Monitoring, evaluation and adjustment technology
MONITORING, Evaluation and Adjustment ( MEA) is a technology practiced in Philippine public schools. This is a periodic activity where the stakeholders review what has been accomplished, how they were done and what needs to be acted upon in order to improve management practices in schools and facilitate the achievement of the expected outcomes.
MEA is done in three stages: First is monitoring. During this stage, schools use monitoring mechanisms such as quality assured monitoring tools or self-made monitoring and evaluation assessment checklists to gather quantitative and qualitative data on what has been accomplished against the set targets or standards. Targets that must be achieved were set based on indicators. Standards on the other hand, serve as bases and are necessary in order to ensure the quality of programs, projects and activities (PPAs) as well as learning outcomes.
The result of the assessment of accomplishments may also serve as a baseline data for the next monitoring period. For example, the national target for Dropout Rate is zero. Upon assessment, the school has two dropouts for the current school year. Although this is an improvement from the previous year which is six, still the school has not met the target, which is zero. This goes to show that even though the target was not met, the school at some point has was able to achieve some level of improvement.
The second stage is evaluation, where our schools take a deeper look into the characteristics of their output by taking into consideration both the hindrances met that hampered their accomplishment of targets and the factors which facilitated good performance. This is done through the analysis of monitoring results. Quantitative data were being translated into trends that present a picture of the gaps in the practices that were employed.
Reasons as to why the performance fell short of the expectations will be looked into then alternative courses of action that will facilitate the achievement of the unmet targets will be identified. Activities and interventions will be crafted to sustain the gains from good performance and resolve difficulties brought about by thriving challenges. This is now the third stage where appropriate adjustments are being made to existing plans activities and strategies.
Evaluation results may reveal diverse and segmented areas for improvement. This calls for adjustments that are designed i n such a way that it will address several areas for improvement. This may call for new paradigm and innovation.
In all three stages, MEA calls for collaboration: from data gathering, to identifying issues that needs to be addressed, and deciding on priority improvement areas as well as in designing programs and projects to facilitate the achievement of targets. Proper data gathering is equally crucial in MEA along with honest and consistent MEA practice. This will ensure accurate and properly assessed school performance and facilitate the crafting of appropriately designed interventions and adjustments aimed at improving the school’s learning outcomes. (Contributed article)