

and studies have been read and examined to see any parallelisms in objectives,

implementation concerns, and institutionalization challenges.

Local Studies

Alternative Learning Programs. A number of alternative learning programs

have been developed by government and non-government organizations from the

1970s to the present. The educational problems that are being addressed

continue to haunt the country and the search for alternative solutions continue to

intensify. It is in this interest that the present study evolved, as a major educational

innovation in the Enhanced IMPACT System (EIS) as documented, has proven its

potential for producing desired results with minimized costs.


POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

1. Project NFE A&E – Part I

The Bureau of Nonformal Education (BNFE) of the then Department of

Education, Culture and Spots (DECS) commissioned SEAMEO INNOTECH to

undertake this project. The Nonformal Education, Accreditation and Equivalency

(NFE A&E) program aimed to develop and produce prototype self-instructional

learning materials, teacher’s guides and other instructional materials on several

learning strands which include communication skills, problem solving and critical

thinking, sustainable use of resources and productivity, development of self and a

sense of community, and expanding one’s world vision for elementary and

secondary levels. A total of 152 modules were produced under this project. Audio

supplements were included in 14 of these modules. The modules are used by

adult learners and out-of-school youths. The A&E Program provides certification

for skills and knowledge acquired after passing the NFE A&E Test. The

certificates can then be used for re-entry into the formal school system or for

employment. For its efforts to improve education in the Philippines, this project

received the UNESCO International NOMA Literacy Prize.

2. Project NFE A&E – Part II

This project is a continuation of the first NFE A&E project. Under this, new

and additional learning modules were developed. Modules meant for higher

elementary levels and high school were designed to be self-instructional while

those for lower elementary levels were designed to be facilitator-mediated. A total

of 165 modules were produced. About half of these (84) were developed to
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

prepare nonformal education learners for college. Moreover, except for the

modules on English, all modules that were produced for NFE A&E – Parts I and II

now have a Filipino and English version to enable learners to choose the language

that best suits them. Ten of the audio supplements for NFE Part I were also

translated into English. In addition, 32 of the modules were supplemented with

audio while 6 were supplemented with video. The A&E Program is geared toward

helping learner-participants to develop marketable skills and eventually increase

their income. It also aims to assist them in availing job opportunities.

3. Project ELSA – IR4

The Education and Employment Skills Alliance (EESA) create and expand

community-based learning and employment activities for young Filipinos, ages 30

and under, living in the Philippines in the southern island of Mindanao, including

the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) through the Education and

Livelihood Skills Alliance (ELSA) Project. One of the components of ELSA is IR4

or Reforming Educational Policy. The objectives of the policy research follows: (1)

to look into existing as well as proposed educational policies in the formal

education system, its implementing procedures and implications and how these

can be further improved in the context of our Muslim brothers and sisters; (2) look

into policies of currently available alternative learning systems for non-formal

education and how these can be further improved to address the needs of our

Muslim brothers and sisters; (3) recommend policy measures that are sound and

politically acceptable as regards a system of certification or accreditation for the


POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

Madaris in Mindanao in the context of the overall Philippine education system; and

(4) recommend policy measures for a transparent and accountable management

and financial implementation procedures.

This research and development project has been commissioned to SEAMEO

INNOTECH. The review of existing educational policies and literature, documents

and other secondary data has been done. To augment the view of policies, focus

group interviews of key informants were done, focusing more on what and how

these policies have affected Muslim learners. Case study subjects have also been

chosen to learn how they are affected by particular policies, such as the NFE

Accreditation and Equivalency System.

4. Project EASE

Project EASE is an alternative learning system for students who want to finish

high school, but cannot attend classes regularly, or do not learn optimally in the

formal school. The acronym stands for Effective and Affordable Secondary

Education. The system was developed by SEAMEO INNOTECH in cooperation

with the then Department of Education, Culture and Sports – Educational

Development Project Implementing Task Force (DECS-EDPITAF), Philippines.

EASE is a school-based system that primarily makes use of distance and self-

learning modes in the delivery of first year secondary education. Its main learning

materials are the standard high school textbooks, supplemented by Student

Guides (SGs).

5. Project RIT
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RIT or Reduced Instructional Time is an alternative approach to an effective

and efficient mass primary education. Its thesis is that both the time required for

student learning and the time that teachers must spend in support of learning can

be reduced through the design and scheduling of learning. RIT is also an attempt

to increase learning efficiency through the use of well-prepared learning materials.

Such learning is controlled in most situations by instructions provided in the

learning materials themselves. In situations where such forms of control are not

very effective, teachers are employed to facilitate learning. Through better learning

strategies and appropriate designs of the instructional programs, the time spent on

learning is reduced by increasing the learning speed of the student, and by

decreasing the amount of time that teachers need to spend with their students.

The project was conducted in Thailand with funding support from the Government

of the United States.

6. Project CB-BLP

The main thrust of CB-BLP or the Community-based Basic Learning Package

is to provide out-of-school youths and adults in community, relevant basic learning

in a period shorter than what is needed in primary education. The project

incorporated the use of programmed teachers, individualized instruction and group

learning with the aid of learning packages.

The learning packages produced were meant to answer the need for

knowledge in communication skills in dealing with quantitative data, positive

attitude towards self-improvement, and the like. For each participating country,
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

two project sites were selected: one that is typically urban and another, typically

rural. This program has been implemented in nonformal education programs in the

Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia.

7. Project IMPACT

This research and development project funded by the International

Development Research Center (IDRC) of Canada is known as IMPACT, which

stands for Instructional Management by Parents, Community and Teachers. It is

an effective and economical alternative delivery system for mass primary

education. The project was conducted in the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia

and implemented and/or adopted in a number of countries in Asia, the Caribbean

Islands and Africa.

Specific to the IMPACT System. Before continuing on with the literature

synthesis, this researcher feels that due importance must be accorded to the

research studies done by the International Development Research Center (IDRC),

a Canadian Crown corporation that works in close collaboration with researchers

from the developing world in their continuing search for the means to build

healthier, more equitable and prosperous societies.

The IDRC funded the research work that ultimately led to the development of

the IMPACT System in the Philippines. The project officially started in February 1,

1974 with a fund source of CDN$360,000, for a duration of 36 months, officially

closing in November 11, 1977 (www.idrc.gov.ca). In February 1973, SEAMEO


POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

INNOTECH conceptualized a radical approach to mass primary education, an

experiment targeting mostly rural schools where one-half of rural children do not

complete more than 4-5 years of school (Cummins 1986) and the incidence of

drop-outs was much higher than in the urban areas (SEAMES Report of the

Technical Committee, 1972). Known originally as the “No More Schools” concept,

it proposed to replace schools, textbooks, teachers and grades with learning

centres, self-instructional materials, peer tutors and community support and

instructors responsible for the management of learning among learner groups of as

large as 150-200 students (www.nzdl.sadl.uleth.ca). Over time, the innovation

became better known as Instructional Management by Parents, Community and

Teachers (IMPACT). With IDRC funding, the innovation began in the Philippines,

spreading further to Indonesia (where it was called PAMONG), Malaysia

(InSPIRE), Jamaica (PRIMER), Liberia (IEL) and Bangladesh (IMPACT).

IDRC funded three research studies following IMPACT’s concept: (a) Phase

1 of the Delivery System for Mass Primary Education started in February 1, 1974

and closed in November 1, 1977 with a funding of CDN$360,000; (b) Phase 2 of

the Delivery System for Mass Primary Education started in October 6, 1976 and

closed in July 6, 1980 with a funding of CDN$658,000; and (c) Study of Philippines

IMPACT and Non-IMPACT Leavers and Graduates started in June 19, 1979 and

closed in June 19, 1982 with a funding of CDN$24,500.00.


POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

Phase 1 aimed to carry out research on a modularized learning system

designed to provide primary education in a flexible, efficient and economical way

and to develop the most cost-effective means of teaching the national language in

the early grades. The project was implemented in five schools in Naga, Cebu City,

Philippines. Instead of conventional teachers, instructional supervisors managed a

variety of modules or learning activities for as many as 200 students thereby truly

exhibiting product efficacy when it comes to teacher-pupil ratio. Skilled community

members, volunteers and older students helped with teaching to the younger

pupils and parents monitored their child’s progress. Although initially starting only

with Level IV, evaluations showed promising results. The project was replicated in

five schools in Solo, Central Java, Indonesia in 1976 and the research went on to

the second phase.

Phase 2 aimed to continue developing and testing IMPACT as an effective

and economical mass primary education delivery system based on the evaluative

results of Phase 1. Two new sites were added in the Philippines: Lapu-Lapu City,

Cebu and Sapang Palay, Bulacan. Modules were now ready for all six grade

levels. July 1978 to June 1979 was designated as a demonstration year to test all

IMPACT components in all study sites. The project was also open for observation

to the international community. Cost effectiveness analyses and evaluations were

undertaken in the Philippines and Indonesia with results showing that in the

Philippines, a cost reduction of 50% per child was possible without a loss in

educational achievement. An external evaluation of the project in Naga, Lapu-Lapu


POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

City and Sapang Palay compared nine IMPACT schools with a control group of

seven conventional schools. Data gathered showed that IMPACT students

consistently had higher achievements in all areas of the curriculum. Project

objectives of mass primary education mode resulting in equal or better pupil

academic achievement were realized and the project was then termed to be an

effective and efficient alternative delivery mode for basic education. IDRC

produced two films about the project, and plans for further implementation of

IMPACT were initiated.

Having gathered wide international interest with its earlier two phases,

replication or adaption of the IMPACT delivery system in other parts of the

Philippines was actively pursued. A longitudinal evaluation was undertaken to

discover the difference in achievement of skills between the IMPACT delivery

system and the non-IMPACT schools, to discover which specific literary and

numeracy skills are affected most by this type of delivery system and to assess the

impact of this type of system on the attitudes of graduates and school leavers.

Aptly titled “IMPACT, and Non-IMPACT Leavers and Graduates” the study sample

consisted of 483 IMPACT graduates and school leavers in Levels V and VI in

1978, and 443 non-IMPACT graduates and school leavers in Grades V and VI

from control schools in Naga, Sapang Palay, and Lapu-Lapu City. Study

methodology involved an analysis of scores obtained on the Survey of Outcomes

of Elementary Education (SOUTELE) test administered to the study sample in

1978. Researchers also administered the Philippine Educational Placement Test


POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES
Technical/Vocational
(PEPT), and a self-concept and attitude questionnaire; collected data on student

background; and interviewed dropouts. All instruments were pretested. Cognitive

and non-cognitive outcomes showed that IMPACT school graduates compared

equally with the graduates of conventional schools in achievement, self-concept,

and in the nature of the post-school experiences. IMPACT graduates also had the

required knowledge, skills, and attitudes for further schooling. Once again,

recommendations were made for wide dissemination of research results, and

revisions to IMPACT modules according to country requirements.

This interest has put the Philippines and SEAMEO INNOTECH on the map

and many benchmarking visits by similarly situated country representatives were

received in the project sites.

Synthesis and Relevance of the Reviewed Literature and Studies

The many and varied literature and studies read about alternative delivery

modes in education have relevance to the present study. Most of the interventions

are intended for the youth in the underserved or unserved portions of society

especially those in rural and marginalized communities. The end goal is similarly

articulated, and that is for the economic upliftment of the beneficiary-students,

providing them with a better quality of life. The presence of caring, knowledgeable

adults in the intervention center who provide the children with the guidance and the

challenges they need is another similarity noted by this researcher. This is a very

important characteristic because many of the student-beneficiaries may be out-of-


POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

school youths or may have a feeling of family only in the centers themselves. Just

like in the IMPACT system, the inclusion of the community is also another similarity

noted not just in the Philippines but also in Columbia, Honduras, Brazil, America,

Bangladesh, Malaysia, India, Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand and others. A strong

sense of community is needed in an intervention like IMPACT because of the

community’s influence on achievement and youth development. Maximizing

community resources is also a strategy that works both ways: just like the

members of the community lend their helping hands in the smooth implementation

of the project, so too do the community leaders see the beneficiaries as assets or

social capital rather than just human flotsam that need to be swept away. Several

similarities have been noted and among these are the presence of funding

agencies who practice corporate social responsibility.

Another similarity is the interventions’ efforts to decrease dropouts and

increase school completion seen in the efforts and projects of most of the state

education agencies in the United States of America, just like the overriding

intention of IMPACT upon its conception in 1974. Likewise, evaluations done on

these programs (Lange and Slettern, 2002) also focused on its effectiveness and

efficiency components, not just the outcomes. Another very striking similarity is the

use of modularized learning so as to develop life-long learning and self-learning

skills in the students.

A difference noted is with IMPACT’s sister, the Department of Education’s

Modified In-School Off-School Approach (MISOSA) wherein half the pupils stay in
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

school for one week and on the next week stay out. In the IMPACT system, there

is open entry into the school but the pupils are expected to enter into a contracting

scheme witnessed by his/her parents. Another difference is that IMPACT trains

the older pupils to “program teach” the younger ones whereas in MIMOSA,

volunteer teachers are the norm which presents a possible sustainability problem.

The International Development Research Center (IDRC) of Canada funded

three earlier research studies on IMPACT in the period 1974-1982. These were in

the nature of full-blown summative evaluation, effectiveness studies, impact

studies, cost-benefit studies, cost-efficient analyses and meta-evaluation. This

present study did not have as respondents most of the pilot schools surveyed in

the evaluation done by SEAMEO INNOTECH on five IMPACT schools in 2005.

That would also be a difference between past studies and the present one.

All these local and foreign literature and local and foreign studies have

motivated this researcher to undertake this research work with the aim of testing

the theory that education, due to its very dynamism and its overall objective of

reaching all members of society, does not have to be structured nor confined by

time and space. There is a new paradigm and that is “that the world is a huge

classroom.”

All the materials read and studies reviewed are relevant to the timely

execution of this research work; however, to the researcher’s knowledge, no

similar study of this kind has yet been conducted. This study is an original concept

and is not a duplicate of any other study conducted locally or abroad.


POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

Chapter 3

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents the research method used, population and sample,

description of respondents, instrumentation, data gathering procedure and

statistical treatment of data.

Method of Research

This research study used the descriptive research design. Descriptive

studies describe phenomena associated with a subject population or to samples of

that population that have certain common characteristics (Cooper, 1993).

Descriptive research makes some kind of comparison, contrast and correlation and

at times cause and effect relationships may be established to some extent. They

involve an element of analysis and interpretation of the meaning or significance of

what is described.

This study is descriptive in the sense that the research output is a profile of 19

schools implementing the Enhanced IMPACT System (EIS), detailing their status

of implementation according to dimensions of effectiveness, efficiency and

advocacy. It is also a combination of both quantitative and qualitative research.

Quantitative data on perceptions of teachers and school heads connected with

these schools were collected to provide the picture of implementation. These were
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

corroborated with qualitative data from observations and informal interviews

collected by this researcher in her visits to these schools. The qualitative data

provided supplemental information on the research topic. This is important as

Patton (2008) has said, “…the qualitative method tends to be useful for describing

program implementation, studying process and participation, getting respondents’

view or opinions about program impact, and identifying program strengths and

weaknesses. Another additional strength is identifying unintended outcomes which

may be missed if the design of the study is only to measure certain objectives…”.

Population and Sample

There are twenty-one (21) elementary schools all over the country, each

island group represented, which are implementing the Enhanced IMPACT System

(EIS) as of July 1, 2009. From the population of 21 schools, nineteen (19) are

UNICEF-sponsored and have started implementation in SY 2007-2008. These

were the schools that comprised the sample of the study. Two schools have

started implementing EIS starting this SY 2009-2010, and because they are new to

the system, they have not been included in the study. Please refer to Figure 2, on

the next page, which provides the location map of the respondent schools.

The respondents to the survey questionnaire in this study are the instructional

coordinators (school heads) and instructional supervisors (teachers) of the 19 EIS

schools in the identified regions of the country. Sampling was purposive. All

concerned school heads and teachers were included in the survey.


POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

Figure 2 below is a regional map of the Philippines showing the approximate

location of the nineteen respondent schools.

1. M.R. Espinosa Learning Center


2. Pag-Asa Learning Center
3. San Francisco Learning Center
4. San Pedro Learning Center
5. Sta. Teresa Learning Center

6. Assemblyman Segundo Moscoso


Memorial Learning Center
7. Maabay Learning Center

8. Factoria Learning Center


9. Libas Learning Center

10. Caridad Learning Center


11. Culianan Learning Center
12. Motosawa Learning Center
13. Villasis Learning Center

14. Kibenton Learning Center

15. Limatong Learning Center


16. Nabundasan Learning Center

17. Siasi I Pilot Learning Center


18. Utoh Laja Learning Center

19. Aguinaldo Learning Center

Figure 2: Location Map of the 19 Respondent Schools


POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

Profile of Respondents

Table 1 shows the distribution of respondents by the type of involvement in

the Enhanced IMPACT System (EIS) schools, whether as school head or teacher.

Table 1
Population and Sample
Respondents Population Sample

Instructional Coordinators (School Heads) 21 19


Instructional Supervisors ((Teachers) 181 158
Total 202 177

The Table shows that there were 19 School Heads or Instructional

Coordinators (ICs) and 158 Teachers or Instructional Supervisors (ISs) included in

the study. Of the total sample of 177 respondents (combining both the ICs and the

ISs), the ISs comprised 89 per cent while ICs comprised 11 per cent. It is to be

noted that all school heads and teachers in the 19 respondent schools were

included. That left 23 teachers and two school heads from the two non-respondent

schools who were not included in the survey.

Table 2, on the next page, shows the distribution of respondents according to

gender. It is to be noted that Philippine schools are staffed with predominantly

female faculty. The EIS schools are similarly placed. There are more women than

men among the school heads and teachers. Table 2 shows that females totaled

157 of the total respondents, constituting 88.70 per cent of the sample. Males

totaled 19 respondents, constituting 10.73 per cent of the sample. One respondent

did not specify his/her gender.


POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

Table 2
Distribution of Respondents by Gender
Gender Frequency Percentage
Male 19 10.73
Female 157 88.70
No response 1 0.56
Total 177 100

Table 3 below presents the distribution of respondents according to age.

