The extent of compliance of Lasallian basic education schools to the Philippine Catholic Schools Standards
Background: Catholic schools are recognized as offering high-quality education to students, especially to the unfortunate and marginalized members of society. Parents choose Catholic schools because they believe that Catholic schools can develop their children’s values and mold them into better persons. Because Lasallian schools are known Catholic schools in the Philippines, there is a need to know whether Lasallian school administrators comply with the Philippine Catholic Schools Standards for Basic Education (PCSS-BE) under the leadership and governance domain to ensure the quality of education for their students.
Purpose: Determine the extent of compliance of Lasallian basic education schools to the PCSS-BE under the leadership and governance domain.
Participants: A total of 264 principals/directors, faculty, and staff employed in various Lasallian basic education schools with junior and senior high schools.
Research design: Convergent triangulation mixed methods research design
Data collection and analysis: The PCSS-BE survey form for the leadership and governance domain owned by the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines was administered in Lasallian basic education schools. Interviews were conducted to gain insights, knowledge, and experiences from the school administrators and to validate the information given by the respondents in the survey. Documents and other forms of evidence were also collected from the schools. Means, analysis of variance, post-hoc tests, and Tukey’s honestly significant difference test were utilized to analyze and interpret data.
Findings: The overall extent of compliance of Lasallian basic education schools to the PCSS-BE under the leadership and governance domain is in Level 3 ‘Fully meets benchmark’ (Integration). There is a significant difference in the overall extent of compliance of the Lasallian basic education schools in the PCSS-BE under the leadership and governance domain. The themes identified in the interviews were call to lead, readiness, acceptance, formation, and service.
Recommendation: Formally and properly present to the school administrators for consideration and adoption a written management program for leadership and governance. Have school leaders conduct extensive consultations with faculty and staff to enhance the best features of the school and to further develop the skills of future administrators. Involve school leaders in various forms of church services and formation programs to improve their personal lifestyle, decisions, and actions. Mentor qualified leaders for the position and define their roles and responsibilities to ensure that they can function effectively.
Authors: Marilou Evasco-Medina
Keywords: benchmarks, Catholic, governance, leadership, standards