INTRODUCTION

Numeracy skills are basically developed through an mathematics curriculum,

which has been continuously reviewed to align with international standards and best
practices. The Philippine government and Department of Education use numerous
assessment tools to measure students' numeracy skills. These assessments may include
standardized tests, national achievement exams, and international assessments such as the
Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and the Programme for
International Student Assessment (PISA). Despite of these, students from the Philippines
are not exempted from this poor level of numerical competence. This merely implies that the
students' mathematics abilities are really poor in the Philippines ( Layug,. Velario& Capones
2021). Even the full efforts to improve and uplift the education access and quality, the
challenges persist in assessing and increasing numeracy levels among Filipino students.This
challenges include limited resources, inadequate teacher training, large class sizes, and
socioeconomic disparities among students.Academic interventions address the academic
problems of a student (Matthew, 2019).

Mathematics literacy is a wide range of knowledge, understanding, and appreciation

of what mathematics can accomplish rather than implying knowledge of various branches of
mathematics or complex mathematical formulas. According to the Journal of Physics:
Conference of Series, “mathematics literacy is the ability to understand and apply basic
knowledge of mathematics in everyday life”, which means, it entails comprehending and
combining mathematical core concepts, terminologies, facts, and skills in response to the
external situation's requirement of the real-world.

Mathematics has a vital part in the lives of students according to the George W. Bush
Institute. It offers students job choices across many content areas of sciences, technologies,
engineering and mathematics. It helps to promote critical thinking and address student
difficulties. This makes them successful in the future in various ways.

However, despite different advantages of learning Mathematics, many, if not all,

students find it extremely difficult to learn mathematics. This was supported by Garoof and
Karukkan(2015),in their paper, Why High School Students Feel Mathematics Difficult? An
Exploration of Affective Beliefs, which states that 88 percent of students in a 51-person random
sample dislike mathematics due to difficulty in understanding the subject matter, and teacher
or instructional related factors. This, on the other hand, contributes to poor level of
mathematics literacy among students across the country.
 Based on the above problems, it is important to examine more deeply the numeracy literacy
skills and self-efficacy of students, especially in solving a mathematical problem because
the competence of numeracy literacy is a fundamental competency and emphasizes
thinking competence or one's ability to use reasoning. While self-efficacy as one of the
affective factors that help students in solving problems.

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Understanding and measuring peer effects are often viewed as a Holy Grail of social
science and the key to understanding many social problems and opportunities. The Coleman
report (Coleman et al. 1966) famously identifies peer inputs as a major challenge for
disadvantaged students. Harris (2009) argues that parents can only influence their children’s
outcomes via affecting the set of peers for that student. Austen-Smith & Fryer (2005) develop
a formal model of acting white, in which peer influences cause a group of minority students
to lower their educational aspirations to be accepted by the group. And Glaeser et al. (1996)
suggest that social interactions can explain why some locations are filled with crime and
other locations are relatively safe.

Numeracy skills refers to the ability to understand and use numbers . Basic numeracy
involves understanding how to convert simple percentages into frequencies, or recognizing
that 10% is the same as 1 in 10. People are said to have "low numeracy" when they give an
incorrect or no answer to such basic numerical problems. One study found that more than
30% of participants in the United States and Germany were unable to provide a correct
answer to numeracy question, though Germans did slightly better.

The Organisation for Economic Coordination and Development (OECD) posits that nu- meracy
is needed "to engage in and manage the mathematical demands of a range of situations in
adult life." Low numeracy can undermine people's ability, confidence, and motivation to
engage with numerical tasks . Even after accounting for intelligence, low numeracy has been
related to performing worse on decisions that involve numerical risks, even after ac- counting
for intelligence Perhaps as a result, a Romanian study found that bankers with low numeracy
have worse job performance.

