The Philippine Professional Standards for School Heads (PPSSH) say what a school head is expected to know and do, in 5 domains and 34 strands. Each strand has one indicator for each of four career stages, 136 indicators in all. They are set out in DepEd Order (DO) No. 024, s. 2020, National Adoption and Implementation of the Philippine Professional Standards for School Heads.

Pick a domain, on the framework’s ring or in the row under it, then a strand, to read its four indicators side by side. The marked words are what is new at each career stage. Switch off the stages you are not studying, and use the drill at the end to check what you remember.

Interactive guide

5 domains, 34 strands, 136 indicators

Show career stages
What the four career stages mean
Career Stage 1
Aspiring school heads. Have basic knowledge and understanding of a school head's authority, responsibility and accountability.
Career Stage 2
School heads. Apply it, independently, as instructional leaders and administrative managers.
Career Stage 3
School heads. Show in-depth knowledge and advanced skills, and share governance with the school community.
Career Stage 4
School heads. Show mastery, model the highest standards, and empower the school community.
LeadingStrategicallyManagingSchoolOperationsandResourcesFocusing onTeaching andLearningDevelopingSelf andOthersBuildingConnectionsSchool EffectivenessPeople EffectivenessHOLISTICALLYDEVELOPEDFILIPINOLEARNERS

The PPSSH Framework

The framework "depicts the synergy between maximizing school effectiveness and ensuring people effectiveness" through the five domains. Learners are at its center.

Pick a domain on the ring or in the row below, or play the framework.

Redrawn from Figure 1 of DepEd Order No. 024, s. 2020. The figure divides the ring by color only; the lines between domains are added here so each can be picked.

Domain 1Leading Strategically

Strand 1.1Vision, mission and core values

  1. Career Stage 1

    Demonstrate knowledge of the DepEd vision, mission and core values to foster shared understanding and alignment of school policies, programs, projects and activities.

    Indicator 1.1.1

  2. Career Stage 2

    Communicate the DepEd vision, mission and core values to the wider school community to ensure shared understanding and alignment of school policies, programs, projects and activities.

    Indicator 1.1.2

  3. Career Stage 3

    Collaborate with school personnel in communicating the DepEd vision, mission and core values to the wider school community to strengthen shared understanding and alignment of school policies, programs, projects and activities.

    Indicator 1.1.3

  4. Career Stage 4

    Serve as a role model in the school and the wider school community in embodying the DepEd vision, mission and core values to sustain shared understanding and alignment of school policies, programs, projects and activities.

    Indicator 1.1.4

Marked words are new at that career stage, compared with the stage before it.

Check yourself

Where does this indicator belong?

Ten indicators, drawn from the career stages you have switched on. For each, pick its domain and its career stage. This drills the structure of the standards; these are not NASH items.

Your progress is kept in this browser only.

The PPSSH Framework

The drawing near the top of the explorer is the PPSSH Framework, Figure 1 of the order. It “depicts the synergy between maximizing school effectiveness and ensuring people effectiveness through a broad sphere of instructional and administrative practices stipulated in the five domains of the PPSSH.” It has three parts:

  • The ring is the five domains. They “constitute a broad conceptual sphere of leadership practices for all school heads.”
  • The two arrows are the two kinds of effectiveness, each following the other around the circle. School heads have “the authority, responsibility and accountability for taking care of people in schools (people effectiveness) while maximizing organizational performance and health (school effectiveness).”
  • The center is the learners, “holistically developed Filipino learners” in the figure. “The placement of learners at the center of the framework emphasizes the important role of school heads for the improvement of learner achievement.”

The figure colors Domains 1 and 2 blue, like the School Effectiveness arrow, and Domains 3, 4 and 5 yellow, like the People Effectiveness arrow. The order’s text points the same way for three of them. It calls school effectiveness “maximizing organizational performance and health,” and it describes Domain 1 as a commitment “towards maximizing organizational performance,” Domain 2 as one “towards maximizing organizational health,” and Domain 4 as one “in ensuring people and team effectiveness.” It ties Domains 3 and 5 to neither in words, and it does not keep the two apart. Its description of Career Stage 2 says school heads “maintain school effectiveness and people effectiveness by leading strategically, managing school operations and resources, focusing on teaching and learning, developing themselves and others, and building connections”: all five domains, for both.

Press Play the framework to light each part in turn.

The PPSSH Framework: Holistically Developed Filipino Learners draws the figure large and follows it from the school head to the learner.

How to read a strand

Every strand names one area of a school head’s work, and its four indicators describe that work at four levels. Strand 3.2, Teaching standards and pedagogies, shows the pattern:

Career stage What the school head does
1 “Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of teaching standards and pedagogies …”
2 “Provide technical assistance to teachers on teaching standards and pedagogies …”
3 “Engage school personnel such as master teachers, head teachers and department heads in providing technical assistance to teachers …”
4 “Exhibit best practice in providing technical assistance to teachers …”

The subject stays the same. What rises is the verb: from knowing, to doing, to leading others in doing it, to setting the example. Most strands rise this way. Read a strand as one idea at four levels, not four sentences to memorize.

The four career stages

Career stage DO 024, s. 2020
1 Aspiring school heads, who “have acquired the prerequisite qualifications for the school head position” and “demonstrate basic knowledge and understanding of the authority, responsibility, and accountability expected of school heads”
2 School heads who “apply the required knowledge and understanding” and are “professionally independent in performing their functions as instructional leaders and administrative managers”
3 School heads who “consistently display an in-depth knowledge and understanding”, “exhibit advanced skills”, and “establish shared governance with the wider school community”
4 School heads who “consistently exhibit mastery”, “model the highest standards of practice”, and “empower the wider school community”

Career Stage 1 is the order’s description of an aspiring school head, so it is the place to start, with Career Stage 2 as the next step. NASH Reviewer’s practice items are written to Career Stages 1 and 2.

Study the PPSSH domain by domain

Each domain has a guide that explains its strands with examples from Philippine public schools:

The whole standard as one page of text is in PPSSH Domains, Strands and Indicators (DO 024, s. 2020). To apply the indicators to school situations, try the free practice sets.

Frequently asked questions

How many domains, strands and indicators does the PPSSH have?

Five domains, 34 strands and 136 indicators: one indicator for each strand at each of four career stages (DO 024, s. 2020).

What are the five domains of the PPSSH?

Leading Strategically; Managing School Operations and Resources; Focusing on Teaching and Learning; Developing Self and Others; and Building Connections (DO 024, s. 2020).

Which career stage describes aspiring school heads?

Career Stage 1. The order describes Career Stage 1 school heads as “aspiring school heads” who “have acquired the prerequisite qualifications for the school head position” (DO 024, s. 2020).

Sources

DepEd issuances

  • DepEd Order No. 024, s. 2020, National Adoption and Implementation of the Philippine Professional Standards for School Heads, September 7, 2020. Paragraphs 11 and 12 and Figure 1 (the PPSSH Framework). Enclosure: Roles of School Heads, Career Stages, and the introductions and tables of Domains 1 to 5.

Written by Mark Anthony Llego for NASH Reviewer. Sources: DepEd Order No. 024, s. 2020.