CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter contains studies, methodologies, and articles that are related with the present

study to further discuss the issues, problems, and solutions that are presented by other

researchers.

Related Studies

According to Darryl Roy Montebon (2015), the Department of Education in the

Philippines implemented the new K to 12 Curriculum which started last school year 2012-2013

by virtue of the Republic Act 10533 or the Enhanced Basic Education 2013. The new science

program has many innovations in terms of the arrangement of competencies, integration of each

branch of science in every grade level, mode of instruction, and learning pedagogies. It is the aim

of this research to determine the perception of students on the new science curriculum in terms of

the concepts they learn, the skills they acquire, and the values and attitude they develop. This

research also aims to assess how judicious science teachers implement the new curriculum. To

achieve such goal, a qualitative survey method was utilized. The respondents of this research are

216 grade 8 students of the selected schools in Metro Manila. Upon the analysis of the data

gathered it has been found that most students agree with the items in the questionnaire as regards

the three learning domains being evaluated. The students also perceive that teachers judiciously

implemented the new science curriculum. K to 12 (also K-12) is an education system under the

Department of Education that aims to enhance learners’ basic skills, produce more competent

citizens, and prepare graduates for lifelong learning and employment. “K” stands for

Kindergarten and “12” refers to the succeeding 12 years of basic education (6 years of

elementary education, 4 years of junior high school and 2 years of senior high school). The
enhanced K to 12 curriculums is designed to provide a holistic education for all. Now

decongested, it will give students ample time to master basic academic skills as well as to

participate in co-curricular and community activities.

An Exploratory Study of College Readiness Partnership Programs in Texas was

conducted by researchers named Elisabeth A. Barnett, William Corrin, Aki Nakanishi, Rachel

Hare Bork, Claire Mitchell & Susan Sepanik Results from this study suggest that college

readiness partnership programs in Texas use varied designs and approaches to meet the needs of

high school students as they work toward becoming ready for college. Although few rigorous

evaluations of these programs have been conducted, their potential to improve college readiness

for students in the academic middle is generally supported by the literature as well as by our own

research findings. Strong, collaborative partnerships between K-12 and postsecondary

institutions can be challenging to maintain, given the structure of our educational system and the

current state of the economy, but these partnerships appear to offer advantages in creating

programs that can help alleviate gaps in students’ college readiness. Our findings about college

readiness interventions and strategies in Texas have significant implications, nationally as well

as in Texas, for future programming intended to help students make the transition from

secondary to postsecondary education. These are discussed below. Yet our work also suggests

the need for more rigorous effectiveness trials of current and future programs for these students

as well as studies of their costs and benefits. Program leaders, college and high school

administrators, and policymakers would benefit from more extensive and higher quality

information on which of these programs have the greatest impact given different levels of

investment. Obtaining evidence of this kind requires careful planning and scientific rigor. Too

often, programs are evaluated after they have been in place for some time, which makes it
challenging, if not impossible, to determine their effectiveness. Ideally, a rigorous evaluation

design would be planned alongside program implementation. When new programming is being

launched, or when existing programming is being enhanced or modified, program planners may

want to consider the interaction between the identification of eligible and interested students, the

number of program slots available, and the processes by which students are selected. This kind

of planning can create opportunities for rigorous evaluations1 that are widely useful.

Another research study was presented by Catherine Welch and Stephen Dunbar about K-

12 Assessments and College Readiness: Necessary Validity Evidence for Educators, Teachers

and Parents. The Blueprint for Reform places college and career readiness at the forefront of

goals for education reform, and positions growth as a critical aspect of assessment for

accountability and student learning. Growth information can provide families and educators with

information they need to help determine whether their students are “on track” for college

readiness. Based on the results of monitoring growth, interventions can be identified for the

individual student, the classroom or the school.

