GROWTH SCORECARD AS A STRATEGIC INTERVENTION TO MAXIMIZE STUDENT POTENTIAL OF GRADE

12 STUDENTS IN MBASHS UNIT-1

I. CONTEXT AND RATIONALE

The world has three kinds of people, said George Bernard Shaw: those who make things

happen, those who watch what happens, and those who wonder what happened. Pralahad

(1994) said: “On the road to the future, there are drivers, there are passengers, and there is

road kill.”

Students’ maximum potential is untapped and cannot be measured by using academic

proficiency only.

Traditional evaluations Department of Education in the Philippines evaluate student

performance and potentialities using a standards- and competency-based grading system.

These are applied by looking at curriculum guides if they are met when all grades will be based

on the weighted raw score of the learners’ summative assessments. The minimum grade

needed to pass a specific learning area is 60, which is transmuted to 75 in the report card. The

lowest mark that can appear on the report card is 60 for Quarterly Grades and Final Grades.

When students view their grades from the first quarter of the academic term, they are

informed of their performance and present capability. However, this presents or offers an

interpretation to students that their academic journey in the school can only be represented by a

number which may be, at times, inaccurate to describe the whole picture of how a student has

evolved from quarter to quarter, and grade level to another grade level. This results in the total

score for each component, namely Written Work, Performance Tasks, and Quarterly

Assessment.

This system implies that academic proficiency happens only inside the classroom, and

academic proficiency is the only important journey a student must take.

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Public schools do not envision students that after they graduate, they may fall on

complacency, mediocrity, and passive comfortability of life. Because of lack of programs that

promote holistic growth and cultivate proactivity, students are at risk of not knowing different

areas of their potential.

One must understand the limits of grading a student based on the current assessment

areas laid out by the Department of Education. There are some variables in students’ growth

that cannot be merely quantified, but still need to be addressed and assessed by the school to

give them knowledge on ways they can improve.

As teachers, we want proactivity, participation, overall maximization of one’s

potentialities which cannot be cultivated by staying inside a classroom and merely complying

with institutional requirements to pass a subject.

Proaction involves creating change, not merely anticipating it. It does not just involve the

important attributes of flexibility and adaptability toward an uncertain future. To be proactive is to

take the initiative in improving oneself, one’s condition, and one’s environment.

This has to be learned most especially by Senior High School students who are

technically job candidates or tertiary education potentials.

One potential, and indeed powerful, avenue for encompassing growth and change in the

education system is proactivity to holistic education. Education that gives opportunity to

students to maximize every school journey that is. This broad, personalized, and exploratory

educational design provides students with the opportunity to participate in innovative and well-

rounded learning experiences in which they are provided with the necessary skills and tools to

succeed in environments well beyond the confines of a classroom, because real learning does

not stop when a student graduates. It has just yet started.

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As a teacher, one of the problems I encountered is giving equal opportunities and

platforms to accommodate student potential. During recitation, after asking a question, three or

five students would raise their hands, hoping to get noticed of their classroom preparation

efforts. However, I could only call one from them to answer my question. This risks my students

to think that classroom is a competition platform where only one can win. When the student I

would call answered right in the recitations, I am driven to ask other questions different from the

one I asked before, but it has certain limitations such as time and the need to move forward with

the discussion. In a class, even though a teacher prepares his or her daily lesson log or plan,

there are still spaces in which she could not teach verbally or through books and assess through

quizzes such as the need of an individual to become resilient, have a positive mindset, realize

the importance of practice and continuous improvement, and gain skills for negotiation.

Definition of a holistic education

Education has already stopped becoming concrete, tangible and quantifiable skills.

Employers in the job market cannot be seen to look at someone’s past high school or even

collegiate grades during a job interview. Our past and present educational paradigms still rely

on “average” measurements and standardization. Children, in order to pass their exams, need

to memorize and regurgitate definitions and terms. Even though Higher Order Thinking Skills

are promoted, it must be understood that learning traverses beyond books and hypothesis.

Applied knowledge is always the key. Not only is this approach not successful for children, it

may also not be psychologically healthy for some students, according to research done by Sir

Ken Robinson, a creativity expert who wrote, You, Your Child and School (2018).

