Philippine E-Journals

The Impact of MCGS PERFORMS

Jasmin E. Acuña | Ruth Quintillan-bugas | Nina Evita Q. Guzman

Discipline: Education Development

 

Abstract:

The purpose of this research was to evaluate the impact of the Program for Enrichment in Reading, Math and Science (PERFORMS) in the quarterly grades of MCGS pupils. PERFORMS is a remedial and enrichment program for 15 sessions per quarter at one hour per session. The minimum number of pupils per class was 5. Supplemental exercises are carefully chosen to address the need for practice in the application of skills.

 

The participants for this study were 132 MCGS students from Grades 4 to 7 with a baseline grade of 74 and below (Needs Special Help) in Reading and Math in school year 2005-06.

 

One-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was computed. The independent variable was the number of quarters a pupil attended, and the dependent variable was the pupils’ gain scores.

 

Results indicate that an increase in the number of quarters in PERFORMS improves the pupils’ academic performance in Math but not in Reading. These outcomes can be attributed to the sequential lessons for Math and the relative independence of lessons for Reading. Hence, PERFORMS seems to be more beneficial for Mathematics than for Reading.

 

Generally, the findings revealed that there was no significant difference in the mean scores across quarters. It is apparent that in spite of the remediation efforts, prerequisite skills were not mastered by the pupils. Therefore, we need to review the PERFORMS program and study the possibility of using the framework of Benjamin S. Bloom, Mastery Learning. A well-designed intervention program is equipped with appropriate learning conditions, such as, sequenced instructional materials and sufficient time to learn.

 

Likewise, we need to retrain teachers handling PERFORMS classes and equip them with varied teaching strategies to enable them to develop prerequisite skills in the pupils.

 

Finally, it is also recommended that articulation across units to address achievement gaps be intensified. This is premised on the continuity of the learning process across the basic education units.