Table 3
Distribution of Respondents by Age
Age Frequency Percentage
20-25 11 6.21
26-30 19 10.73
31-35 30 16.95
36-40 36 20.34
41 and up 81 45.76
Total 177 100

Table 3 shows that out of 177 respondents, 81 or 45.76 per cent are from the

age group 41 years old and up. Thirty-six (36) respondents or 20.34 per cent are

aged between 36 and 40 years; while 30 respondents or 16.95 per cent are

between 31 and 35 years. The age group 26 to 30 years old was represented by

19 respondents or 10.73 per cent, while the youngest respondents, 11 or 6.21 per

cent, are from the age group 20 to 25 years old. Data indicate that almost half of

the respondents are middle-aged, but majority are relatively young. This is a good

age mix of teachers and school heads because each age group benefits from the

other, as in the so-called “wisdom of the old” and “vibrance of the young.”

Table 4
Distribution of Respondents by Civil Status
Civil Status Frequency Percentage
Married 142 80.23
Single 34 19.21
No response 1 0.56
Total 177 100
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

Table 4 in the preceding page shows the distribution of respondents

according to their civil status, whether married or single. There were 142 or 80.23

per cent of the respondents who were married; 34 or 19.21 per cent who were

single. One respondent did not specify his/her civil status.

Table 5
Distribution of Respondents by Tenure or Years of Teaching Experience
Tenure (years) Frequency Percentage
Below 5 59 33.33
6 to 10 26 14.69
11 to 15 32 18.08
16 to 20 20 11.30
Above 20 28 15.82
No response 12 6.78
Total 177 100

Table 5 above presents the distribution of the respondents according to the

number of years of teaching experience, to include those years outside of their

present assignments in the EIS schools.

Table 5 shows that 59 or 33.33 per cent out of a total of 177 respondents

have teaching experience or tenure of less than five years. Thirty-two (32) or

18.08 per cent of the respondents have 11 to 15 years of teaching experience

while 28 or 15.82 per cent of the respondents have been teaching for more than 20

years. Twenty-six (26) or 14.69 per cent have been teaching from 6 to 10 years

while 20 or 11.30 per cent of the respondents have been teaching for 16 to 20

years. Interestingly, 12 or 6.78 per cent of the respondents had no response to

this query. To this researcher, this could mean one of several things: either the

teacher did not have tenure yet and so did not count his years of temporary
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

service; or the teacher is a volunteer, whose salary is paid for by the local

government in which case there is no regular item; or this respondent is a very new

teacher with less than one year experience.

Data-Gathering Tool

In gathering the pertinent data needed in this study, the researcher utilized a

questionnaire, drawn in great part from the validated instruments used in the 2005

study of the implementation of the EIS in the five pilot schools of SEAMEO

INNOTECH. The researcher also included additional items on each of the three

dimensions under review, gathered from the researches on school effectiveness

and efficacy by Fuller (1987), Lockheed and Verspoor (1992), Henvold and Craig

(1996), Lezotte, Edmonds, Brookeover (2008) and Townsend.

The instrument, titled “Questionnaire to Determine the Status of

Implementation of the Enhanced Instructional Management by Parents,

Community and Teachers (IMPACT),” consists of seven pages and has five parts

(see Appendix A). These are labeled: Part I - Profile of Respondent; Part II –

Review of the Effectiveness of the Enhanced IMPACT System; Part III – Review of

the Efficiency of the Enhanced IMPACT System; Part IV – Review of the Advocacy

of the Enhanced IMPACT System; and Part V – Problems and Suggested

Solutions. Part V is sub-divided into two sections. Section A asked the

respondent about problems/issues encountered in the implementation of the

IMPACT system in the school. Section B asked the respondent to choose from
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

among a given set of five suggested solutions and recommendations to address

the identified problems relative to effectiveness, efficiency or advocacy. Open-

ended questions followed these tickable sets of problems and suggested solutions

in order to elicit original ideas on the topic at hand.

Part I of the questionnaire is important to determine the demographics of

respondents as the primary sources of data. The demographic profile includes the

name (optional), gender, age, civil status, and years of teaching service.

Part II of the questionnaire pertains to the respondents’ perception of the

extent of implementation of the effectiveness dimension of the EIS in the school.

Data gathered from Part II is important to determine the effectiveness profile of the

school. Sections herewith included (a) school’s vision, mission, objectives and

goals; (b) curriculum; (c) teaching and learning mechanisms; (d) classroom

assessment and evaluation; (e) instructional materials; and (f) learning

environment. Each of these sections contained choices that the respondents were

to check to express their perception of the extent the items were contributing to the

effectiveness profile of the EIS in the school.

Part III looked at the respondent’s perception of the extent of implementation

of the efficiency dimension of the EIS in the school. There were four sections and

choices within this dimension: (a) organizational structure; (b) leadership with four

choices; (c) professional growth and development with five choices; and (d) school

culture with ten choices.


POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

Part IV looked at the respondent’s perception of the extent of implementation

of the advocacy dimension of the EIS in the school. The four sections and choices

within this dimension were: (a) comprehensive school planning with three

choices; (b) physical facilities and resources with three choices; (c) pupil and family

involvement with five choices; and (d) stakeholders and community support with

six choices.

For Part II to IV, responses ranged on a 5-point scale where 1 was the lowest

and 5 was the highest. The following mode of interpretation guided the ranges

below:

Numerical Value Mode of Interpretation

4.21 to 5.00 = To a very large extent

3.41 to 4.20 = To a large extent

2.61 to 3.40 = To a moderate extent

1.81 to 2.60 = To a little extent

1.00 to 1.80 = Not at all

Part V looked for data on two very important aspects: (a) What are the

problems/issues that the respondent has encountered in the implementation of the

EIS in his/her school; and (b) What recommendations/suggestions can the

respondent offer to improve the EIS school’s effectiveness, efficiency and

advocacy. For (a), twenty choices were enumerated and the respondent was

requested to check all that apply to his/her particular situation. For (b) five choices

were given followed by an open-ended question for each of the three dimensions.
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

Data-Gathering Procedure

Since the sources of data were distributed nationwide, a local courier service

was utilized. Known IMPACT schools on record in SEAMEO INNOTECH were

first contacted through text messages using mobile phones to ascertain if they

were still implementing the system, or not, to be able to shortlist these schools as

respondents. Some mobile phone numbers were no longer updated; in these

cases, the DepED district or division office concerned were contacted. A second

round of text messages and calls was undertaken to request for the number of

respondents in each learning center to determine the total population, sample size,

and number of copies of the questionnaire to be sent. The total population was

177 and the researcher decided to include all in this research study.

A formal letter (see Appendix B) bearing the signatures of the Dean of the

Polytechnic University of the Philippines Graduate School, the Chair of the Doctor

of Educational Management Program, the researcher and her adviser requesting

for permission to float the survey questionnaires was packaged together with a

handwritten note (see Appendix C) and the survey questionnaires. A P500.00 bill

was included and sent to each of the 19 Instructional Coordinators to be used for

the return courier fee as well as other incidental expenses such as local transport

costs. Questionnaires were sent out on July 21, 2009. Continuous follow up

through text messages and calls were made to ascertain respondents’ receipt of

the survey questionnaires as well as to acknowledge eventual return of the filled

out questionnaires to the researcher. The researcher started receiving filled out
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questionnaires from July 30, 2009. By August 31, 2009, all nineteen questionnaire

packages were received with 100 per cent retrieval rate.

Statistical Treatment of Data

Data analysis and interpretation for this study used both qualitative and

quantitative since these two approaches are complementary, not contradictory

(Stufflebeam, 1999.) Qualitative research was used in compiling the responses to

the open-ended questions in Sections A and B of Part V of the questionnaire.

Qualitative data investigate the whys and hows of decision making. On the other

hand, quantitative research for the other parts of the questionnaire were measured

wherein measurement is central to the research work; these data provide the

fundamental connection between empirical observation and mathematical

expression of quantitative relationships. This rounds out the research work to

answer queries on what, where and when.

The statistical tools used to test the hypotheses presented in the problems

include the following:

1. To determine the profile of the respondents in terms of age, sex and

tenure or teaching experience, frequencies and percentages were used.

% = x`
─ x 100
n
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2. To determine the respondents’ perception of the extent of implementation

of the Enhanced IMPACT System’s effectiveness, efficiency and advocacy

dimensions in the school, the weighted mean was used.

_
X = ∑X
____

3. To determine the significant difference between instructional coordinators’

and instructional supervisors’ perceptions of the extent of implementation of the

Enhanced IMPACT System in terms of effectiveness, efficiency and advocacy

dimensions, the t-test for two independent samples was used:

Formula:
_ _
t = X1 – X2
1 2
Sp +
n1 n2

where:
Sp = (n1 - 1)s1 2 + (n2 -1) s22

n1 + n2 - 2

Decision Rule:

If p-value is ≤ ą , reject Ho, otherwise accept Ho.


POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

Chapter 4

PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA

This chapter presents data gathered, analyzed and interpreted in light of the

conceptual framework of the study. The report is divided into four parts, as follows:

Part I covers findings on the extent of implementation of the Enhanced IMPACT

System (EIS) in respondent schools, in terms of its effectiveness, efficiency and

advocacy, as perceived by Instructional Coordinators (ICs) and Instructional

Supervisors (ISs). Part II covers findings on the test for significant difference in the

perceptions of the ICs and ISs on the EIS in terms of its effectiveness, efficiency

and advocacy. Part III covers findings on the identification of problems, issues and

concerns encountered in respondent schools while implementing the EIS. And

Part IV covers the suggested solutions to address the problems identified in Part

III, with the end in view to improve the effectiveness, efficiency and advocacy

dimensions of the EIS.

Part I - Extent of Implementation of the Enhanced IMPACT System (EIS) as

Perceived By Instructional Coordinators (ICs) and the Instructional

Supervisors (ISs) of Respondent Schools

Data in this section of the report have been grouped according to three

dimensions, namely: effectiveness, efficiency and advocacy. ICs and ISs

indicated their perceptions of the extent of EIS implementation which could range
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

from a very low mean of 1.00 – 1.80, interpreted as “no implementation at all” or to

a very high mean of 4.21 – 5.00, interpreted as implementation “to a very large

extent.”

A. In Terms of Effectiveness

Tables 6 to 11 present the perceptions of the ICs and the ISs on the extent of

the implementation of the Enhanced IMPACT System (EIS) in the respondent

schools, in terms of effectiveness components, as follows: (1) School’s Mission,

Vision, Goals and Objectives; (2) Curriculum; (3) Teaching and Learning

Mechanisms; (4) Classroom Assessment and Evaluation; (5) Instructional

Materials; and (6) Learning Environment. Each of these components have

corresponding indicators to gauge effectiveness.

1. School’s Mission, Vision, Goals and Objectives

Table 6 in the following page presents data on the perceptions of the

respondents relative to the extent of implementation of their school’s mission,

vision, goals and objectives with respect to three indicators of effectiveness.

Table 6 indicates a higher rating among ICs more than the ISs in all of the

items under review. All items were perceived implemented “to a very large extent”

with a grand weighted overall mean of 4.59, where ICs rated extent of

implementation at 4.69 and ISs at 4.58.

There were three indicators covering school mission, vision, goals and

objectives. Indicator # 1, which states that “the school’s mission and vision

effectively illustrate its goals and objectives,” received a weighted mean of 4.72 (to
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

a very large extent) by ICs and 4.63 (to a very large extent) by ISs and 4.64 (to a

very large extent) on the overall. Indicator # 2, which states that “the mission and

vision statements are clearly stated and posted in strategic places in the school

and surroundings,” received a weighted mean of 4.61 (to a very large extent) by

ICs and 4.50 (to a very large extent) by ISs and 4.51 (to a very large extent) on the

overall.

Table 6
Extent of Implementation of the Effectiveness Dimension of the Enhanced IMPACT System
In terms of School’s Mission, Vision, Goals and Objectives

School’s Mission, Instructional Instructional


Vision, Goals and Coordinators Supervisors Overall
Objectives (School Heads) (Teachers)

Weighted Verbal Weighted Verbal Weighted Verbal


Mean Interpretation Mean Interpretation Mean Interpretation
1. The school's
mission and vision To a very To a very To a very
effectively illustrate 4.72 Large 4.63 Large 4.64 Large
its goals and extent extent extent
objectives.
2. The mission and
vision statements are
To a very To a very To a very
clearly stated and
4.61 Large 4.50 Large 4.51 Large
posted in strategic
Extent extent extent
places in the school
and surroundings.
3. School programs
and activities are
To a very To a very To a very
focused towards
4.72 Large 4.62 Large 4.63 Large
achievement of its
Extent extent extent
mission, vision, goals
and objectives.
To a very To a very To a very
Grand Weighted
4.69 Large 4.58 Large 4.59 Large
Mean
extent extent extent

Although all indicators received a high mean rating of implementation “to a

very large extent,” the lowest mean was given to Indicator # 2 referring to the

dissemination of the school’s mission and vision, goals and objectives. It is

possible that some of the schools do not have their mission and vision statements
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

cascaded from top management to line and staff, nor are they boldly plastered on

school walls. It is good practice to share the school’s mission, vision, goals and

objectives to every stakeholder.

2. Curriculum

Table 7
Perceptions of Respondents on the Extent of Implementation of the EIS Curriculum

Instructional Instructional
Curriculum Coordinators Supervisors Overall
(School Heads) (Teachers)

Weighted Verbal Weighted Verbal Weighted Verbal


Mean Interpretation Mean Interpretation Mean Interpretation
1. The school
develops and To a very To a very To a very
implements a 4.58 Large 4.69 Large 4.68 Large
curriculum that is extent extent extent
RBEC-based.
2. The curriculum is
wholistic, child- To a very To a very To a very
friendly and involves 4.63 Large 4.60 Large 4.60 Large
community extent extent extent
resources.
3. The curriculum is To a very To a very To a very
well-planned and 4.32 Large 4.34 Large 4.34 Large
age-appropriate. extent extent extent
4. The curriculum
challenges through
To a very To a very To a very
questions that
4.21 Large 4.31 Large 4.30 Large
develop pupils’
extent extent extent
HOTS in all subject
areas.
To a very To a very To a very
Grand Weighted
4.43 Large 4.49 Large 4.48 Large
Mean
extent extent extent

Table 7 looks at the curriculum in an effective EIS school. Instructional

Coordinators (ICs) perceived curriculum implementation “to a very large extent”

with a grand weighted mean of 4.43. Instructional Supervisors (ISs) perceived the

same “to a very large extent” with a grand weighted mean of 4.49. On the overall,
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

both ICs and ISs perceived the effectiveness of curriculum implementation “to a

very large extent” with a grand weighted mean of 4.48.

The group of ICs rated highest at 4.63 the effectiveness indicator that “the

curriculum is wholistic, child-friendly, and involves community resources.” This is

interpreted to mean that curriculum implementation in this aspect was done “to a

very large extent” in their schools. On the other hand, the ISs gave the highest

rating of 4.68 (implemented to a very large extent) to the effectiveness indicator

that “the school develops and implements a curriculum that is RBEC-based.” It is

to be noted that RBEC refers to the revised basic education curriculum now

currently being implemented nationwide. This is an accurate observation since

EIS has actually aligned its curriculum with the DepED curriculum

The lowest ratings were unanimously accorded to item # 4 which indicates

that “the curriculum challenges through questions that develop pupils’ HOTS in all

subject areas.” HOTS referes to higher-order thinking skills. The weighted means

of the ICs (4.21 meaning implementation to a very large extent) ad the ISs (4.31

meaning implementation to a very large extent) brought about an overall mean of

4.30 (also meaning implementation to a very large extent). Clearly, all

respondents require greater understanding of the higher order thinking skills and

more training on strategies to develop these skills in their pupils. Thinking is a skill

and can be learned. Even in the conventional school, the common observation is

that teachers follow the least resistance and use the lower-order thinking skills

more than they do the higher-order thinking skills in their teaching. It is of greatest
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

importance to all respondents to focus on the development and use of thinking

skills in the schools.

3. Teaching and Learning Delivery Mechanisms

Table 8 below presents data on the perceptions of the respondents relative to

the extent of implementation of the EIS teaching and learning mechanisms. There

are five indicators of effectiveness under this component.

Table 8
Perceptions of Respondents on the Extent of Implementation of the
EIS Teaching and Learning Delivery Mechanisms
Instructional Instructional
Teaching and Learning
Coordinators Supervisors Overall
Delivery Mechanisms
(School Heads) (Teachers)
Weighted Verbal Weighted Verbal Weighted Verbal
Mean Interpretation Mean Interpretation Mean Interpretation
1. The learning process To a very To a very To a very
is the real essence of 4.58 Large 4.66 Large 4.65 Large
education. Extent extent Extent
2. The ability and skills to
learn individually and/or To a very To a very To a very
collaboratively with others 4.47 Large 4.43 Large 4.43 Large
are developed in the Extent extent Extent
pupils.
3. Pupils are encouraged
to become self- and life- To a very To a very To a very
long learners because 4.63 Large 4.34 Large 4.38 Large
learning is not confined in Extent extent extent
the classroom.
4. Peer learning and
peer mentoring are
important strategies to To a very To a very To a very
empower learners as 4.63 Large 4.54 Large 4.55 Large
active partners in the Extent extent extent
teaching and learning
process.
5. There is continuous
training of programmed
teachers (PTs) and peer To a very To a very To a very
group leaders (PGLs) to 4.42 Large 4.38 Large 4.38 Large
ensure mastery of the Extent extent extent
subject matter and
module content.
To a very To a very To a very
Grand Weighted Mean 4.55 Large 4.47 Large 4.48 Large
Extent extent extent
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

Table 8 on the preceding page shows the distribution of respondents

according to their perceptions of the implementation of teaching and learning

delivery mechanisms in the EIS schools. The group of ICs perceived equally item

#s 3 and 4, with the highest weighted mean of 4.63 (meaning to a very large

extent). These refer to the statements that “pupils are encouraged to become self-

and life-long learners because learning is not confined in the classroom” and that

“peer learning and peer mentoring are important strategies to empower learners as

active partners in the teaching and learning process.”

The ISs gave item # 1, which states that “the learning process is the real

essence of education” the highest rating of 4.66, meaning implementation “to a

very high extent” in their estimation. This item was second highest among the ICs,

garnering a rating of 4.58, still implementation “to a very large extent.”

