Teachers' Level of Awareness on Competency-Based Assessment and Tools Used in the Division of Quezon: A Basis for Developing an Action Plan

Abstract

Learners’ mastery of the content to skill is likely to be attained through the approaches used by the teachers and is measured through various classroom assessment techniques. Assessment is a sine qua non or an absolutely necessary thing in teaching. Without assessment, the teaching cycle will not be completed. The K-12 Program in the Philippines offers a 12-year program which has the primary goal to give ample time for the learners to master skills and acquire basic competencies to make them competitive on a global extent. Competency-based assessment does not only measure the gaining of knowledge but more of the mastery of this knowledge and acquiring skills in an authentic context. Descriptive method was used in this study or also known as statistical research that describes data and characteristics about the population or phenomenon being studied designed to provide answers to the questions of who, what, when, where, and how associated with a particular research problem. Majority of the teacher respondents belong to the age bracket of 31-35 years old, female, took up Bachelor’s Degree in Education with, and have been teaching for 4-8 years, are extremely aware that competency-based assessment requires carefully crafted instructional objectives, and most commonly use directed assignments, oral questioning, and simulation and role-plays as classroom assessment tools and the least commonly used strategies are games. In terms of advantages, the majority of the teacher respondents perceived to a much extent that competency-based assessment allows the learners to be creative thinkers through enhancing their imagination and in terms of disadvantages, most of them perceived to a much extent that competency-based assessment takes an objectivist approach to learning. Majority of the teacher respondents assert the problem that competency-based assessment requires conclusions and inferences to be reliable.D. Fisher and N. Frey (2011) stated that teachers are sometimes teachers merely visualize that all children will learn everything that they teach without knowing that having a clearer “end” in mind is more important. Establishing a clear purpose of a lesson can make the children learn more effectively. Linking instructional objectives to competencies, in contrast with traditional assessment, competency-based assessment ensures that learners can apply what they have learned (S. K. Kearns, T. J. Mavin, S. Hodge, 2016).