STRENGTHENING QUALITY OF EDUCATION

Submitted in Partial Fulfilment

of Requirements of the Course MEM 645 Education Laws

DOMINGO R. CUETO

DR. JOCELYN PICK

Course Facilitator
 Abstract
To improve our education system, there is a need to look at the quality of the
teachers and the curriculum implemented.
Teachers are vital figures in nation building. With quality teachers, the nation can
develop well-rounded learners equipped with 21st century skills and imbued with positive core
values.
This is in consonance with the Department of Education with the vision of producing
Filipinos who passionately love the country and whose values and competencies enable them to
realize their full potential and contribute meaningfully to build the nation (Department Order No.
36 s. 2013).
Alongside teacher quality, curriculum implementation is also critical in the attainment of
quality education.

Introduction
The quality of education is generally determined the quality of its teachers, the key
figures in the teaching-learning process. Empirical evidences show that good teachers are vital to
raising student achievement. Likewise, the reforms brought by the K to 12 implementation and
the ASEAN integration, globalization, industrialization and the changing character of the 21 st
century learners require the improvement and adaptability of education, rethinking the teacher
standards.
Teachers are at the frontlines of the movement to achieve quality education for all every
single day. That is why their engagement in the policy and planning process is critical (Albright,
2015).
Similarly, the quality of the curriculum and its implementation will describe the quality
of the learners at various curriculum exits, in our setting, the graduates of the Senior High
School.

Discussion
FIRST TOPIC: Improving quality of education through improving teacher quality
The quality of our teachers spells the difference in the quality of learning among the
learners. Across levels and disciplines, their professional competence and content knowledge
level have significant effect in the classroom instruction and student achievement.
Research shows that effective teachers are the most important factor contributing to
student achievement. Teacher quality has a lasting effect on student learning.
 Presented in the diagram below is the analysis of teacher quality. Among the causes that
are attributed to low quality of teachers include low level of content knowledge and pedagofical
competence and vague teacher standards.

Low level of teachers’ competence and content knowledge and pedagogical

competence
The quality of education as translated in the classroom teaching is highly determined by
the teachers’ curriculum content knowledge and competence in the teaching process.
Fuller and Kapakasa (1991) posit three teacher qualitie required for effective teachers:
knowledge of subject-matter, pedagogical practice, and beliefs about teaching. In their study,
these authors find out that the (a) greater availability of pupil textbooks and a teacher guide raise
the teacher's own knowledge of the subject-matter presented to students, (b) completion of
secondary school by younger teachers is associated with positive pedagogical outcomes, and (c)
teachers’ training and less crowded classrooms contributed to better instruction.

Vague teacher standards

With the adoption of the PPST, the teachers are provided with clear and well-defined
teacher standards. However, the challenge for its full understanding by the field personnel,
teachers and school heads alike, is that the roll-out failed to orient them fully. This resulted to
misconstrued understanding and bland implementation of the standards.
Improving teacher quality
Adoption of clear professional standards for teachers
The department should make it sure that the standards are fully understood
and implemented in the field. Trainings and seminars for this purpose should build clear
expectations among teachers and a uniform measure to assess teacher performance.

Strengthen pre-service teacher education

Teacher education institutions should provide strong foundation for future
teachers by a highly-responsive undergraduate teacher curriculum focusing on content
knowledge and pedagogy required by the field.

Provide continuous professional development program for teachers

Teachers should be provided continuous career development system so that they

are supported throughout their career.
In 2007, research by the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education
Sciences concluded that student achievement can improve by as much as 21 percentile points as
a result of teachers’ participation in well-designed professional development programs.
 SECOND TOPIC: Improving quality of education through curriculum
improvement

Decongest the curriculum and provide the learning resources

It is the curriculum that determines to a large extent whether education is inclusive, thus
playing a significant role in ensuring that provision is equitable. It is the curriculum that provides
the structure for the provision of quality learning, especially where teachers might be under-
qualified and inexperienced, their classrooms under-resourced, and their students lacking the
prior frameworks within which to situate their learning. And it is the curriculum that articulates
both the competencies necessary for lifelong learning and the competencies needed for holistic
development (Stabback, 2011).
In our K to 12 curriculum, there is a need to decongest the curriculum. With too many
competencies, mostly recurring and overlapping across levels, the department should look into
the competencies that are the most essential. With the present huge volume of competencies to
be taught, teachers are obliged to cover and teach all of these at the end of the school year. This
resulted to shallow delivery of the curriculum content. This is even aggravated by the
insufficiency of the learning materials to support its delivery.
References:
Albright, Alice (2015).
Department of Education (2017). National Adoption and Implementation of Philippine
Professional Standards for Teachers
Fuller and Kapakasa (1991). What factors shape teacher quality? Evidence from Malawi.
Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0738059391900379
Stabback, Philip (2011). What Makes A Quality Curriculum? Retrieved from
https://www.academia.edu/24112399/WHAT_MAKES_A_QUALITY_CURRICULUM?
auto=download

US Department of Education (2007). Reviewing the evidence on how teacher professional

development affects student achievement.