Item # 5, which states that “there is continuous training of programmed

teachers (PTs) and peer group leaders (PGLs) to ensure mastery of the subject

matter and module content,” received the lowest rating of 4.42 (to a very large

extent) by ICs in this category but not by ISs (4.38 but still to a very large extent).

To the ISs, item # 3 which states that “pupils are encouraged to become self- and

lifelong learners because learning is not confined in the classroom,” was lowest,

with a rating of 4.34 (though still to a very large extent). Interestingly, the ICs

perceived item # 3 as most highly implemented, with the second highest rating of

4.63 (to a very large extent). This disparity in perception can probably be

explained by the lack of understanding of what “self- and lifelong learning” entails,
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

as reported by one respondent. The ICs fully understand that the IMPACT system

relies heavily on the ability of pupils to do “self-learning.” ISs probably focused

more on the concept of “lifelong learning” skills and did not see much connection to

what they were doing in school. This is worth thinking about because all school

personnel should immediately see the connection between school offerings and

school philosophy. It is also possible that not enough activities are being offered

as part of the enrichment curriculum.

On the overall, ICs perceived the extent of implementation of teaching and

learning delivery mechanisms “to a very large extent” as shown by the grand

weighted mean of 4.55; ISs perceived likewise with a grand weighted mean of

4.47.

Both ICs and ISs combine gave ratings that averaged a grand weighted mean

of 4.48 to mean that, to a very large extent, the prescribed teaching and learning

delivery mechanisms of the enhanced IMPACT system are being implemented

thoroughly.

4. Classroom Assessment and Evaluation

Table 9 in the next page exhibits the eight areas of concern related to the

implementation of classroom assessment and evaluation.

Table 9 indicates that both ICs and ISs perceived equally alike the extent of

implementation of the EIS classroom assessment and evaluation measures and

procedures in their schools. Interestingly, both groups gave an overall rating of

4.14 to mean that this aspect of the EIS is being implemented “to a large extent.” It
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

is to be noted that while this feature is positively implemented, still it has not

reached the ideal of being implemented “to a very large extent.”

Table 9
Perceptions of Respondents on the Extent of Implementation of Classroom Assessment and
Evaluation in the EIS Schools
Classroom Assessment Instructional Coordinators Instructional
Overall
and Evaluation (School Heads) Supervisors (Teachers)

Weighted Verbal Weighted Verbal Weighted Verbal


Mean Interpretation Mean Interpretation Mean Interpretation
To a very To a very To a very
1. Learner's progress is based on
4.42 Large 4.53 Large 4.52 Large
mastery of the lesson.
extent extent extent
To a very To a very To a very
2. Learners progress on their
4.26 Large 4.25 Large 4.25 Large
individual learning pace.
extent extent extent
To a To a To a
3. Posttests for all peer-group
3.58 Large 3.77 Large 3.75 Large
learning modules are available.
extent extent extent
To a To a To a
4. Item analysis on test items are
4.00 Large 3.99 Large 3.99 Large
done by the Testing Teachers.
extent extent extent
5. Continuous upgrading and/or To a very To a To a
improvement of posttest 4.32 Large 4.09 Large 4.11 Large
items are done. extent extent extent
6. Development of parallel forms To a To a To a
and establishment of item bank are 3.74 Large 3.81 Large 3.80 Large
undertaken. extent extent extent
7. The school utilizes multiple To a very To a very To a very
evaluation and assessment 4.32 Large 4.25 Large 4.26 Large
strategies. extent extent extent
8. The school continuously
To a very To a very To a very
modifies instruction to encourage
4.53 Large 4.42 Large 4.43 Large
developing pupils’ needs and to
extent extent extent
support proficient pupils’ work.
To a To a To a
Grand Weighted Mean 4.14 Large 4.14 Large 4.14 Large
extent extent Extent

Taking the indicators individually, the ICs gave a high rating of 4.53 to item #

5 which states that “the school continuously modifies instruction to encourage

developing pupils’ needs and to support proficient pupils’ work.” This means that

they perceived this item being implemented “to a very large extent” in their schools.
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

This item received the second highest for the ISs, posting a weighted mean of

4.42, which also indicates that it is being implemented “to a very large extent.”

Item # 3, which states that “posttests for all peer-group learning modules are

available” received the lowest rating of 3.58 among the ICs and 3.77 among the

ISs, indicating that it is being implemented in the schools only “to a large extent.”

The overall weighted mean for both groups is 3.75, also to a large extent. It was

reported that there were some posttests that were not readily available and that the

teachers themselves had to prepare them. In cases where tests were missing, it

was incumbent for school staff to provide these themselves in order to complete

the learning cycle. In an IMPACT learning center, all peer group modules must

have posttests since mastery of the subject matter is required before the learner

can move on to the next lesson or module. Having posttests for all peer group

modules is indeed important in an IMPACT school and clearly, both ICs and ISs

see that the absence or lack of posttests can affect the effectiveness of the

system. It is critical then that all posttests are complete, ready and available when

needed.

For the ISs, item # 1 states that “learner’s progress is based on mastery of

the lesson” the highest rating at 4.53, which is interpreted as implementation “to a

very large extent of implementation”. This item received a weighted mean of 4.42

among the ICs, its second highest rating.


POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

5. Instructional Materials

Table 10 below presents the respondents’ perceptions of the extent of

implementation of instructional materials in the EIS schools. This is part of the

effectiveness dimension of the study.

Table 10
Perceptions of Respondents on the Extent of Implementation of Instructional Materials in EIS Schools

Instructional Instructional Coordinators Instructional Supervisors


Overall
Materials (School Heads) (Teachers)

Weighted Verbal Weighted Verbal Weighted Verbal


Mean Interpretation Mean Interpretation Mean Interpretation
1. Instructional
materials utilization
& development are
monitored to ensure To a very To a very To a very
that these are 4.47 Large 4.37 Large 4.38 Large
prepared ahead of extent extent extent
time for the proper
teaching & learning
del mechanism.
2. There are
enough available To a To a To a
learning modules Large Large Large
based on 4.00 extent 3.87 extent 3.89 extent
recommended
ratios for the pupils
in the school.
3. Preparation of
RBEC-aligned To a To a To a
instructional Large Large Large
materials & 4.37 extent 4.18 extent 4.20 extent
improvement of old
ones are constant.
4. Development of
advanced To a To a To a
instructional Large Large Large
materials for fast 4.05 extent 3.95 extent 3.96 extent
learners are
undertaken.
5. Standard
DepED textbooks &
To a To a To a
other reference or
3.89 Large 3.66 Large 3.69 Large
resource materials
Extent Extent extent
are available in the
school library.
To a To a To a
Grand Weighted
4.16 Large 4.00 Large 4.02 Large
Mean
Extent Extent Extent
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

The ICs perceived that the instructional materials were used “to a very large

extent” (highest mean of 4.47); so did the ISs with the highest mean of 4.37, also

perceived used “to a very large extent.” This is supported by item # 1 which states

that “instructional materials utilization and development are monitored to ensure

that these are prepared ahead of time for the proper teaching and learning delivery

mechanism.” It is worth noting that there is a continuing attempt to develop

instructional materials aligned with the current Basic Education Curriculum, as

indicated in the ICs’ mean rating of 4.37 (to a very large extent) and the ISs’ mean

rating of 4.18 (to a large extent). A current concern is the unmet recommended

ratios of learning modules for all pupils. That’s probably why it merited only a

mean rating of 4.00 (to a large extent) among ICs and 3.87 (to a large extent) for

ISs. Not much effort is being expended for the development of advanced materials

for advanced learners, as indicated in the mean rating of ICs of 4.05 (to a large

extent) and 3.08 (to a large extent) for ISs. The lowest rated indicator went to item

# 5 which is about the availability of standard DepED textbooks and other

references or resource materials in the school library. It got the lowest rating of

3.89 (to a large extent) among the ICs and 3.66 among the ISs. It could be that

many schools do not have libraries, or they have libraries but keep a low collection

of reference materials and other books.

The grand weighted mean of 4.16 (to a large extent) among the ICs and 4.00

(to a large extent) among the ISs is a good phenomenon, albeit not the highest
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

possible level. Still, it is a good sign that instructional materials are used as

planned.

Interestingly, both groups of respondents rated the five items of this

component in the same order, though with differing means, with item # 1 receiving

the highest, and item # 5 receiving the lowest.

The combined perceptions of both groups of respondents reached an overall

grand weighted mean of 4.02 for this component, meaning that the presence of

enough quality instructional materials in a school contributes (to a large extent) to

its effectiveness. This finding is in congruence with earlier findings (Tullao, et. al,

1983) that IMPACT schools are heavily reliant on the use of programmed teaching

and peer and/or self-instructional modules and instructional materials. Delays in

production, printing and transport of modules could cause problems in IMPACT

schools; therefore, it is most important for educational authorities to always keep in

consideration the essential nature of modules and instructional materials for the

IMPACT schools.

6. Learning Environment

Table 11 presents the perceptions of respondents on the extent of

implementation of the “learning environment” in the EIS schools. This is indicative

of effectiveness of implementation.

Data in Table 11 show that requisites of the learning environment as

structured in the IMPACT system are being implemented “to a very large extent.”
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

Both the ICs and the ISs perceived extent of implementation alive, although the

ICs rated these items a bit more highly (4.38) that the ISs (4.29).

Table 11
Perceptions of Respondents on the Extent of Implementation of the Learning Environment
in the EIS Schools
Instructional Instructional
Learning
Coordinators Supervisors Overall
Environment
(School Heads) (Teachers)
Weighted Verbal Weighted Verbal Weighted Verbal
Mean Interpretation Mean Interpretation Mean Interpretation
1. Classes are
organized into families To a very To a very To a very
comprising of levels 1 4.63 Large 4.25 Large 4.29 Large
to 6 with friends, extent extent extent
neighbors, siblings.
2. Mixing of gender in
each level is
To a very To a very To a very
encouraged as an
4.53 Large 4.54 Large 4.54 Large
important contributor
extent extent extent
to the socialization of
children.
3. There is free flow To a very To a To a
of pupil movement in 4.33 Large 4.08 Large 4.11 Large
the classrooms. extent extent extent
4. Classroom To a To a To a
discipline is observed Large Large Large
and practiced with 4.00 extent 4.05 extent 4.05 extent
norms visibly posted in
the classrooms.
5. The school
environment is safe, To a very To a very To a very
clean and provides a Large Large Large
4.53 4.44 4.45
good ambiance for extent extent extent
learning.
To a very To a very To a very
Grand Weighted Mean 4.38 Large 4.29 Large 4.29 Large
extent extent extent

The group of ICs gave item # 1, which states that “classes are organized into

families comprising of Levels 1 to 6 with friends, neighbors, siblings belonging to

the same family,” the highest rating of 4.63 perceiving this to be implemented “to a

very large extent” in the EIS school; while the ISs gave it a rating of 4.25. On the

overall, the mean rating was posted at 4.29 (to a very large extent).

For item # 2, which states that “mixing of gender in each level is encouraged as an
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

important contributor to the socialization of children.” The overall mean was posted

at 4.54 (to a very large extent). For item # 3, which states that “there is a free flow

of pupil movement in the classrooms,” the overall mean was posted at 4.11 (to a

large extent). For item # 4, which states that “classroom discipline is observed and

practiced with norms/regulations visibly posted in the classrooms,” the overall

mean was posted at a low rating of 4.00 (but still to a large extent). It could mean

that the ICs believed that their ISs are already very good in classroom

management or that there is no need for discipline reminders to be posted

because the children are generally well-mannered. For item # 5, which states that

“the school environment is safe, clean and provides a good ambiance for learning,”

the overall mean was posted at 4.45 (to a very large extent).

The grand weighted mean of 4.38 posted by ICs and 4.29 posted by ISs

under learning environment drew an overall weighted mean of 4.29, which is

equivalent to implementation to a very large extent in their schools.

The ISs rated the item statement, “mixing of gender in each level is

encouraged as an important contributor to the socialization of children,” the highest

at 4.54 (to a very large extent). And just like the group of ICs, they rated the item

which states that “classroom discipline is observed and practiced with norms/

regulations visibly posted in the classrooms,” the lowest at 4.05 (to a large extent).

Clearly, both groups of respondents do not feel that discipline is an issue in their

schools.
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

Reynolds and Cuttance (1992) said that “schools that gave ample

opportunities for children to take responsibility and to participate in the running of

their school lives appeared conducive to favorable outcomes.” IMPACT schools

believe that education is a socializing process and a venue for leadership training.

It appears that the ICs and ISs perceive that the learning environment in their

schools embodies this principle because they gave overall grand weighted mean of

4.29 (to a very large extent) for this indicator.

B. In Terms of Efficiency

Tables 12 to 15 are four tabular presentations of the four areas of concern

that reflect the extent of implementation of the Enhanced IMPACT System (EIS) in

terms of efficiency as rated by the instructional coordinators (ICs) and instructional

supervisors (ISs). The four areas are: (1) Organizational Structure and Support

System, (2) Leadership, (3) Professional Growth and Development, and (4)

School Culture.

1. Organizational Structure and Support System

Table 12 in the following page presents data indicative of the “organizational

structure and support system” of the EIS schools under study. The table shows

that a rating of 4.32 had been given by both groups of respondents. The rating

may be interpreted to mean that to a very large extent the organization of the

school maximizes the use of time, all available space, and other resources for the

optimal development of learning. Support is provided in the teaching and learning

episodes in order to achieve high pupil and staff performance.


POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

Table 12
Perceptions of Respondents of the Extent of Implementation of Organizational Structure
and Support Systems in the EIS Schools
Instructional
Organizational Instructional Supervisors
Coordinators Overall
Structure (Teachers)
(School Heads)
Weighted Verbal Weighted Verbal Weighted Verbal
Mean Interpretation Mean Interpretation Mean Interpretation
The organization
of the school
maximizes the
use of time, all
available space
and other
To a very To a very To a very
resources to
4.32 Large 4.32 Large 4.32 Large
maximize the
extent extent extent
teaching and
learning
episodes to
support high
pupil and staff
performance.

2. Leadership

In an enhanced IMPACT learning center, the school head or principal is

called “Instructional Coordinator” while the teacher is called “Instructional

Supervisor”. They are both seen as leaders. Yukl (2002) said that leaders exhibit

behaviors in three related ways, and these are in a task-oriented, relations-oriented

and change-oriented manner. The EIS school setting explores these three

behaviors.

Table 13 in the following page presents data on perceptions of leadership

exemplified and exercised by the instructional coordinators and instructional

supervisors in the IMPACT schools under study.


POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

Table 13
Perceptions of Respondents on the Extent of Implementation of Leadership in the EIS Schools
Instructional Coordinators Instructional
Leadership Overall
(School Heads) Supervisors (Teachers)

Weighted Verbal Weighted Verbal Weighted Verbal


Mean Interpretation Mean Interpretation Mean Interpretation
1. School district
instructional decisions
focus on support for
teaching and learning,
organizational To a very To a very To a very
direction and high 4.26 Large 4.32 Large 4.31 Large
performance Extent extent extent
expectations thereby
creating a learning
culture and developing
leadership capacity.
2. The school has
strong leaders with To a very To a very To a very
realistic expectations 4.37 Large 4.41 Large 4.41 Large
for both pupils and Extent extent extent
staff.
3. The school leaders
have the confidence to
To a very To a very To a very
empower their
4.42 Large 4.42 Large 4.42 Large
teachers and give
Extent extent extent
them a role in decision
making.
4. School leaders are
To a very To a very To a very
highly visible and
4.58 Large 4.40 Large 4.42 Large
available to pupils,
Extent extent extent
parents and teachers.
To a very To a very To a very
Grand Weighted Mean 4.41 Large 4.39 Large 4.39 Large
Extent extent extent

The group of instructional coordinators gave item # 4 which states that

“school leaders are highly visible and available to pupils, parents and teachers,”

their highest rating of 4.58 (to a very large extent). This means that the ICs in the

EIS schools are not ensconced in their offices; rather they move around to monitor

instruction. They are available for consultations with the parents and more

importantly for the teachers and pupils. Visible school heads are efficient leaders

because they are on hand to attend to any problems or issues that may arise.

Furthermore, they are highly trusted by the learning community because of their
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

availability and readiness to serve as resource providers. ICs who are visible

leaders are perceived to be highly supportive of the EIS. They understand the

difference between the traditional-conventional set-up and the innovative set-up

and its corresponding relational requirements. This is the relations-oriented

behavior exhibited by an IMPACT Instructional Coordinator.

On the other hand, the item that “school district instructional decisions focus

on support for teaching and learning, organizational direction and high

performance expectations thereby creating a learning culture and developing

leadership capacity” was given the lowest rating of 4.26 (to a very large extent) in

this category. In converting to an IMPACT school, officials from the region, division

and district were also trained so that they would be ready to support the innovative

approaches of the IMPACT system. This rating may mean that not all instructional

coordinators are happy with the degree of support they are receiving from their

district supervisors especially since the instructional coordinator’s task-oriented

behavior can be influenced by the educational supervisors’ behavior at the district,

division or regional level.

The group of instructional supervisors gave the highest rating of 4.42 (to a

very large extent) to the item that “the school leaders have the confidence to

empower their teachers and give them a role in decision making”. Clearly this is

one of the more popular characteristics of an IMPACT school and welcomed by the

instructional supervisors. This also corresponds to the change-oriented behavior of

the instructional coordinator in IMPACT schools and is not just limited to the
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

teachers but also to the pupils. Lowest rated at 4.32 was the item that “school

district instructional decisions focus on support for teaching and learning,

organizational direction and high performance expectations thereby creating a

learning culture and developing leadership capacity.” Just like with the group of

instructional coordinators, the group of instructional supervisors may have felt that

support from the school district, though still “to a very large extent” was not

enough. Overall grand weighted mean for this characteristic is 4.39 which

illustrates that both instructional coordinators and instructional supervisors gave

great weight to leadership, and that it must be “to a very large extent” present in all

aspects of an efficient IMPACT school.

