Leading and managing a public school
The roles of a school head
Republic Act No. 9155 makes every school head both an instructional leader and an administrative manager. This guide breaks that mandate into six roles and, for each, names the PPSSH strands, the DepEd rules in force today, and what the work looks like in a school.
- Areas of authority, accountability, and responsibility in RA 9155
- 12
- Roles of a school head in this guide
- 6
- PPSSH strands across five domains
- 34
- Minutes in a non-rated walkthrough under DO 016, s. 2026
- 10–15
The legal mandate
RA 9155, the Governance of Basic Education Act of 2001, defines the job. Section 4 calls the school head “a person responsible for the administrative and instructional supervision of the school or cluster of schools.” Section 7(E) sets the team and lists 12 areas the school head answers for.
“The school head, who may be assisted by an assistant school head, shall be both an instructional leader and administrative manager. The school head shall form a team with the school teachers/learning facilitators for delivery of quality educational programs, projects and services. A core of non-teaching staff shall handle the school's administrative, fiscal and auxiliary services.”
“Consistent with the national educational policies, plans and standards, the school heads shall have authority, accountability and responsibility for the following:”
“Setting the mission, vision, goals and objectives of the school;”
“Creating an environment within the school that is conducive to teaching and learning;”
“Implementing the school curriculum and being accountable for higher learning outcomes;”
“Developing the school education program and school improvement plan;”
“Offering educational programs, projects and services which provide equitable opportunities for all learners in the community;”
“Introducing new and innovative modes of instruction to achieve higher learning outcomes;”
“Administering and managing all personnel, physical and fiscal resources of the school;”
“Recommending the staffing complement of the school based on its needs;”
“Encouraging staff development;”
“Establishing school and community networks and encouraging the active participation of teachers organizations, non-academic personnel of public schools, and parents-teachers-community associations;”
“Accepting donations, gifts, bequests and grants for the purpose of upgrading teachers'/learning facilitators' competencies, improving and expanding school facilities and providing instructional materials and equipment. Such donations or grants must be reported to the appropriate district supervisors and division superintendents; and”
“Performing such other functions as may be assigned by proper authorities.”
The law gives the school head the power to recommend staff, not to appoint them, and allows donations for three purposes only, each reported to the district supervisor and the division superintendent. Item 3 makes the school head answer for learning outcomes, not only for running the curriculum.
Six roles at a glance
The 12 areas fall into six roles. Each draws on several PPSSH domains, and each has DepEd rules that changed recently.
The person behind the position
Know your values, strengths, and blind spots, and keep the standards of a public servant.
The leader who sets direction
Set the school’s direction from the DepEd vision and mission, and win the commitment of the people who will carry it out.
The instructional leader
Coach teachers on planning, teaching, and assessment, and answer for what learners learn.
The leader of school improvement
Lead an honest look at the school’s own data with learners and the community, and act on it.
The steward of resources
Manage the school’s money, property, records, and people by the rules, and answer for them.
The leader of change and community
Lead people through each reform, and bring every learner and partner in the community into the school’s work.
The person behind the position
Leadership starts with self-knowledge. A school head who knows their own values, strengths, and blind spots makes fairer decisions, and one who keeps the norms of public service keeps the community’s trust.
What the work involves
- Assess yourself against the PPSSH, and ask colleagues and your own school head for feedback on what you cannot see.
- Reflect on your practice in writing, and turn the reflection into development goals.
- Keep RA 6713’s norms of conduct: commitment to public interest, professionalism, justness and sincerity, political neutrality, responsiveness to the public, nationalism and patriotism, commitment to democracy, and simple living.
- Decline the gifts and favors the law prohibits, and keep personal interests out of school decisions.
- Stay calm under pressure, with an angry parent or in a conflict between teachers, so that others can stay calm too.
Rules in force
- DepEd Order No. 024, s. 2020
- Indicator 4.1.1 asks aspiring school heads to assess their own development needs against the PPSSH.
- DepEd Memorandum No. 069, s. 2025
- Calls the NASH a developmental assessment and urges coaching and mentoring with experienced principals.
