1. SARAH MAY O. ACABADO
MA in Mathematics Education
BICOL UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL
Legazpi City
Course: Foundations of Education
Topic: Legal Foundations of Education: K to 12 Basic Education Program
Professor: DR. EFREN M. GAVERIA
Discussant: SARAH MAY O. ACABADO
K to 12 BASIC EDUCATION PROGRAM
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
As early as 1925, studies have observed the inadequacy of the basic education curriculum.
a) Monroe Survey (1925): Secondary education did not prepare for life and recommended training
in agriculture, commerce, and industry.
b) Prosser Survey (1930): Recommended to improve phases of vocational education such as 7th
grade shop work, provincial schools, practical arts training in the regular high schools, home
economics, placement work, gardening, and agricultural education.
c) UNESCO Mission Survey (1949): Recommended the restoration of Grade 7.
d) Education Act of 1953: Under Section 3, mandates that “the primary course shall be composed of
four grades (Grades I to IV) and the intermediate course of three grades (Grade V to VII).”
e) Swanson Survey (1960): Recommended the restoration of Grade 7.
f) Presidential Commission to Survey Philippine Education (PCSPE) (1970): High priority be
given to the implementation of an 11-year program; Recommended program consists of 6 years of
compulsory elementary education and 5 years of secondary education
g) Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM) Report (1991): If one year is to be added in
the education program, it recommends one of two alternatives: Seven years of elementary
education or Five years of secondary education
h) Presidential Commission on Educational Reforms (2000): Reform proposals include the
establishment of a one-year pre-baccalaureate system that would also bring the Philippines at par
with other countries.
i) Presidential Task Force on Education (2008): In discussions on a 12-year pre-university
program, it is important “to specify the content of the 11th and 12th years and benchmark these with
programs abroad.”
The Philippines is committed to achieving its Education for All (EFA) goals not only for the
development of each Filipino, but also for the overall social and economic progress of the country. Part of
the Philippine Education For All Plan of Action 2015, is Critical Task No. 5, “the expansion of basic
education, targeting that by 2015, the Philippines has lengthened its cycle of basic education schooling to
make it twelve years.”
Even without the K to 12 law, the DepEd implemented the K to 12 in the AY 2012- 2013. On May 15,
2013, K to 12 became a law after President Benigno Aquino signed it. The law formalizes the addition of
two years to the previous 10- year basic education curriculum. It also integrates a law passed in 2011 that
made Kindergarten also mandatory in public schools.
The new 12- year basic education curriculum comprises six years of elementary (Grade 1 to 6), four
years of junior high school (Grade 7 to 10) and two additional years of senior high school (Grade 11 and
Grade 12).
The K to 12 basic education curriculum will prepare students with life skills that they earn while
schooling. The curriculum will enable students to acquire Certificates of Competency (COCs) and National
Certifications (NCs) issued by the Technical Skills Development Authority (TESDA). These NCs signify that
K to 12 graduates have acquired middle level skills and will have better opportunities for gainful
employment. The additional years will also ensure that K to 12 graduates are better prepared for college.

2. SARAH MAY O. ACABADO
MA in Mathematics Education
K TO 12 BASIC EDUCATION PROGRAM VISION
Graduates of Enhanced K to 12 Basic Education Program will:
 Acquire mastery of basic competencies to develop themselves to the fullest;
 Be emotionally developed and competent to live a meaningful life;
 Be socially aware, pro-active, involved in public and civic affairs and contribute to the development
of a progressive, just, and humane society;
 Be adequately prepared for the world of work or entrepreneurship or higher education;
 Be legally employable with potential for better earnings;
 Be globally competitive.
Every graduate of the Enhanced K to 12 Basic Education Program is an empowered individual who
has learned, through a program that is rooted on sound educational principles and geared towards excellence,
the foundations for learning throughout life, the competence to engage in work and be productive, the ability
to coexist in fruitful harmony with local and global communities, the capability to engage in autonomous
critical thinking, and the capacity to transform others and one’s self.