Although senior high school students should be prepared in core subjects such as

mathematics, English language, or science, it is also important that they be taught how to learn

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and also be supported of their learning styles. Holistic education redefines not only what a core

subject is, it also redefines how children should be taught.

The biggest benefit of a holistic approach is not just about mental development, but it

encompasses psychological, social and emotional growth. This picture of diverse areas of

development cause children to be wiser, more confident, and better prepared for taking life’s

challenges.

A holistic approach motivates children to learn about a subject and himself or herself. It

instills curiosity and allows children to learn naturally and creatively, to explore dimensions of his

or her character. It is also attuned to each child’s individual persona and learning style, in

contrast of the current mass educational system.

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Schools need to breed proactivity and resilience because real life is volatile and

uncertain.

In order to achieve growth and build resilience from students, the Department for

Education and Child Development of Government of South Australia (n.d.) has drawn a well-

being framework to meet the challenge.

There are three ways to promote holistic growth within students: inspire their spirits,

engage their minds, and empower them to take actions.

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II. ACTION RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1) How do the respondents assess their behavior and attitude toward their traditional academic

journey in terms of:

a) motivation and enthusiasm, b) resilience and growth, and c) self-esteem towards the

future

2) How do the respondents assess their behavior and attitude toward an academic journey with

a holistic growth development through the introduction of growth scorecard in terms of:

a) motivation and enthusiasm, b) resilience and growth, and c) self-esteem towards the

future

3) Is there a statistical significance between the behavior and attitude of the respondents toward

their traditional academic journey vis-à-vis holistic growth-oriented academic journey?

4) How do the respondents feel toward executing the growth scorecard as a part of their

academic journey in general?

III. PROPOSED INNOVATION, INTERVENTION, AND STRATEGY

The Specifics of the Intervention; Growth Scorecard and its Contents

The overall content of the growth scorecard is based on a “life course” approach. Senior

high school students, after graduation, will eventually encounter the truth they are responsible

for their own life. Employment, relationships, self-fulfillment, recreation, growth mindset are

some of the most important pillars of a successful life.

For 1 week when this action research will be implemented, 5 teachers in senior high

school will be handling different workshops based on 5 aspects of holistic growth. Every

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workshop will run for about 2 hours. And for every workshop, the number of target participants

will be 20. Meaning, those 20 students for every day in a week will attend each different

workshop to gain holistic growth.

The scorecard below is a prototype of the intervention if it will be implemented formally in

this school after this action research. It is visualized that every series of workshop will be

conducted from 2nd quarter to fourth quarter. To encourage teachers to participate in these

workshops, this will serve as alternative classes that may be added as Plus Factor in their

Results-Based Performance Management System.

It is understood that senior high school students already have immersion and on-the-job

training experiences. However, it must also be considered that in reality, students’ experiences

in these programs outside the school are not guaranteed and structured. In addition, their

experiences there are tailored to their desired specialization.

However, the growth scorecard offers an alternative perspective. It does not ensure

one’s student success towards only his or her picked specialization. It offers pillars which will be

the key to one’s growth in his or her life regardless of any specialization he or she may pursue

in the future.

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Aspects of Holistic Growth

PROFESSIONAL
INTERPERSONAL INTRAPERSONAL SPIRITUAL
LEADERSHIP GROWTH
RELATIONSHIPS DEVELOPMENT GROWTH
INITIATIVES

PROFESSIONAL
INTERPERSONAL INTRAPERSONAL SPIRITUAL
LEADERSHIP GROWTH
RELATIONSHIPS DEVELOPMENT GROWTH
INITIATIVES

PROFESSIONAL
INTERPERSONAL INTRAPERSONAL SPIRITUAL
LEADERSHIP GROWTH
RELATIONSHIPS DEVELOPMENT GROWTH
INITIATIVES

Interpersonal Relationships

Workshops about interpersonal relationships will center on friendships, romantic

relationships, familial relationships, and how students can cultivate and maintain them in a long

run. These workshops will boost their emotional and social well-being.

Leadership

Workshops about leadership will tackle how students can be group leaders not just in

school but in their family and future workplace as well. Non-verbal communication, emotional

management, stress management, and motivation are the example topics teachers of this

workshop may train them with.

