A MULTI-GROUNDED ANALYSIS OF STANDARDS AND PRACTICES FOR TEACHER EDUCATION CURRICULUM QUALITY ASSURANCE IN PHILIPPINE SUCS

Recent literature has shown the need to harmonize Philippine quality assurance (QA) mechanisms to improve higher education outcomes, particularly in teacher education. To achieve this goal, this study was conducted to provide theoretically-sound baseline information on the QA standards and conformance practices for teacher education curriculum development and implementation in Philippine State Universities and Colleges (SUCs). The primary data were obtained from a series of key informants’ interviews and were supplemented by content analyses of pertinent documentary sources. A total of twelve academics from four SUCs were theoretically chosen to participate in the semi-structured interviews, while select documents such as Policies, Standards, and Guidelines, including evaluation tools and accreditation instruments, were employed in the document analyses. Drawing upon a Multi-Grounded Theory—encompassing empirical, theoretical, and internal grounding—the three-stage grounding procedure yielded six theoretical categories of QA standards and seven conformance practices. Results revealed that Philippine SUCs develop and implement teacher education programs guided by six QA standards embodied by the following theoretical categories: curriculum structure, human resources, physical resources, student support, teaching and learning, and program performance. Philippine SUCs conform to these standards by operationalizing various compliance strategies represented by seven theoretical categories: structuring quality curriculum, validating curriculum quality, establishing paper trails, standards-based hiring, breaking barriers, performance monitoring, and maximizing administrative support. The results of the three-stage codification were subsequently subjected to theoretical matching and internal validation, thereby strengthening the validity of the findings and confirming their alignment with established constructs in the field of teacher education QA. The evolved theoretical categories hereinafter articulated may serve as excellent baseline information for QA harmonization in Philippine Higher Education (HE).