3. SARAH MAY O. ACABADO
MA in Mathematics Education
In addition, they are characterized as graduates who:
 Possess healthy mind and body
 Have a solid moral and spiritual grounding
 Appreciate and care for humanity, the world, and environment
 Are proud to be a Filipino
BENEFITS OF THE K TO 12 BASIC EDUCATION PROGRAM
A. To Individuals and Families
 An enhanced curriculum will decongest academic workload, giving students more time to
master competencies and skills as well as time for other learning opportunities beyond the
classroom, thus allowing for a more holistic development.
 Graduates will not only gain high school diploma but they will acquire Certificate of
Competencies or National Certification in their field of specialization.
 Graduates will possess competencies and skills relevant to the job market.
 Graduates will be better prepared for higher education
 Families can better afford education as the cost of the additional 2 years in high school is
significantly lower than longer collegiate or university level
 One year preschool is now mandatory and is provided for free through RA 10157
B. For the Society and the Economy
 Each additional year brings 10% increase in wage earnings
 Longer time spent in education increases likelihood of employment
 The economy will experience accelerated growth in the long run. The objective of the K+12
program is to improve quality of basic education.
 The Philippine education system will be at par with international standards.
 A better educated society provides a sound foundation for long-term socio-economic
development.
C. For Regional and International Recognition and Competitiveness
 Academic degrees of Filipino graduates will now be recognized in other countries.
 The K to 12 curriculum ensures that studies, diplomas, and degrees of Filipinos are recognized
as widely as possible.
 Significant changes in the world’s education standards brought by globalization increased
cross- border provision, and continued expansion of education that have resulted in increased
quality assurance of education.
THE NEW LEARNING GOALS

4. SARAH MAY O. ACABADO
MA in Mathematics Education
The K to 12 Curriculum is focused on the learner’s acquisition of the 21st century skills as follows:
1. Learning and Innovation skills
1.1 Creativity and curiosity
1.2 Critical thinking, problem solving, and risk- taking
1.3 Adaptability, managing complexity and self-direction
1.4 Higher- order thinking and sound reasoning
2. Information, media, and technology skills
2.1 Visual and information literacies
2.2 Media literacy
2.3 Basic, scientific, economic, and technological literacies
2.4 Multicultural literacy and global awareness
3. Effective Communication Skills
3.1 Teaming, collaboration and interpersonal skills
3.2 Personal, social, and civic responsibility
3.3 Interactive communication
4. Life and Career Skills
4.1 Flexibility and adaptability
4.2 Initiative and self-direction
4.3 Social and cross-cultural skills
4.4 Productivity and accountability
4.5 Leadership and responsibility
Distinctive Features and Guiding Principle
1. It is learner- centered
 The holistic development of the learner is the primary focus of the K to 12 curriculum
 The learner- centered K to 12 curriculum gives prime importance to developing self- propelling and
independent lifelong learners
2. It is inclusive
 It reaches out to all kinds of learners regardless of ability, condition, age, gender, ethnicity, and
social status.
 It is built on the principle that every child has a right to education and that the education system
needs to be flexible to accommodate the learning needs of all learners.
3. It is developmentally appropriate
The K to 12 curriculum considers the various developmental stages of learners. Selection of
activities is informed by age- appropriateness, individual differences, and social and cultural diversity.
4. It is standard- based and competency-based
What the learners should know and be able to do and the levels of proficiency at which they are
expected to demonstrate what they know and can do are clearly stated in the form of standards
unpacked into competencies. With standards, competencies are connected to ensure integrated and
meaningful teaching instead of isolated, disconnected and meaningless teaching.
5. It is research- based
 The new features of the K to 12 curriculum are backed up by hard data. The use of Mother Tongue
as a medium of instruction from K to Grade 3 is supported by a research finding that children learn
better and are more active in class and learn a second language even faster when they are first
taught in a language.
 The strengthening of ICT integration in the BEC in order to meet the 21st century skills required by
employers, the use of the spiral progression approach in the teaching and the development of
alternative delivery modes to provide equal opportunity for all backed up by the recommendations
of the DepEd-commissioned researches conducted by SEAMEO INNOTECH and University of
Melbourne.

