Institutionalized accreditation of public elementary schools in the calabarzon area

Accreditation is a quality assurance tool to ensure delivery of service among organizations. Elementary schools as early ladders in education have to provide the beginning learners quality education, this, by participating in accreditation.
The study assessed the performance level of public elementary schools and their extent of participation in the institutionalized accreditation. Further, this study determined the assessment of accreditors on central schools with respect to the areas of leadership and governance, curriculum and learning, accountability and continuous improvement and resource management.
The descriptive method of research was utilized in the study with the use of a questionnaire as main data gathering instrument supplemented by informal interview and documentary analysis. Respondents of the study were 56 school heads and 333 teachers from public elementary schools in the CALABARZON (Calamba, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) area. The statistical tools used were weighted mean and t-test.
Results of the study revealed that the performance of public elementary schools in terms of pupils’, curriculum, instruction, physical facilities and teachers’ development was very satisfactory. Public elementary schools were found to participate in institutionalized accreditation to a great extent. The assessment of the accreditors showed that central schools had better ratings in all areas such as leadership and governance, curriculum and learning, accountability and continuous improvement and resource management with the highest rating obtained in the area of leadership and governance.