ACTRC is one of the pioneers in conducting nationwide research on Philippine Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) since its early years of implementation. (See Understanding Best Practices in MTB-MLE in the Philippines.) While previous ACTRC MTB-MLE studies identified schools’ best practices that have been found in the literature to lead to program effectiveness, learning outcomes were not analyzed to check for any possible effect of schools’ MTB-MLE program on learner performance. Few local studies pursued this investigation, resulting in a weak evidence base to help understand whether MTB-MLE has any effects on learner outcomes. Moreover, the Philippines’ low results in international large-scale assessments encouraged a review of implemented programs, such as MTB-MLE, to determine whether schools’ program implementation actually contributes to desired learning outcomes, and improve practices where gaps exist.
ACTRC conducted this study given the lack of local research that looked at the possible impact of schools’ MTB-MLE implementation on students’ performance in large-scale high-stakes assessments, particularly the Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics (SEA-PLM) and the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). The study involved a total of 52 high- and low-performing schools in SEA-PLM and TIMSS 2019 across the country. One thousand forty-three (1,043) Kinder to Grade 3 (K-3) teachers answered a survey to evaluate their schools’ MTB-MLE implementation during five school years, the period when their students who took SEA-PLM and TIMSS experienced the schools’ MTB-MLE implementation. Results of the study serve as bases for recommendations on MTB-MLE implementation, research, and policy. A Policy Brief for the study highlights policy directions that are instructive to future iterations of the MTB-MLE policy.
The study received full funding from the Office of Senator Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara.
Project team
Maria Cecilia A. Suarez