Intrapersonal Development

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Intrapersonal development revolves around discovering oneself through preferences and

dislikes, familial history and pathology, knowing one’s strengths and weaknesses, and accepting

of one’s imperfection.

Professional Growth Initiatives

Workshops about professional growth initiatives will orient students on productivity,

habits, and ways of thinking in the professional world. From small handshakes and dressing up

nicely, to building their identity capital will focus on this classification. As an achiever, I wish I

should have been oriented that my expectations in the workplace from its reality such as speed

in promotion, the unimportance of meritocracy, and the superiority of emotional quotient over

intelligence quotient.

Spiritual Growth

Workshops about spiritual growth does not only center around selected religions.

Religion is a set of texts, practices and beliefs about the transcendent shared by a

community, and involves a relationship with God. Spirituality on the other hand is about a

person's relationship with the transcendent questions that confront one as a human being. This

may or may not involve relationships with God. Example topics for spiritual growth are stillness,

feeling of oneness toward a community, passions and desires, kindness and compassion, and

other topics that enrich one’s soul, not only dogma.

Significance and Clarity of the Proposed Intervention

For years of traditional curriculum set by the Department of Education in the Philippines,

this action research will initiate the public education system to see a child’s academic journey on

a different perspective. First, it offers the perspective that some student experiences which

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cannot be quantified by the school are sometimes the most important development tools

students will cultivate to gauge in real life. High grades do not automatically translate into

resilience, creativity, leadership skills, or emotional quotient that one needs to thrive in personal

and professional world.

Second, it exposes the students to different mediums of learning which are outside the

confines of four walls of classroom.

Limitation of the Intervention

The purpose of this intervention is not to quantifiably assess the students’ skills per

workshop. What is being aimed by this action research is to cultivate proactive students.

Students who are responsible for their holistic growth and enjoying while doing them.

There are many aspects of a student journey that a school may not quantify. This

program is just to ensure that after senior high school graduates, they at least have been

introduced that they can grow in many different ways without being simply depicted by the

grades in their cards or the scores they get in traditional assessments.

Public school system must evolve into a culture that inspires teachers to create fulfilling

learning and life opportunities, that cultivates strong-minded students who build positive sense

for themselves, that promote meaningful relationships within oneself and others, and that

enhances individual practices that may transcend to their own professional life.

Manageability of the Proposed Intervention

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This project or intervention will be easily administered and monitored if in the long run it

will be institutionalized on senior high school academic journey. This is because these

workshops will replace the usually held normal classes. From a list of available workshops with

assigned teachers who will have volunteered to administer the workshops, and limited slots,

students will choose what they would like to attend. Once they fulfill their tasks in the

workshops, the teacher assigned will write his or her name and sign on the box indicating that

the student actively participated in the said workshop.

For this action research, what will only be needed is one for every classification of

workshops for the intervention. Students’ thoughts and feelings on attending the workshop will

be recorded and analyzed through their notes and their learning journals as main data to assess

the perception and satisfaction, and impact of the intervention. Analysis of data will be

discussed more below.

Experience of the Proponent to the Intervention

As a person who is driven to improve, I have used this way of method to grow in all

aspects of my life. Before, I was used to feel anxious and depressed, just because one pillar of

my daily life breaks down, and that pillar is being identified as the smart kid, as the achiever.

Being a graduate from De La Salle University-Manila, I was raised to base my self-worth on my

academic achievements. Because of volatility and uncertainties in my life such as relationship,

employment, and self-fulfillment, I am enlightened that my academic achievements is not the

end-all, be-all of my life. My academic journey inside the confines of four walls of a classroom

does not define who I am.

I then realized and understood that when I aimed my growth to be diverse, I am always

delivering the best version of myself in the best way possible I can.

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IV. ACTION RESEARCH METHODS

This study will avail of Qualitative and Quantitative approaches to look at the different

sides of the intervention: perception, impact and execution of the study. Qualitative classroom

action research (QCAR) is now regarded as an alternative approach to serve teachers with

more understanding about increasingly complex classroom contexts. The QCAR focuses on

context, use of an emergent design and thick description (Sallee & Flood, 2012). Since this

action research is based on theory that holistic growth development leads students to success

not only in school but also in life, a deductive approach will be used to confirm from the data

gathering tools if the perception, impact, and execution of this intervention will align towards this

theory.

a) Participants and/or other Sources of Data and Information

The main respondents of this study will be the Grade 12 students themselves and the

teachers who will teach the holistic growth topics. In addition, there are two ways which

respondents are classified: the control group and experimental group, and under the

experimental group, their perceptions and experiences are distinguished by before and after the

intervention.