- Republic Act No. 6713
- Sets the norms of conduct and the prohibited acts for every public official and employee.
PPSSH strands
- 4.1Personal and professional development
- 4.2Professional reflection and learning
- 5.1Management of diverse relationships
Read more
How the NASH tests this role: Items in this role ask whether you act on evidence about yourself: seeking feedback before you need it, owning a mistake, and treating every colleague by the same rules.
The leader who sets direction
RA 9155 makes the school head both an instructional leader and an administrative manager. Leading sets direction and wins commitment; managing plans, organizes, and checks. A school needs both from the same person.
What the work involves
- Anchor the school’s goals in the DepEd vision, mission, and core values, and explain them in words every teacher and parent understands.
- Model the behavior you ask of teachers, and keep the promises you make.
- Share leadership roles fairly, so that no small circle of favorites makes every decision.
- Recognize good work specifically, and give corrective feedback in private.
- Plan, budget, staff, and monitor the work, so that direction turns into results.
Rules in force
- Republic Act No. 9155, Section 7(E)
- Gives the school head authority, accountability, and responsibility for setting the school’s mission, vision, goals, and objectives.
- DepEd Order No. 024, s. 2020
- Indicator 1.1.1 asks for knowledge of the DepEd vision, mission, and core values to align the school’s programs.
- Kotter (2001); Kouzes and Posner
- Managing plans, organizes, and controls; leading sets direction, aligns people, and motivates. The Five Practices describe what exemplary leaders do.
PPSSH strands
- 1.1Vision, mission and core values
- 4.6Leadership development in individuals and teams
- 4.8Rewards and recognition mechanism
- 5.1Management of diverse relationships
Read more
How the NASH tests this role: Items in this role separate the response that only complies from the one that also explains why, involves the people affected, and keeps the decision fair.
The instructional leader
The PPSSH puts teaching and learning at the center of the job. In 2026, DepEd rewrote its rules on lesson planning and grading and moved school heads from checking documents to coaching teachers.
What the work involves
- Lead qualitative reviews of lesson plans and use what you find for coaching, never for paperwork.
- Make frequent, non-rated walkthroughs of about 10 to 15 minutes, and debrief each one with the teacher.
- Check that grading follows the current order: its weights, its transmutation for SY 2026-2027, its promotion rules, and its single Academic Excellence Award.
- Lead the contextualization of lessons with teachers and the community, without changing the learning standards.
- Hold learning action cells where teachers plan lessons together and learn from each other.
- Rate teachers fairly under the PMES, or approve the ratings of the master teachers and department heads who rate them.
Rules in force
- DepEd Order No. 016, s. 2026
- Replaces the daily lesson log and detailed lesson plan with the ILAW framework, requires no national template, and allows the old formats only until the end of Term 1 of SY 2026-2027.
- DepEd Order No. 015, s. 2026
- Sets new weights and, for SY 2026-2027, a transmutation in which an initial grade of 70.00 becomes 75. It replaces honors with one Academic Excellence Award for a general average of 90 or higher with no final grade below 80.
- DepEd Order No. 35, s. 2016
- Makes the learning action cell the school’s main venue for teachers’ continuing professional development.
- DepEd Memorandum No. 089, s. 2025
- Rates teachers under the PMES on 14 PPST indicators a year, with full-period classroom observations and an Instructional Supervisory Plan prepared by each rater.
PPSSH strands
- 3.1School-based review, contextualization and implementation of learning standards
- 3.2Teaching standards and pedagogies
- 3.3Teacher performance feedback
- 3.5Learning assessment
- 4.4Performance management
- 4.5Professional development of school personnel
Read more
How the NASH tests this role: Items in this role reward feedback built on evidence from the classroom, support that fits the teacher, and the current rule over the old habit of collecting forms.
The leader of school improvement
School improvement in DepEd runs through two systems: school-based management and the school improvement plan. Both ask the school head to lead an honest look at the school’s own data, with learners and the community, and to act on what it shows.
What the work involves
- Lead the yearly SBM self-assessment yourself, as the School SBM Coordinator.