3. Professional Growth and Development

Table 14 on the following page presents data on the “professional growth and

development” of the teachers and staff of the EIS schools under study. Results

show that among the five items, the school heads rated highest the component

that “IC and IS are continually looking for more effective ways to teach pupils and

each other”, a rating of 4.58. This could mean that instructional coordinators are

committed to mentor and coach their instructional supervisors for the benefit of the

pupils. Such coaching and mentoring commitment contributes to the professional

growth and development of both groups of respondents.

The ICs gave their lowest rating of 4.05 (to a large extent) to the item that “the

school district provides research-based, results-driven professional development

opportunities for the staff”. This researcher realized that not all school districts
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

have the resources to send instructional coordinators and instructional supervisors

for professional growth and development opportunities.

Table 14
Perceptions of Respondents of the Extent of Implementation of Professional Growth and
Development in EIS Schools

Professional Growth Instructional Coordinators Instructional


Overall
and Development (School Heads) Supervisors (Teachers)

Weighted Verbal Weighted Verbal Weighted Verbal


Mean Interpretation Mean Interpretation Mean Interpretation
1. The school district
provides research- To a To a To a
based, results-driven Large Large Large
professional 4.05 extent 4.06 extent 4.06 extent
development
opportunities for the
staff.
2. The school
personnel (IC, IS, RT
and ET) continue to To a To a To a
attend enhancement Large Large Large
trainings such as 4.11 extent 4.08 extent 4.08 extent
classroom
management,
facilitating skills, action
research and others.
3. IC implements
performance
To a very To a very To a very
evaluation procedures
4.47 Large 4.25 Large 4.27 Large
in order to improve
Extent extent extent
teaching and learning
practices.
4. IC and IS are
continually looking for To a very To a very To a very
more effective ways to 4.58 Large 4.42 Large 4.44 Large
teach pupils and each extent extent extent
other.
5. The school
personnel are fully To a very To a To a
trained on how to Large Large Large
4.21 3.99 4.02
implement the Extent extent extent
IMPACT system.

To a very To a To a
Grand Weighted Mean 4.28 Large 4.17 Large 4.18 Large
Extent extent extent
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

However, it must also be stated herein that the developmental opportunities

that do exist in the public school sector are relatively more numerous than those

that are available for the private school sector.

The grand weighted mean given by the ICs was 4.28 signifying that

professional growth and development is being implemented “to a very large extent”

implemented in an efficient EIS school.

The ISs, just like the ICs, gave the highest rating of 4.42 (to a very large

extent) to the item that states: “IC and IS are continually looking for more effective

ways to teach pupils and each other.” To the researcher, this is a very good

finding because it illustrates that the bond between instructional coordinator and

instructional supervisor is strong and the motivation for continuous learning is

great. This is as should be in efficient EIS schools.

The instructional supervisors gave the item which states that “the school

personnel are fully trained on how to implement the IMPACT system,” the lowest

rating of 3.99 (to a large extent). This validates in some way their having given the

highest rating to the item that “ICs and ISs are continually looking for more

effective ways to teach pupils and each other”. This finding could mean that many

instructional supervisors would welcome additional training and look to their

instructional coordinators to provide such development opportunities through

formal or informal means. Grand weighted mean given was 4.17 or “to a large

extent” of implementation, lower than what the group of instructional coordinators

gave to this particular indicator.


POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

All the respondents gave this characteristic of efficient EIS schools the grand

weighted mean of 4.18, which illustrates to the researcher that the respondents are

merely being realistic in knowing that professional growth and development

opportunities for them are being implemented (to a large extent) and that they

should exert more effort to find more informal sources for their professional growth.

As Hanushek (2005) said, “the most direct path to upgrading classroom instruction

and improving student learning is through systematic programs of professional

development.”

4. School Culture

Table 15 in the next page presents data on perceptions of respondents with

regard to “school culture.” There are ten indicators to this component.

Table 15 looks at “school culture” and all its ten indicators. The ICs gave the

item which states that “pupils know that courtesy and respect are expected in

interpersonal relationships” and the item which states that “the school has a safe

and orderly environment” their highest rating of 4.56. This indicates their

perception that the statements above are characteristics of efficient EIS schools. A

fine school culture supports learning. Group learning is a primary mode of

learning. Children learn together in mutual activities. Older ones act as tutors or

programmed teachers for the younger one, and in peer groups children assist each

other. Socialization, therefore, is not only with teachers but also between peers

and among levels of classes. Respect, honesty and other values are integrated
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

early on into the curriculum of an EIS school so that learning resources are

efficiently and equitably shared.

Table 15
Perceptions of Respondents of the Extent of Implementation of School Culture in the EIS Schools
Instructional
Instructional Coordinators
School Culture Supervisors Overall
(School Heads)
(Teachers)

Weighted Verbal Weighted Verbal Weighted Verbal


Mean Interpretation Mean Interpretation Mean Interpretation
1. Everybody in the school
has a clear understanding of To a very To a very To a very
the school’s mission and 4.26 Large 4.42 Large 4.40 Large
vision and their individual Extent extent extent
roles to accomplish these.
2. Academic excellence is To a very To a very To a very
clearly valued and standards 4.26 Large 4.31 Large 4.31 Large
are high but realistic. Extent extent extent
3. Pupils are expected to
work hard to succeed and To a very To a very To a very
their ISs believe that they can 4.32 Large 4.38 Large 4.37 Large
succeed therefore they do Extent extent extent
succeed.
4. Communication between
IC, IS, pupils and parents are To a very To a To a
on a regular basis and Large Large Large
4.32 4.17 extent 4.19 extent
encourages sharing of Extent
information and concerns.
5. Staff are open to new
To a very To a very To a very
ideas and are always
4.53 Large 4.41 Large 4.42 Large
searching for more efficient
Extent extent extent
ways to do things.
6. Pupils know that courtesy To a very To a very To a very
and respect are expected in 4.56 Large 4.50 Large 4.50 Large
interpersonal relationships. Extent extent extent
7. The school has a safe and To a very To a very To a very
orderly environment. 4.56 Large 4.27 Large 4.30 Large
Extent extent extent
8. The school has a climate To a very To a To a very
of high expectations and an 4.44 Large 4.19 Large 4.22 Large
school-wide achievement Extent extent extent
orientation.
9. There is purposeful
teaching and classroom To a very To a very To a very
management with 4.44 Large 4.42 Large 4.43 Large
concentration on teaching Extent extent extent
and learning episodes.
10. All school staff undertake To a To a To a
frequent monitoring, Large Large Large
evaluation and provision of 4.17 extent 4.18 extent 4.18 extent
positive reinforcement.
To a very To a very To a very
Grand Weighted Mean 4.40 Large 4.33 Large 4.34 Large
Extent extent extent
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

Lowest rated by the instructional coordinators is the item which states that “all

school staff undertake frequent monitoring, evaluation and provision of positive

reinforcement” at 4.17 or (to a large extent). Grand weighted mean given by the

instructional coordinators is 4.40 (to a very large extent) to mean that “school

culture” has a great impact on efficiency in an IMPACT school.

The instructional supervisors also gave the item which states that “pupils

know that courtesy and respect are expected in interpersonal relationships” their

highest rating of 4.50, just like the instructional coordinators. Their lowest rating of

4.17 went to the item which states that “communication between instructional

coordinator, instructional supervisor, pupils and parents are on a regular basis and

encourages sharing of information and concerns” wherein they felt that this was

implemented only (to a large extent) in their schools. Grand weighted mean for the

instructional supervisors is 4.33 also meaning implementation to a very large

extent in the school.

The overall weighted mean given by the respondents is 4.34 (to a very large

extent) for efficient school culture. To some extent, the success of the EIS

depends on the active involvement of parents and the use of community

resources. Likewise, a school culture that welcomes and safeguards the children

can act as a magnet especially in poor communities. In some overcrowded

homes, children may have no quiet place to practice their reading and other home

learning activities, which is why a nurturing school climate is a premier

characteristic of EIS schools.


POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

C. In Terms of Advocacy

Tables 16 to 19 show four areas of concern with which advocacy

implementation can be rated based on the perceptions of the ICs and the ISs.

These are in the areas of: (1) Comprehensive School Planning, (2) Physical

Facilities and Resources, (3) Pupil and Family Involvement, and (4) Stakeholders

and Community Support. Each of these areas have corresponding indicators.

Table 16
Perceptions of Respondents of the Extent of Implementation of
Comprehensive School Planning in EIS Schools
Comprehensive Instructional Coordinators Instructional
Overall
School Planning (School Heads) Supervisors (Teachers)

Weighted Verbal Weighted Verbal Weighted Verbal


Mean Interpretation Mean Interpretation Mean Interpretation
1. The IC develops,
implements and
evaluates a
comprehensive school To a very To a very To a very
improvement plan that 4.39 Large 4.44 Large 4.43 Large
communicates a clear extent extent extent
purpose, direction and
action plan focused on
teaching and learning.
2. The IC involves the
whole school and as
many stakeholders as
possible in craft To a To a very To a very
comprehensive School Large Large Large
4.11 extent 4.32 4.30
Implementation Plan extent extent
(SIP) and Annual
Improvement Plan
(AIP).
3. The IC has a
workable or functional
To a very To a very To a very
school monitoring plan
4.44 Large 4.40 Large 4.41 Large
for pupils, teachers,
extent extent extent
resources and
achievements.
To a very To a very To a very
Grand Weighted Mean 4.31 Large 4.39 Large 4.39 Large
extent extent extent

Table 16 above presents data on the advocacy dimension of the EIS

implementation focused on “comprehensive school planning” as a component.

There are three indicators under this component.


POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

The group of instructional coordinators gave the highest rating of 4.44 to the

item which states that “the IC has a workable or functional school monitoring plan

for pupils, teachers, resources and achievements.” This means that the IC takes

her monitoring function to heart in an IMPACT school and undertakes such

function (to a very large extent) based on a monitoring plan she had earlier

developed with inputs from stakeholders such as the ISs, parents and other

community members.

The researcher finds contradictory to the findings the instructional

coordinators’ lowest rating of 4.11 for the item which states that “the IC involves

the whole school and as many stakeholders as possible in crafting a

comprehensive School Implementation Plan (SIP) and Annual Improvement Plan

(AIP).” In the series of training the EIS implementers have received, advocacy and

raising the community’s interests and support for the school as well as its

innovative system is an integral part of the sustainability profile of each IMPACT

school. Without community support, the school would be hard-pressed to continue

the IMPACT system. The instructional materials needed, the additional learning

kiosks and other teaching and learning activities would require community support

and resources. The involvement of stakeholders must be higher and implemented

“to a large extent” than just mere “to a large extent,” which the instructional

coordinators have rated herein. Grand weighted mean given to this characteristic

is 4.31, meaning that to the instructional coordinators’ perceptions, they have

implemented this “to a very large extent.”


POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

The group of ISs gave their highest rating of 4.44 to mean implementation “to

a very large extent” on the item which states that “the IC develops, implements and

evaluates a comprehensive school improvement plan that communicates a clear

purpose, direction and action plan focused on teaching and learning.” They gave

their lowest rating of 4.32 to mean implementation “to a very large extent” on the

item which states that “the IC involves the whole school and as many stakeholders

as possible in crafting a comprehensive School Implementation Plan (SIP) and

Annual Improvement Plan (AIP),” similar to the rating by the group of instructional

coordinators. From this finding, all the respondents are saying that stakeholders

are involved in the development of the schools’ improvement and implementation

plans but the support they actually receive may not be as expected. Overall grand

weighted mean given by all the respondents is 4.39, meaning that to a very large

extent this characteristic is implemented in the schools.

It may be that the IMPACT schools will achieve better results in communities

which have adequate resources and where parents have a better level of

education and more time to be involved in school activities. It is also desirable to

mount a community education program in new IMPACT areas to inform the

parents and community of the needs and goals of the community learning center

and to encourage stakeholder advocacies to support the school.

2. Physical Facilities and Resources

Table 17 presents data on “physical facilities and resources” as part of the

advocacy dimension of an Enhanced IMPACT School.


POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

Table 17
Perceptions of Respondents of the Extent of Implementation of
Physical Facilities and Resources in EIS Schools
Instructional Instructional
Physical Facilities
Coordinators Supervisor Overall
and Resources
(School Heads) (Teachers)
Weighted Verbal Weighted Verbal Weighted Verbal
Mean Interpretation Mean Interpretation Mean Interpretation
1. IC and IS are
joined by the
community in
activities that make
To a very To a very To a very
sure that there are
4.44 Large 4.23 Large 4.25 Large
enough classrooms
extent extent extent
for all the pupils,
e.g., Adopt-a-
School, Brigada
Eskwela, etc.
2. Stakeholders are
involved in the
school's day-to-day To a To a To a
activities and they Large Large Large
contribute time, 3.89 extent 3.78 extent 3.79 extent
funds and effort to
assure enough
learning space for
their children.
3. The school is the
learning hub of the
community and To a very To a To a
stakeholders can be Large Large Large
4.33 4.03 4.07
counted upon to extent extent extent
provide resources
when asked.

Grand Weighted To a very To a To a


Mean 4.22 Large 4.02 Large 4.04 Large
extent extent extent

Both groups of respondents gave their highest rating of 4.44 and 4.23,

respectively, to the item which states that “ICs and ISs are joined by the

community in activities that make sure that there are enough classrooms for all the

pupils, e.g., Adopt-a-School, Brigada Eskwela, etc.”. Clearly community support is

to a very large extent seen in the EIS schools. On the other hand, both groups of

respondents gave their lowest rating of 3.89 and 3.78 respectively, to the item

which states that “stakeholders are involved in the school's day-to-day activities
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

and they contribute time, funds and effort to assure enough learning space for their

children”. Once again, this finding is confusing in light of earlier findings. A better

suggestion is to contextualize this finding before taking it to be conclusive. The

grand weighted mean given by the instructional coordinators is 4.22, which means

that this characteristic is implemented to a very large extent in their schools.

In contrast, the grand weighted mean given by the instructional supervisors is

4.02, implemented only to a large extent. The overall grand weighted mean for the

physical facilities and resources is 4.04 meaning that all respondents felt that

advocacy for this item is to a large extent implemented in their schools.

Very little change is needed to transform the conventional classroom

buildings to the specifications of an EIS community learning center. The capital

costs will be minimal because in the IMPACT concept, these structures should be

built by the community, using inexpensive local building materials which may be

donated by parents, community groups or the local school board. Clearly, the

community’s advocacy spirit must be awakened and sustained for the CLC.

3. Pupil and Family Involvement

Table 18 in the next page presents data on the advocacy dimension focusing

on “pupil and family involvement.” There are five indicators that fall under this

component.

Table 18 looks at the characteristic of “pupil and family involvement.” Both

groups of respondents (ICs and ISs) gave the highest rating of 4.11 and 3.82,

respectively, to the item which states that “members of learning families are
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

responsible for each other.” Since IMPACT is non-graded, the usual categories of

pupils by grade levels no longer apply. Instead, all the pupils in the school are

divided into families of at least 40 to 50 multi-level pupils. During “family”

groupings at the start of the year, priority is given to children who are siblings,

relatives, neighbors, friends, etc., so that they will be responsible for each other.

From the rating received, obviously such care in grouping is, to a large extent,

seen in the schools.

Table 18
Perceptions of Respondents of the Extent of Implementation of
Pupil and Family Involvement in EIS Schools
Instructional
Pupil and Family Instructional Coordinators
Supervisors Overall
Involvement (School Heads)
(Teachers)
Weighted Verbal Weighted Verbal Weighted Verbal
Mean Interpretation Mean Interpretation Mean Interpretation
1. Members of learning To a To a To a
families are responsible 4.11 Large 3.79 Large 3.82 Large
for each other. extent extent Extent
2. Older pupils who act
as Programmed To a To a To a
Teachers show mastery Large Large Large
and smooth delivery of 3.68 extent 3.56 extent 3.57 extent
the lessons including
proper grammar and
diction.
3. The Peer Group To a To a To a
Leader uses HOTS in 3.79 Large 3.74 Large 3.74 Large
asking questions. extent Extent Extent
4. Parents witness and To a To a To a
take part in their 3.58 Large 3.50 Large 3.51 Large
children’s contracting. extent extent extent
5. Parents are happy to To a To a To a
volunteer as Resource 3.21 Large 3.11 Large 3.12 Large
Teachers. extent extent extent
To a To a To a
Grand Weighted Mean 3.67 Large 3.55 Large 3.56 Large
extent extent extent

Lowest ratings given by the instructional coordinators and instructional

supervisors respectively are 3.21 and 3.12, respectively, on the item which states

that “parents are happy to volunteer as resource teachers.” This may happen “to a
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

large extent” but not at the level, degree or incidence that the respondents like.

The grand weighted mean given by the respondents to this characteristic of “pupil

and family involvement” in the school is 3.67 and 3.55, respectively, which means

that it is being implemented to a large extent.

The maintenance of good relationships with the community is crucial to

IMPACT. As a system, IMPACT utilizes all available resources in the community,

both human and material. Older pupils function as programmed teachers for the

younger pupils and the parents act as resource teachers. Pupil and family

involvement is a must in every IMPACT school. Accordingly, the overall grand

weighted mean given by all respondents to this characteristic is 3.56, meaning that

to their perception, pupil and family involvement is to a large extent seen in their

school, also implying that advocacy has been successful in this respect.

4. Stakeholders and Community Support

Table 19 in the next page presents data on the stakeholders and community

support component of the advocacy dimension of EIS implementation. There are

six indicators under this component.

Both groups of respondents (ICs and ISs) perceived the item on

“stakeholders are fully oriented about the Enhanced IMPACT System.” Their

highest rating at 4.16 and 3.95, respectively, signifies that they believe their

advocacy efforts have succeeded to a large extent when this item is raised.

Stakeholders include the parents, community, LGUs, and the like. Both groups

also gave the item which states that “stakeholders provide kiosks for peer group
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

learners with chairs, benches, table and blackboard,” their lowest rating of 3.63

and 3.56, respectively, to mean that they probably believe to a large extent that

stakeholders can provide more.

