Teaching Practices, Curriculum Fidelity, Lifelong Math Skills: Basis for K-12 Structural Equation Modeling

The transition to the Enhanced K-12 Curriculum in the Philippines seeks to institutionalize 21st-century mathematical proficiency; however, a gap persists between curriculum policy and student mastery of higher-order competencies. This study examined the structural relationships among Curriculum Implementation Fidelity (CIF), Teaching Practices (TP), Students’ Engagement (SE), and Lifelong Mathematical Skills Development (LMSD) in the Schools Division of Surigao del Sur for the School Year 2025-2026. Anchored on the Fidelity Approach to Curriculum Implementation, Freire’s Critical Pedagogy, and Dewey’s Theory of Experience, the research utilized a quantitative design and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to analyze data from Grade 7 and Grade 8 mathematics teachers selected through complete enumeration. Findings revealed that while curriculum fidelity successfully drives structural compliance and cognitive analysis, it remains largely procedural and teacher-directed, failing to fully foster emotional resilience and student agency. Correlation and multiple regression analyses identified CIF and LMSD as the most powerful predictors of student engagement. The empirically validated Structural Equation Model further demonstrated that CIF serves as the foundational anchor for instructional quality (β = .81), but Students’ Engagement emerged as the critical "engine" of the system, exerting a near-perfect direct effect on Lifelong Mathematical Skills Development (β = .90) and explaining 80% of its variance. The study concludes that student engagement is the mandatory intermediary that translates curriculum structure and teaching inputs into actual lifelong competencies. Without high engagement, even the most faithful implementation of the curriculum fails to produce significant development in critical thinking and adaptability. Consequently, it is recommended that school administrators and curriculum planners shift from a "compliance-only" view to a "quality-delivery" model. This includes institutionalizing a revised pathway (CIF → TP → SE → LMSD) where teaching practices are explicitly designed to act as mediators for active student participation. Specific interventions such as "productive failure" activities, inquiry-based models, and the integration of digital literacy tools into real-world problems are proposed to transform learners from passive recipients into autonomous, digitally literate agents.