CHAPTER 3
THE THREE MAJOR EDUCATION
EVALUATION STUDIES
INTRODUCTION
This segment focuses on the three major education evaluation studies. In
the study of the policies and issues concerning the Philippine Educational
System, a closer look into education evaluation studies will provide a better
perspective about Philippine education from the onset of the American Period
into the Marcos Regime. This is what this part of the chapter will attempt to
unravel.
Objectives
At the end of this chapter the student is expected to have:
1. Familiarized himself with the major evaluation studies on Philippine
education and the results thereof.
2. A clearer and better perspective of Philippine education from the onset
of the American Period to the Martial Law Regime.
THE MONROE SURVEY
Historical Antecedents
Before Spain ceded the Philippine to the Americans in 1898 there were
conditions which were required by the Spaniards to be fulfilled. The Spaniards
required that a mock battle with the Americans should be carried out to save
their faces and honor. For it is the tradition of Spanish soldiers to resist the
enemy before a surrender is executed. The Americans are to provide $20 million
as a compensation package for war loans incurred by Spain. The United State
congress will determine civil and political rights of the inhabitants of ceded
territories including two other requirements which are not within the interest of
Filipinos.
39
History is witness to the military government established in the
Philippines by the Americans. Under American rule the Philippines had
experienced the democratic leadership of Governor General Wesley Merritt,
Governor General Elwell S. Otis and Governor General Arthur McArthur.
The President of the United States at this period was President McKinley.
President McKinley had created the Schurman Commission (1899-1900) and the
Taft Commission. The Taft Commission had instruction from President
McKinley which stated that the American Policy to be observed in the
Philippines will be based on democratic principles. The democratic principles
are not designed for American satisfaction or for the expression of their
theoretical views but for the happiness, peace and prosperity of the people of the
Philippines with economic prospects remaining in silence.
The Americans kept their promise to grant Filipinos participation in the
governance of themselves. Under William H. Taft the Filipinos were granted
government control at the local level for “all pacified provinces” while for the
unpacified provinces “military rule” will be exercised and shall be “under the
jurisdiction of the military”. Inauguration of the civil government in Manila was
on July 4, 1901.
The Filipino people have been granted representation in American
Congress by two resident commissioners: Benito Legarda (1902-1907) and Pablo
Ocampo (1907-1909). These resident commissioners were to represent and
defend Filipino interests in America. This scenario was made possible by the
Philippine Bill of 1902 (Ibid.).
The Jones Law of 1916 which was authored by William Atkinson, enacted
by the United States Congress then signed by President Wilson, promised to
grant independence to the Philippines as soon as a stable government has been
set up therein.
The Americans introduced a better communication system and improved
the mail service including the need for Sound Philippine currency. The Sound
Philippine Currency Act was enacted in 1903. This act placed the Philippine
peso on gold standard.
Advent of Popular Education
One of the most vital contributions of the American leadership
experienced by the Filipinos was popular education. Education is no longer a
privilege to be enjoyed by few rich families. This first American school to open
40
was in Corrigidor Island. American soldiers became the first teachers along with
American teachers transported by the sea vessel THOMAS. These American
teachers came to be known as Thomasites. They served as “the vanguard of
American culture and democracy in the Philippines”. Under their tutelage
Filipino learners learned to use English in their daily conversation, letters, prose
and poetry (Ibid.).
The Filipinos’ clamor for popular education inspired the Americans in the
helm of the Philippine government to conduct an educational survey to assess
the condition of Filipino education.
The Monroe Survey of 1925 was a sincere way of expressing the
Americans’ sentiments occupying the Philippine Islands to improve their
education. The Monroe Survey of 1925 was conducted 25 years after the
establishment of the Philippine Education System during the American
Occupation. The survey was headed by Paul Monroe. It consisted of 9 American
members with the addition of 13 research associates. The 13 research associates
were composed of 9 Filipinos and 4 Americans. The research was done on a
massive scale which included Manila and 29 provinces in the Philippines. The
total population sample of the research study were 32,000 pupils and 1,077
teachers.
Results of the Survey
The survey showed that the most critical issue is the extent to which
Filipinos learned English. It was confirmed that the Filipinos performed below
the standard when compared with their American counterparts in the extent of
learning English. Nevertheless in the Province of Laguna learners are an
exemption of the findings of the Monroe Survey. Also the study found that
teachers from Iloilo posted much higher scores over those of the Laguna and
Bulacan teachers.
The difference in learners’ scores in English is attributed to the silent
reading techniques of instruction and inadequate time exposure in English at
school. Another reason which may account for the learners’ low English scores is
due to poor teaching at school. Supporting this view is the lower performance
level of learners at the higher grades than those at the primary level. Perhaps,
the progressive accumulation of poor reading skills of learners as they advance
through the grades maybe caused by the lack of reading materials in the home
environment, inadequate speech models as English was neither used as a
language at home.
And thus may be made possible probably because of
parents’ neglect to intervene in their children’s education.
41
On the basis of the findings of the Monroe Survey the following
recommendations were made:
1. the materials which will be used in learning English should be within
the scope of the reality background of experiences of the learners; and