Table 19
Perceptions of Respondents of the Extent of Implementation of
Stakeholders and Community Support in EIS Schools
Instructional
Stakeholders and Instructional Coordinators
Supervisors Overall
Community Support (School Heads)
(Teachers)
Weighted Verbal Weighted Verbal Weighted Verbal
Mean Interpretation Mean Interpretation Mean Interpretation
1. Stakeholders (parents, To a To a To a
community, LGUs) are fully Large Large Large
oriented about the 4.16 extent 3.95 extent 3.97 extent
Enhanced IMPACT System.
2. Stakeholders (parents, To a To a To a
community, LGUs) are fully Large Large Large
oriented about the 3.63 extent 3.68 extent 3.67 extent
Enhanced IMPACT System.
3. Community resource To a To a To a
persons are encouraged to 4.00 Large 3.59 Large 3.63 Large
volunteer in the school. extent extent extent
4. Stakeholders are actively To a To a To a
participating in activities to Large Large Large
achieve the school’s vision, 3.89 extent 3.77 extent 3.78 extent
mission, goals and
objectives.
5. Stakeholders provide To a To a To a
kiosks for peer-group Large Large Large
learners with chairs, 3.63 extent 3.56 extent 3.57 extent
benches, table and
blackboard.
6. There are continuous To a To a To a
dialogs and meetings with Large Large Large
stake-holders to discuss the extent extent extent
school’s challenges and 3.89 3.73 3.75
issues such as resource
and funds sourcing.
To a To a To a
Grand Weighted Mean 3.82 Large 3.70 Large 3.72 Large
extent extent extent

Grand weighted mean is 3.82 for the instructional coordinators and 3.70 for

the instructional supervisor to mean that advocacy for stakeholders and community

support is to a large extent implemented but more support could be provided.


POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

The overall grand weighted mean given by all respondents to this

characteristic is 3.72, wherein their overall perception for their efforts to ensure

stakeholders and community support is to a large extent successful, although a

little more support would be most welcome.

D. Effectiveness, Efficiency and Advocacy: The Overall Picture

Table 20 shows how the instructional coordinators and the instructional

supervisors perceive the effectiveness, efficiency and advocacy dimensions of EIS

as implemented in the schools or community learning centers. The overall

weighted means were gathered to arrive at the answer (please refer to the data

below).

Table 20
Effectiveness vs Efficiency vs Advocacy Components of an IMPACT School
Component Weighted Mean Remarks
Effectiveness 4.36 Implemented to a very large
extent
Efficiency 4.33 Implemented to a very large
extent
Advocacy 3.96 Implemented to a large extent

The operational definitions for each of the components are provided below to

get a better appreciation of these items. Effectiveness is the ability of the

educational innovation to produce the intended results. Includes the school’s

vision, mission, goals and objectives, classroom assessment and evaluation,

teaching and learning delivery mechanisms, curriculum, instructional materials,

and the learning environment. Efficiency refers to the prevailing conditions that

allow the effectiveness component to prevail. It includes the organizational

structure and support system, school leadership, professional growth and


POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

development, and school culture. Advocacy is the positive attitude towards the

educational innovation as perceived by the key informants consisting of pupils,

teachers, school heads and learning partners of the pilot schools and community.

Includes comprehensive school planning, physical facilities and resources, pupil

and family involvement, and stakeholders and community support.

As shown in Table 20 above, the respondents rated effectiveness as the

dimension that to their perception should be implemented to a very large extent in

an enhanced IMPACT school. It received the highest rating of 4.36. Looking at

the components and their corresponding indicators included in its definition, this

researcher is reminded of what How and Miskel (2008) have mentioned about the

school as a social system – people are the most important aspect in a school.

They also said that the teaching-learning process is the technical core of the

school social system and that to achieve organizational goals, the school’s

structure is the most important. Likewise, the environment is also a critical aspect

of the school because it not only provides resources for the school but also

provided additional opportunities for growth. They concluded by saying that the

more congruence of the characteristics herewith mentioned in a school system, the

more effective it is.

The dimension with the second highest rating component is efficiency

garnering 4.33 or implementation to a very large extent. There is a very slim

difference of 0.03 between the effectiveness and efficiency dimensions. If the

effectiveness components point towards structure, the efficiency components are


POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

those that exist within the school system that makes it effective. Citing Hoy and

Miskel again, they said that “the more enabling the structure of the school, the

greater is the degree of teacher innovation. The stronger a culture of optimism in

schools, the higher the level of student achievement.” Certainly, the effectiveness

and efficiency components should go hand in hand in IMPACT schools and as

shown in the data complied, they do so to a very large extent.

The advocacy dimension received the least points at 3.96. This is not only

suprising but also logical for this researcher. With R.A. 9155 or the Governance of

Basic Education Act of 2001, there should be no problem with community linkages

if only the school head has the proper competencies and skills for such. As

mentioned under Section 7, paragraph 11-E, School Level, a basic function of the

school head is establishing school and community network and encouraging the

active participation of teachers’ organizations, non-academic personnel of public

schools, and parents-teachers-community associations. There must also be a

practical reason why advocacy rated the least. With minimal resources especially

in poorer communities where the schools are situated, there is just so much

financial inputs that a community can afford to provide the school. Many would

rather wait until there is something concrete to show for their funds. It is therefore

logical that a school must be effective and efficient so that additional resources can

be acquired through strong advocacy efforts.


POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

Part II. Significant Difference in the Assessment Made By Instructional

Coordinators (ICs) and Instructional Supervisors (ISs) on the Three

Dimensions of the Enhanced IMPACT System (EIS): Effectiveness,

Efficiency and Advocacy.

Tables 21 to 23 show the summary tables that reflect the differences in the

assessments of the ICs and ISs on the effectiveness, efficiency and advocacy

dimensions of the enhanced IMPACT system as implemented in the respondent

schools. The t-test was used to determine the significance level.

A. On the Effectiveness Dimension

Table 21 below shows the mean assessment of both groups of respondents,

that is, the ICs and the ISs, with regard to their perception of the extent of

implementation of the effectiveness dimension of the EIS in their enhanced

IMPACT learning centers.

Table 21
Difference in the Assessment of Instructional Coordinators and Instructional Supervisors on
the Extent of Implementation of Effectiveness Dimension in the EIS Schools
Component Mean Mean t-computed p-value Interpretations
IC IS
School’s vision, 4.69 4.58 1.260 0.218 Not significant
mission, objectives
and goals
Classroom 4.14 4.14 0.001 0.999 Not significant
assessment and
evaluation
Teaching and Learning 4.55 4.47 0.636 0.526 Not significant
Delivery Mechanisms
Curriculum 4.43 4.49 -0.422 0.674 Not significant
Instructional Materials 4.16 4.00 0.895 0.372 Not significant
Learning Environment 4.38 4.28 0.674 0.501 Not significant
Level of significance = 0.05
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

Respondents’ ratings were tabulated and compared using t-test and p-values.

The results show that there is no significant difference in the assessments made

by both groups of respondents (ICs and ISs) on all six components of the

effectiveness dimension: (1) On the school’s vision, mission, objectives and goals,

differences between the ICs mean rating of 4.69 and the ISs mean rating of 4.58

were not significant. (2) On classroom assessment and evaluation, it is obvious

there is no difference between the ICs mean rating of 4.14 and the ISs mean rating

of 4.14. (3) On the teaching and learning delivery mechanisms, differences

between the ICs mean rating of 4.55 and the ISs mean rating of 4.47 were not

significant. (4) On the curriculum, differences between the ICs mean rating of

4.43 and the ISs mean rating of 4.49 were not significant. (5) On the instructional

materials, differences between the ICs mean rating of 4.16 and the ISs mean

rating of 4.00 were not significant. (6) On the learning environment, differences

between the ICs mean rating of 4.38 and the ISs mean rating of 4.28 were not

significant. Generally, the ICs placed higher ratings than the ISs on all

components of the effectiveness dimension, except on the curriculum, and all

mean ratings indicated implementation “to a very large extent.”

The null hypothesis is, therefore, accepted. There is no significant difference

in the assessments of the ICs and the ISs on the extent of implementation of the

effectiveness dimension of the EIS in the respondent schools.


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B. On the Efficiency Dimension

Table 22 below shows the mean assessment of both groups of respondents

with regard to their perception of the extent of implementation of the efficiency

dimension of the EIS in their enhanced IMPACT learning centers.

Table 22
Difference in the Assessment of Instructional Coordinators and Instructional Supervisors
on Extent of Implementation of the Efficiency Dimension in the EIS in the School
Component Mean Mean t-computed p-value Interpretation
IC IS
Organizational structure 4.32 4.32 -.002 0.998 Not significant
Leadership 4.41 4.39 0.231 0.819 Not significant
Professional growth and 4.28 4.17 0.716 0.471 Not significant
development
School culture 4.40 4.33 0.552 0.582 Not significant
Level of significance = 0.05

Table 22 shows the mean assessment of both groups of respondents with

regard to their perception of the extent of implementation of the efficiency

dimension of the EIS in their enhanced IMPACT learning centers.

After respondents’ ratings were tabulated and compared using t-test and p-

values, the results were interpreted. They show that the mean assessment of both

groups of respondents on all four efficiency components had no significant

difference. Both groups of respondents were in agreement in their perceptions of

the four components, as follows: (1) On organizational structure, it is obvious there

is no difference between the ICs mean rating of 4.42 and the ISs mean ratinf of

4.42. (2) On leadership, differences between the ICs mean rating of 4.41 and the

ISs mean rating of 4.38 were not significant. (3) On professional growth and

development, differences between the ICs mean rating of 4.28 and the ISs mean
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rating of 4.17 were not significant. (4) On school culture, differences between the

ICs mean rating of 4.40 and the ISs mean rating of 4.33 were not significant.

Therefore, the null hypothesis that there is no significant difference in the

assessments of the instructional coordinators and the instructional supervisors is

accepted.

C. On the Advocacy Dimension

Table 23 below shows the mean assessment of both groups of respondents

with regard to their perception of the extent of implementation of the advocacy

dimension of the EIS in their enhanced IMPACT learning centers.

Table 23
Difference in the Assessment of Instructional Coordinators and Instructional Supervisors on
Extent of Implementation of Advocacy Dimension of EIS in the School
Component Mean Mean t-computed p-value Interpretations
IC IS
Comprehensive school 4.31 4.39 -0.501 0.617 Not significant
planning
Physical facilities and 4.22 4.02 0.863 0.389 Not significant
resources
Pupil and family 3.67 3.55 0.515 0.607 Not significant
involvement
Stakeholders and 3.82 3.70 0.578 0.632 Not significant
community support
Level of significance = 0.05

Ratings were tabulated and compared using t-test and p-values and the

weighted mean assessments arrived at for both groups of respondents on all four

advocacy components show that there is no significant difference in the

assessments given by either the instructional coordinators or the instructional

supervisors. (1) On comprehensive school planning, differences between the ICs

mean rating of 4.31 and the ISs mean rating of 4.39 were not significant. (2) On

physical facilities and resources, differences between the ICs mean rating of 4.22
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and the ISs mean rating of 4.02 were not significant. (3) On pupil and family

involvement, differences between the ICs mean rating of 3.67 and the ISs mean

rating of 3.55 were not significant. (4) On stakeholders and community support,

differences between the ICs mean rating of 3.82 and ISs mean rating of 3.70 were

not significant.

It is worth noting that “comprehensive school planning” was rated highly by

both groups of respondents. This is very important for the continued sustainability

of the IMPACT system. Along the same lines, “stakeholders support and

community involvement” must be gathered and inputted into the comprehensive

school plan; the more collaboration received, the higher the promise that support

would be forthcoming.

A point for concern here is that both groups of respondents rated their lowest

at 3.67 and 3.55, with the lowest weighted mean of 3.61 on ”pupil and family

involvement.” This researcher finds it worth mentioning because first and

foremost, IMPACT, as the acronym implies, should be the joint responsibility of

parents, the community and the government, not only the teachers. Older pupils

act as programmed teachers to the younger ones, and peer group leaders lead the

learning groups. Parents should exercise their children’s home school partnership,

especially when the children are away from school, so that their education

continues. The education officials and teachers concerned should do something to

encourage family involvement to a very large extent.


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With the results presented above, there is no significant difference in the level

of assessment of the instructional coordinators and the instructional supervisors,

therefore the null hypothesis is accepted. Both groups of respondents are in

agreement in their perceptions implying that they have the same level of

assessment of the advocacy component to be found in their schools. Overall, the

respondents felt that their schools practice and encourage advocacies to a large

extent, and successfully in their IMPACT schools.

On the overall, all three dimensions are indeed being implemented to a very

large extent, as perceived by both the instructional coordinators and instructional

supervisors. This is a good sign in the early stages of implementation of the

enhance IMPACT system. A good system is in place the first time and in the right

time. All three dimensions are important for success. It is to the credit of the

school implementers that the system requirements are in place.

Part III – Problems / Issues / Concerns Encountered in Implementing the

Enhanced IMPACT System in Respondent Schools

The tables in the next pages seek to answer the following question: What

are some problems/issues you have encountered in the implementation of the

Enhanced IMPACT System in your school?

It will be recalled that to answer the question, the respondents were given 20

choices in the questionnaire and instructed to tick as many as would apply in their
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schools. Respondents were also requested for additional inputs not stated in the

prepared choices; space was provided for these responses which was going to

form part of the tabulated qualitative responses.

Table 24 below contains a list of possible issues encountered by Instructional

Coordinators (ICs) and Instructional Supervisors (ISs) in implementing the

Enhanced IMPACT System (EIS) in their schools. These 20 items were presented

to the respondents for them to choose which problems and/or issues they felt

applied to their particular schools.

Table 24
Percentage Distribution of Problems/Issues Encountered in the Implementation of the
Enhanced IMPACT System in the Respondent Schools, According to Rank
Problems/Issues Frequency Percent Rank
(%)
1. We do not have advanced instructional materials for fast learners. 90 51 1
2. We do not have enough learning modules. 78 44 2
3. Not all school personnel are fully trained on how to implement the 73 41 3
Enhanced IMPACT System.
4. May parents do not want their children to be programmed teachers 72 40 5
because they feel that teaching should be the job of teachers only.
5. Instructional materials/aids are very expensive to develop. 72 40 5
6. We have no community resource persons in the school. 72 40 5
7. Parents are not interested in, or do not care about, their children’s 60 34 7
contracting.
8. Community stakeholders are not supportive of the school. 47 27 8.5
9. We do not have learning kiosks and do not have enough space for 47 27 8.5
the pupils.
10. It is very hard to train peer group leaders and programmed 46 26 10.5
teachers.
11. We do not have posttests for all the peer-group learning modules. 46 26 10.5
12. Classroom discipline is very hard to implement in an IMPACT 45 25 12
school.
13. Using multiple evaluation and assessment strategies is hard to do. 41 23 13
14. We do not know how to challenge our pupils and develop their 28 16 14
HOTS.
15. The community is not involved in the school. 18 10 15
16. Teachers are not consulted in developing and implementing the 11 6 16.5
school improvement plan.
17. The pupils do not like learning via peer group learning and 11 6 16.5
programmed teaching.
18. School head has unrealistic expectations for pupils and staff. 10 6 18
19. The school’s vision and mission statements are not clear. 4 2 19
20. School head is not approachable to pupils, parents and teachers. 2 1 20
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The respondents were requested to choose as many problems as applicable,

hence, the total frequency tally of 873.

The researcher finds it interesting that all the problems were chosen; that

could mean that for the respondents this is a factual list of the problems they have

encountered in implementing the Enhanced IMPACT System.

Besides identifying which problems, issues and concerns have been

encountered by the respondents, this study also checked which of those listed

were common to all. The responses were, therefore, ranked according to

frequency, from most to least indicated.

Majority of the respondents, equivalent to 51%, felt that the “lack of learning

modules for their fast learners” was their biggest implementation problem.

Conversely, an “unapproachable school head to pupils, parents and teachers” was

the least problem as checked by only two respondents.

“Not having enough learning modules” was the second highest in rank of the

implementation problems experienced by 44% of the respondents; while the third

biggest implementation problem and posted by 41% of the respondents was that

“not all school personnel are fully trained on the IMPACT system.”

Three problems occupied equal ranking by 40% of the respondents. These

problems included the following: (1) Many parents do not want their children to be

programmed teachers because they feel that teaching should be the job of

teachers only; (2) instructional materials/aids are very expensive to develop; and

(3) there are no community resource persons in the school.


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A related problem which came in close to the three above-named problems is

that of parents not interested in, or not caring about, their children’s contracting.

Problems about non-supportive community stakeholders and therefore not being

able to source learning kiosks especially needed due to space constraints tied at

rank # 8.5. Not having posttests for all the peer group learning modules and the

difficulty of training peer group learners and programmed teachers also tied at 26%

of the respondents, ranked at # 10.5. These problems are indeed experienced by

schools that are in the transition phase.

At least 25% of the respondents indicated that classroom discipline is very

hard to implement in an IMPACT school. This problem ranked # 12. Following this

closely is the problem of “difficulty of using multiple evaluation and assessment

strategies”. This was posted by 23% of the respondents, and ranked # 13. An

area of concern is the development of critical thinking skills. Ranking # 14 among

the list of problems is the ISs lack of know-how to challenge their pupils and

develop their HOTS with 16% of the respondents. Ranking # 15 is an issue as it

involves at least 10% of the respondents perceiving the lack of involvement of the

community in school activities. Occupying equal ranking at # 16.5 are the twin

problems posted by at least 6% of the respondents relative to (1) Teachers are not

consulted in developing and implementing the school improvement plan, and (2)

The pupils do not like learning via peer group learning and programmed teaching.

The last three items ranking # 18, 19 and 20, respectively, were the following: (1)

The school head has unrealistic expectations for pupils and staff; (2) The school’s
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vision and mission statements are not clear; and (3) The school head is not

approachable to pupils, parents and teachers.

It should be noted that the respondents felt unable to teach and use the

HOTs. If the respondents were trained to do this, what might be the reason for

their difficulty? In like manner, the development of posttests has also been a skill

introduced to the respondents. But feedback from this survey indicates the

respondents’ difficulty to develop these tests on their own. Could it be that

Instructional Supervisors would rather rely on ready-made tests from the district,

division, region, national DepED offices rather than develop their own and show

that they have the competencies and skills to do so? Maybe this can be a query

that future researchers would like to explore further.

Part IV - Recommendations and/or Suggestions to Improve the

Effectiveness, Efficiency and Advocacy Dimensions of the Enhanced

IMPACT System

After stating the problems and/or issues that the respondents have

encountered in implementing the Enhanced IMPACT System in their schools, the

next pages show Tables 26 to 28 that rank the recommendations and/or

suggestions given by both groups of respondents with regards the effectiveness,

efficiency and advocacy components of the Enhanced IMPACT System.