Perceptions and satisfaction will be gathered first from the participants through interview

and focused group discussions, and questionnaires. The questions will revolve around the

perception and satisfaction towards: 1) traditional curriculum they attended every day; 2) the

growth scorecard before and after the intervention.

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b) Data Gathering Methods

On Data Gathering for Qualitative Research Results

During interview, I will collect data directly from the interviewee on a one-to-one basis.

Only 5 respondent students will be selected for this phase to represent their before and after

experiences. The interview may be informal and unstructured – conversational but will be

explored with depth. The questions asked will mostly be open-ended questions, sometimes

spontaneous, with the interviewer letting the flow of the interview dictate the next questions to

be asked. The reason why 5 are needed is because each student will represent before and after

his or her experience of the intervention per aspect of the holistic growth. Results will backed up

with a focused group discussion involving 20 students who participated in the intervention.

As one way of collecting data in qualitative research, focus groups are group interviews

(typically involving 5–12 people) that rely on the interaction within the group and the questions

asked of the moderator to provide insight into specific topics.

Focus group interviews have three purposes: as the main source, as the supplementary,

or as one component of a multimethod approach to data collection. The main gain I will receive

by utilizing FGD is the ability to record and analyze a large amount of interaction among multiple

participants which may serve as strong supplementary data to support the content of the

intervention and its impact.

On Data Gathering for Quantitative Research Results

A survey questionnaire to assess their behavior and attitude toward traditional and the

proposed intervention will be used to quantify their motivation and enthusiasm, resilience and

growth, and self-esteem towards the future in relation to the different modes of their academic

journey.

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c) Data Analysis Plan

On Data Analysis for Qualitative Research Results

Qualitative data will be analyzed by using Constant Comparative Analysis. This strategy

constitutes receiving one piece of data (one interview, one statement, one theme) and

comparing it with all others that may be similar or different in order to develop theories and

hypothesis of the possible relations between various pieces of data. Through comparison of let’s

say, two different people who had a similar experience, a researcher might pose analytical

questions like relationships between variables affecting one and the other, and how these

variables across the target respondents. In many qualitative studies whose purpose it is to

generate knowledge about common patterns and themes within human experience, this process

continues with the comparison of each new interview or account until all have been compared

with each other.

This is the reason why both the interview and the focused group discussion will be

utilized in the study.

On Data Analysis for Quantitative Research Results

Mean, standard deviation, and paired t-test will be utilized in the study to test the

statistical significance of the intervention on how it affects the students’ behavior and attitude

towards pre and post-introduction of the intervention to them.

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Selecting a Topic First week of July 2019

Research and Idea-Making for Context and First to third week of July 2019
Rationale and the Proposed Innovation and
Strategy
Crafting the action research proposal Second to fifth week of July 2019
Seeking for title approval July 18, and July 22, 2019
Completion of the context and rationale First week of August 2019
Formulation of Action Research Questions Third week of August 2019
Drafting and the Proposed Innovation and Fourth week of August 2019
Strategy
Drafting and Finalization of Research Fifth week of August 2019
Methodology
Drafting and Finalization of Action
Research
Convention of Papers in SRC First week of September 2019
District Research Committee Submission September 5 or 6, 2019
Revision from the comments and Duration until September 30, 2019
suggestions of District Research
Committee
Division Research Committee Approval September 30, 2019
Identification of respondents First week of October 2019
Submission of letters to education experts Second week of October 2019
and superior stakeholders such as the
school head and the concerned head
teacher
Secure approval from the school head and Third week of October 2019
parent consent

REFERENCES:

https://www.education.sa.gov.au/sites/default/files/wellbeing-for-learning-and-life-framework.pdf

Sallee, M. W., & Flood, J. T. (2012). Using qualitative research to bridge research policy. Theory

into Practice, 51, 137-144.

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