5. SARAH MAY O. ACABADO
MA in Mathematics Education
6. It is relevant and responsive
 The K to 12 Curriculum is aligned with national education and development goals enunciated in the
laws of the country and to the ten-point education agenda of the President.
 It also responds to the Millennium Development Goals and Education for All.
7. It is value driven
 The curriculum offers a subject in Values Education with the descriptive xtitle Edukasyon sa
Pagapakatao. This is one of the core and compulsory subjects from Grades 1 to 10.
 Values and Character Education is also one of the 6 domains in Kindergarten.
8. It is culture- responsive and culture- sensitive
 The K to 12 curriculum respects cultures and experiences of various ethnic groups and uses these
as resources for teaching and learning.
 The MB-MLE makes the curriculum truly culture- responsive
 To make it responsive to Muslim learners, the K to 12 curriculum continues to offer Madrasah
Education with subjects in Arabic Language and Islamic Values Education (ALIVE) as a vital
component of the basic education system.
9. It is decongested
To allow for mastery of competencies and to give more emphasis to the development of student
understanding and on learning how to learn, repetitions of competencies were weeded out.
10. It is seamless
 The K to 12 curriculum consists of continuum of competencies which provides transition from one
grade level to another without unnecessary duplication.
 The standards and competencies are developed following expanding spiral progression
approach. This means that learning is built upon prior knowledge, skills, values and attitude of
students to ensure vertical continuity.
11. It is flexible
The flexibility of the curriculum is in keeping with the constitutional mandate of schools “to
encourage non-formal, informal, and indigenous learning sysems, as well as self- learning, independent,
and out-of-school study programs particularly those ha respond to community needs” Article XIV,
Section 2(1)
12. It is ICT- based
a. ICT is taught in the junior high school as one of the TLE courses and is now integrated starting
Grade 1 not Grade 4 as it is done in the 2002 BEC. The K to 12 curriculum promotes the use of
technology for an engaging, effective, and efficient instruction.
b.
13. It is global
a. The K to 12 curriculum is benchmarked with curricula of other countries. It meets
international standards not merely by adding 2 years to the 10 years of basic education but also
ensuring that the standards of the 12- year basic education is equivalent to the 12-year basic education
offered in other countries.
b.
14. It is integrative and contextualize
 For holistic learning, subjects are taught using the interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approach.
Learners do not learn isolated facts and theories. Learning involves change in knowledge, skills,
values, and attitudes.
 Learning is organized around the 4 fundamental types of learning: 1) learning to know”, 2)
“learning to do”, 3) “learning to be”, 4) “learning to live together”.
 The K to 12 curriculum emphasizes the significant role that co-curricular activities and community
involvement play in the holistic development of the learner.