Numeracy skills are the foundation of all future Mathematics studies, according to Eason
(2018). Early Mathematics instruction is important since it is the period of development when
pupils are most receptive to learning. Before Elementary years. Mathematics instruction and
intervention were required. These pupils, particularly the at- risk ones, require the chance to
lay a solid foundation early on. Early childhood is the greatest age to start teaching early
Mathematics and numeracy abilities since young learners' brains are naturally open to logic
and Mathematical skills. In accordance with Petersen (2019), numeracy refers to a person's
general knowledge of numbers and fundamental Mathematical ideas. These include abilities
to count, compare and contrast, describe shapes and locations, and solve problems.

DepEd should prioritize improving numeracy in every learner as the agency is being urged to
prioritize better numeracy in early school years according to a joint research center funded
by the Australian government and tasked with providing government advice on how to
strengthen the fundamental education system in the face of a pandemic. The Department of
Education and the Assessment, Curriculum and Technology Research Center have been
collaborating on a review of the K-12 curriculum, and the center is providing technical
assistance to the organization for large-scale assessments, including the PISA (Programme of
International Student Assessment) and TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and
Science Study). "A focus on foundational competencies in literacy and numeracy to me is
most important," ACTRC Philippine Director Dr. Marie Therese Bustos. Bustos, who is a
professor at the UP, further emphasized the significance of raising K-3 kids' reading and
Mathematics proficiency, noting international examinations.

Learning mathematics aids students in developing their capacity for logical thought and
problem-solving. It has a wide range of practical uses in daily life. The most significant aspect
of our lives is the basic mathematical operations, such as addition, subtraction,
multiplication, and division. In recent years, there has been an increase in enthusiasm for the
study of mathematics and its accomplishments due to the subject's significance in the school
curriculum and its value as a prerequisite for the growth of numerical and analytical skills.

Problem-solving requires the use of mathematical skills like language, number facts,
information, and arithmetic. Mathematics may be difficult for students who lack any of these
skills. Moreover, inadequate computation skills, a lack of conceptual understanding of math,
difficulty communicating knowledge, difficulty connecting disparate pieces of information, an
inability to transform data mathematically, an incomplete command of mathematical terms.

Insufficient comprehension of mathematical language. and difficulty comprehending and

visualizing mathematical concepts can all lead to difficulties (Garnett, 1998; Nathan et al.
2002, as cited in Tambychik & Meerah 2010). In Malaysia, students have difficulties in
mathematics due to a deficiency in any of these skills in problem-solving, such as

number-fact, visual-spatial, or information skills (Tambychik & Meerah, 2010). Students must
be capable of problem-solving since it is crucial for the growth of human skills. In real life,
they will be encountering problems, and they must be able to find solutions because it is
necessary in order to survive in our everyday lives.

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a triennial worldwide test
which focuses on the core subjects of mathematics, reading, and science given to 15-year-old
students who are nearing the completion of their obligatory basic education, includes DepEd
in its 2018 cycle. The significant findings of the assessment are that mathematical literacy
scores among Filipino pupils were on average 353 points, far below the OECD average of 489
points, and only 1 in 5 students (19.7%) in the Philippines achieved the required
mathematical literacy competency level (Level 2). Indeed, one of the subjects that young
Filipinos still find challenging is mathematics.

Mathematics is seemingly one of the main concerns of today's educators. Students tend to
have lower grades in Mathematics than the majority of their fundamental subjects. Despite
the fact that mathematics is vital in terms of education, tendencies of receiving low scores
are still noticeable. Though some students excel when it comes to mathematical
comprehension and analytical reasoning, majority of students are considered to be struggling
in Math.

Mathematical expressions are among the main reasons why students consider Mathematics
as a deadly aspect. Many of today's learners require the aid of modern gadgets and
underlying technologies in order to effectively comprehend with their mathematical
misconception, merely using analytical observations to apprehend daily mathematical topics.

