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ACADEMIC PREDICTORS OF THE LICENSURE

EXAMINATION FOR THE PERFORMANCE

OF TEACHER EDUCATION GRADUATES

Salvacion J. Pachejo Wendelyn A. Allaga

University Vice President University Faculty

For Student Services College of Education

Introduction

Teachers are one of the pillars of the society and the country. Without

good teachers, no country can progress. The importance of teachers in the life

of a nation cannot be overlooked. The teacher influences the immature minds

of the youth. They treat and mold the young mind into various forms. A

nation which tries to march ahead on the road to progress must do so with the

help of able teachers. A nation cannot afford to leave its future in the hands of

incompetent teachers.

No less than the President of the Philippines, His Excellency Benigno

S. Aquino III (2010) underscored the important role teachers play in nation-

building when he said that I join the nation in saluting all of you for your

professionalism. You shape the minds of the youth who will be tomorrows

leaders.

The United States of America (USA), which is considered one of the

most powerful countries, also puts premium importance on education, when

former President Bill Clinton (1995) said that Education is the key to a

vibrant and prosperous America seeking to maximize the contributions of all

its citizens and embracing the richness and possibilities that our nations

diversity affords, as the new century approaches. The countrys economic

well-being depends on well-educated young people who can contribute in a

modern and technologically complex workforce.

The role of the teacher is a multi-faceted one comprising academic,

pedagogical and social roles. Academic role comprises teaching, counseling

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and supervisory roles. As facilitator of learning, the teacher is involved in

motivating students to learn, maintaining control in the classroom and the

school in general, and creating a conducive environment for learning to take

place. The teachers social role includes preparation of students to participate

in the way of life of the society. Others include reference roles, parent

surrogates, confidants and affectionate roles.

Studies in the economics of education have indicated that the quality

of output in an educational institution depends upon the quality of teachers

and if the latter is poor, the quality of the former would also be affected.

The strength of an educational system must largely depend upon the

quality of its teachers. No matter how enlightened the aims are and how

efficient the administration is, the evaluation of students is still determined by

the teachers.

The importance of the teacher is as clear as the sun, indeed. There is

therefore, no more important matter than that of securing sufficient supply of

the right kind of people to the profession and providing them with the best

possible training.

Ensuring that only the best and the brightest should be allowed to

venture into the teaching profession and better qualified and well-equipped

persons should be attracted to teaching is of paramount importance.

The academic institutions offering teacher education programs,

particularly the Rizal Technological University, carry a challenging yet

transcending responsibility of molding teachers of appropriate caliber to

deliver the goods to be thoroughly competent in the teaching discipline, and

be ready for the monumental task of extending the frontiers of knowledge in

their area of specialization.

Much is expected from the Tertiary Education Institutions (TEIs).

The plethora of standards, norms, and decisive factors regarding the success

of an institution reflects the peoples concern on quality education. In fact,

one standard that measures the success of an institution is manifested through

the outcomes of graduates who are fully prepared, well trained, and well-

equipped with the skills, the knowledge, the habits, and the values essential

for their integration to the society in general and to the world of work in

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particular. Another standard that measures the success of an institution is the

performance of the graduates in the licensure examination.

Every teacher education graduate is required to take the Licensure

Examination for Teachers (LET) in order to practice his or her profession.

Those who passed the board examination will not only gain honor and

prestige but will also have competitive edge over those who are non-LET

passers. To pass the examination, graduates should obtain the passing rate of

75% in the three areas: General Education, Professional Education and their

Specialization.

Background of the Study

The Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM) reported in

1991 that the Philippine Educational System was continuously declining. Two

reasons were given by that report: first, the Government is not investing

enough in education; and second, the educational establishments are poorly

managed. It was emphasized, however, as the heart of the problem was the

teacher who was found to be poorly trained and who even got lower scores

when tested.

As a result of these findings, the Commission recommended some

legislative agenda, among which are to professionalize teachers and teaching

and to adopt a periodic licensure examination which shall be given by the

Professional Regulation Commission (PRC).

Republic Act No. 7836, also known as the Philippine

Professionalization Act of 1994 strengthens the Regulation and Supervision of

the Practice of Teaching in the Philippines and prescribes a Licensure

Examination for Teachers and for other purposes.

In August 1996, the PRC administered the LET for the first time to

97,560 examinees. In 1997, there were 101,348 examinees who took the LET.

In RTU, 163 graduates took the examination and only 51 or 31.29 percent

passed. The national passing percentage for that year was 33.31%.

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Table 1. Institutional and National Passing Percentage

of the LET from 1997 to 2006

Date of

Examination

INSTITUTIONAL NATIONAL

No. of

Examinees

No. of

Passers

Percent

Passed

Passing

Percentage

1997 163 51 31.29 33.31

1998 222 74 33.33 29.31

1999 223 82 36.77 34.90

2000 330 137 41.52 35.90

2001 374 137 36.63 34.93

2002 425 170 40.00 36.52

2003 477 140 29.35 26.40

2004 550 133 24.18 27.15

2005 613 154 25.12 25.93

2006 484 143 29.55 32.46

Table 1 shows the institutional and national passing percentage of the

LET from 1997 to 2006. The examination was given once a year. Based on

the table, it can be seen that from 1998 to 2003, RTU obtained an average

institutional passing percentage of 36.27, which was higher than the average

national passing percentage of 32.99. However, from 2004 to 2006, the board

performance of RTU graduates started to decline by registering an over-all

institutional passing percentage of 26.28 as against the over-all national

passing percentage of 28.51.

In 2007, the Board for Professional Teachers of the PRC decided to

classify the examinees as first takers and repeaters.

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Table 2. Institutional and National Passing Percentage

of the LET from 2007 to 2008

Date of

Examination

INSTITUTIONAL NATIONAL

No. of

Examinees

No. of

Passers

Percent

Passed

Passing

Percentage

2007 515 126 24.47 29.12

First Takers 291 103 35.4

Repeaters 224 23 10.27

2008 461 143 31.02 35.34

First Timers 311 117 37.62

Repeaters 150 26 17.33

Table 2 shows the 2007 and 2008 results of the LET for RTU. As can

be gleaned from the table, the over-all institutional passing percentage of

24.47 and 31.02, respectively, for 2007 and 2008 is lower than the national

passing percentage of 29.12 and 35.34, respectively.

The low institutional passing percentage is attributed to the repeaters

dismal performance which registers an institutional passing percentage of

10.27 and 17.33 percent for 2007 and 2009 examinations, respectively. For

the first takers, the institutional passing percentages of 35.40 and 37.62, are

higher than the national passing percentage.

Due to this continuous dismal performance of RTU in the LET, then

University President, Dr. Jose Q. Macaballug called on the attention of the

administration of the College of Education under the able leadership of Dr.

Crema T. Basuil to make an immediate intervention to prevent the decline in

the performance of the RTU-CED students in the Licensure Examination.

One of the immediate responses of the College was to revise the

teacher education curriculum and align it with the CHED Memorandum Order

(CMO) No. 30, series of 2004, also known as the Revised Policies and

Standards for Undergraduate Teacher Education Curriculum. The revised

teacher educatio