A study about the impact of K-12 on the perspectives and future plans of Grade 12

students upon graduation from senior high in selected schools in Cubao, Quezon City was

conducted by Ms Diane Valenzuela. She stated that there are claims by anti-K12 groups wherein

the new educational program rather pushes students to immediately work right after graduation,

and since the curriculum is said to be structured to serve the interests of other countries (i.e. in

pattern to their labor demands and needs), then most students would most likely not enter college

and thus work in jobs in conditions unfavorable to them. Due to the fact that there is not much

literature yet nor research with regard to the personal views of the students undergoing the said

curriculum, most of these claims are best on statistical projections based on previous academic
records of those whom make it to tertiary education after graduating from high school. This

research paper then mainly seeks to assess the K-12 curriculum affects the Grade 12 students‟

choices and preferences on whether to have a tertiary education, or straightaway work right after

graduating from senior high school. This is to give a clearer picture on whether the K-12

curriculum does actually push students to forego tertiary education and immediately work as

allowed by the program, with future aspirations to work abroad rather than in the country. This

research also touched on the perspectives of the students about K-12- from how it has prepared

them for jobs to; how capable are their respective schools are for the new curriculum.

Another research study was presented by Ma. Jecyl Azucena about K 12 curriculum: It's

benefits and problems encountered by the Grade 12 students of MSU-BC. This curriculum aims

to provide every Filipino child with the education he/she needs to compete in a global context.

Aquino states that the K-12 program will pave the way for an ever brighter future for young

Filipinos by equipping them with basic education up to international standards.” This study is

design to find out the k12 curriculum, the benefits that they yield and the common problems

encountered by the grade twelve students of Mindanao State University - Buug Campus.

Filipinos are known to be competitive in the international community. However, our current

education system hinders us from becoming even more competitive. Starting in the 2012-2013

school year, the education system of the Philippines was enhanced from the ten years of basic

education to a 12-year program through an initiative called the K-12 Education Plan sponsored

by the Department of Education. All in all, the enhanced K to 12 Curriculum is designed to

provide a holistic education for all. Now decongested, it will give students ample time to master

basic academic skills as well as to participate in co-curricular and community activities.

 In year 2016, a research study about The Perception of Parents and Students on the

implementation of K 12 Basic Education Program in the Philippines was presented by

Nelbhourne K. Mohammad. The study aims to know the perception or understanding of the

parents, students and the community on the implementation of K – 12 Basic Education Program

(BEC) in the District of Balabac Schools Davison of Palawan at Mangsee National High School

(MNHS), Philippines. The researcher has encountered varieties perceptions or understanding of

the parents, students and the community. Some of the informant has a positive and negative

reaction on the said program. The purpose of the study is to contribute the progressive and

development of Mangsee National High School and to advocate the main purposes of the

program to the parents, students and the community in the District of Balabac as well as in the

entire country since this K – 12 Program is new curriculum that implemented by the former

President of the Republic of the Philippines Benigno Aquino III and his Education Secretary Dr.

Armin Luistro in 2013.

Research by Canezo and Biliran (2016) stated that the aim of their study is to ascertain

awareness, preparedness and needs of the K to 12 Senior High School Modeling Implementation

in Eastern Visayas. Through the use of the Descriptive-Survey and the Focused Group

Discussion (FGD) research designs which were administered to the 110 SHS students, faculty

and school heads, findings revealed the lead implementers are much aware of the background

and rationale of the program. However, it is observed that the program implementers have a

reasonably felt concern on the preparedness and needs. The extent of support from the

stakeholders is only relatively evident. Thus, there is a need to come up with contingency

measures particularly on the advocacy, linkages and partnerships, curriculum development and

upgrading, instructional materials development, skills enhancement and provisions of facilities

and equipment for laboratory workshops. This study actually adheres also the social adaptation

theory which applies to the Neo-Piagetian concepts to such content areas as attitude change and

advertising effectiveness. It likewise considers dynamic adaptation through assimilation and

accommodation, as well as through internal organization of information. The experiences and

concerns of the senior high school modeling implementation must also elaborate on the theory in

the research areas of advertising effectiveness, attitude-behavior consistency, self-concept,

values, and philosophy of science.

