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Assessing the Teachers’ Competence in Diocesan Catholic Schools Relative to the Philippine Professional Standards for Teachers

Competent teachers are essential in successful Catholic education. However, Catholic schools are confronted with the exodus of qualified teachers, which compromises the quality of instruction. Through a descriptive-correlational design, this paper assessed the teaching competence of Antique diocesan schools relative to Philippine Professional Standards for Teachers (PPST). Likewise, it investigated the relationship between the teachers’ demographics and their competence. Utilizing a standardized PPST questionnaire, 102 administrators and teachers responded using the scale: 1-beginning, 2-proficient, 3-highly proficient, and 4-distinguished. In analyzing the data, Mean, Standard Deviation, and Pearson r were administered. Generally, the teaching competence is highly proficient with personal growth and professional development as the highest and diversity of learners as the lowest. The result showed a correlation of competence with age and employment status while sex and professional status do not. In ensuring the teaching quality, the retention of qualified teachers and continuous professional development are necessary.

quality instruction (Yoon et al., 2007). Here, if they are unable to provide quality teaching, innovative actions are necessary. Yet, in providing quality teaching, they should improve their qualifications and professional conditions responsive to the current needs (Flood & Brown, 2018). This means that professional improvement is essential to provide better the demands of the learners (Moss & Brookart, 2011).
Meanwhile, the Framework for 21 st -Century Learning perceives incorporating the teachers' acquired quality knowledge and skills into instruction (English & Kitsantas, 2013). They also need to be professionally reflective, formative, and constructive through enhancing their instructional competence to meet the expected competencies (Gutierez, 2015). In this sense, they need to develop their expertise and teaching experiences to become critical thinkers, collaborative, communicative, and technologically oriented, which are expected to hone among learners (Gay, 2013). Hence, they should be productive in their professional growth and development through continuous teacher education (Carver-Thomas & Darling-Hammond, 2017).
In the context of Antique diocesan schools, the successful offering of quality Catholic education depends on their adherence to the standards of 21 st -century education (English & Kitsantas, 2013). However, the teachers need to innovate in their instructional practices to be responsive to the current educational demands regardless of age, sex, employment status, and qualifications (Roberto & Madrigal, 2018). Further, they should also improve in their professional expertise and experiences to advance competent teaching and quality learning. Hence, continuous professional growth and development are vitally necessary for advancing competent teaching (Carver-Thomas & Darling-Hammond, 2017).

Methods
The study employed a descriptive-correlational design to assess the teaching competence of Antique diocesan schools. Further, this correlated the demographics of teachers with their competence. There were 102 respondents in the study composed of 7 administrators and 95 high school teachers of the diocesan schools in Antique during the academic year 2019-2020. The administrators were taken as a whole population while the teachers were determined using stratified random sampling.
The data were collected using a standardized PPST questionnaire with the scale: 1-beginning, 2-proficient, 3-highly proficient, and 4-distinguished. In terms of the data analysis, descriptive and correlational analyses were utilized. Mean and standard deviation were used to assess the level of the teaching competence of the diocesan school teachers. Meanwhile, using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Shapiro Wilk test, the results of the normality tests showed that the data (KS=0.057, p=.200*) (SW=0.984, p=0.244) were normally distributed. Hence, the use of Pearson r in correlating the teachers' demographics with their competence was justified.

