Multigrade

Multigradeschool
schoolwere
werethe
thefirst
firstkind
kindof
ofschools
schoolsin
inNorth
North
America.
America.
The
Theone-room
one-room school
schoolhouse
housewas
wasthe
themost
mostcommon
commonmodel
modelof
of
formal
formaleducation
educationprograms
programsfor
forelementary
elementaryschool
schoolchildren
children
before
beforethe
the1880s.
1880s.ItItwas
wasthen
thenbefore
beforethe
thesingle
singlegrade
gradeclasses
classes
were
wereorganized.
organized.
 In the Philippines, the first mission schools were
organized as multigrade schools. Single grade schooling was
introduced during the early 1900s by the Americans.
Multigrade schools were organized as matter of necessity for
remote barangays. Aside from the limited enrolment, the
distance of the barangay to a school , teacher shortage, lack of
funds for school buildings and other facilities also led to the
organization of multigrade schools in the different parts of the
country.

aaclass
classconsisting
consistingof
of22or
ormore
moregrades
gradeshandled
handledby
byone
one
teacher.
teacher.


isisgenerally
generallyopened
openedin
inprimary
primaryschools
schoolslocated
locatedin
indistant
distant
and
andsparsely
sparselypopulated
populatedareas.
areas.


isisusually
usuallyopened
openedin
inareas
areaswhere
wherethe
thenumber
numberof
ofenrollees
enrollees
for
foreach
eachgrade
gradelevel
leveldoes
doesnot
notwarrant
warrantthe
theopening
openingof
ofsingle
single
grade
gradeclass.
class.
This
Thiscan
canbe
becalled
calledaa“combination
“combinationclass”
class”in
inthe
thePhilippines.
Philippines.

In
Inother
othercountries:
countries:

••“vertically
“verticallygrouped”
grouped”or
or
••“family
“familygrouped”
grouped”or
or
••multiaged
multiagedclass
classor
or
••an
anungraded
ungradedclass
class
The multigrade classroom provides the opportunity to “break
down the walls” between grades and look at the students as
groups of learners. These learners will be different in so
many ways.

In a multigrade classroom, there can be real student-

centered learning built on the principles of “bayanihan” in a
barangay community. Barangay ways of helping each other
can come to life in a multigrade classroom where a wide
variety of people interact, plan, work, and learn together.
 Curriculum and Materials Development
o Budget of Work
o Lesson Plan for Multigrade Classes
o Multigrade Handbook
o Multilevel Materials
o 100 Book Library
o Teacher Made Materials

 Staff Development
Monitoring and Supervision
 Research and Evaluation
 Physical Facilities
 Community Support
SUPPORT PROGRAMS:

 MULTIGRADE DEMONSTRATION SCHOOLS

PROJECTS (MDSP)

The Multigrade Demonstration School Projects (MDSP) was

organized in selected divisions of the country with financial assistance
from UNICEF.
The Project aimed to improve the quality of instruction and thus improve
the over-all achievement levels of pupils in MG schools.
DepEd-CCFPI Little Red Schoolhouse Project

The DepEd-BEE and Coca-Cola Foundation Philippines, Inc.,

organized the little Red Schoolhouse Project in 1997.

The project components included:

1. the construction of three 50 three-room school buildings with

toilet facility in each room, water system and furnishings.
2. 3 phases training for multigrade teachers ,coordinators and
schoolheads on MG instruction
3.Capacity building program for the community.
 Pupil Learning Enhancement Program (PLEP)

A support program (1996-200) for the universalization of quality

primary education through the strengthening of the Multigrade
Program in Philippine Education (MPPE) with assistance from the
United Nations Development Program (UNDP)

 Search for Multigrade Teacher Achiever

The search for Multigrade Teacher Achiever which was started in

2000 is a biennial quest for the most outstanding Filipino teacher
assigned in MG schools in the country.
 The Multigrade School Training Video
This project is a documentary video on multigrade teaching practices.
It shows effective teaching strategies and other important information
about the multigrade schools.

 Congress on Multigrade Education

The first Multigrade Congress was conducted in 2004. This activity

is in consonance with the Department of Education’s policy on
improving access and quality in elementary education.