The study of Sarmiento and Orale (2016) is a review of the literature on the basic

education (k-12) curriculum specifically the senior high school (SHS) of the Philippines, Japan,

and the US. Results of the review show that the SHS curriculum is intended to prepare students

to enter into college/university or to work in the industry or be an entrepreneur. The SHS

program is the last level in all basic education programs of the countries reviewed. The

Philippines has a clearer model with at least four tracks (academics, tech-voc, sports, arts &

design) and at least ten strands. Japan has two tracks in academics and tech-voc. The US basic

education system varies from state to state, similar to its SHS curriculum. There is no definite

track as this is left to individual state and their school districts to decide. There are purely

academic, tech-voc and other types of schools. The majority of those who choose academic track

are students who plans to proceed to college. There are still a stigma in selecting tech-voc and

other courses as this are seen by many as the course for poor performing/problematic students.

The enrollment in tech-voc schools in the US is declining despite the surge of demand for skilled

workers. In the three countries, the availability of qualified teachers is still an issue. This

situation is very real in the Philippines as it started the SHS program in June 2016. Other
problems include the need to construct a huge number of classrooms and facilities. All of these

are currently being addressed too by the government.

Related Literature

According to Uyquiengco (2018), the K-12 Curriculum has been implemented in 2011

and was signed into law last year 2013 which adds 3 years to the country’s basic education.

Starting in 2012, schools already implemented the curriculum decongestion mentioned in the

Department of Education briefer where public schools began giving pre-schoolers half-day

classes for the grade one students, where both levels are taught using the mother tongue;

Filipino. Moreover, private schools’ DepEd accredited curriculum has also been adjusted.

Uyquiengco (2018) also mentioned the students who will undergo the K-12 program are

expected to be older than the students who have taken the 10-year education cycle. However, the

DepEd argued that, despite the additional years in high school by the said program, the 18 year

old or so young adults will become college-ready. In addition to that, Uyquiengco (2018) stated

that this year, the government expects the first batch of the senior high school students to

graduate and become college freshmen studnets.

Furthermore, this batch is the first to choose if they’ll continue to college or enter the

workforce. As they prepare, though, for the next challenge, a few still wonder on the K to 12

programs in the country. According to College of Arts and Technology (2017), specialized

Tracks and Core Curriculum for Incoming Senior High School are well-prepared. Different

challenges are faced by our government. In a Business Mirror interview, DepEd Secretary

Leonor Briones claims that for 2017-2018, the Department created 40,104 teacher items for the

K-12 program. However, she also confesses that we still lack teachers and classrooms to fill in
its demands. Briones also stresses that “additional items will be created throughout the year,

depending on the actual enrollment for SY 2017-2018.” In fact, she says they continue to arrange

the hiring of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) faculty affected by the reform until SY 2021-

2022.

In the past 6 years, K-12 curriculum is being implemented with different schools

throughout the Philippines. According to a blog of philippinebasiceducation.us in 2014, the idea

of what basic education really entails and what preparation is really all about are missed by the

Department of Education’s (DepEd) K+12 curriculum. This blog also compared the senior high

school program with the ineffectiveness of the 13 year precollege education in the United Sates

where students leave high school still unprepared for higher education. In fact, according to a

study mentioned in the blog by Grubb, et. Al (2011), it is estimated that 60% of the new college

freshmen across the United States are in need of remedial classes. Philippinebasiceducation.us

stated that the initial years are important and that remediation is very challenging and it does not

usually succeed. This only shows how the additional 2 years provided by the DepEd does not

guarantee effectiveness in preparing the students for higher education.

The philippinebasiceducation.us has published another blog in 2015 which stated that the

additional two years in high school are advertised to make each student “college-ready”

irrespective of the track taken. Data gathered from the United States K-12 system has shown that

the students, who have taken the Advanced Placement (AP) courses which enabled the

acquisition of introductory college-level courses, did not guarantee improvement with regards to

college readiness and therefore results to wastage of time, resources, and money from students,

parents, teachers, schools and taxpayers.

 However, according to a blog from realitychangers.com contributed by JAIME (2017),

the students will excel beyond high school if equipped scholastically. The blog also stated that

students who want to enter college must take college preparatory classes which will help them in

preparation for college.