2. teacher training should be improved in order for the teachers to be
proficient in speaking and in teaching English to provide the speech
models for the learners and the course of study in science should be
revised.
THE SWANSON SURVEY
Prelude
The second education survey conducted regarding the Philippine
Educational System was the Swanson Survey of 1960. The Swanson Survey was
said to be a joint project conducted by the International Cooperation
Administration of the United States of America and the National Economic
Council of the Philippines.
The Swanson Survey team was composed of an American Technical Staff
and 11 Filipino counterparts. All of the Philippine public schools were studied.
The research study covered: Elementary Education, Secondary Education,
Vocational Education, Teacher Education, Organization and Administration in
the public schools including the financing of the same.
While it can be seen that the Swanson Survey team and the Monroe
Survey team have Americans and Filipinos as members it was claimed that the
premise of the Swanson Survey was similar to that of the Monroe Survey. The
premise of the Swanson Survey was predicated on the philosophy that education
can be a major determinant to social change. The American economist Schultz
succinctly stated that education is a social investment in the development of
human capital formation. Education is an investment for man and the
facilitation of investment in personal development. The collectively developing
capabilities and skills of the human person may usher in a stable economy,
political integrity and industrial development which are the portents of a strong
republic.
But in the 1960’s the Philippines has a low per capita expenditure for
education. As a result of the low per capita expenditure for the education of the
Filipino there was the corresponding effect on low per capita income inspite of
abundant natural resources.
42
Five Areas of Concern
The Swanson Survey of 1960 identified five areas of concern of the
Philippine Educational System. These are the quantity of educational services,
the quality of educational services, the financing of the public schools, the
problem on cultural minorities, and the problem caused by the adoption of
foreign educational practices which do not at all match to the local conditions.
Assessment Results
The results of study showed that there was no difference in the
performance of learners from the community and learners from the general
elementary school. There was a significant difference between the scores of the
learners of the community and general elementary and that of the laboratory
school.
The differing performance of learners may perhaps be due to the
philosophy espoused by the school. For example the philosophy adopted by the
schools as a matter of policy was “to integrate the education of the child with
that of the adult toward home and community” improvement, “to utilize
community resources in instruction to make school learning fundamentally
related to the realities of life”, and to develop people (children, youth and adults)
to ”become useful members of society through their continuous” and maximum
participation in democratic way of life.
Probably another reason for the difference in the performance of learners
in the general elementary school, the community school, and the laboratory
school may be in the test administered to the learners. The test administered
may not have jibed with the philosophy of the school as the test was based on a
test performance on language, arithmetic and reading. On the basis of the
findings, it can be gleaned that the tests administered to the learners have no
validity and were not therefore reliable because the tests did not measure what
they intend to measure
Recommendations
The Swanson Survey of 1960 established a positive relationship existing
between low per capita investment in the education of the Filipino and their per
capita income as an outcome of the low degree of the Filipino’s educational
achievement. It might be inferred that the Swanson Survey team may have
moved for the increase in the budget appropriation to be given to education to
43
ameliorate if not to rectify the unfavorable situation affecting Philippine
education.
In 1960, Dr. Carlos P. Romulo, former ambassador and president of the
United Nations’ General Assembly and statesman, made certain admissions
regarding the state of the Philippine Educational System.
According to Romulo “the prospect for excellence in the educational
system is discouraging”. The Philippine Educational System is “in dismal state”.
He enumerated the array of factors that affect the delivery of quality education:
1. Many of our schools are substandard;
2. The learners are ill-prepared to cope with further learning and to face
life; and
3. Our teachers are not professionally prepared for the duties of a
teacher.
Based on Romulo’s observations regarding the state of the Philippine
Educational System, he recommended overhauling it. He suggested the
formation of an all-Filipino commission to make a survey of the entire Philippine
Educational System starting from the elementary level, to the secondary level,
and to the tertiary level in both the public and private schools. The Philippine
Commission to be created will survey all phases of the educational process to
include financing of education, administration of education and teacher training
as these were important considerations to improve education.
When tasked to carry out the duties and responsibilities as Secretary of
Education in 1965 Romulo immediately convened Division Superintendents and
Supervisors in Baguio City. Romulo required the Division Superintendents and
Supervisors to answer a questionnaire that was devised to get their expert
opinions about the Philippine Educational System. The response of the experts
substantiated Romulo’s pronouncement of “the dismal state” of the Philippine
Educational System.
On July 18, 1967 the Philippine President by virtue of R.A. 4372 caused the
reactivation of the Board of National Education. Republic Act 4372 entrusted to
the Board of National Education various functions. In view of the many
functions to be discharged by the Board of National Education a number of
standing committees were created. These standing committees which were to
assist the Board of National Education improve the Philippine Educational
System were:


