MATATAG: On the Quality of Student Learning

 The results imply the need for more improvements in curriculum and delivery.

To ensure the positive impact of educational reforms, clear baseline data and parameters should guide the Department. 

These will serve as a reference point to indicate the attainment of educational goals. 

The results of both national and international large-scale assessments are worth reflecting on as part of the indicators of the current state of basic education though it should be noted that these do not represent the entire basic education system. 

Among the other triggers of the review and recalibration of the curriculum is the student learning assessment data. 

It is part and parcel of the planning, monitoring, and evaluation cycles of any educational program. 

The K to 12 Basic Education system is gauged through both national and international assessments, as provided for by DepEd Order No. 55, s. 2016 and amended by DepEd Order No. 27, s. 2017. 

These system assessments are designed to provide baselines for the implementation of the curriculum as well as to generate relevant data that will aid in the formulation of policies, programs, plans, and interventions at various level of education governance.

System assessments are given at the end of each key stage. 

Learners at the end of Grade 3 take the Early Language, Literacy, and Numeracy Assessment (ELLNA), which measures early language literacy and numeracy. 

Exit assessments in the form of National Assessment Test (NAT) are given at the end of Grades 6, 10, and 12. 

Both the ELLNA and NAT are designed to determine if the learners meet the learning standards at the end of each key stage and to provide empirical data in the crafting and designing of policies and programs. 

Results of the ELLNA given in S.Y. 2016-2017 showed many issues and concerns that the Department needs to address in English, Filipino, Mother Tongue, and Math. 

The results imply the need for more improvements in curriculum and delivery. 

In particular, strategic interventions should come into play since literacy is an accurate predictor of academic success.

Furthermore, the NAT results for English and Math in the last four academic years given to Grades 6 and 9 students affirm the need to have a collective and deliberate

effort to address systemic issues that affect the learners’ mastery of competencies.

To determine if learners are meeting the learning standards; to help provide information to improve instructional practices; to assess and evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of education service delivery using learning outcomes as indicators; and to provide empirical information as bases for curriculum, learning delivery assessment, policy reviews, and policy formulation, the first Basic Education Exit Assessment (BEEA) was conducted for SY 2018-2019. 

Results revealed that SHS graduates of the said school year are in the low proficient level as indicated by the MPS of three 21st century skills: Problem Solving Skills with 36.18, Information Literacy Skills with 34.23, and Critical Thinking Skills with 33.38, respectively. 

This calls for a strengthened framework on the integration of 21st century skills in both curriculum and pedagogy, which is accordingly one of the enhancements in the 2022 curriculum.

The results of local large-scale assessments are parallel with the World Bank’s Philippine Report on the 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment or

PISA, which claimed that a significant positive correlation is observed between the regional PISA reading scores and NAT English scores and weak correlations are found for Math and Science. 

Other international large-scale assessments (ILSAs) echo the results of the PISA as Filipino participants also fared poorly in the 2019 TIMMS or Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study and the 2019 Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics or SEA-PLM. 

This again points to the need to revisit the existing curriculum, particularly to ensure that curriculum standards are benchmarked against international counterparts and that learning competencies tested in the ILSAs are thoroughly developed in the curriculum and delivered in the classroom.

In light of these assessment data and along with the idea that the success of the curriculum lies in the quality of student learning, the Department expresses its intensified focus on the role of assessment as a source of important feedback on the implemented curriculum and the intended curriculum.