On the other hand, Wicks (2017) quoted that “The knowledge economy requires a college

degree – forcing high schools to think of graduation not as the goal, but the starting line.” The

writer also pointed that a premium started being placed on a college degree, especially as new

fields opened up in the worlds of science and technology after Sputnik and the race to the moon.

As college became more in demand, the wage gap began to grow between high school graduates

and college graduates. Wick (2017) added that that trend continues today, compromising the

economic stability of those citizens with only high school diplomas. To illustrate the idea, the

writer has given statistics of how high school graduates are as of today: 7% of Americans with a

high school education are living in poverty. By 2014, that number had doubled to 14%. Put

another way, people with only a high school diploma accounted for 29% of the total U.S.

population in 2014 but made up 35% of those living in poverty. Wick (2017) has also stated that

despite the grim numbers, the k-12 system still runs as if the goal of the students is to graduate

from high school. Also added in the article was the statistics from 2014-2015, whereas the

district's graduation rate was 72.2%, continuing a recent upward trajectory. Yet in 2014-2015,

only 33% of LAUSD students were proficient in math on California’s state assessments and 44%

were proficient in reading. In the blog, question like “How do we reconcile that gap between

academic proficiency and graduation rates? What is a diploma worth if so many students are not

mastering core subjects such as math and reading? And what does this gap mean to students, to

those in higher education, and, importantly, to employers? “ were raised up. Those are haunting
questions given that economic opportunity increases with education attainment, whether that is a

technical certificate, two-year degree, or a bachelor’s degree. Furthermore, Wick (2017) has

added another question: What must the K-12 system do to help students graduate from high

school with more than just a diploma in hand – but also with choices and an understanding of

their next steps? The first answer for the question which was laid down by Wick (2017) is

accountability. The second answer is making sure students are on the road to becoming

adaptable, lifelong learners. Wick (2017) mentioned that the K-12 system must help students

succeed over time as technical skills evolve, new jobs and fields are created, and others fade

away. That’s the nature of the modern economy. Also included in the blog is the survey points

made by the 2016 National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) where it is found

that employers most desire employees with the following attributes: leadership; ability to work in

a team structure; ability to make decisions and solve problems; ability to communicate verbally

and in writing; ability to plan, organize, and prioritize work; ability to analyze quantitative data;

and flexibility. The basis for many of those attributes is executive function skills, which include

working memory, mental flexibility, and self-control. According to the Center on the

Developing Child at Harvard University, children are not born with these skills. Instead, they

have the potential to develop them, which is an opportunity for the K-12 system. ummit Public

Schools, a charter management organization in California and Washington State, has embraced

this opportunity. The organization intentionally uses projects and teams, personalized learning,

and problem-solving practice. Summit schools connect students to peers and mentors so they can

graduate not only with a diploma but with true academic and social readiness for their next steps.

The strategies pay off, too: Summit graduates complete college within six years at twice the

average national rate. The third answer is to connect rigor with relevance. Wick (2017) stated
that people stick with something difficult if the end result is meaningful and that students are no

different. Their work takes on a clearer focus if they understand their studies are connected to

their goals and their lives, according to her. Two examples of this can be found in Southern

California. Long Beach Unified School District has embraced Linked Learning as a way to

improve the long-term outcomes for their students. The district has combined rigorous

academics, workplace-based learning, career technical education, and support services such as

tutoring and counselling. An ongoing evaluation of the initiative shows positive preliminary

results. The outcomes include increased attendance and more students enrolling in postsecondary

education after graduation. Ednovate Schools, a Los Angeles-based charter management

organization with a focus on college preparation, has combined both of these principles in their

approach. I know this because I became an advisor to Ednovate while on staff at the University

of Southern California’s Rossier School of Education, which incubated the organization.

Ednovate Schools largely educate students who would be the first in their families to attend

college and enter the middle class. Their curriculum is aligned to the ACT Career and College

Readiness Standards so the schools can track student growth from year-to-year and ensure that

students are on track for college. They also can compare their growth to that of other schools,

districts, and states. Ednovate’s model includes helping students to connect their studies to their

personal goals in order to create a sense of purpose for their hard work. This detailed approach,

called “positive multigenerational change,” helps students know themselves, their community,

their nation, and their world over their four years of high school. Higher education undoubtedly

creates access to the middle class, but the K-12 system is the launch pad for postsecondary

success and economic opportunity. That pathway starts when districts measure the academic

progress of students against meaningful standards, help students plan and prepare for
postsecondary success, and make deliberate connections for students to all forms of professional

life. For Wick (2017), when they do that, school systems infuse high school diplomas with real

meaning and value.

According to Tabora (2014), the K-12 program was precisely supposed to either prepare

students for gainful work after basic education or prepare students for college. The either/or has

become a both/and. It intends both to equip the students with the skills necessary for gainful

employment and to prepare them for college within the same time constraint. And because the

designers are all college graduates with PhD’s from the best of higher educational intentions, but

without the experience of training students in handling a lathe or a welding machine, Tabora

(2014) said that the people now have a policy which has effectively shut out meaningful skills

development in favor of pre-college preparation. The K-12 program has been reduced thereby to

pre-college preparation whose “core curriculum,” according to Mr. Elvin Uy, will prepare the

student for college according to the College Readiness Standards of the CHED. Originally, there

was supposed to be a pre-work track and a pre-college track. Pre-work would equip students

with industry-required skills. The pre-college track (not the core curriculum common to all!)

would prepare students for college according to CHED’s college readiness standards. Despite the

fact that the K-12 reform was inspired by the conviction that not all need to go to college, it is

designed so that all can go to college. This either disrespects the requirements for work, or

disrespects the requirements for college. DepEd has chosen to disrespect the requirements for

work. For Fr. Inocensio to continue respecting the requirements for work, he must sacrifice the

DepED requirements for senior high school. In fact, in the presentations given by Dr. Tina

Padolina on the Science, Technology and Mathematics (STEM) strand and by Dr. Maria Luz

Vilches on Humanities in Senior High School, many of the subjects like Qualitative Research
and Quantitative Research “sounded very HEI” – like belonging more to college or even

graduate school education rather than to basic education. Tabora (2014) added that he squirmed

to find out that future nurses shall be categorized under STEM and so be required to take even

modified calculus and wondered if this is really necessary.

Moreover, Bermudez (2018) said that the primary aim of Republic Act No. 10533 passed

in 2013 was to give quality education at par with international standards, which established the

K-12 program that added Grades 11 and 12 as the senior high school stage of the 13-year

enhanced basic education system. Prior to this, the Philippines was the only country in Asia and

one of the three countries in the world (the others were Angola and Djibouti) that had a 10-year

basic education program. The new curriculum initially gained ground in 2011 with the enactment

of RA 10157, which made compulsory kindergarten education for children at least 5 years old.

Bermudez (2018) also mentioned that with the additional two years in high school, the K-12

program aims to prepare students for college, future employment and entrepreneurship. Unlike

the old system, senior high school has four disciplines—academic, technical-vocational-

livelihood, sports, and arts and design. Students can choose from any of the four tracks based on

how they want to do after high school. For those who will pursue higher education, the SHS

curriculum was aligned with that of the Commission on Higher Education to ensure that its

graduates are equipped to handle college work. The general education curriculum in college will

then have fewer units as some of the subjects will be taken during SHS.

According to Ferenstein and Hershbein (2016), there is a troubling hidden pattern behind

success stories of high school graduation: though the percent of students earning a diploma is at

an all-time high (82 percent), college completion rates continue to stagnate at best, exacerbated

by a throng of college-bound students ill-prepared for advanced courses. For instance,

California’s massive community college system reports being overwhelmed by the more than 50

percent of inbound students who need remedial training in math and English, contributing to a

meager 52 percent completion rate. While there are certainly many economic and cultural factors

in long-term dropout rates, we argue that an overlooked hurdle to solving the problem is short-

sighted measurement: education leaders too often judge high school success by high school

metrics, not whether students end up with the knowledge and perseverance to attain a degree. For

instance, in 2009, the U.S. Department of Education’s research arm, the Institute of Education

Sciences, conducted an exhaustive review of research on college preparation and found “low

evidence”–the weakest category–that academic preparation for college was effective at

improving classroom outcomes. The reviewed studies included a wide variety of methods of

college preparation, from increasing the difficulty of academic standards to matching curricular

topics to known college courses. These methods also notably included increasing the quantity of

advanced coursework taken in high school, such as Advanced Placement classes. None of the

methods was found to have a strongly predictive positive impact on college readiness. Indeed, in

2013, Dartmouth stopped accepting Advanced Placement credits after 90 percent of students

who scored a perfect “5” on the AP Psychology exam reportedly failed the university’s own test.