These math misconceptions are important for teachers to recognize: to identify why a
student made a mistake and how to address it. A seasoned teacher will have a pocketful of
misconceptions that students are likely to make. The teacher will use this information to aid
instruction, through teaching with multiple representations and encouraging student
discourse in the classroom. (A. Pass 2016)

Peer tutoring may be defined as a flexible teaching strategy in which halt of the students
serve as academic tutors and the other half serve as academic tutees. In this methodology a
higher achieving student (tutor) provides assistance with academic content to a lower
achieving stu dent (tutee). Several benefits have been documented across the literature for
both tutors and tutees during peer tutoring experiences. From an academic perspective, the
majority of studies. report significant improvements in the students' mathematics scores. The
social implica tions of peer tutoring are also valuable, as it fosters student inclusion and
improves the class climate . Different psychological variables have been widely addressed in
the field, such as anxiety or attitude towards mathematics. Most studies reporting promising
results for academic, social, and psychological variables showed close to medium effect sizes.
One of the variables that has yet to be thoroughly addressed is self-concept.

Peer tutoring and mathematics self-concepts.The authors have declared Interests exist
previous studies in the field are inconclusive. While some authors indicate that peer tutoring
may be beneficial and that their students showed improvements others state that no
significant improvements or benefits were documented . Hence, given the proven potenti-
ality of these methodologies with academic and psychological variables, it is of interest to
test the effects of peer tutoring on students' self-concept.

This study seeks to explore the impact of peer tutoring on Grade 8 learners with low
numeracy levels to determine whether this approach can significantly improve their
mathematical abilities. The findings of this study could contribute valuable insights into the
development of effective strategies for improving numeracy skills and closing learning gaps in
secondary school education.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Is there implications of peer-tutorial to the academic performance of the grade 8 learners?

How does peer-tutorial support the impact of academic performance of grade 8 learners with
low numeracy level?
Is there significant impact of the numbers of days of peer-tutoring in grade 8 learners to their
numeracy skills?

Does the impact of peer-tutoring for numeracy on students numeracy skills persist on time?
What are the potential challenges and limitations of implementing peer-tutoring for numeracy
in grade 8 learners?
Does participaton in peer-tutoring for numeracy in grade 8 have a positive impact on students
future mathematics performance in high grade?
 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Youth:

This focus on numeracy is important for young people because numbers are tools of
communication and independence. Peer tutoring and other forms of learning collaboratively
would help the young ones to embrace mathematics, or related subjects with a positive
mindset. This level of personalized and interactive learning can quite literally result in the
improvement of their numeracy skills which ultimately, adds to greater academic success.

Identified Students:

This research is particularly useful for students who are currently working at a Grade 8
level, as it works on developing their numeracy skill set. The development of these skills is key
to their studies and future prospects. The study will also show how peer tutoring can be used to
help students overcome the numeracy-related problems, which is going to both enable a
supportive and empowering learning environment for these children.

Parents:

The focus of this research will appeal to the parents out there as it has some serious
implications for how much numeracy matters in kids educational and life development. There
are opportunities for parents to help improve their children's numeracy levels (targeted
interventions and peer tutoring) that will spill over into greater confidence, reliance or future
independence in the fashion mentioned above. The research also offers parents evidence about
the ways in which co-operative learning styles can be developed to improve their children's
problem-solving and school work, providing them with mai-may abilities for long term fruitful
development. In the end, this research will help encourage parents to improve their children's
education and development.

Teachers:

This research will also be highly valuable among teachers. This will reduce the workload
of teachers as students are actively contributing with peer tutoring to raise their numeracy
levels. This way, they do not need to supervise and guide their peer pairs so much; but can
ensure that the tutoring process works well as long as students make sense.
SCOPE AND LIMITATION

This study specifically focuses on the effects of Experimental Analysis on Peer-tutorial for
Grade 8 learners with low numeracy level at Calunangan National High School. Data collection
will involve 15 selected students identified as having low numeracy skills, chosen through
stratified random sampling from the provided list of potential respondents. This study will not
address other academic challenges or issues unrelated to low numeracy levels. The main source
of data will be a questionnaire developed by the researchers for this specific purpose