6. SARAH MAY O. ACABADO
MA in Mathematics Education
15. It is broad- based
K to 12 curriculum provides for a broad general education that will “assist each individual in the
peculiar ecology of his own society, to:
(a) attain his potentials as a human being;
(b) enhance the range and quality of individual and group participation in the basic functions of society;
(c) acquire the essential educational foundation of his development”
16. It is enhanced
 The K to 12 curriculum is a product of the collaborative effort of curriculum specialists, subject
specialists, practitioners and education stakeholders.
 The K to 12 curriculum builds on the previous curricular reforms
 The K to 12 curriculum affords the student more choices after graduation (employment,
entrepreneurship, middle level skills development, or higher education)
PEDAGOGICAL APPROACHES
Constructivist
 The learner is not an empty receptacle who is mere recipient of instruction. Rather, the learner is
an active constructor of knowledge and a maker of meaning.
 The role of the teacher becomes a facilitator. The student becomes the active “meaning –maker” not
the teacher imposing meaning.
Inquiry- based
 The curriculum ensures that the learners have the opportunity to examine concepts, issues and
information in various ways and from various perspectives.
 It provides them opportunities to develop skills of creative and critical thinking, informed decision
making, and hypothesis building and problem- solving.
 The learners are encouraged to become active investigators by identifying range of information,
understanding the sources of information and evaluating the objectivity of information
 The teacher’s role is to plan and facilitate he exploration of the ideas and skills required in the
curriculum.
Reflective
 Reflective teaching means making the learners look at what they do in the classroom, think about
why they do it, and think about if it works.
 Reflective teaching encourages the learners to engage in a process of self- observation and self-
evaluation
Collaborative
 Learning is a social activity and therefore must be collaborative.
 The learning-process should be interactive and must promote teamwork.
Integrative
 Subject matter is taught using interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approaches.
 Learning is contextual. Learning cannot be divorced from their lives. Learners do not learn from
isolated facts and theories separate from the rest of their lives.
THE ATTRIBUTES OF A K TO 12 TEACHER
The following are the attributes of a K to 12 Teacher:
 Multi- literate
 Multispecialist
 Multiskilled
 Self- directed
 Lifelong learner
 Flexible
 Creative problem solver
 Critical thinker
 Has passion for excellent teaching
 High Emotional Quotient (EQ)

7. SARAH MAY O. ACABADO
MA in Mathematics Education
THE CLASSROOM ASSESSMENT UNDER K TO 12 EDUCATION PROGRAM
The K to 12 curriculum has a balanced assessment program. The assessment process involves
the use of a wide array of traditional and authentic assessment tools and techniques for a valid, reliable,
and realistic assessment of learning. Traditional and authentic assessments complement each other. They
are not mutually exclusive. It practices self-assessment (assessment as learning), formative assessment
(assessment for learning) and summative test (assessment of learning).
The rating of the Learning Outcomes
To ensure that there is standardization in teaching and learning, assessment will be standard-
based. As such, DepEd issued an order stating that assessment will be done at 4 levels and will be weighed
accordingly. The levels are defined as follows:
 Knowledge refers to the substantive content of the curriculum, the facts and information that the
student acquires.
 Process refers to cognitive operations that the student performs on facts and information for the
purpose of constructing meanings and understandings.
 Understanding refers to enduring big ideas, principles, and generalizations inherent to the
discipline, which may be assessed using the facets of understanding
 Products/ Performances refer to real- life application of understanding as evidenced by the
student’s performance of authentic tasks.
The assigned weight per level of assessment is listed in the table below.
Level of Assessment Percentage Weight
Knowledge 15%
Process/ Skills 25%
Understanding 30%
Products/ Performances 30%
TOTAL 100%
At the end of the quarter, the student’s performance will be described based on the prescribed level of
proficiency which has equivalent numerical values. The proficiency level is computed from the sum of all
the performances of students in various levels of assessment. Each level is described as:
 Beginning- The student at this level struggles with his/ her understanding; prerequisite and
fundamental knowledge and/ or skills have not been acquired or developed adequately to aid
understanding
 Developing- The student at this level possesses the minimum knowledge and skills and core
understandings but needs help throughout the performance of authentic tasks
 Approaching Proficiency- The student at this level has developed the fundamental knowledge and skills
and core understandings and, with little guidance from the teacher and/ or with some assistance from
peers, can transfer these understandings through authentic performance tasks.
 Proficient- The student at this level has developed the fundamental knowledge and skills and core
understandings, and can transfer them independently through authentic performance tasks.
 Advanced- The student at this level exceeds the core requirements in terms of knowledge, skills and
understanding s, and can transfer them automatically and flexibly through authentic performance tasks.
The equivalent numerical values of each level are listed below:
Levels of Proficiency Equivalent Numerical Value
Beginning 74% and below
Developing 75- 79%
Approaching Proficiency 80- 84%
Proficient 85- 89 %
Advanced 90% and above

8. SARAH MAY O. ACABADO
MA in Mathematics Education