Despite this backlash, some states are still looking to dramatically expand access to AP courses,

mandating that they be accepted as college credit as a way to reduce college costs for students.

The available evidence suggests this brute force strategy could be misguided, shoving students

into the deep end of advanced courses without adequate preparation. In fact, according to the

Figure 1 presented by Ferenstein and Hershbein (2016), states that increased AP-taking rates

faster between 1996 and 2007 saw larger declines in passage rates. Ferenstein and Hershbein

(2016) also included the state-level changes in AP taking and pass rates, 1996-2007. It has stated
that university faculty at institutions far more academically diverse than Dartmouth have long

harbored suspicions that many of their students were not being appropriately prepared for their

classes, despite previous high school coursework in the same subject. In the U.S. and abroad,

many decided to study the issue. Various professors have conducted more than 20 small-scale

studies since 1980, using their own students to investigate how much high school knowledge

predicted performance in their college courses. These published studies collectively show that

the effect of high school course-taking on college grades ranges from -5.3 to +6.7 points on a

100-point scale. When comparing students of similar race, gender, standardized test scores, and

socioeconomic background, most of the papers find that high school course-taking makes no

more than a two percent difference in the final college grade, even when high school courses

include Advanced Placement. For example, in one aptly titled study, “Student Performance in

First-Year Physics: Does High School Matter?”, researchers found that at their home institution

of the University of Sydney, “students with no background in senior high school physics are

generally not disadvantaged.” In a separate study, researchers examined what happened after

some Canadian provinces completely eliminated their fifth year of high school. The average

college GPA of students who completed four years of high school fell by about two percent

relative to earlier cohorts who had five years of high school. While alarming, it is not clear that

these studies generalize to all college students, since grading can vary dramatically from college

to college and instructor to instructor. The students sampled also may not be representative of all

students, as faculty drawing a class of students unusually ill-prepared might be the ones more

likely to investigate the problem. Ferenstein and Hershbein (2016) thus examined whether these

patterns held up in a nationally representative database of U.S. students progressing from high

school to college in the 1990s. Analyzing thousands of transcripts from the Department of
Education’s National Educational Longitudinal Study, we found confirmatory evidence that

advanced high school courses apparently do little to prepare students for success in college

coursework. Specifically, we showed that students with one more year of high school instruction

in physics, psychology, economics, or sociology on average have grades in their first college

course in the same subject just 0.003 to 0.2 points higher on a four-point scale. For example, for

students of similar race, socioeconomic status, and high school standardized test scores, those

who took a year of high school economics earn a final grade in their college economics class

0.03 points higher than students who have never encountered that subject before. What’s more,

these trivially small differences hold even for students who took exactly the same college course.

Ferenstein and Hershbein (2016) also stated the relationship between college grades (first course)

and high school course-taking. Ferenstein and Hershbein (2016) included their study from 2013.

They noted that Whiskers show 90-percent confidence intervals. Estimates are based on within-

college-course analysis using transcript data from the National Education Longitudinal Study,

1988, and include controls for race, sex, socioeconomic status of student, high school

standardized test score, and loci of self-control. Calculus, the exception, mildly benefits from

high school instruction, probably because it is based on cumulative learning to a greater extent

than other subjects commonly taken in both high school and college. Ferenstein and Hershbein