Level of teaching competence in Antique diocesan schools
The competence of teachers is manifested in their professional development from beginning to exceptional teachers, as indicated in the career stages. However, to respond effectively to 21 stcentury education vis-à-vis the K to 12 educational reform, these educators should be high-quality teachers equipped with knowledge, skills, and values to effectively advance quality teaching and learning (DepEd, 2017). Tables 1A and 1B present the level of teaching competence among Antique diocesan schools in the light of the career stages of PPST. The level of teaching competence as a whole (M=2.96, SD=0.39) is highly proficient. All domains were rated highly proficient with personal growth and professional development (M=3.14, SD=0.48) as the highest and diversity of learners (M=2.78, SD=0.53) as the lowest.
Generally, the overall rating reveals that the Antique diocesan schools have teachers who are professionally developed as categorized in the highly proficient career stage of the standards. Meaning, these diocesan teachers consistently exercise a high level of teaching performance and competence and manifest an in-depth grasp of the instructional processes necessary to advance 21 st -century education (DepEd, 2017;Roberto & Madrigal, 2018). These educators are also highly focused teachers who are adept in solving problems relative to the educational needs. Lastly, this also indicates that they unreservedly collaborate with colleagues in determining the personal and school needs in improving the teaching and learning processes through support and mentoring (DepED, 2017). However, to exceptionally advance in these diocesan schools the 21 st -century education rooted in the best global standards, continuous professional development among the teachers is necessary (Roberto & Madrigal, 2018). Hence, this signifies the need for these educators to continuously develop their knowledge, skills, and values to guarantee quality instruction and competence in the profession (Petalla & Madrigal, 2017).
Accordingly, the diocesan teachers must be exceptionally competent in all educative aspects to deliver globalized and lifelong learning to students (Parkhouse et al., 2016). In support, Sengottuvel and Aktharsha (2015) perceive that the excellence of teachers in successfully advancing the teaching and learning processes is influenced by their competence and collaborative professional relationship with colleagues. In other words, successful teaching among diocesan schools entails developing the competence of their teachers and the collaborative mentoring of fellow educators (Ennis, 2015).
In a diocesan school in Antique, Roberto and Madrigal (2018) assessed the teaching competence in the light of PPST domains and garnered an overall proficient rating. In this sense, the result revealed that the competence of teachers in this current study is better than that of Roberto and Madrigal (2018). This is probably influenced by the difference in terms of leadership, where the diocesan school in Roberto and Madrigal (2018) is managed by religious brothers while the current study is run by diocesan administrators.
In terms of personal growth and professional development as the highest-rated domain, the result manifests that the diocesan teachers in Antique show high regard for the profession and consistently recognize its dignity (DepED, 2017;Roberto & Madrigal, 2018). They also continuously perceive the importance of continuous formation to develop their knowledge and skills in performing their professional duties and responsibilities (Petalla & Madrigal, 2017). Likewise, they recognize the successful and competent teaching highly depends on mentoring and professional linkages with colleagues (DepED, 2017).
The finding is affirmed by Jepsen (2005), Borko et al. (2010), and Antoniou and Kyriakides (2013) that for the teaching profession to be successful, the teachers' recognition of its value and nobleness is essential. Further, the teachers excellently perform this profession when they exhibit the willingness to undergo continuous formation that enhances their growth and development (Zepeda, 2013;Buenviaje et al., 2017). In other words, teacher education is necessary among teachers to recognize the essentials of the profession and the need for professional upgrading (Mackay, 2017). Hence, diocesan schools need to provide their teachers with professional improvement opportunities that also encourage them to value their profession (Roberto & Madrigal, 2018).
The result validates the highest rating on personal growth and professional development domain in Roberto and Madrigal (2018) and Petalla and Madrigal (2017) on the teaching competence of the Catholic teachers. This is attributed to the Catholic teachers' high value for professionalization that results in their high level of integrity, decisiveness, resourcefulness, commitment, and stress tolerance in the profession (Queroda, 2017).
Meanwhile, the rating on the diversity of learners indicates that the diocesan schools in Antique consistently understand their professional disposition towards the learners' gender, needs, strengths, interests, differences, and experiences (DepEd, 2017). However, of the seven PPST domains, this aspect needs the greatest improvement. The rating could be influenced by the inconsistent incorporation of the diversified programs in the curriculum and the implementation and practice of teachers in their teaching, as found in Roberto and Madrigal (2018) and Bonifacio (2013). Correspondingly, a positive school climate that values the differences of the learners is essential among diocesan schools (Muschell & Roberts, 2011). The teachers are expected to be flexible in establishing a caring teacher-student relationship for these diverse learners to cope with the educational and social demands (Capern & Hammond, 2014). Further, their values should be developed to committedly respond to the diversification processes of instruction (Boon & Lewthwaite, 2015). Hence, continuous professional and values formations are vital among teachers to holistically accommodate the needs of these diverse learners (Roberto & Madrigal, 2018).

