School heads' competency profile along the national competency-based standards: Basis for the development of a training program

Abstract

This descriptive-survey study aimed at ascertaining the school heads' competency profile along the national competency based-standards for school heads which will be made basis for the development of a training program. Conducted during the school year 2013-2014, the study utilized 255 randomly selected public elementary school heads in the Division of Iloilo as respondents. The simple random sampling technique was used in choosing the respondents. The quantitative data were obtained using the Standardized National Competency-Based Standards for School Heads. To supply the qualitative data, ten informants were interviewed using the researcher-made Interview Guide for School Heads Competency. The descriptive statistics were mean and standard deviation, while the inferential statistics were the t-test and the one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) set at .05 alpha. The results of the study showed that the school heads were all "experienced" in terms of the 6 Domains- School Leadership, Instructional Leadership, Creating a Student-Centered Learning Climate, HR Management and Professional Development, Parent Involvement and Community Partnership, School Management and Daily Operations when they were taken as an entire group and classified according to age, educational attainment, administrative experience, school location, school enrolment, and teaching staff managed. The School heads were also generally "experienced" in terms of Domain 7- personal and professional attributes and interpersonal effectiveness except for the younger age group, the School heads with shorter teaching experience, those coming from the poblacion, and those who managed larger teaching staff who were "expert" in this particular domain. Furthermore, the study also revealed that school administrators were most competent in Domain 7(Personal and Professional Attributes and Interpersonal Effectiveness) and in Domain 3 (Creating a Student-Centered Learning Climate) but least competent in Domain 2 (Instructional Leadership) and in Domain 4 (HR Management and Professional Development). No significant differences existed in the School administrators competence and the 7 Domains when they were classified according to personal factors such as age, educational attainment, administrative experience, teaching experience and non-personal factors such as school location, school enrollment and number of teaching staff managed. Significant differences existed in school leadership among school administrators classified according to teaching experience and number of teaching staff managed. Generally, the results of the study revealed that administrator with shorter teaching experience and with larger teaching staff managed had significantly higher school leadership experience. Moreover, it revealed that administrators with master's degree had significantly higher parent involvement and community partnership skills. From these results, a training program for school heads on Instructional Leadership and HR Management and Professional Development was proposed.