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A. On the Effectiveness Dimension

Table 25 below presents recommendations to improve the effectiveness

dimension of the EIS in schools.

Table 25
Recommendations/Suggestions to Improve the Effectiveness
Dimension of IMPACT Implementation in Schools

Recommendations and/or Suggestions Frequency Percentage Rank


(%)
1. Classroom discipline must be observed by everybody in the 176 99 1
school.
2. There should be continuous training and upgrading of 106 60 2
Programmed Teachers and Peer Group Leaders.
3. There should be advanced instructional materials for fast learners. 101 57 3
4. There should be enough peer group learning modules. 78 44 4
5. The school’s mission and vision statement should be clear to all 43 24 5
so that everyone knows their role towards the attainment of the
school’s goals and objectives.

Table 25 shows five recommendations and/or suggestions towards improving

the effectiveness component of an IMPACT school arranged according to

percentage distribution. The respondents were requested to choose all that apply

to their particular situations; hence, the multiple answers.

Almost all of the respondents, that is 99% of respondents, felt that for an

IMPACT school to be termed effective, classroom discipline must be observed by

everybody in the school. Sixty per cent of the respondents felt that there must be

continuous training and upgrading of programmed teachers and peer group

leaders; and 57% said that there should be advanced instructional materials for

fast learners. Forty-four per cent of the respondents said that there should be

enough peer group learning modules and 24% said that having clear mission and
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vision statements will orient everyone on the roles they play towards attainment of

the school’s goals and objectives.

B. On the Efficiency Dimension

Table 26 below presents recommendations to improve the efficiency

dimension of the EIS in schools.

Table 26
Recommendations/Suggestions to Improve
the Efficiency Dimension of the Enhanced IMPACT Implementation in Schools

Recommendations/ Suggestions Frequency Percentage Rank


(%)
1. School personnel should be fully trained on how to implement 103 58 1
the Enhanced IMPACT system
2. Staff should be open to new ideas and always search for more 85 48 2
efficient ways to do things.
3. Academic excellence is valued and standards are realistic so 62 35 3
that pupils can achieve them.
4. The school should have a safe and orderly environment so that 59 33 4
the pupils want to come to school.
5. The school head should be available to all teachers, parents 40 23 5
and pupils.

Table 26 shows five recommendations and/or suggestions towards improving

the efficiency dimension of an IMPACT school arranged according to percentage

distribution. Again, the respondents were requested to choose all that apply to

their particular situations; hence, the multiple answers.

Majority of the respondents, or 103 equivalent to 58 per cent, felt that school

personnel fully trained on how to implement the IMPACT system will assure the

efficiency of the school. At most, 85 or 48 per cent of the respondents felt that

these staff should be open to new ideas and always search for more efficient ways

to do things. Likewise, 62 or 35 per cent of the respondents felt that, in efficient

IMPACT schools, academic excellence is valued and standards are realistic so


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that pupils can achieve them. Furthermore, 59 or 33 per cent of the respondents

reasoned that the school should have a safe and orderly environment so that the

pupils want to come to school. For 40 or 23 per cent of the respondents, another

mark of an efficient school is for the school head to be available to all teachers,

parents and pupils. All these suggestions coupled with earlier findings illustrate the

respondents’ desire to develop and sustain an IMPACT school that runs effectively

and efficiently.

C. On the Advocacy Dimension

Table 27 below presents recommendations to improve the advocacy

dimension of the EIS in schools.

Table 27
Recommendations/Suggestions to Improve
the Advocacy Component of IMPACT Implementation

Recommendations / Suggestions Frequency Percentage Rank


(%)

1. More stakeholders should be involved in the School 97 55 1


Implementation Plan and Annual Improvement Plan.
2. Stakeholders should be fully oriented about the IMPACT system 96 54 2
so that they will support it.
3. Parents should witness and take part in their children’s 88 50 3
contracting.
4. The whole school should be involved in developing the School 63 36 4
Implementation Plan.
5. The school is the learning hub of the community and the 63 36 5
stakeholders should appreciate it.

Table 27 shows five recommendations and/or suggestions towards improving

the advocacy dimension of an IMPACT school arranged based on percentage

distribution. As with the other components, the respondents were requested to

choose all that apply to their particular situations; hence, the multiple answers.
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In implementing a stronger advocacy program in an IMPACT school, 97

respondents or 55 per cent believe that more stakeholders should be involved in

the School Implementation Plan and Annual Improvement Plan. Ninety-six

respondents or 54 per cent believe that the stakeholders should be fully oriented

about the IMPACT system so that they will support it. To get deeper parents’

involvement, 88 respondents or 50 per cent felt that the parents should witness

and take part in their children’s contracting. In this manner, parents may become

more cooperative if they understand that ultimately their children will benefit from

such commitment. Once again 63 respondents or 36 per cent believe that the

whole school should be involved in developing the School Implementation Plan

and not just the school head. In such a manner, with more people involved in the

planning activities, another 63 or 36 per cent of the respondents are sure that the

stakeholders will appreciate the school because it is the learning hub of the

community.

All these recommendations and/or suggestions were given in light of

problems/issues and concerns encountered in the respondents’ implementation of

the EIS in their schools.


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Chapter 5

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS

AND RECOMMENDATIONS

This chapter presents the summary of findings of the study, the conclusions

that were drawn from the findings and the recommendations which were based on

the conclusions.

Summary of Findings:

The following findings are the results of the survey conducted among the

instructional coordinators (school heads) and instructional supervisors (teachers)

of the 19 UNICEF-sponsored EIS schools in the identified regions of the country.

Sampling was purposive. All concerned school heads (19) and teachers (158)

were included in the survey, totaling 177 respondents.

A. On the Perceptions of Instructional Coordinators (ICs) and Instructional

Supervisors (ISs) on the Extent of Implementation of the Enhanced

IMPACT System (EIS) in Respondent Schools

The study of the extent of implementation focused on three dimensions,

namely: on effectiveness, on efficiency and on advocacy. A 5-point scale was

used to measure perceptions; extent of implementation was expected at any level

ranging from a low “not at all” to a high “to a very large extent.”
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The review yielded the following results.

1. On Effectiveness

There were six components reviewed under this dimension:

1.1 School Mission, Vision, Goals and Objectives

The overall ratings of respondents in their perceptions of each of the three

indicators under this component ranged from 4.51-4.64. This range is covered by

the interpretation that extent of implementation was “to a very large extent.”

The grand weighted mean of the ratings given by the instructional

coordinators was 4.69, indicating implementation “to a very large extent.” The

instructional supervisors assessed implementation at 4.58, meaning

implementation “to a very large extent.” The overall grand weighted mean was

4.59, also meaning implementation “to a very large extent.”

1.2 Classroom Assessment

The overall rating of respondents in their perceptions of each of the

eight indicators under this component ranged from 3.75-4.52. This means that

perceptions went from a high 3.75 (to a large extent) to a very high 4.52 (to a very

large extent). Perceptions varied from indicator to indicator but only slightly, as

perceptions varied from “large extent” to “very large extent.”

However, the grand weighted mean of the ratings given by the

instructional coordinators was 4.14, indicating implementation “to a large extent.”

The instructional supervisors likewise assessed implementation at 4.14, also


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meaning implementation “to a large extent”. The overall grand weighted mean was

of course 4.14, also meaning implementation “to a large extent.”

1.3 Teaching and Learning Delivery Mechanisms

The overall ratings of respondents in their perceptions of each of the

five indicators under this component ranged from 4.38-4.65. This range is covered

by the interpretation that extent of implementation was “to a very large extent”.

The grand weighted mean of the ratings given by the instructional

coordinators was 4.55, indicating implementation “to a very large extent.” The

instructional supervisors assessed implementation at 4.47, meaning

implementation “to a very large extent”. The overall grand weighted mean was

4.48, also meaning implementation “to a very large extent”.

1.4 Curriculum

The overall ratings of respondents in their perceptions of each of the

four indicators under this component ranged from 4.30-4.68. This range is covered

by the interpretation that extent of implementation was “to a very large extent.”

The grand weighted mean of the ratings given by the instructional

coordinators was 4.43, indicating implementation “to a very large extent”. The

instructional supervisors assessed implementation at 4.49, meaning

implementation “to a very large extent.” The overall grand weighted mean was

4.48, also meaning implementation “to a very large extent.”


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1.5 Instructional Materials

The overall ratings of respondents in their perceptions of each of the

five indicators under this component ranged from 3.69-4.38. This means that

perceptions went from a high 3.69 (to a large extent) to a very high 4.38 (to a very

large extent). Perceptions varied from indicator to indicator but only slightly, as

perceptions varied from “large extent” to “very large extent”.

However, the grand weighted mean of the ratings given by the

instructional coordinators was 4.16, indicating implementation “to a large extent.”

The instructional supervisors assessed implementation at 4.00, meaning

implementation “to a large extent”. The overall grand weighted mean is 4.02, also

meaning implementation “to a large extent”.

1.6 Learning Environment

The overall rating of respondents in their perceptions of each of the

five indicators under this component ranged from 4.05-4.54. This means that

perceptions went from a high 4.05 (to a large extent) to a very high 4.54 (to a very

large extent). Perceptions varied from indicator to indicator but only slightly, as

perceptions varied from “large extent” to “very large extent.”

However, the grand weighted mean of the ratings given by the

instructional coordinators was 4.38, indicating implementation “to a very large

extent.” The instructional supervisors assessed implementation at 4.29, meaning

implementation “to a large extent.” The overall grand weighted mean was 4.29,

also meaning implementation “to a very large extent.”


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2. On Efficiency

There were four components reviewed under this dimension.

2.1 Organizational Structure and Support System

The overall rating of respondents in their perceptions of this single

indicator under this component was 4.32. This means that implementation was

perceived “to a very large extent.” The overall grand weighted mean for both

groups of respondents was 4.32, meaning implementation “to a very large extent.”

2.2 Leadership

The overall ratings of respondents in their perceptions of each of the

four indicators under this component ranged from 4.31-4.42. This range is covered

by the interpretation that extent of implementation was “to a very large extent”.

The grand weighted mean of the ratings given by the instructional

coordinators was 4.42, indicating implementation “to a very large extent.” The

instructional supervisors assessed implementation at 4.41, meaning

implementation “to a very large extent.” The overall grand weighted mean was

4.39, also meaning implementation “to a very large extent.”

2.3 Professional Growth and Development

The overall rating of respondents in their perceptions of each of the

five indicators under this component ranged from 4.02-4.44. This means that

perceptions went from a high 4.02 (to a large extent) to a very high 4.44 (to a very

large extent). Perceptions varied from indicator to indicator but only slightly, as

perceptions varied from “a large extent” to “a very large extent.”


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However, the grand weighted mean of the ratings given by the

instructional coordinators was 4.28, indicating implementation “to a very large

extent”. The instructional supervisors likewise assessed implementation at 4.17,

also meaning implementation “to a large extent.” The overall grand weighted

mean is 4.18, also meaning implementation “to a large extent.”

2.4 School Culture

The overall ratings of respondents in their perceptions of each of the

ten indicators under this component ranged from 4.18-4.50. This means that

perceptions went from a high 4.18 (to a large extent) to a very high 4.50 (to a very

large extent). Perceptions varied from indicator to indicator but only slightly, as

perceptions varied from “large extent” to “very large extent.”

However, the grand weighted mean of the ratings given by the

instructional coordinators was 4.40, indicating implementation “to a very large

extent.” The instructional supervisors likewise assessed implementation at 4.33,

also meaning implementation “to a very large extent”. The overall grand weighted

mean was 4.34, also meaning implementation “to a very large extent.”

3. Advocacy

3.1 Comprehensive School Planning

The overall ratings of respondents in their perceptions of each of the

three indicators under this component ranged from 4.30-4.43. This range is

covered by the interpretation that extent of implementation was “to a very large

extent.”
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The grand weighted mean of the ratings given by the instructional

coordinators was 4.31, indicating implementation “to a very large extent.” The

instructional supervisors assessed implementation at 4.39, meaning

implementation “to a very large extent.” The overall grand weighted mean is 4.39,

also meaning implementation “to a very large extent.”

3.2 Physical Facilities and Resources

The overall ratings of respondents in their perceptions of each of the

three indicators under this component ranged from 3.79-4.25. This means that

perceptions went from a high 3.79 (to a large extent) to a very high 4.25 (to a very

large extent). Perceptions varied from indicator to indicator but only slightly, as

perceptions varied from “large extent” to “very large extent.”

3.3 Pupil and Family Involvement

The overall ratings of respondents in their perceptions of each of the

five indicators under this component ranged from 3.12-3.82. This range is covered

by the interpretation that extent of implementation was “to a large extent.”

The grand weighted mean of the ratings given by the instructional

coordinators was 3.67, indicating implementation “to a large extent”. The

instructional supervisors assessed implementation at 3.55, meaning

implementation “to a large extent.” The overall grand weighted mean was 3.56,

also meaning implementation “to a large extent”.


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3.4 Stakeholders and Community Support

The overall rating of respondents in their perceptions of each of the six

indicators under this component ranged from 3.57-3.97. This range is covered by

the interpretation that extent of implementation was “to a large extent”.

The grand weighted mean of the ratings given by the instructional

coordinators was 3.82, indicating implementation “to a large extent.” The

instructional supervisors assessed implementation at 3.70, meaning

implementation “to a large extent.” The overall grand weighted mean was 3.72,

also meaning implementation “to a large extent.”

B. On the Significant Differences in the Assessments Between the

Instructional Coordinators and Instructional Supervisors

The perceptions of both groups of respondents were tested for significant

difference using the t-test. These were on the dimensions of effectiveness,

efficiency and advocacy. The following are the results of the test.

1. On Effectiveness

There were six components under review.

1.1 School’s Mission, Vision, Goals and Objectives

There is no significant difference between the perceptions of the

instructional coordinators (overall mean = 4.69) and the instructional supervisors

(overall mean = 4.58) with regard to the extent of implementation of the mission,

vision, goals and objectives of the EIS schools. Both groups have the same level

of assessment of this effectiveness component.


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1.2 Classroom Assessment and Evaluation

There is no significant difference between the perceptions of the

instructional coordinators (overall mean = 4.14) and the instructional supervisors

(overall mean = 4.14) with regard to the extent of implementation of requirements

on classroom assessment and evaluation in the EIS schools. Both groups have

the same level of assessment of this effectiveness component.

1.3 Teaching and Learning Delivery Mechanisms

There is no significant difference between perceptions of the

instructional coordinators (overall mean = 4.55) and the instructional supervisors

(overall mean = 4.47) with regard to the extent of implementation of requirements

on teaching and learning delivery mechanisms in the EIS schools. Both groups

have the same level of assessment of this effectiveness component.

1.4 Curriculum

There is no significant difference between the perceptions of the

instructional coordinators (overall mean = 4.43) and the instructional supervisors

(overall mean = 4.49) with regard to the extent of implementation of requirements

on the curriculum in the EIS schools. Both groups have the same level of

assessment of this effectiveness component.

1.5 Instructional Materials

There is no significant difference between the perceptions of the

instructional coordinators (overall mean = 4.16) and the instructional supervisors

(overall mean = 4.00) with regard to the extent of implementation of requirements


POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

on instructional materials in the EIS schools. Both groups have the same level of

assessment of this effectiveness component.

1.6 Learning Environment

There is no significant difference between the perceptions of the

instructional coordinators (overall mean = 4.38) and the instructional supervisors

(overall mean = 4.28) with regard to the extent of implementation of requirements

on the learning environment in the EIS schools. Both groups have the same level

of assessment of this effectiveness component.

2. On Efficiency

There were four components under review.

2.1 Organizational Structure

There is no significant difference between the perceptions of the

instructional coordinators (overall mean = 4.32) and the instructional supervisors

(overall mean = 4.32) with regard to the extent of implementation of requirements

on the learning environment in the EIS schools. Both groups have the same level

of assessment of this efficiency component.

2.2 Leadership

There is no significant difference between the perceptions of the

instructional coordinators (overall mean = 4.41) and the instructional supervisors

(overall mean = 4.39) with regard to the extent of implementation of requirements

on the learning environment in the EIS schools. Both groups have the same level

of assessment of this efficiency component.


POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

2.3 Professional Growth and Development

There is no significant difference between the perceptions of the

instructional coordinators (overall mean = 4.28) and the instructional supervisors

(overall mean = 4.17) with regard to the extent of implementation of requirements

on the learning environment in the EIS schools. Both groups have the same level

of assessment of this efficiency component.

2.4 School Culture

There is no significant difference between the perceptions of the

instructional coordinators (overall mean = 4.40) and the instructional supervisors

(overall mean = 4.33) with regard to the extent of implementation of requirements

on the school culture in the EIS schools. Both groups have the same level of

assessment of this efficiency component.

3. On Advocacy

There were four components under review.

3.1 Comprehensive School Planning

There is no significant difference between the perceptions of the

instructional coordinators (overall mean = 4.31) and the instructional supervisors

(overall mean = 4.39) with regard to the extent of implementation of requirements

on comprehensive school planning in the EIS schools. Both groups have the same

level of assessment of this advocacy component.


POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

3.2 Physical Facilities and Resources

There is no significant difference between the perceptions of the

instructional coordinators (overall mean = 4.22) and the instructional supervisors

(overall mean = 4.02) with regard to the extent of implementation of requirements

on the physical facilities and resources in the EIS schools. Both groups have the

same level of assessment of this advocacy component.

3.3 Pupil and Family Involvement

There is no significant difference between the perceptions of the

instructional coordinators (overall mean = 3.67) and the instructional supervisors

(overall mean = 3.55) with regard to the extent of implementation of requirements

on the pupil and family involvement in the EIS schools. Both groups have the

same level of assessment of this advocacy component.

3.4 Stakeholders and Community Support

There is no significant difference between the perceptions of the

instructional coordinators (overall mean = 3.82) and the instructional supervisors

(overall mean = 3.70) with regard to the extent of implementation of requirements

on the stakeholders and community support in the EIS schools. Both groups have

the same level of assessment of this advocacy component.


POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

C. Problems/ Issues/ Concerns Encountered by the Schools Implementing

the Enhanced IMPACT System (EIS)

A list of 20 different problems were ticked off as having been manifested in

the EIS schools. The first three problems considered most pressing represent

inadequacies that affect the effectiveness of implementation. Occupying highest

frequency is the “lack of advanced materials for fast learners,” followed closely by

the “lack of enough learning modules,” and third, by the “lack of training of

implementers on the EIS itself.”

D. Recommendations and Suggested Solutions to Address the Problems/

Issues/ Concerns Encountered by the Schools Implementing the

Enhanced IMPACT System (EIS)

It is interesting to note that at least five recommendations were given at

random. These are summarized and presented in the order of their frequency,

from highest to lowest, as follows: (1) Classroom discipline must be observed by

everybody in the school. (2) There should be continuous training and upgrading

of programmed teachers and peer group leaders. (3) There should be advanced

instructional materials for fast learners. (4) There should be enough peer group

learning modules. And (5) The school’s mission and vision statements should be

clear to all so that everyone knows their role towards the attainment of the school’s

goals and objectives.


POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

Conclusions

In light of the findings obtained in the study, the following conclusions were

drawn, focusing on the three dimensions of the Enhanced IMPACT System (EIS)

being implemented in the respondent schools:

1. Schools implementing the Enhanced IMPACT System are faithful to the

instructional system requirements of the innovation and are working within the

parameters of effectiveness, efficiency and advocacy dimension.

2. Components of the effectiveness dimension of implementation work well

together to bring about instructional success. Components of the efficiency

dimension of implementation work well together to bring about administrative

success. Components of the advocacy dimension of implementation work well

together to bring about success in community participation. Of the three

dimensions, advocacy is the least implemented, although on a positive note, still to

a large extent.

3. Positive perceptions are deemed credible with both groups of respondents

expressing no significant difference in their assessments in all aspects of the

study.

4. Most pressing of problems encountered in the implementation of the

Enhanced IMPACT System include the lack of pertinent instructional materials

which are requisites to effective implementation, as well as the lack of the

corresponding training for the nitty gritty details of system implementation. The

instructional system is an innovation that needs a thorough grounding of


POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

philosophy, delivery mode, methods and procedures, and other system

requirements.

5. Recommendations provided by the school implementers themselves help

to reduce the challenges in implementation articulated herein. They are practical

solutions worth looking at and address majority of the problems/ issues/ and

concerns of the EIS schools.

Recommendations

Based on the foregoing findings and conclusions, the following

recommendations are being proposed:

1. It is highly recommended that UNICEF continue to sponsor all schools in

the country that are implementing the Enhanced IMPACT System (EIS) since there

is empirical data that support the effectiveness and efficiency of the system.

2. All stakeholders of the EIS should put in more interest, money and effort

into the advocacy dimension of this educational innovation.

3. Intrinsic as well as other rewards for the EIS implementers are in order.

Such zeal and faithfulness to the mission, vision and goals of education are

commendable.

4. Immediate attention should be given to the lack of resources and

corresponding training articulated by the school implementers in delivering basic

education in the EIS schools.


POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

5. Suggested solutions coming from the implementers themselves are worth

listening to, as they represent the practitioners’ practical view. Care must be taken

to dialogue regularly with the instructional coordinators and instructional

supervisors on their needs and wants.

Other Recommendations

1. To the instructional supervisors who have mentioned that they do not feel

very confidently to teach their programmed teachers and peer group leaders higher

order thinking skills (HOTS) to be used during their lessons, additional training on

this strategy is recommended. To address the observation of both groups of

respondents on the negative attitudes of some parents with regards to their

children being tapped as programmed teachers or peer group leaders, additional

training on how to develop and sustain advocacy relations with parents and other

significant learning partners is also recommended. And to assist the instructional

supervisors who have said that they do not have enough learning modules and

posttests, another training on module and posttest development is likewise

recommended. A training workshop on how to develop pedagogically-appropriate

instructional materials making use of indigenous and inexpensive materials is also

recommended so that the IMPACT schools can have a bank of instructional

materials.

Another recommended training that the instructional supervisors can undergo

is on how to develop and sustain the motivation of programmed teachers and peer
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

group leaders. All these trainings can be done individually in an enhancement

session with the IMPACT schools. Alternatively, convening and holding an

IMPACT summit can best address the concerns of the instructional coordinators

and supervisors as well as be a forum for an exchange of best practices and

implementation how-to’s.

2. Just like the instructional supervisors, the instructional coordinators also

need to have enhancement trainings on coaching and mentoring their school staff;

on creating and holding stakeholders’ interests in the school; on resource

allocation and sourcing; school-based management with R.A. 9155; and a better

appreciation of their role in the IMPACT system. These topics can be discussed

during enhancement trainings for the IMPACT implementers.

3. This researcher recommends that a monitoring system with continuous

enhancement training sessions be instituted in the IMPACT schools so that the

staff do not feel isolated and their concerns immediately addressed before

implementation of the IMPACT system in their schools suffer. Holding an IMPACT

Summit is one way of gathering all IMPACT implementers to develop their pride

and ownership in IMPACT. There should also be accreditation of IMPACT schools

so that continuous quality improvement of the system’s instructional delivery

modes, the learning modules and posttests and the over-all management

processes can be assessed, evaluated and gathered as benchmarks. Likewise

the planned IMPACT Summit should take place so that the many improvements
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

brought about by the educational innovation can be presented to other educators

to attract national and international audiences.

4. Curing the financial ills and lack of facilities of schools may not be an

option for IMPACT proponents at this time. However, it is recommended that

IMPACT proponents advocate for policy reforms within the Department of

Education to refrain from transferring trained Instructional Supervisors and

Instructional Coordinators. Necessary promotions must be awarded but should be

within the IMPACT school for project continuity and sustainability.

5. Project proponents should also invest in an external, and if possible,

international evaluation of the enhanced IMPACT system. The evaluation should

look at all aspects of the system to include pupils’ perception of their roles in the

system, not just confined to records of their academic achievement. A strong

research-based portfolio for IMPACT will go a long way towards recognition of its

effectiveness and efficiency as an alternative delivery mode of basic education

whose time has come. It could be that the result of the evaluation will recommend

the institutionalization of IMPACT in the Philippines. IMPACT should be present

not just in multi-grade schools as recommended by some of the respondents but

more for schools in communities where drop-out rates are high and a scarcity of

teachers and school facilities prevalent.

6. Advocacy with business and industry should also be undertaken by the

project proponents so that additional sources and funds can be tapped for an
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

educational innovation such as the Enhanced IMPACT System (EIS) that this

study has proven is perceived to be truly effective and efficient by its implementers.

7. The Enhanced IMPACT System has survived sporadically in our nation’s

schools since 1974. Yet it is a mature technology that is backed by researches

done locally and internationally. With the state of our schools’ physical plant and

facilities and the ever-growing population, alternatives must be found to be able to

provide quality education at least cost to our children. This was IMPACT’s

founding objective in the early 1970s and is still IMPACT’s mission up to the

present time. Maybe all that is needed is for additional studies to prove that such

is still IMPACT’s reason for being now into the twenty-first century.

8. For future researchers, this researcher suggests that the pupils, parents

and stakeholders, and the community be part of their studies’ respondents. The

IMPACT system is not solely composed of the effectiveness, efficiency and

advocacy components studied here; the instructional delivery system and the roles

that the different categories of teachers, especially those of the resource and

examination teachers, should be studied too. The role the community may play in

IMPACT was not studied in this paper; it is recommended that a study be made on

this, too. The personality of the researcher may have also been a factor in the

overwhelmingly positive response of the respondents; a different manner of

floating the instrument may be in order.


POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

This researcher hopes that the policy recommendations listed in this study

can come into fruition. Likewise, the recommended future directions can hopefully

be acted upon, especially the recommendation for policy formulation on non-

transfer of trained instructional coordinators and instructional supervisors to allow

the technology the time to grow and bear fruit in the communities they serve.

Expanding to a secondary school IMPACT system is also highly

recommended. Admittedly this will take much time and effort, possibly more than

what was experienced in the birthing years of IMPACT. But if the experiment

proves to be worth it, then another educational innovation will be added to the

growing alternatives to the conventional school system. One note of caution

though: an innovation will necessarily entail great initial outputs at least in man

hours and effort, if not in finances. Community support, dedication of school staff

and project proponents’ vision will carry the innovation through to its maturity if only

all components will work together. Nothing worthwhile happens overnight.

May this researcher quote in closing the words of Dr. Josefina Lacastesantos,

Elementary School Principal III and Instructional Coordinator “extraordinaire” of

the Culianan Learning Center in Mercedes District, Zamboanga City, adjudged

by the Department of Education as a Center of Excellence in the IMPACT

system…

“…There is no need to choose among any of the 20 problems listed here, we


have encountered them all. We have been there…we have done that…and
IMPACT is here to stay in Culianan Learning Center. We invite you all to see
how much change in the community IMPACT has wrought. If we can, since
1981, implement it successfully, when we did not have the supportive
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

project proponents now present to aid us, so much more you, the new
IMPACT educators, can make it work. All that is needed is faith in the system
and in each other: the school, the community and God.”

Such faith and belief in the system, commitment to education and dedication

to work all work together to produce a successful educational plan. Such is indeed

what makes an educational innovation fly off, get implemented effectively and

efficiently, and institutionalized soon after. Given the findings in this study, there is

substantial proof of the soundness of the Enhanced IMPACT System as a mature

technology for the delivery of basic education, not only here in the Philippines, but

also in other similarly placed countries in the world.


POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

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Social and Behavioral Theory. New York, 1994.

Sheila Wolfendale. Parental Participation in Children’s Development and


Education. Gordon and Breach, New York, 1993.

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“Asia and the Pacific Education for All Mid-Decade Assessment, Final Draft Sub
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“Constructal Theory: Sustainability”. Tim McGee.


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on Educational Research. Quezon City, Philippines, 22-29 July 1991.
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Research Report by the Bureau of Nonformal Education, 1995.

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Policy Notes on A Study on Alternative Learning Systems for Developing and


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by SEAMEO INNOTECH, Quezon City, Philippines, 1983.

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Basic Education in Africa. A discussion paper presented at the 2001 Biennial
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(ADEA) in Arusha, United Republic of Tanzania, 7-11 October 2001, by


Ekundayo J. D. Thompson.

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POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

Appendix C

The EIS -- “Enhanced Instructional Management by PArents,


Community and Teachers” System

The beginnings of IMPACT

In the early 1970s, most member countries of the SEAMEO (South East
Asian Ministers of Organization) had one thing in common: they had all experienced
being a colony of another nation, and having the colonizing nation’s educational
system implemented in their country. It must be said though that the educational
systems laid down by the colonizers were perhaps the best possible at the time. In
the Philippines, substantial and useful gains in the academic and professional fields
was experienced then.

But as countries developed, their population grew though not at par with
resources. The capacity of the country’s educational system to cope with increasing
demands for quality education became severely taxed. The Philippines, previously
known to have the best educational system in Southeast Asia, eventually lagged
academically behind its neighboring countries like Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, and
even Thailand.

Today, the Philippines is a strong advocate of the “Education for All”


(EFA) global movement and is undertaking significant initiatives to implement
programs and projects to achieve the EFA goals. These initiatives have for
the most part -- and for good reason -- been focused on improving the quality
of education being provided through conventional means in the formal school
system. Despite these efforts, national achievement as measured by the
yearly national achievement tests show that there have been no significant
improvements in the quality of education. A more embarrassing situation is
that in international science and mathematics tests the Philippines rank either
second or third to the lowest among the countries that participated.

Another consideration is that despite the resources being poured into


education, not just by the government but by other external funding/loan
granting agencies, there remains a considerable fraction of Philippine society
today who come to school only to later drop-out and stay-out. Some never
even came to school at all either by choice, by economic considerations and
life conditions, or by circumstances in the school setting that made education
a low priority. DepED basic education statistics for SY 2003-2004 show an
overall participation rate of 90.05 per cent for the elementary level which
means that some ten percent of elementary-age children are out of school.
Many live in far-flung and still isolated communities of the country. But a
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

significant number who have access to public elementary schools continue to


stay out of school either because their families are too poor to pay for the so-
called “hidden costs” of schooling or the children themselves must “earn” for
the family or both.
The State has made it a national goal to achieve universal access to
elementary education. Towards this end DepED through BESRA (Basic
Education Sector Reform Agenda) has made a priority concern the
implementation of mature and tested technologies that would improve quality
and access to basic education. A concrete action taken was the consolidation
and packaging of these technologies and innovations into one menu from
which private organizations and corporations, such as the League of
Corporate Foundations (LCF), could choose the innovation to fund. e-IMPACT
is one among the programs being endorsed by DepED for support by LCF
under the “Adopt-a-School Program”.

Benefits of Implementing e-IMPACT in Schools

In 1984, scientific studies were conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the


IMPACT Learning System in terms of quality and cost from the time it was
developed in 1972. The following findings were derived:

· IMPACT pupils consistently achieved higher levels of cognitive skills


compared with pupils in conventional schools particularly in Languages
(Filipino and English), Science and Mathematics;

· The IMPACT system tends to help the average and slow learners achieve
more in comparison with those in the conventional system;

· Quality education can be attained at a lower cost to the government by up to


50% without sacrificing quality; and

· Savings up to millions of dollars per year can be gained if the e-IMPACT


system is widely used.

Other benefits of e-IMPACT System

e-IMPACT schools consistently developed among its pupils “concomitant


learnings” which can be termed as even more significant than the resulting
increments in cognitive knowledge and understanding. These “concomitant
learnings” can be traced to the three main components of the instructional
management system and the their character building dimensions: programmed
teaching, peer-group learning, and individualized learning. Research has shown
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

that the following concomitant learnings are more pronounced in pupils under the
e-IMPACT system:

· Social Sensitivity. Children in the e-IMPACT system are reported to be more


spontaneous, even uninhibited in their activities and expressions. They work
and communicate equally well among themselves as well as with parent
groups, and visitors.

· Motivation to Learn. The system has helped develop among the children an
intrinsic desire to learn. As a programmed teacher or peer group leader
stands before a younger group of learners, or among his/her peers, he/she
would want to assure himself/herself of some mastery of his or her
assignment. Thus, children become more motivated to learn inspiring other
learners as well.

· Self-Confidence. Children under the system are more confident particularly in


taking tests, and in interacting with visitors.

· Skill in Self-Study. As children are exposed to modular learning, their skill for
self-study is enhanced that even when they are absent from class due to
unavoidable reasons, the children make up for it through self-study.

· A Sense of Responsibility and Commitment. The system has developed in


the pupils a strong sense of responsibility and commitment through the
group- contracting scheme. In group-contracting, a peer group signs out a
number of modules to be finished at a specified time and for which they are
responsible for monitoring the progress of the members in the group. The
peer group members take it upon themselves to assist an absent member, to
tutor the slow pupil, and to visit and help the sick classmate.

· Development of Leadership. As children are given the chance to become


programmed teachers or peer group leaders, they experience being looked
up to, and being obeyed and respected. These opportunities make them
stand tall in the eyes of the younger children. Thus, the desire to excel as a
group leader enters consciously or unconsciously in the mind of the young
Programmed Teacher, and the Peer Group Leader. In the process, he/she
nurtures those qualities of leadership which in time will be his/her asset in the
adult world.
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

The Role of the School Under the e-IMPACT Learning System

Based on the acronym, e-IMPACT (enhanced Instructional Management by


Parents, Community and Teachers) is an instructional delivery in which the parents
and the community collaborate and cooperate with the school toward the education
of the child. It is also an instructional management system aimed at reducing the
total costs of education without sacrificing quality.

The School as a Community Learning Center

Under the 8th and 9th principles of the e-IMPACT Learning system, the
parents and the community own the school as it is converted into a Community
Learning Center (CLC), not just for the children, but also for out-of-school youth and
adult who also have access to the learning resources. In the e-IMPACT system, the
school or the Learning Center opens its doors to the community. At the same time it
reaches out and seeks knowledge from the community. Thus, the entire community
becomes a learning center where there can be a variety of learning venues; where
there are unlimited available resources for learning; where there is a place for the
learners to congregate. The nucleus of this learning center is the school.

The Learning Resource Center

The Learning Resource Center (LRC) is multi-purpose, but it is used mainly


as a library and testing center. It is also used as a storage area for the modules and
other learning materials. It is best that it is located centrally as possible. In a small
school, the LRC is also where the IS and the IS Aide would have their desks and
working area. Space should be provided for them.

In the absence of an appropriate room, knocking down at least one partition


between two adjacent rooms can create the LRC. Some buildings, which have
“accordion” or removable partitions, lend themselves easily for this purpose.
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

To store modules and other devices, shelves may be constructed along the
walls. Posttests must be stored beyond the reach of the pupils. Part of the LRC is
the testing area. Since progress in IMPACT is self-paced, testing is generally
individual, but in most cases, it is by learning group. Experience will show the
number of pupils reporting for testing. On this basis, the area for testing can be
adjusted accordingly.

Spaces for Small Group Learning

Normally, the size of a classroom is 63 square meters. In the e-IMPACT set-


up, the classroom is used for programmed teaching as well as for peer-group
learning. A table for the IS should also fit into the room. However, in the setting-up
of small groups, the IS should see to it that there is enough space between learning
groups and that discipline and classroom management is well maintained for
maximum learning. Should there be a need for additional learning space, peer
group learners can utilize corridors outside the classroom and other open space
close enough for the IS to supervise.

Kiosks

Peer-learning groups that cannot be accommodated in the classroom or in


the corridors will need learning spaces. In e-IMPACT, small sheds called kiosks fit
this purpose. Each kiosk should have a chalkboard and enough seats, or better
still, kiosks should have permanent benches to relieve the children of having to
carry their seats to the kiosks every time they have peer group learning sessions.
As with the conventional school, the e-IMPACT school also has need for
space and facilities for skills training. Thus, a home economics room, shop for
handicrafts, and space for nursery and garden are also part of the CLC structure. In
the absence of a regular shop and home economics room, the children can utilize
any available and appropriate space.
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Roles and Functions of School Staff in the e-IMPACT System

The smooth and successful implementation of the e-IMPACT system in a


school depends greatly on efficient supervision and administration. Each staff is
involved in the program and is delegated definite roles to perform. The following are
the roles and functions of school staff in the e-IMPACT system:

The Instructional Coordinator (IC)


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The Instructional Coordinator corresponds to the school principal in the


conventional system. He/She works with and through other people. The term
“people” include the subordinates and superiors and also the pupils, parents, local
officials, and the community members. He/She coordinates with anyone at any level
within or outside the school who can help achieve unity or organizational goals. In
cooperation and collaboration with school staff, he/she works with them to provide
one another with accurate information needed to perform tasks. Together, they
provide the necessary networking mechanism for everyone. Thus, the Instructional
Coordinator acts as the channel of communication within the organization.

