K-12: AN OUTCOME BASED EDUCATION
REA S. SERRANO
Outcome-based education is grounded in the idea that academic success is best measured by what children actually learn, as opposed to how long they’re parked in their seats, how expansively multicultural their textbooks may be, or how much money is spent on their schooling. Outcome-based education (OBE) is a recurring education reform model. It is a student-centered learning philosophy that focuses on empirically measuring student performance, which are called outcomes. OBE contrasts with traditional education, which primarily focuses on the resources that are available to the student, which are called inputs.
I believe that The K to 12 curriculum is an outcome-based form of education and it is centered on the learner’s development. Students from Kindergarten to Grade 12 are being prepared for one or more of the following outcomes: higher education, middle level skills development, entrepreneurship, and employment. DepEd wants to ensure that all Senior High School (SHS) graduates are qualified to pursue a college degree. The first outcome of the new curriculum is for all students to be qualified for higher education. For example: A particular student will be ready to take an engineering course, because he has taken the necessary preparatory mathematics and science subjects in SHS. Graduates of Senior High School can opt to be employees immediately if they wish or if they are forced to. They can start a company of their own if they have the aptitude and the capital. They can go to college immediately or eventually.
There are two ways of assessing the attainment of outcomes: direct and indirect methods. Direct assessment is based on an analysis of student behaviors or products in which they demonstrate how well they have mastered learning outcomes. Direct assessment methods use quizzes, exams and reports to measure students’ performance. Indirect assessment, on the other hand, is based on an analysis of reported perceptions about student mastery of learning outcomes. Examples of indirect assessment methods are surveys, interviews, evaluations, questionnaire and focus group.
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The author is Teacher III at Cutcut Elementary School, DepEd Angeles City