Relationship between the demographics and teaching competence
This section discusses whether a correlation exists between the teachers' age, sex, employment status, and professional status, and teaching competence. Table 2 presents the relationship between age and teaching competence in Antique diocesan schools using Pearson r. The result showed a significant relationship between this variable and the teaching competence [r(100)=0.206, p=0.038]. Hence, the null hypothesis is rejected.
Correspondingly, the correlation indicates that the age of diocesan teachers in Antique impacts their competence in the teaching profession. In other words, the older they are in the field, the more they exhibit teaching competence (Queroda & Nama, 2018). This could be attributed to their adjustment in the profession and their honed expertise and experiences, and their acquired professional training and formations in their field of specialization (Darling-Hammond, 2000; Kosgei et al., 2013). Hence, this signifies that Catholic schools should strive to retain their committed teachers to ensure the continuity of their teachers' expertise, competence, and quality instruction.  Table 3 presents the relationship between sex and the competence of teachers. The result showed no significant relationship between the two variables using Pearson r [r(100)=-0.043, p=0.038]. Hence, the null hypothesis is accepted.
The result reveals that the sex of teachers in Antique diocesan schools does not impact their competence in the teaching profession. The no correlation of these two variables is supported by Stephanou et al. (2013), Koh et al. (2014), and Otanga and Mange (2014). Koh et al. (2014) found that the sex of teachers does not influence their perceptions on the pedagogical, content, and technological knowledge and skills.
Further, in Roberto and Madrigal (2018), the teachers' sex does not even impact their teaching performance. This could probably be attributed to the schools' provisions of professional formations, which are simultaneously given to teachers regardless of their sex (Roberto & Madrigal, 2018;Koh et al., 2014). Meanwhile, Queroda and Nama (2018) found out that sex positively correlated with the competence of teachers in their instructional skills. For this reason, further investigations are required to validate the claims.
Accordingly, the findings imply that the diocesan schools should continuously provide their teachers with professional advancement opportunities to improve their competence regardless of their sex. Further, they should also not make this variable a potent criterion in designating their teachers to institutional tasks and responsibilities.  Table 4 presents the relationship between employment status and teaching competence. The result showed a significant relationship between the two variables using Pearson r [r(100) =0.198, p=0.046]. Hence, the null hypothesis is rejected.
The result reveals that the more the teachers become permanent in the profession, the more they exhibit greater professional competence in the field. This could be attributed to the findings of Convey (2014), where the teachers perceived that the more they stay in the Catholic schools, the more they become stable, motivated, and satisfied with the job. Part of this motivation and satisfaction is the privilege of staying in the Catholic educational institutions. In support, Queroda and Nama (2018) found out that the more experienced the teacher, the more competent they are in instructional, personal, social, guidance, and evaluation skills, which probably might have influenced the rating. Further, Zhu et al. (2013) perceived that the stability of the teachers in terms of their years of service was significantly related to their innovative teaching performance.
Relatedly, this finding validates Roberto and Madrigal (2018) that regular teachers in an Antique diocesan school perform better than the probationers. These probationer teachers are usually prone to high attrition risks to other educational institutions (Pryzygocki, 2004). Not to mention, these novice teachers normally experience difficulties in familiarizing their multiple assigned duties and responsibilities along with the school policies and procedures (Cho & Kwon, 2004). The findings imply that the diocesan schools should satisfy their teachers' interests to ensure their commitment and retention, which sustain the competent Catholic school teaching.  Table 5 presents the relationship between professional status and the competence of teachers. The result showed no significant relationship between the two variables using the Pearson r [r(100)=-0.060, p=0.547]. Hence, the null hypothesis is accepted.
The result indicates that the qualifications of Antique diocesan teachers do not impact their competence in the teaching profession. The majority of the teachers are qualified compared to those non-licensed. Despite this, some of these teachers are not education graduates who only acquired certificates in teaching upon hiring and passed the professional board exam (Roberto & Madrigal, 2018). This stems from the exodus of teachers to other schools, which led Catholic institutions to hire new and unqualified teachers (Bual & Madrigal, 2018). Such a phenomenon may have affected the no correlation rating between the two variables.
However, the study of Wachira et al. (2013) perceives that the academic qualifications of the teachers increase their disposition to teach. In other words, despite the result, the Antique diocesan teachers still need to qualify themselves to perform better their professional duties and responsibilities (Roberto & Madrigal, 2018). Hence, the finding signifies that these schools should improve their recruitment to ensure teacher quality and competent teaching. This also implies the need to effectively prevent the attrition of qualified teachers (Bual & Madrigal, 2018). In the context of the theories to which this study was anchored, the correlational results partially validate both the Action Theory and the Framework for 21 st -Century Learning. In terms of the teachers' age and employment status, the correlations confirm both theories that regardless of these demographics, improvement is necessary for their competence to better provide the learners with the current demands in education (Carver-Thomas & Darling-Hammond, 2017;English & Kitsantas, 2013). Meanwhile, the no correlations on sex and professional status do not affirm the veracity of both theories. In these contexts, they signify that the diocesan schools in Antique should strive to retain their committed and qualified teachers to ensure the competent 21 st -century teaching and quality of Catholic education (Roberto & Madrigal, 2018;Bual & Madrigal, 2018). Aside from this, the varied correlational results indicate the need for additional studies on these variables to validate the claims relative to the theories.

Conclusion
As a whole, the teaching competence of Antique diocesan Catholic schools is highly proficient with personal growth and professional development as the highest and the diversity of learners as the lowest. Further, all seven domains were rated highly proficient by all administrators and teachers. Age and employment status were found significantly related. In contrast, sex and professional status do not correlate with the teaching competence of Antique diocesan teachers.
The competence of the teachers can be assured when the diocesan schools in Antique ensure their commitment to the profession. This can be done when these schools satisfy the interests and needs of these educators. Meanwhile, it is also important for these schools to strive to ensure the retention of their qualified and committed teachers to preserve the continuity of excellent teaching and, at the same time, the quality of Catholic education. Hence, continuous professional formations are necessary to enhance their instructional values and practices, which can better cater to the 21 stcentury diverse educational needs and demands of the learners.