Roles of The Instructional Coordinator


The role of the Instructional Coordinator is no different from the role of the
principal in the conventional school set-up. He/She plans, designs, arranges, directs,
executes, monitors, controls, and oversees the implementation of the system and all
its activities in the learning center ensuring that all the components of the system
which are the: Instructional Supervisors, Programmed Teachers, Itinerant Teachers,
Peer-Group Leaders, Tutors, and Community Resource Persons, perform their
functions in accordance with expectations.

The first main role of the IC is to implement the system. In the implementation
of the system, these are the roles the IC is expected to perform:

a. At the start of the school year, he/she assists the Instructional


Supervisors in grouping the pupils into smaller groups called families.
Each family is to be composed of the Programmed Teaching Group
and the Peer-Learning Group.

b. Having done the grouping into families, the IC assigns the teaching
staff to their various roles. He/She assigns the Instructional
Supervisors to handle the families. He/She also assigns teachers to
handle Music, Arts, P.E. and Computer Education. The teachers
assigned in these subjects are called Itinerant Teachers.

c. The IC assists the Instructional Supervisors in preparing the schedule


of classes taking into consideration the different modes of learning
such as programmed teaching, peer-group learning, itinerant teaching,
skills training, practice drills, and others. It is important that there
should be no overlapping of activities in the preparation of schedules.

d. The IC also schedules training of the Instructional Supervisors,


Programmed Teachers and Peer-Group Leaders, as the need arises.
This is particularly important in the case of Level IV (Grade IV) pupils,
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as it will be their first time to become programmed teachers. They are


given orientation on the different item programs and lesson programs.

e. The IC monitors the teaching-learning process as she also monitors


the performance of Instructional Supervisors. The behaviors of
programmed teachers, peer-group leaders and the families as a whole
are also being monitored. Below are sample questions that may guide
the IC in his/her conduct of monitoring:

· Does the IS go around the classroom to monitor pupil


activities?
· Is the IS sensitive to the errors committed by the pupils?
· Are the Programmed Teachers trained before they do
programmed teaching?
· Does the IS provide intervention/remediation after the
lessons?
· Do the Peer-Group Leaders follow the steps in leading the
peer group?
· Are the groups practicing effective peer-group techniques?

The results of the monitoring activities become the basis for the help and
guidance the IC extends to the Instructional Supervisors. He/She also
determines the instructional interventions, which could be implemented not only
to help the pupils but also to improve teacher’s skills and competencies in the
following areas:

· Peer Tutoring – a slow learner is paired to a fast learner who


serves as the tutor.
· Study Periods – a thirty (30) minute-period before or after the
class to enable the pupils to further study the lessons that they
have failed to master.
· Special Remedial Reading Class – a special remedial reading
class for the slow and non-readers are provided. These pupils
stay with the remedial teacher in the morning.
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f. The IC reviews pupils’ records. There is a need to check the progress


of the pupils. It is necessary to examine the learners’ performance so
interventions can be given.

g. The IC also notes problems in the different learning modes so as to


alert the Instructional Supervisors. Early detection of these problems
will greatly help lesson classroom tension and create a desirable
learning climate.

h. The IC identifies community members with specialized skills and


arranges the schedule as to when they can be tapped as resource
persons. The e-IMPACT system invites members of the community
with specialized skills as resource persons. These are usually in peer-
group learning activities where applied skills can be taught to the
pupils. The IC schedules meetings between the learners and the
resource persons.

i. The IC is also responsible for maintenance of buildings, facilities and


availability of instructional materials like modules, worksheets and
posttests.

j. The IC is also the lead person in disseminating information about any


activities or programs in relation to the e-IMPACT system. Like any
other innovations, the e-IMPACT is not spared from the negative and
hostile attitudes of some educators not knowledgeable about the e-
IMPACT system, some teachers, parents and some community
members. It is important that correct information is disseminated to the
parents and the community to gain their support and acceptance of the
system. Favorable achievement of learners in the e-IMPACT system
should always be disseminated to the school’s community
stakeholders.

In all of the above roles and functions, it is expected that the Instructional
Coordinator display the kind of leadership that motivates the members to get
moving towards the realization of the school’s goals.

The Instructional Supervisor

In the e-IMPACT system, the teacher takes on a different role, that of an


Instructional Supervisor. The teacher, either in the conventional system or in the e-IMPACT
system, should at least have the skill, knowledge and attitude of being able to manage
instruction and the learning process.
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In the conventional system, the traditional role of the teacher is that he/she is the
knowledge provider. By standing up front in class, he/she is expected to provide lectures,
discuss the topics specified in the lesson plan and initiate activities in order for the pupils to
learn.

In the e-IMPACT system, the role of the teacher has been changed to that of one
who manages, facilitates and supervises the learning activities of the pupils in a multi-
grade/level set-up. He/She no longer conducts direct teaching; rather, he/she becomes the
manager of the learning process. Management refers to maintaining discipline in the
classroom, seeing to it that correct programmed teaching and peer-group learning is going
on. It is expected then that he/she goes around the several groups of learners to
monitor/check whether learning is progressing among the groups. Her going around the
different groups enables her to determine which among the group of learners, and who
among the learners, needs remediation of special help.

Below are some of the main functions of the IS which could be used as guide for
monitoring and providing guidance.

1. Observe Programmed Teachings conducted for Levels 1 to 3 pupils to note the following:
· Children who appear to be having difficulties
· Sufficient readiness of the group for the lessons
· Deficiencies of program teaching methods
· Preparedness of the programmed teachers
· Progress and improvement of individual learners

2. Observe peer-group learning for pupils in Levels 4 – 6 at least once each period to
determine the following:
· Children with difficulty in learning the modules
· Group leaders having difficulty in explaining to the group
· Group and group leaders practice effective peer-group techniques in order to provide
necessary corrections and guidance

3. Aside from doing direct observations, the IS also needs to do the following:
· Determine adequacy of the learning materials, and inform the IC for any deficiency.
· Provide positive reinforcement on performance and behavior of children.
· Manage time efficiently. The IS’s efficiency in maximizing time for learning will be
helpful in determining expected results.

Itinerant Teachers

Itinerant teachers handle Physical Education, Scouting, Arts, Music, and other special
subjects. These teachers spend one-half day each week at each Learning Center and
conduct large group mode activities. The itinerant teachers may also demonstrate the
performance modules in Practical Arts and supervise the school beautification activities of
the children.
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IS Aide

The IS Aide is a non-professional who attends to the routinary activities in the school.
He/She should at least be an elementary school graduate. A parent volunteer can be tapped
as an IS Aide. The following are the tasks that can be delegated to the IS Aide:

· Keep record of the pupils’ attendance and inform the IS of pupils who are absent.
· Keep records of instructional materials, facilities and equipment delivered to the
Learning Center and to keep them within easy access of the children.
· Help the IS prepare worksheets.
· Help keep discipline inside the classroom.
· Keep attendance records of outside tutors.

Tutors

If the e-IMPACT school is situated where there is a public high school nearby,
fourth year students can be tapped as tutors. These graduating students tutor
higher-level pupils (Level IV, V and VI).

Community Resource Persons

Completing the team of school personnel in the e-IMPACT system are the
community resource persons. As the need arises, and as resource persons are
available, the e-IMPACT school invites these resource persons to assist based on
their specific skills and expertise.
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e-IMPACT Learning Processes and Learner Assessment

Learning Processes

In the e-IMPACT system, the learning processes are based on the three main
modes of delivery of instructions. These are the Programmed Teaching, Peer-Group
Learning, and Individualized Study.

A. Programmed Teaching

Programmed teaching is a kind of instruction where the “programmed


teacher” or PT strictly follows prearranged lessons which do not only present what
are to be taught but also how they are taught. This means that the PT follows a set
sequence of steps in presenting the lesson (hence the term programmed teaching)
to Levels 1-3 pupils. The pre-arranged lessons are already prepared and presented
in Programmed Teaching Modules. This mode of delivering instruction is used for
Levels 1, 2 and the first semester of Level III pupils.

The programmed teachers (PT) are the brighter pupils in Levels IV, V and VI
who are willing to be trained as programmed teachers. Level VI pupils teach Level I,
Level V teach Level III, and Level IV teach Level II. A PT is assigned only one-half
hour (1/2) per day of programmed teaching and another one-half hour of tutorial
session for the slow learners. In effect, a pupil assigned to do programmed teaching
only does it in one hour per day in one class day.

The IS makes ready all the necessary instructional materials needed by the
Programmed Teachers before the programmed teaching schedule. He/She also has
to train the Programmed Teachers on the correct way of following the different item
programs as stated in the module. Before classes end for the day, the IS sees to it
that the assigned PT for the next day’s lessons is ready and has been trained. All
the needed instructional aids should also be ready before the actual program
teaching session.

B. Peer Group Learning

Pupils starting at Level III second semester, Levels IV, V and VI use the peer-
group learning mode for instructional delivery. These pupils are grouped into peer-
learning groups of 5 to 6 pupils per group, heterogeneous in ability but are studying
the same peer-group learning modules. Each member of the group takes turns in
acting as group leader with usually the best pupil in the group becomes the first peer
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group leader. As other members in the group become acquainted and familiar with
peer group learning and being a group leader, they will also be given the opportunity
to become peer-group leaders. Thus, leadership in a group is rotated to allow all
members in the group the experience to become peer-group leaders.

In setting up peer groups, heterogeneity is a necessary criterion so that


children of different ability levels can learn from each other. The difficulty with
homogenous grouping is that the slower students would fall farther and farther
behind, lose their self-respect, and eventually drop out.

Each family has at least three peer groups: first, level VI, second, level V, and
the third, level IV. Each peer group spends no less than three hours each day for
peer group learning. However, the slower learners are given an additional hour to
complete the activities on the core module, while the fast learners spend their hour
on the advanced modules.

Contracting is an integral part of peer group learning. Responsibility is


developed in a group through a system of contracting. The group promises in writing
to complete a number of modules for the week. The IS goes over the contract
proposal of each peer group to determine if the targets they have set for themselves
during the week are within the group’s capabilities and abilities.

Group completion of contracts is recorded in the contract progress chart,


which is conspicuously hung in the Learning Resource Center. In addition to this
display of progress, the members of the peer group are given positive
reinforcements by the IS Aide and the IS.

Contracting is the means by which the IS can pace learning to challenge all
students to do their best without, at the same time, overloading any pupil. This
judgment of the IS requires an intimate knowledge of the individual capabilities of all
students under her care.

In addition to peer group contracts, a number of students will enter into


individual contracts. Individual students who contract for advanced modules sign
separate contract with the IS.

The educational value of contracts is that 1) each student is challenged to


achieve at his or her ability; and 2) all students have periodic (weekly) goals toward
which to work. They are able to judge their progress toward their goals each day as
a basis for allocating their efforts. This knowledge of progress toward mutually
agreed goals is in itself, an extremely strong incentive for achievement.

Incentives such as these are usually group rather than individual rewards.
The individual is usually rewarded simply by 1) knowing that he or she is progressing
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faster than the norm; 2) realizing that advanced module achievement leads to high
school entry; and 3) receiving personal encouragement from the IS.

Giving encouragement to groups is also of utmost importance. Children in a


group should feel a responsibility toward each other so that all can achieve group
goals, and they should feel this responsibility strongly enough to take upon
themselves the return of absentees to the Center and the acceleration of learning for
those who have been absent. The IS will determine when the absentee can return to
the group such that the group will not be unduly penalized because of absences of
one member.

C. Individualized Study / Self-Instruction

Majority of the learning time for Levels IV to VI is allotted to peer-group


learning. This is to enable the children to help each other. The e-IMPACT system,
however, recognizes individual difference in ability and speed in learning, thus one
period each day is allotted for “individual pursuits.” This is the hour during which the
more able students study enriched or advanced modules (alone or in small groups).
If the school has access to the Internet, this is also the opportunity when children
can access this technology for additional learning. This is also the period during
which the less able members of the peer groups review and study the core module
which the whole group had been studying the previous three periods.

The IS will have to set up and maintain this type of schedule to insure that
both kinds of learning occur during the one hour of individual pursuits. Most
importantly, the IS should make herself or himself available to tutor and assist the
less able members of the group during the individual pursuit period.

Self-learning and hence self-pacing in the e-IMPACT system is based on the


following principles:

· It is possible to design primary school learning materials based on the current


curriculum in such forms to serve effective self-learning with minimum
guidance by teachers and assistance by older children.

· It is possible to entrust responsibility to children to do self-paced learning


without being rigidly tied up to time, place and teacher’s supervision.

· It is possible to administer the principle of self-learning in certain grades of


primary school.

· Self-instruction is allowed among elder pupils who have attained literacy skills
in the media of instruction under any of the following conditions:
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· When the learner has been absent due to illness or other legitimate reasons
and want to catch up with his group.

· When the learner has to stay away from the Learning Center to help his
parents at work and he wants to keep pace with his group through self-
instruction during his free time at home.

· If the learner is an out-of-school youth who wishes to continue with his


elementary education.

· For the fast learner or the more able student who studies the advanced
module while waiting for his peer group to finish the core module being
studies by their group.

D. Other Modes of Learning

Aside from the three main modes of learning, e-IMPACT utilizes other modes
of learning for specific purposes.

Transition Learning

Transition learning is for Level III pupils who have completed their
programmed teaching modules allotted for the first semester’s work. They use
simplified peer group learning modules with a Level V pupil monitoring their peer
group learning activities and providing them guidance and support.

Since this mode of learning serve as a bridge between structured


programmed teaching modules and peer group learning modules, this is then called
transition learning. Grouping is heterogeneous as much as possible. Thus even
groupings during programmed teaching is encouraged to be heterogeneous to avoid
having faster groups being ready for transition learning than others.

Learning through Tutors

In a traditional classroom, one teacher handles as many as 40 pupils and the


teacher usually directs her attention and teaching to only a few or some impersonal
“average” students. In the e-IMPACT system, tutorials form one major component of
the instructional delivery system. Levels IV to VI pupils are tutored by high school
students in nearby public high schools, parents, relatives, and neighbors at the
Learning Resource Center and at home. Levels I to III pupils are given one-half hour
tutorials for each subject by programmed teachers after every 30 minutes of
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programmed teaching. The IS also provides tutoring to less able students during the
individual pursuit period.

Itinerant Teaching

In the e-IMPACT system, there are two types of professional teachers: the
Instructional Supervisors and the Itinerant Teachers. Itinerant teachers handle
special subject areas such as Physical Education, Music and Arts. The itinerant
teachers may also demonstrate the performance modules in practical arts and
supervise the school beautification activities of the children.
In a cluster of e-IMPACT schools located within the community, the itinerant
teachers can handle the special subjects in these schools. A regular period is
allotted for these special subjects so as not to disturb the learning of basic core
modules.

Basic Skills Practice

Learning of basic skills requires repetitive practice and drill for students to
become proficient. These skills are in Mathematics and Language. In the e-IMPACT
system, 10-15 minutes daily is given to drills in three subjects:

Mathematics (practice of addition, subtraction, multiplication, division)


English (vocabulary and usage)
Filipino (vocabulary and usage)

These practice drills are primarily for peer groups and are intended to be used
during breaks between periods. The content of the drills are made appropriate to the
learning levels reached by peer groups.

Skills Training by Community Resource Persons

The e-IMPACT system provides for active participation of the parents and the
community in the education of their children. Thus, the parents particularly are
expected to monitor the day-to-day activities of their children.

To enable the parents to carry out this responsibility, it is necessary to expose


them to a regular education program through frequent meetings. Among the points
taken during the meetings are:

· The role of the parents in encouraging their children to study


· Encouraging them to report to the Learning Center
· Informing the IS of the pupil’s absence
· Visiting the Learning Center for conference with the IS whenever requested
· Attending parent education sessions
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· Parents’ assistance in the physical environment of the Learning Center and


the construction of the Learning Kiosks
· The need for some parents who are knowledgeable on certain topics
concerning world events, and/or who possess certain skills which can be
shared with the learners
· The purpose and content of the monthly report card
· The school’s system of incentives and rewards
· Educational policies which define the role of parents toward their children
· The meaning of self-pacing and mastery learning in the e-IMPACT system
· Other matters, such as IMPACT festivals, community surveys, etc.

Learner Assessments

Assessments of student learning under the e-IMPACT system follow the


prescribed system of the Department of Education of rating students. At the start of
classes, diagnostic tests are also conducted to assess students’ learning needs and
to identify their weaknesses and difficulties. Each module ends with a posttest that
the learner must take, these are the equivalent of quizzes in the conventional
system. The Testing Teacher administers the posttest after the Instructional
Supervisor has given the oral test and has ascertained that the learners are indeed
ready to take the test. As a group, the learners proceed to the testing room to take
the test. Mastery of the subject matter is the yardstick of the posttests.

Periodical tests are commonly administered in conventional schools to


measure mastery of competencies for a prescribed period are also administered to
students under the e-IMPACT system for the same purpose. Other requirements
such as recitations, home-works, and projects are also given to students in the e-
IMPACT as additional measure of achievement. For students who become
programmed teachers, additional points are given to them for their efforts. The
quality of how these programmed teachers conduct their programmed teaching is
also monitored and evaluated by the Instructional Supervisors (Teachers) for
additional points. Likewise good peer-group leaders are also given additional points.
This merit system under e-IMPACT provides the motivation for students to study
hard.

Co-curricular activities such as joining in academic, cultural and sports


competition are also participated in by students in e-IMPACT. As proven by schools
implementing the IMPACT system in their schools for some years, students under
the system have proven to excel as well in these fields of endeavor.
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

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