the curriculum committee;
the administrative committee;
44


the finance committee; and
the legislative committee.
Moreover, two other special committees were organized to take charge of
Teacher Education and Vocational Technical Education.
The Department of Education under the able leadership of Romulo
constituted an extra unit, the Department of Education Project Execution and
Coordination System (DEPECS). The DEPECS has a competent research
component consisting of economic statistician and experts in the different fields
in education.
There were important reforms in education which were achieved by the
Board of National Education. These important reforms in education were:




the revision of the curriculum and its organizational aspects;
the increase in the credit units for the Rizal course of from 1 unit to 3
credit units at the collegiate level;
the approval of a policy of the use of Filipino National Language as a
medium of instruction at the elementary level; and
the reduction to 12 units of the course in Spanish at the tertiary level.
Under the different committees which were put up by the Board of
National Education (BNE), the following were accomplished:




the revision of the teacher education program,
elementary school curriculum,
revisions of the objectives of education in all levels of the educational
system, and
educational financing.
Aside from the achievements of the Board of National Education, rapport
was also established between the Department of Education and Congress. Bills
in education were referred to the B.N.E. for comments and recommendations.
With such amiable interactions of Congress and the Department of Education,
education for the Filipino became a collaborative enterprise geared to national
development.
Inspite of the enumerated achievements in education there remained the
still nagging problems which remained unresolved. These were:
 the lack of classrooms and the lack of textbooks;
45
 An objective and farsighted man that Romulo is, he recommended that
in order for Philippine education to be more effective, administration
and supervision should be well organized;
 staffing of administrators and teachers should be decentralized;
 revision in financing the schools such as redistribution of revenues and
funding obligations between the national and local government;
 review of the school’s curricula should be an a continuous basis; and
 allow variations due regional and economic circumstances of learners
to be able to cope with such a plan.
Romulo reminded the Filipino people responsible for educating the
citizenry “to harness our energies and resources to preserve” what was already
gained. But the most challenging area of concern are those “in ourselves” –
dispositions, core values and loyalties (Education Quarterly, 1968).
PROJECT SOUTELE
Background
The Survey of the Outcomes of Elementary Education (Soutele) was done
by EDPITAF in 1975. The EDPITAF survey was designed to install a decision
making machine of growth such as researches, planners and implementors for
the 4th, 5th, and 6th grades with possible relationship between scholastic
achievement and school and non-school factors.
There were major objectives which the project aimed to accomplish. These
were:
 to describe, measure and analyze learning outcomes among the 6th
grades on a nationwide basis in relation to a minimum learning
package;
 to identify the factors in both the school and non-school learning
environment to explain for the variations in scholastic achievements;
 to identify which among these factors could be altered or modified by
way of planning and decision making; and
 to recommend interventions which can be effected and to recommend
areas requiring research.
46
Results of the Three Surveys
The result of the survey study showed that the pupils’ achievement varied
appreciably across 3 types of schools: barrio, central and private. The highest
achievement score in performance on reading, language and science were posted
by the private schools, central schools and barrio schools, respectively.
The probable explanation made for the school environment which affected
marked performance in reading, language and science maybe due to learners’
attendance to early childhood education, parents education and income of the
family. These “socio-economic inequalities” in the learners’ background may
have been expressed into the inequalities in their learning capabilities.
Summary
Chapter 3 presented extensively the major evaluation studies on
Philippine education, namely: the Monroe Survey of 1925, the Swanson Survey
of 1960, and the Survey of the Outco4mes of Elementary Education (Soutele)
which was conducted by the Educational Project Implementation Task Force or
EDPITAF.
The Monroe Survey showed that the most critical issue is the extent to
which Filipinos learned English. It confirmed that the Filipinos performed below
standard when compared with their American counterparts in the extent on
learning English. On the other hand, the Swanson Survey explained that the
differing performance of learners may perhaps be due to the philosophy
espoused by the school. Another reason for the difference in the performance of
learners may be in the poor teaching methods administered to the learners.
Project Soutele showed that the pupils’ achievement varied appreciably
across 3 types of schools: barrio central and private. The highest achievement
score in performance on reading, language and science were posted by the
private schools, central schools and barrio schools, respectively.
Activity

Identify an educational project that has been in existence for at least
three years now. Prepare your report/account on the project and
make an oral report on it in the class.