Global Trends of 21st Century Education: The Practices of Top Performing Public Schools in Region 1

Abstract

One of the exciting things in Education today is the interest in sharing of best practices developed by successful practitioners with those less successful colleagues. Although practitioners and specialists vary in their concept of a best practice, they each agree that the main objective is to improve the quality of educational services and learning outcomes. The study was conducted to determine the best practices of the performing schools in Region 1 in order to develop a model that will help improve the performances of the public schools. The research made use of the qualitative - quantitative methodology employing descriptive-survey design. Purposive sampling technique was employed in the study. The sources of data were principals of the high performing schools in Region 1 identified by the Department of Education. Results of the study show that school heads of the high performing schools are generally middle adult females who have long experience in leading the schools. To become high performing school, high quality teaching-learning, organizational design, and school leadership were the top priorities of school administrators. High performing schools embraced the idea that all students can succeed. Teachers actively promote positive self-images and high academic expectations for all students. School leaders publicly committed to becoming a standard-based learning community and require all students to demonstrate mastery of learning standards and high levels of readiness to higher education. Technology use across the school is transformative, changing the way that teachers teach and students learn. Students’ learning extends beyond the classroom to include real-world tasks or communication with experts outside the school. The high performing schools organized their structures and aligned its people and resources to produce great impact on the organization's functioning and efficiency. School administrators arranged the resources of time, space, and personnel for maximum effect on student learning