I.
Introduction of the Research
Evaluation of students’ learning is a very important component of the
education system, it can fulfill or destroy the purpose of education (Abdul Gafoor,
2015). In the Philippine Basic Education System, Classroom Assessment is an
integral part of curriculum implementation. It allows the teachers to track and
measure learner’s progress and to adjust instruction accordingly. Grading System is
constituted as the way of reporting assessment data by assigning a value to the
results as a record of students’ ability, achievement, or progress (DepEd Order No.
8, s. 2015).
However, the threat of COVID-19 in the country and the world brings
about unprecedented challenges to basic education. It poses challenges for
teachers and learners in the conduct of assessment, including limitations on
giving immediate feedback, and the need to account for different contexts in
designing, implementing, and grading assessment tasks.
Being true to its mission which is to ensure that no Filipino learner will be
left behind in terms of education as the country continues to grapple with the
COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Education released the Basic Education-
Learning Continuity Plan (BE-LCP). This serves as a guideline for the department on
how to deliver education in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic while ensuring the
health, safety, and welfare of all learners, teachers, and personnel of the agency
(DepEd Order No. 12, s.2020).
To supplement the said Department Oder (DO), DepEd launched a grading
shift titled the Interim Policy Guidelines for Assessment and Grading in Light of
the Basic Education Learning Continuity Plan to provide guidance on the
assessment of student learning and on the grading scheme to be adopted this
school year (DepEd Order No. 31, s.2020). The DO stated that the public schools will
not be holding periodical examinations for this school year. The existing numerical
grading system will still be observed and computing the grades of the learners
will be based on class standing (CS) composed of written works and performance
tasks (Education Undersecretary Diosdado San Antonio, 2020).
The DepEd officials stated the reasons for keeping the numerical grading
system are as follows: a. Shifting to non-numerical grading would affect the country’s
performance at the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA); b. Its
possible implication of such a scheme to high-performing schools and students; c.
Grades will be needed by universities and colleges in granting scholarships to
students; d. DepEd does not also want to impose additional workload for teachers
during this time of coronavirus pandemic (Education Secretary Leonor Briones,
Education Undersecretary Diosdado San Antonio, 2020).
With regards to the dispensing of periodical examinations, the following are
the underlying rationale for “no periodical examination policy”: a. It will prevent
distance cheating; b. Written works and performance tasks are more inclusive and
authentic in
gauging the learning process and progress, unlike periodic exams which are based
on pen and paper examination (San Antonio, 2020).
However, the proposal of the Department of Education (DepEd) to do away
with the conduct of periodical tests this school year had mixed reactions from
stakeholders from the public and private education sectors. The Coordinating
Council of Private Educational Associations (COCOPEA) Managing Director Atty.
Joseph Noel Estrada stated that: a. Failure to take a major examination is usually
fatal to the students’ promotion to the next grade or graduation, thus, examination
results form a significant basis for their final grades; b. Quality education should
be allowed to thrive in innovation, not defeated by COVID-19 through
retrogression (Bonz Magsambol, 2020)
Furthermore, concerning the implementation of Numeric Grading System in
basic education levels amidst this pandemic issues, concerns, and disapprovals
piled up. It has also sparked a larger conversation about the role grades play in
student learning during this pandemic.
The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) of the Philippines recommended
to DepEd to develop a “pass or fail” mechanism for evaluation for the following
reasons: a. It’s a fairer metric of students' performance who will surely and
understandably get less from the inputs through distance learning modalities; b. the
numerical grading system obviously will not be applicable to distance learning,
particularly the most preferred modular system and the TV/radio-based instruction
modalities where teacher-student interaction is limited to clarificatory Q&As and the
exchange of old and new modules ( Raymond Basilio,2020).
Moreover, according to Margarita J. Lucero Galias, it’s hard to have a
fair system of grading when children have different learning circumstances,
different learning environments, and learning delivery modalities, different
resources, and types of assistance provided to them, and/or absence of
access to assistance. She added that teachers have no direct control over who
makes the outputs of the learners. Also, some children do not have parents
that could assist them. The other students as well will be experiencing different
situations at home, and for some students, it may be very challenging to focus
on studying. Furthermore, as both the teachers and students are yet
experimenting on the new learning modalities, teaching and learning from
home may not be easy and it is not reasonable to expect that teachers may
make the usual distinction required in the numerical grade system.
Currently, there are no statistical evaluations for the issues and concerns
that emerge in the implementation of the new grading system. This
undertaking is indeed an effort to bridge this gap by evaluating the
implementation of the aforementioned interim policy guidelines through the
perception of the selected teachers at Tanza National Trade School. The study
uses diffusion of innovation as a base-line theory to investigate factors that
may influence the adoption and use of the grading system. More specifically,
the objective of this research is to examine the determinants of grades and the
perceived problems in the adoption of the system. The findings of this study
would serve as inputs for redefining the grading system employed by the
public schools in the Philippine Basic Education System and for the
improvement in the implementation of the aforementioned Grading System.
