Vol.

4 January 2013
International Peer Reviewed Journal
Print ISSN 22438327 Online ISSN
International Peer Reviewed Journal
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.7718/iamure.v4i1.571
This Journal is produced by IAMURE Multidisciplinary Research,
an ISO 9001:2008 certified by the AJA Registrars Inc.

The Professional Development

Strategies as Correlates of Efficacy
of the School Heads
MELANIE A. DEL CAMPO
ORCID No. 0000-0003-4306-7718
melaniedc@gmail.com
University of Mindanao
Davao City
EUNICE A. ATIENZAR
ORCID No. 0000-0002-8708-1354
euniceatienzar@gmail.com
University of Mindanao
Davao City

ABSTRACT
Professional development of school heads has been described to be fragmented,
incoherent, not sustained and not aligned according to state education standards
and these activities have not been closely linked to instructional reforms. Programs
have focused on administering schools and not on teaching and learning - the data
did not diagnose students needs and coach or mentor teachers. School Heads need
to spearhead in finding solutions to predicaments of instruction. An increase of
professional development activities did not improve school performance and has
not improved student learning outcomes. The poor quality of student learning is
due to the deteriorating knowledge, skills and competence of school heads and their
commitment to initiate reforms and programs in schools. The study explored on
the significance of the relationship between professional development strategies and
efficacy of school heads of Island Garden City of Samal. The study made use of
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IAMURE International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research

the correlation survey method. An analysis was done on the data collated from 64
respondents both in Elementary and Secondary Schools through the use of mean
and Pearson r. The result revealed that there was a significant relationship between
professional development strategies and efficacy of school heads except for Action
Research, Teaching Portfolios and Team Teaching, these against Student-Centered
Leadership.
KEYWORDS
Education, professional development strategies, efficacy of the school heads,
descriptive-correlational study, Davao City, Philippines
INTRODUCTION
Professional development of school heads has been described to be fragmented,
incoherent, not sustained and not aligned according to state education standards and
these activities have not been closely linked to instructional reforms. Programs have
focused on administering schools and not on teaching and learning- one in which
they develop themselves and evaluate curriculum, use data to diagnose students
needs and coach or mentor teachers. (Darling-Hammond et al., 2009).
Across the world, the stakeholders from the lowest to the highest hierarchy of
education continue to exert effort to address various institutional and instructional
problems. School Heads need to stay in the forefront in finding solutions to
predicaments of instruction (DiMartino & Miles, 2006). A considerable increase
of professional development activities did not improve school performance (Gilley,
Dixon & Gilley, 2008) and has not improved student learning outcomes (Harris,
2005; Hopkins & Jackson, 2003). There has been few studies undertaken on the
relationship of school heads intercession on the teaching learning process in schools
(Blas, 2000). The poor quality of student learning is due to the deteriorating
technical knowledge, skills and competence of school heads (Clarke, 2001; 2003;
Adey, 2004) and their commitment to initiate reforms and programs in schools.
In the Philippines, the Department of Education (DepED) administers the
schooling needs of a substantial number of students in the public schools both in
elementary and secondary levels. As the agency supports the Education For All
(EFA) goals, DepED through the 17 regional offices headed by directors, it has
been encountering a wide range of challenges. To somehow address these, the Basic
Education Assistance for Mindanao (BEAM), a DepED Philippine-Australian
Project was implemented in 2002-2006, and among the programs undertaken was
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International Peer Reviewed Journal

