Effectiveness of Laddered Preschool Education Program in Preparing Preschool Teachers

Publisher: Bicol University PDF

Abstract

The delivery of the teacher education program needs to be given utmost importance by the university because what happens in the teacher preparation may influence what they would do in the classrooms as teachers. This descriptive-evaluative study identified the effectiveness of the Laddered Preschool Education offered by Bicol University for academic year 2013-2017. Data were gathered from licensure examination for teachers (LET)-like Exit Examination results of the students and preschool teachers, class observations, focus group discussions and interviews with faculty and students, and licensure examination results. The students had very satisfactory performance in the Exit Examination, and encountered challenges along academic, immersions and non-academic concerns. The students’ proficiency level in the core competencies has been found to be significantly better than the practicing preschool teachers or their cooperating teachers. Similarly, the overall performance in the licensure examinations was found to be higher than the target set by the university at 70% passing rate and 26.33% national passing rate. Lastly, the employers’ and prospective employers’ feedback indicate the competence of the program’s graduates, as well as their strengths as prospective preschool teachers. The continuing offering of the program is highly recommended. Considering the implementation of the new Teacher Education curriculum in the country, the measures to address the challenges such as those related to capacity-building activities and instructional resources be sustained.