GAPS ON QUALITY TEACHING: ASSESSING TEACHERS’ NEEDS TOWARDS THE CREATION OF A FRAMEWORK FOR AN EXTENSION PROGRAM ON TEACHERS’ PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

The study assessed the professional development needs of basic education teachers in upland areas of Goa, Camarines Sur, along with the different domains of the Philippine Professional Standards forTeachers (PPST) to create a framework for an extension program. A researcher-made surveyquestionnaire was used to capture the data, and the results were statistically treated using weighted mean and percentage technique. Results showed that the majority of the respondents belong to the young population and are relatively new to the service. Also, most of the respondents have attended professional development training; however, most of these training was conducted either locally or school-based. Results also showed that the National Achievement Test scores of most of the identified schools are declining over the last three years. Based on the findings of the study, it recommended that more professional development programs be created to satisfy teachers' needs for further improvement. The design of the programs should be holistic and touch all the domains of the PPST. In addition, the activities under the programs should be of sustained length or duration and should involve experts that may include trainers or coaches from universities and professional development organizations. A framework for an extension program was also proposed.