School Management, particularly, the 4-Cycle training of school heads to enhance

their efficacy in improving student learning outcomes (BEAM, 2006). Additionally,
BESRA (Basic Education Sector Reform Agenda), a package of policy reforms
embarked on a key reform thrust focused on school-based management which relates
to the reform principle that the best people to improve the quality of schools are the
stakeholders led by the school head (BESRA, 2005).
In the Island Garden City of Samal, the researchers have observed that there is a
question on the efficacy of school heads as shown in the poor performance of students
in the national achievement test. It is noted by teachers that the school heads and
teachers sense of collective efficacy, coupled with strong, positive relationships are
essential on student achievement. More importantly, the researchers have not come
across studies that investigate the relationship between professional development
strategies and efficacy of school heads in the Philippines. Thus, there is a challenge to
the researchers to answer the identified research gap.
FRAMEWORK
This study anchors on the argument that to be an efficient school leader, a
school head must give primary attention to the professional development activities
of teachers (Clarke, 2003). In addition, school heads play a vital role in sustaining
teachers dispositions toward quality instruction.
Cordingley et al., (2005) supports the aforementioned argument, who posited
that professional development effort of the school is equally important than any other
change initiative. Harris, et al., (2004) stated that teachers have to expose themselves
to diverse trainings and workshops about teaching knowledge, skills, and attitudes.
On the other hand, Irvin & White, (2004) argued that the function of school heads
is to look into the teachers quality of instruction, and student learning outcomes
(Cunningham & Sanzo, 2002). School heads at the onset are educators who should
be competent, not just in management and supervision but also in the classroom and
whole school pedagogy (Gilley et al., 2008).
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
This is a descriptive-correlational study on the professional development strategies
and efficacy of school heads. The objectives are the following: 1) to determine
the level of professional development strategies among public school heads in the
division of Island Garden City of Samal in terms of Peer Coaching, Study Groups,
Action Research, Mentoring, Teaching Portfolios, In-Service Training, and Team
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IAMURE International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research

Teaching; 2) to determine the level of efficacy of school heads in IGACOS with

reference to: Student-Centered Leadership, Academic and Social Development of
Students, Content and Instruction, Culture of Continuous Learning, Identification
and Application of Instructional Improvement, and Community Engagement; and
3) to determine if there is a significant relationship between professional development
strategies and efficacy of school heads.
METHODOLOGY
This is a descriptive-correlational study on the professional development strategies
and efficacy of school heads. The descriptive method is used to describe or explain
the status of a particular variable and its correlation to another variable (Cresswell,
2002). It was descriptive because the data described the assessment of professional
development strategies and school heads efficacy. Likewise, it was also correlational
because the study determined whether the first variable will affect the second variable
and vice versa.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Table 1 reflects the summary on the level of professional development strategies
of the School Heads in the Division of Island Garden City of Samal. As shown in
the table, the overall professional development strategies of the research respondents
has a mean score of 4.32 with descriptive equivalent of high, reflected as frequently
manifested by the school heads.
Peer-Coaching and Study Groups got the highest mean score of 4.48 with
descriptive equivalent of high, which means frequently manifested by the school
heads while Portfolios got a mean score of 4.46 with a descriptive equivalent of
high, which means always manifested by the school heads.
The school heads got a mean score of 4.22 in Action Research with a descriptive
equivalent of high, reflected as manifested by the school heads. However, in Mentoring
and In-service Training, they got a mean score of 4.20 with descriptive equivalent of
high, reflected as frequently manifested while in Team-Teaching, they got a mean
score of 3.95 with a descriptive equivalent of high, reflected as frequently manifested
by the school heads but needs to be given an enhancement training.
The result is indicating that the school heads in the Island Garden City of Samal
possess professional development strategies, but they need further training on
Mentoring and Team Teaching.

