Comparative Analysis of Academic Performance Across Curricular Programs: A Basis for Enhancement Program
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
Background and Aim: Education is one of the most important factors in national development, and the Philippine K-12 curriculum reform included special programs such as the Special Program in the Arts (SPA), the Special Program in Journalism (SPJ), and the Special Program in Sports (SPS) to offer differentiated learning opportunities. Achievement differences across programs, however, still exist in some areas, notably Mathematics and English Language Arts. The purpose of this study is to analyze academic performance at the quarterly level for each curriculum program, identify significant differences among curricular programs, and to make recommendations for improvement interventions that will support underperforming curricular programs, consistent with UNSDG 4 (Quality Education).
Materials and Methods: A quantitative-comparative research design was employed, which included the learners from the five curricular programs in Grade 10, a total of 365 learners. Examination scores were translated to Mean Percentage Scores (MPS) in the quarterly periods. The Welch’s ANOVA test was applied because the assumption of equal variances was violated for the first three quarters, while the Kruskal–Wallis test was applied for the fourth quarter, as it violated both normality and variance. Specific group differences were found using post hoc tests (Games-Howell and Dwass-Steel-Critchlow-Fligner).
Results: Significant differences were observed among programs (p < .001). STE learners achieved mastery-level performance (MPS 74.7%–81.1%), SPA, SPJ, and SPS learners showed steady improvement (MPS 65.7%–75.3%), and Regular learners remained lower-performing (MPS 56.8%–65.8%).
Conclusion: The findings suggest that learners in specialized programs demonstrated higher academic performance than learners in the Regular Program. Achievement gaps are recommended to be closed through targeted interventions, including remedial classes, contextualized modules, peer mentoring, and professional teacher development. The results of this study add to the discussions of curriculum reform and the policies, such as the ARAL program (RA 12028, 2024), that support the use of differentiated instruction in promoting inclusive and equitable quality education.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Copyright and License
Copyright of all articles published in the Journal of Education and Learning Reviews (JELR) is retained by the author(s).
All articles are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial–NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). Users may read, download, copy, distribute, and share the content for non-commercial purposes with proper attribution.
Modification, adaptation, or commercial use of the content is not permitted.
License details: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
References
Abrigo, M. R. M., Lingatong, E. E., Daga, E. D. J. C., Apostol, G. C., Cagasan, L. P., Jr., Gavan, D. S. A., Paquibot, J. L., Perez, T. D. S., & Relos, C. M. L. (2025). Promise and growing pains in curriculum reform: A mixed-methods evaluation of MATATAG K-to-10 curriculum’s first-year pilot implementation (Discussion Paper No. 2025-53). Philippine Institute for Development Studies. https://doi.org/10.62986/dp2025.53
Balagtas, M. U., Rungduin, T. T., Palomar, B. C., Lapinid, M. R. C., Gonzales, R. D., Medula, C. J., Barba, E. C., Pagliawan, R. L. H., & Papango, M. C. (2025). K to 12 assessment policies vis-à-vis relevant Sustainable Development Goals: Towards quality, equality, and equity in basic education. NRCP Research Journal, 24(1), 147–157. https://researchjournal.nrcp.dost.gov.ph/client/ejournal/article/146
Baron, J. (2022). Level of academic performance among senior high school students: A differential study. Psychology and Education: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 2(3), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6659101
Cerezo, J. S. B., Destajo, K. L. M., Elicano, C. D., Flores, D. K. G., Galaura, M. L. E., Lapiz, M. C., Limlingan, R. B. E., Sanchez, M. L., Simbajon, J. S., Taglucop, J. A. C., Tagubar, R. M., & Umpil, I. S. (2025). A descriptive analysis of student performance in written exams and practical tasks in Science 7 under the MATATAG curriculum. Cognizance Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies, 5(5), 700–706. https://doi.org/10.47760/cognizance.2025.v05i05.047
Darling-Hammond, L., Adamson, F., & Lane, S. (2015). Performance assessment. In L. Darling-Hammond & F. Adamson (Eds.), Beyond the bubble test: How performance assessments support 21st century learning (pp. 131–159). Jossey-Bass. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119210863.ch5
Kress, H. M. (2004). Review of Educating culturally responsive teachers: A coherent approach, by A. M. Villegas and T. Lucas. The Journal of Negro Education, 73(4), 461–462. https://doi.org/10.2307/4129631
Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS). (2025). Policy issue at a glance: How is the Philippines faring in SDG achievement? Goal 4: Quality education. https://www.pids.gov.ph/details/policy-issue-at-a-glance-how-is-the-philippines-faring-in-sdg-achievement-goal-4-quality-education
Republic of the Philippines. (2024). Republic Act No. 12028: An act establishing an Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) Program and appropriating funds therefor. Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines. Official Gazette / Lawphil Copy
Republic of the Philippines. (2024). Republic Act No. 12028: An act establishing an Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) Program and appropriating funds therefor. Official Gazette. https://lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra2024/ra_12028_2024.html
Second Congressional Commission on Education. (2024). Miseducation: The failed system of Philippine education: EDCOM II year one report. Second Congressional Commission on Education. https://edcom2.gov.ph/
Second Congressional Commission on Education. (2025). Year one report. https://edcom2.gov.ph
UNESCO. (2023). Education for sustainable development: Towards inclusive and equitable quality education. UNESCO Publishing. https://www.unesco.org/en/sustainable-development/education
United Nations. (2015). Transforming our world: The 2030 agenda for sustainable development. https://sdgs.un.org/2030agenda
Velasco, L. S. (2020). Assessing Philippine K–12 students’ academic performance using a standardized evaluation method. Department of Education, Division of Bataan. https://depedbataan.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/ASSESSING-PHILIPPINE-K%E2%80%9312-STUDENTS-ACADEMIC-PERFORMANCE-USING-A-STAND
