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Why DepEd Joined PISA?

The DepEd decision to join PISA for the first time in its 2018 round is a step towards globalizing the quality of Philippine basic education. Together with the changing landscape of education, global standards are also changing, and the country needs to have a complete view of the gaps and areas for improvement.

By joining PISA, DepEd takes advantage of an assessment designed and constantly updated by education experts around the world to complement its own national assessment.

Given the historical performance of our learners in the National Achievement Test, we expected that our learners will also not be able to perform well in PISA. But by participating in PISA, we will be able to establish our baseline in relation to global standards and benchmark the effectiveness of our reforms moving forward. The PISA Results, along with our own assessments and studies, will aid our policy formulation, planning, and programming.

Moving Forward:

The PISA 2018 results reflect the urgency of improving the quality of basic education in the Philippines. The Department will lead this national effort through “Sulong EduKalidad”, whereby it will implement aggressive reforms in four key areas #KITE (as highlighted in the message of Sec. Briones below):

  1. K to 12 curriculum review and updating
  2. Improvement of learning facilities
  3. Teachers and school heads’ Upskilling and reskilling through a transformed professional development program; and
  4. Engagement of all stakeholders for support and collaboration.

The available report covers the cognitive results of the PISA 2018. Supplemental reports analyzing non-cognitive results will be released in the coming year to deepen understanding of student performance and provide further insights for DepEd’s push for education quality.

PISA 2018 National Report of the Philippines

Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) Executive Summary

The Department of Education (DepEd), mandated to ensure access to quality basic education for all Filipinos, is committed to engage in various national and international system assessments to guide its efforts to address the challenge of improving the quality of basic education.

Towards this end, DepEd participated in the 2018 cycle of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), a triennial international assessment administered to 15-year old learners, who are near the end of their compulsory basic education. Implemented by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), PISA specifically looks into the learners’ ability to apply the knowledge they have gained in formal education to everyday situations. The PISA results can provide relevant insights on student performance and inform policy decisions of the Department.

For 2018, Reading Literacy was assessed as major domain, and Mathematical Literacy and Scientific Literacy of the students were assessed as minor domains. Global Competence was also included as an innovative assessment.

Some of the key findings in each domain are summarized below:

Reading Literacy

  • Filipino students obtained an average score of 340 points in Overall Reading Literacy, which was significantly lower than the OECD average of 487 points.
  • Only 1 out of 5 Filipino students (19.4%) achieved at least the minimum proficiency level (Level 2) in Overall Reading Literacy.
  • Among the participating ASEAN countries, Filipino students performed closest to but significantly behind Indonesian students by 31 points in Overall Reading Literacy.
  • Among the Process tasks, Filipino student s obtained the highest mean scores in Locate Information (343 points)
  • Between the two reading source subscales, Filipino students attained a higher average score in Source – Multiple (341 points).
  • In the Philippines, female students performed significantly better than male students in Overall Reading Literacy with a 27-point difference.
  • Majority of male students (84.82%) and female students (76.90%) did not obtain the minimum proficiency level (Level 2) in Overall Reading Literacy.
  • Filipino students from private schools averaged 390 points, which was significantly higher than public school students who averaged 328 points.
  • The mean Reading Literacy score of SHS students (428 points) was significantly higher than that of JHS students (339 points).
  • The National Capital Region (NCR), Region 7 (Central Visayas), and Region 11 (Southern Mindanao) achieved the highest Overall Reading Literacy average performance for their respective island groups.
  • The mean Reading Literacy score of students residing in urban communities (355 points) was significantly higher than the mean score of those living in rural communities (313 points).

Mathematical Literacy

  • Filipino students achieved an average score of 353 points in Mathematical Literacy, which was significantly lower than the OECD average of 489 points.
  • Only 1 out of 5 Filipino students (19.7%) attained at least the minimum proficiency level (Level 2) in Mathematical Literacy.
  • Among the participating ASEAN countries, Filipino students performed closest to but significantly behind Indonesian students by 26 points in Mathematical Literacy.
  • The average Mathematical Literacy score of female students (358 points) was significantly higher than that of male students (346 points).
  • The average Mathematical Literacy score of students in private schools (395 points) was significantly higher than the average score of those in public schools (343 points).
  • SHS students performed significantly better than JHS students with a 96-point difference.
  • The National Capital Region (NCR) achieved the highest Mathematical Literacy average score across all the administrative regions with 385 points.
  • Region 7 (Central Visayas) garnered the top average Mathematical Literacy score in the Visayas group of islands, while Region 11 (Southern Mindanao) attained the highest in Mindanao.
  • Among the administrative regions, Region 6 (Western Visayas) had the highest percentage (2.74%) of Level 4 proficient students in Mathematical Literacy.
  • The mean Mathematical Literacy score of students in urban areas (365 points) was significantly higher than that of students in rural areas (329 points).

Scientific Literacy

  • Filipino students attained an average score of 357 points in Scientific Literacy, which was significantly lower than the OECD average of 489 points.
  • Female students obtained an average score of 359 points for Scientific Literacy, which was slightly higher but not significantly different from the average score of male students (355 points).
  • Students from private schools scored an average of 399 points in Scientific Literacy, which was significantly higher than that of public school students who averaged at 347 points.
  • SHS students (439 points) performed significantly better than JHS students (356 points).
  • The National Capital Region (NCR) achieved the highest Scientific Literacy scores across all the administrative regions included in the study.
  • Region 7 (Central Visayas) obtained the top average score for Scientific Literacy in the Visayas group of islands, while Region 11 (Southern Mindanao) had the highest in Mindanao.
  • The average performance of students in urban areas for Scientific Literacy was 370 points, which was significantly greater than the average performance of those in rural areas (333 points).

The PISA 2018 results reflect the urgency of improving the quality of basic education in the Philippines. The Department will lead this national effort through “Sulong EduKalidad”, whereby it will implement aggressive reforms in four key areas: (1) Upskilling teachers and school leaders through a transformed professional development program; (2) Review and updating of curriculum; (3) Continuous improvement of the learning environment; and (4) Multi-stakeholder cooperation.

This report covers the cognitive results of the PISA 2018. Supplemental reports analyzing contextual variables will be released in the coming year to deepen understanding of student performance, and provide further insights for DepEd’s push for education quality.

Source: DepEd Undersecretary Annalyn M. Sevilla

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Mark Anthony Llego

Mark Anthony Llego, from the Philippines, has significantly influenced the teaching profession by enabling thousands of teachers nationwide to access essential information and exchange ideas. His contributions have enhanced their instructional and supervisory abilities. Moreover, his articles on teaching have reached international audiences and have been featured on highly regarded educational websites in the United States.

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