International Peer Reviewed Journal

Table 1. Summary on the level of professional development

strategies among public school heads
SD

Mean

Descriptive Level

Peer-Coaching
Study Groups
Action Research
Mentoring

Item

0.41
0.46
0.58
0.64

4.48
4.48
4.22
4.20

High
High
High
High

Teaching Portfolios

0.49

4.46

High

In-Service Training
Team Teaching
Overall

0.54
0.75
0.49

4.20
3.95
4.32

High
High
High

Shown in Table 2 is the summary on the level of efficacy of school heads with the
indicators having an overall mean score of 4.49 with descriptive equivalent of high,
reflected as frequently manifested by the school heads. Student Centered leadership
has the highest mean score of 4.60 with a descriptive equivalent of very high, reflected
as always while in Community Engagement, the school heads got a mean score of
4.54 with a descriptive equivalent of high, reflected as always. Academic and social
development of students and culture of continuous learning follows, with mean
scores of 4.45, with a descriptive equivalent of high, reflected as frequently manifested
by the school heads.
The school heads got a mean score of 4.43 in the application of instructional
improvement with a descriptive equivalent of high, reflected as frequently manifested
by the school heads while in content and instruction they got the lowest mean score
of 4.41 with a descriptive equivalent of high, reflected as frequently manifested by
the school heads. The result is indicative that school heads in Island Garden City of
Samal need instructional leadership training and instructional improvement.
Table 2. Summary on the level of efficacy of school heads
Item
Student-Centered Leadership
Academic and Social Development of Students
Content and Instruction
Culture of Continuous Learning
Application of Instructional Improvement
Community Engagement
Overall

SD
0.38
0.67
0.39
0.43
0.42
0.63
0.31

Mean
4.60
4.45
4.41
4.45
4.43
4.54
4.49

Descriptive Level
Very High
High
High
High
High
High
High
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IAMURE International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research

Significance on the Relationship between Professional Development Strategies

and Efficacy of School Heads
One of the objectives of the study is to determine the correlation between
professional development strategies and efficacy of school heads of the division of
Island Garden City of Samal. Table 3 shows the detail of the significance of the
relationship between Professional Development Strategies and Efficacy of School
Heads. As shown in The Table, the overall relationship between the two variables are
indicated by an r-value of .67 with significant at 0.05 hence the rejection of the null
hypothesis. It can be stated therefore that there is a significant relationship between
the two variables.
Examining the relationships of the indicators of the two variables, it shows that
all indicators of professional development strategies significantly correlate with the
indicators of the efficacy school heads with r- values ranging from .258 to .757
except for Action Research with Student-Centered Leadership, Teaching Portfolios
with Student-Centered Leadership, and Team-Teaching with Student-Centered
Leadership. Furthermore, the overall result validates the theory of (Hismanoglu,
2010) which states that there is a significant relationship of Professional Development
Strategies and Efficacy of School Heads.
Table 3. Significance of the relationship between professional development
strategies and efficacy of school heads
School Head Efficacy
Professional
Development
Strategies

StudentCentered
Leadership

IdentificaAcademic Content Culture

tion and
Social Deand
of ConApplicavelopment Instruc- tinuous tion of Inof Students
tion
Learning structional
Leadership

Community
Engagement

Overall

Peer C

.339*

.427*

.535*

.544*

.465*

.640*

.757*

Study Groups

.258*

.240

.374*

.387*

.300*

.319*

.399*

Action Research

.176

.419*

.425*

.481*

.540*

.462*

.536*

Mentoring

.284*

.418*

.572*

.452*

.363*

.462*

.539*

Teaching
Portfolios

.164

.414*

.425*

.519*

.458*

.427*

.515*

International Peer Reviewed Journal

In-Service
Training

.285*

.378*

.584*

.556*

.561*

.464*

.604*

Team Teaching

.197

.296*

.307*

.333*

.279*

.374*

.382*

.334*

.475*

.605*

.613*

.543*

.577*

.670*

Overall

Significant @ .05
Decision on Ho = REJECT
CONCLUSIONS

In the light of the statistical evidences presented and evaluation conducted, the
following conclusions are made. The level of Professional Development Strategies of
School heads is high; Efficacy of School Heads is high. The overall result shows that
there is a significant relationship between Professional Development Strategies and
Efficacy of School Heads except for Action Research and against Student-Centered
Leadership, Teaching Portfolios and Student-Centered Leadership, Team-Teaching
and Student-Centered Leadership. This is supported by Cotton (2003) that some
school heads personalize school experience by leading their staff in implementing
effective teaching and schooling practices, regardless of background or economic
status to continually increase achievement levels. These are the key areas indicating
efficacy of school heads.
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IAMURE International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research

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Irvin, L. E., & White, D.

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