Core Subjects Achievement and CSAT Performance of Senior Students: An Evaluation of a Private High School’s College Entrance Exam Review Program in Cagayan de Oro, Philippines

Abstract

As schools provide the academic environment for students’ development, students still go through entrance examinations for them to bridge that gap from high school to their course choice in college. This paper determined the effect of the core subject’s achievement and the College Scholastic Achievement Test (CSAT) performance of students in English, Science and Mathematics for four school years to create a medium-term development plan for a college entrance exam program of a private high school in Southern Philippines. Results on the descriptive mean determined satisfactory levels of achievement and CSAT performance. Students performed better in English based on their achievement grades and aptitude scores in CSAT when compared to Science and Mathematics. Through correlation analysis set at the alpha level of 0.05, it was revealed that there is a highly significant effect on the students’ academic achievement to CSAT performance. Concurrently, the overall extent of implementation of the program is very good with the areas on program design and program output rated as excellent. It is recommended that the school enriches curriculum and instruction and to maximize learning by focusing on higher order thinking skills. Furthermore, the said program needs to enhance on areas on implementation and cost-effectiveness. Students have varied thresholds in the different core subjects that need to be addressed well. Also, developing students’ higher order thinking skills that go beyond rote memory is necessary to improve competence and mastery in the subject. Keywords - Educational management, program evaluation, academic achievement, descriptive-correlation, Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines