School administrators’ knowledge, understanding, and commitment to the core values of the Department of Education

The primary objective of this research article was to assess the administrators’ knowledge, understanding, and dedication to the Department of Education’s (DepEd’s) core values, specifically God-fearing, humane, nature-loving, and patriotic, in the context of School-based Management. The study utilized a quantitative approach, employing descriptive correlational analysis. A researcher-developed questionnaire was administered to 21 school administrators and 133 teachers from selected National High Schools in the Southern Leyte Division. The analysis of the data revealed that the school administrators in Southern Leyte possessed comprehensive knowledge, complete understanding, and a very high level of commitment to the core values of being God-fearing, humane, and nature-loving. However, their commitment to being patriotic was only rated as high. The teachers’ perception aligned with the administrators’ self-assessment, except for their commitment to nature-loving and patriotic values, which were categorized as high. Furthermore, the majority of National High Schools in the Southern Leyte Division made significant progress in achieving School-Based Management (SBM) Level II within a few academic cycles. However, it was observed that the administrators’ knowledge, understanding, and commitment to the core values did not necessarily translate into their performance in the School-Based Management level of practice. Based on these findings, the study recommends the integration of practical applications of core values into SBM tools, with a focus on quantifiable indicators to assess the administrators’ real-life implementation. This shift emphasizes the need for tools that can measure and quantify leaders’ actions driven by values, ensuring that they effectively enhance institutional systems and cultures for meaningful progress.