(2016) mentioned that as with any statistical analysis, there is some uncertainty in our estimates,

but for all subjects, people can rule out a year of high school instruction increasing college

grades by any more than about 0.65 points on a 4-point scale, and for psychology–the most

common subject taken in both high school and college–people can rule out an increase as small

as one-quarter of a letter grade. Ferenstein and Hershbein (2016) pointed that it is not that high

school students are not learning. Rather, it is more likely they often learn the wrong things, do
not sufficiently focus on the critical thinking commonly needed in college, or simply forget

much of what they learned. Ferenstein and Hershbein (2016) stated that for instance, the ability

to analyze evidence and pen a persuasive essay is central to much of college. Most colleges

mandate at least a semester course of intensive writing and argument, as it is presumed that even

students from top high schools are insufficiently prepared with this essential skill. Additionally,

studies on long-term retention of high school coursework suggest that students forget much or

most of what they learn. Students who remember a few basic concepts may hold a head start that

quickly diminishes as college classes rush toward advanced material. The little information that

is retained from high school may explain the very slight advantage from prior coursework that

we observed in our study. In theory, the Common Core’s emphasis on nonfiction argumentative

writing could be a step in the right direction. Yet, it appears at least some top universities doubt

whether high schools have developed the capacity to train students for college-level writing.

Harvard, for instance, does not allow any substitution for its entry-level writing requirement,

even from students who score a perfect 5 on the AP English exam and come from elite schools.

Instead, the evidence of Ferenstein and Hershbein (2016) suggests a different approach for high

schools and they said that this is because they are more confident in what is not working than in

what is working, they would argue that there is room to try something different. First,

policymakers need to explicitly link high school and college performance. National assessments

need to follow students through college graduation to understand what works–and what does

not–over the long term. To date, many standardized tests (including international assessments)

simply assume that performance in high school necessarily predicts later success, without

revealing how students use such knowledge and skills in college classes or to finish their degree.

Second, since there appears to be little opportunity cost to forgoing advanced course content
mastery–at least as it is commonly taught today–schools could have more freedom to experiment

with innovative and experimental courses that may be more useful to students in the long term.

For example, non-cognitive skill development and technical education in high school may be a

more productive strategy to promote college completion than traditional advanced courses.

Certainly, many educators would love to imbue their classrooms with richer experiences that

inspire students and teach them valuable life skills. Ferenstein and Hershbein (2016) also stated

that they are not advocating a wholesale rejection of subject content in high school coursework.

Rather, they believe that freeing up some curricular time to pilot alternative pedagogical

approaches that would be studied may yield more evidence on what works for whom without the

worry that students will be shortchanged by less drilling on subject content.

Furthermore, Sturgis (2017) stated that high-quality systems of competency-based education

start with a community’s aspirations for students. Completing twelve years of school is an

insufficient outcome for students. Students who are able to articulate a vision for their futures,

exercise agency in pursuing that vision and effectively navigate their own paths is commonly

expressed as the goal for students in competency-based districts and schools. That vision is one

that is made available to all students, not simply those on a particular path or from a limited set

of backgrounds. While college and career readiness are absolutely central to any educational

system, the definition used in most states today is more limited than the vision of educational

equity that competency-based education makes possible. For this reason, it is important to begin

with a statement of the intended purpose for competency-based education. Unlike traditional

systems of K-12 education, competency-based structures place an equal emphasis upon lifelong

skills such as growth mindset, metacognition, learning how to learn, problem-solving, advocacy,

collaboration, creativity and the habits of success as they do upon academic content knowledge
and skills. Districts that are pursuing competency-based systems share a belief that the current

purpose of K-12 education is to facilitate a process through which all students graduate high

school with the academic and lifelong learning skills to be leaders in their communities, and

agents of their own success — whether in college, career, or navigating the opportunities and

challenges they will encounter in their lives. While each community expresses its own values

and goals in the choices it makes around curriculum, pedagogy and school rituals, this core

purpose is shared by districts leading the way in competency-based education. Sturgis (2017)

believes that competency-based education offers the most effective structure for achieving this

educational purpose. However, realizing this purpose for all students requires attention to issues

of equity and quality, meeting students where they are, and policies that create the conditions for

success. This clear articulation and understanding of purpose sets us up now to turn to how and

why to best achieve that purpose.

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