Competency assessment of high school physics teachers

This study assesses the competency of high school physics teachers in the Science and Technology Coordinating Council (STCC) network schools in Region V. The assessment is based on the principle that the teacher is the most important factor that contribute to efficiency of learning.The research combined a descriptive survey technique through a researcher-made questionnaire, classroom observation, tests, and existing records. The analysis was made both qualitatively and quantitatively. The five instruments used were: (1) content knowledge test for physics teachers, (2) integrated science process skills test, (3) teacher questionnaire, (4) student assessment by teacher, and (5) classroom observation guide. The statistical techniques used were: descriptive statistics, Pearson r, stepwise multiple regression, item analysis using discrimination and difficulty indeces, Kuder Richardson formula 20, and Kendall Tau correlation. The .05 level was adopted in all tests of significance. This study showed that the high school physics teachers were rated competent in all the four measures of competency, namely: knowledge of physics, science process skills, job performance in the classroom for both method and laboratory, and teacher-related variables except. These measures did not include the Physics units earned at the graduate level.Teachers\u27 job performance in the classroom was positively correlated with the science process skills possessed by secondary physics teachers. However, they are found to be negatively related to the content knowledge competency of teachers. It was significantly related only to the number of years in teaching physics.Twenty-five percent of the variation in the teachers\u27 classroom performance was explained by both the respondents years of teaching experience and their prior in-service training in physics, which served as predictors for the criterion measure.The undergraduate mathematics units earned by the teacher revealed a significantly negative correlation with their competency in physics. The physics teachers were rated very good in their overall method of teaching