Improving Student Learning Outcomes through Accreditation: The Philippine Experience

Improving

Student

Learning

Outcomes

through

Accreditation:

The

Philippine

Experience

Serafin L. Ngohayon, Ph.D.

President, AACCUP and 

CONTENTS:



History of Quality Assurance in the

Philippines;



History and Development of AACCUP;



AACCUP’s Status at Present



AACCUP Accreditation: A Partnership



Accreditation Process in AACCUP;



Characteristics of Accreditation in the

Philippines;



Benefits of Accreditation for SUCs;



Improvement in Learning Outcomes due to

Accreditation;

QA ­ HEI’s PAASCU 1957 PACUCOA 1974 ACSC 1976 AACCUP 1987 ALCUCOA 2004 IDEAL 2010

CHED

RA

7722

(HEA)

 ­

1994

RA

8292

(HEMA)

 ­

1997

FAAP

NNQAA

History

of

Quality

Assurance

in

the

Philippines

• Voluntary • Private Certifying Bodies per 

CMO 1, s. 2005

ACCRONYMS & THEIR MEANING

1. CHED ‐ Commission on Higher Education 2. FAAP ‐ Federation of Accrediting Agencies in  the Phils; 3. NNQAA ‐ National Network of Quality  Assurance Agencies; 4. AACCUP ‐ Accrediting Agency for Chartered  Colleges and Universities in the Philippines, Inc. 5. ALCUCOA ‐ Asso. of Local Colleges and  Universities Commission on Accreditation; 6. IDEAL ‐ International Distance Education  Accreditation League  7. QA ‐ Quality Assurance 8. HEI ‐ Higher Education Institution/s

History

and

Development

of

AACCUP



Started as SCUAAP in 1987 by a select PASUC

member SUCs;



Renamed AACCUP in 1989 when registered in the

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC);



Conducted its 1

accreditation visit in Sept. 15 – 17,

1992;



By the end of 1992, AACCUP had visited 6 SUCs

and accredited 11 programs;



Ceased FAAP Membership in 2002, recongition by

CHED was suspended temporarily;



Joined ALCU-COA (in 2004) as pioneer members of

NNQAA;



CMO 1, s. 2005 was issued giving due recognition

to NNQAA and the agencies under it such as

AACCUP.

AACCUP’s status now

•

Members: 105 of the 110 State Colleges and 

Universities (SUCs);

•

Programs Accredited: 1,650 (as of June 30, 2010);

•

Requests for visits: Increasing every year  (2007 = 360; 

2008 = 488; 2009 = 567; 2010 = 644);

•

Focus of Evaluation: Programs & Institutional

•

Membership to reputable Accrediting bodies: APQN, 

INQUAAHE;

•

Consultant to various QA agencies/ bodies;

•

Financially stable: Increasing net income per year 

(2008 = deficit; 2009 = US$4,277; 2010 = US$23,658)

SUCs

- Agency Member/ Volunteer programs - Allows accreditors from faculty pool

AACCUP

-Formulates instrument -Trains accreditors

-Dispatch team and issue result after certification from NNQAA

ACCREDITORS

-Evaluate, rate and recommend

AACCUP Accreditation: A Partnership

*

* _{The conduct of accreditation}

is a joint effort of three entities working in partnership; the SUC (thru its president), the ACCREDITORS and the AACCUP (accrediting agency)

Accreditation Process in AACCUP

1.

Program

Accreditation

A.

Application

B.

Institutional

Self

‐

survey

C.

Preliminary

Survey

Visit

D.

1

(Formal)

Survey

Visit

E.

2

(Formal)

Survey

Visit

F.

3

(Formal)

Survey

Visit

G.

4

(Formal)

Survey

Visit

H.

Activities

During

Accreditation

‐ Team Meetings, Conferences, Data Gathering/Verification/ Analysis

I.

Review

by

Technical

Committee

J.

Approval

of

Board

of

Trustees

(BOT)

K.

Certification

by

NNQAA

BOT

2.

New

initiaitves

in

AACCUP

– Institutional

Accreditation

(Start

in

Nov.

2010)

Characteristics of Accreditation in 

the Philippines

•

Accrediting Agencies are Private or

Non-Governmental

•

Voluntary Character - Academic institutions are free

to decide when to subject their programs for

accreditation and by which accrediting agency;

•

Evaluation by Peers - Accreditation is done by

professional accreditors drawn and trained from

experts/ academe;

•

Use of standards higher than CHED - The instruments

considered the standards set forth by CHED, PRC and

others as determined by the agency.

Benefits of Accreditation for SUCs

1

.

Accredited

programs:

◦

Lend prestige to universities and colleges;

◦

Ensure the listing of SUC in the list of Internationally Accredited 

Universities/ Colleges (UNESCO‐IAU);

◦

Reveal their strengths and weaknesses that need to be 

addressed;

◦

Help parents identify which schools they may send their 

children to for quality education; and

◦

Make possible for prospective funding agencies to know what 

academic institution is worth supporting.

2.

Used

as

criterion

in

administrative

decision

­

making

in

a

variety

of

ways;

and

3.

Requisite

for

COD/

COE

status,

Normative

funding

Improvement

in

Learning

Outcomes

Due

To

Accreditation

HEI Type/ Category Number

of HEIs Student Population QA  Agency 2005 2010 2005 % of  Total 2010 % of  Total SUCs 111 109 754,692 30.4 944,209  34.1 AACCUP LUCs 65 93 89,315 3.6 134,871  4.9 ALCU‐COA

Private Non‐Sectarian 1,134 1,249

1,261,360 50.8 1,225,504 

44.2 PACU‐COA

Private Sectarian 358 324

372,616 15.0 462,267 

16.7 PAASCU

Others (OGS, SP, CSI) 15 16

5,662 0.2 4,114  0.1 AC‐SC

TOTAL 1,325 1,791 _{2,483,645 100.0 2,770,965 100.0}

Improvement

in

Learning

Outcomes

Due

To

Accreditation

B. Increasing Number of Programs Accredited Result to Improving Learning Outcomes in the SUCs of the Philippines

Improvement

in

Learning

Outcomes

Due

To

Accreditation

C. Measures of Learning Outcomes: Consolidation of SUCs for Better Quality as shown by Increasing Enrollment

Improvement

in

Learning

Outcomes

Due

To

Accreditation

D. Measures of Learning Outcomes: Passing Rate in Licensure Examinations and Center of Excellence (COE)/ Development (COD)

Ways Forward: Challenges and

Opportunities of QA in the Phils.

A. Harmonization of Accreditation Instruments and Agencies - 90% of the accreditation instruments used by the various agencies are similar because they use the same basis (e.g. CHED standards);

B. EO 705-A – creation of the Coordinating Council On

Accreditation - The CCA aims to harmonize the accrediting agencies and their instruments;

C. IQUAME - monitoring tool being implemented by CHED for institutional development;

D. Harmonization of Higher Education in ASEAN Countries -SEAMEO (RIHED) wants to harmonize HE in ASEAN so that students in these countries can freely transfer from one school to another from a country to another. The current strategy is to standardize the accreditation instruments being used in various disciplines so that accredited

program will be more or less the same.

Final Remarks

Accreditation, by far, is still the best and most 

effective way in ensuring QUALITY in 

academic programs and institutions.

AACCUP is proud to have initiated 

improvements in many SUCs in the country.

Today, not only do SUCs capture 34% of the total 

students in the tertiary level but more 

importantly, SUC graduates also shine in board 

examinations and work performance as their 

counterparts from the private HEIs. 

S. L. Ngohayon