The Philippine Professional Standards for School Heads (PPSSH) are DepEd’s statement of what a school head should know, be able to do and value. DepEd Order No. 024, s. 2020, dated September 7, 2020, adopted them nationally. The download is one 39-page PDF: the order, its policy enclosure, and the full PPSSH booklet with the indicator tables for all five domains. The Download button opens DepEd’s own copy on deped.gov.ph.

The booklet was developed through the Philippine National Research Center for Teacher Quality (RCTQ), a partnership between the Philippine Normal University and the University of New England, Australia, with support from the Australian Government, and it is “© 2020. Department of Education”.

Is it current?

Yes. As of November 8, 2026, no DepEd order has amended or replaced DO 024, s. 2020. It rescinded the 2010 National Competency-Based Standards for School Heads, DepEd Order No. 32, s. 2010 (para. 8).

Later issuances build on it. The National Assessment for School Heads (NASH) asks questions “aligned with the standards set by the Philippine Professional Standards for School Heads (PPSSH)” (DepEd Memorandum No. 069, s. 2025, para. 3). DepEd’s career progression guidelines place School Principal I and II at Career Stage II, School Principal III at Career Stage III and School Principal IV at Career Stage IV (DepEd Order No. 024, s. 2025, Encl. No. 1, Sec. 22.b). The implementing rules of Republic Act No. 12288 would move School Principal IV to Career Stage III and add a School Principal V at Career Stage IV, but as of November 8, 2026, no DepEd issuance applies that map.

What is inside

  1. The order (two pages): why DepEd adopted the PPSSH, its three aims, its use by private schools, and the rescission of DO 32, s. 2010.
  2. The policy enclosure (Sections I–X): rationale, scope, definitions of domain, strand and indicator, the policy statement that makes the PPSSH “the foundation of relevant human resource systems”, the PPSSH framework and its eight principles, the duties of the Bureau of Human Resource and Organizational Development (BHROD) and the National Educators Academy of the Philippines (NEAP), monitoring and evaluation, effectivity, and a transitory provision that keeps existing policies until PPSSH-based guidelines are issued.
  3. The PPSSH booklet, in the order of its contents page:
    • Introduction: rationale, the roles of school heads, the standards, school leadership quality in the Philippines, and the guiding principles (pp. 1–3);
    • Domains and strands: the five domains and their 34 strands (p. 4);
    • Career stages: what Career Stages 1 to 4 describe (p. 5);
    • The indicator tables for Domain 1, Leading Strategically (p. 6); Domain 2, Managing School Operations and Resources (p. 9); Domain 3, Focusing on Teaching and Learning (p. 12); Domain 4, Developing Self and Others (p. 15); and Domain 5, Building Connections (p. 18), each strand with one indicator per career stage;
    • Glossary of terms, references, the DepEd team and acknowledgements (from p. 21).

Why it matters for aspiring school heads

The PPSSH is what the NASH measures, and DepEd’s career progression rules assign each School Principal position one of its career stages. Career Stage 1 describes “aspiring school heads” who “have acquired the prerequisite qualifications for the school head position” (PPSSH, p. 5), so its 34 indicators are the ones a teacher preparing for the NASH should know first.

PPSSH Domains, Strands and Indicators explains the structure: the five domains, 34 strands, four career stages and 136 indicators, and how DepEd uses them. Each domain has its own guide, with every strand’s Career Stage 1 indicator and DepEd data to practice on: Domain 1, Leading Strategically; Domain 2, Managing School Operations; Domain 3, Teaching and Learning; Domain 4, Developing Self and Others; and Domain 5, Building Connections. The NASH study guide shows how the standards map to the assessment, and From NCBS-SH to PPSSH traces how the PPSSH replaced the 2010 standards.