- Rate each of the 42 indicators by how often it shows, and write the results into the school’s plans.
- Form the School Planning Team and lead the three-year school improvement plan and its annual implementation plan through Assess, Plan, and Act.
- Listen to learners before choosing priorities, and find root causes before choosing solutions.
- Report the school’s results and plans to the community through the School Report Card.
Rules in force
- DepEd Order No. 007, s. 2024
- Replaces the old SBM levels with 42 indicators in six dimensions, rated as not yet, rarely, frequently, or always manifested, and says the School SBM Coordinator role “shall not be delegated nor reassigned.”
- DepEd Order No. 44, s. 2015
- Still governs the school improvement plan: three phases, 11 steps, the annual implementation plan, and the School Report Card.
- DepEd Order No. 024, s. 2022
- The Basic Education Development Plan 2030 keeps the three-year school improvement plan.
PPSSH strands
- 1.2School planning and implementation
- 1.6Learner voice
- 1.7Monitoring and evaluation processes and tools
- 5.4Communication
- 5.5Community engagement
Read more
How the NASH tests this role: Items in this role reward the response that starts from the school’s own data, hears learners and parents, and fixes causes rather than symptoms.
The steward of resources
RA 9155 gives the school head authority over “all personnel, physical and fiscal resources of the school.” That authority comes with accountability: money, property, and people are managed by rules, and the school head answers for each.
What the work involves
- Plan the use of the school’s Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) in the school’s plans, then spend, liquidate, and report it as the rules require.
- Buy goods and services only through the procedures of the procurement law.
- Recommend the staff the school needs, and leave appointment to the division.
- Welcome new teachers with a planned induction, plan everyone’s learning and development, and protect teaching time from administrative work.
- Keep accurate records and property inventories, and split duties so that no one person controls a transaction from start to finish.
- Prepare the school for disasters and keep learning going when classes are disrupted.
Rules in force
- DepEd Order No. 8, s. 2019
- Governs the release, use, monitoring, and reporting of school MOOE and other funds managed by schools.
- Republic Act No. 12009
- The New Government Procurement Act of 2024 replaced RA 9184 as the law on government purchases.
- DepEd Orders No. 002 and No. 005, s. 2024
- Remove administrative tasks from teachers and set their workload, so that teaching time is protected.
- DepEd Order No. 014, s. 2026
- Sets how schools keep learning going during emergencies.
PPSSH strands
- 2.1Records management
- 2.2Financial management
- 2.3School facilities and equipment
- 2.4Management of staff
- 2.5School safety for disaster preparedness, mitigation and resiliency
- 4.7General welfare of human resources
Read more
How the NASH tests this role: Items in this role reward the response that follows the rule through the right channel and the right signatory, however urgent or well-meant the shortcut.
The leader of change and community
Every reform reaches the classroom through the school head, and every learner the school misses lives in its community. This role is about leading people through change and widening the school’s reach.
What the work involves
- Plan each change: explain why the old practice must end, reduce the fears that hold teachers back, and make the new practice routine.
- Expect resistance, find its reasons, and answer the concerns behind the arguments.
- Find out-of-school children and youth and learners at risk, and connect them with the Alternative Learning System, inclusive education, and other programs.
- Work with the local government, parents, alumni, and partners, and accept donations only for the purposes the law allows.
- Communicate plainly and often with teachers, learners, and parents.
Rules in force
- DepEd Order No. 001, s. 2026
- Sets the implementing guidelines of the Enhanced Alternative Learning System, under the Alternative Learning System Act (RA 11510).
- Republic Act No. 11650
- Requires inclusion and services for learners with disabilities.
- DepEd Order No. 009, s. 2026
- Moves basic education to a three-term school calendar, one of the reforms school heads now lead in their schools.
PPSSH strands
- 1.5Program design and implementation
- 2.6Emerging opportunities and challenges
- 5.3Inclusive practice
- 5.5Community engagement
Read more
How the NASH tests this role: Items in this role reward the response that brings the people affected into the decision and reaches the learners the school would otherwise miss.
What changed since older reviewers
Many reviewers and seminar handouts still teach rules that DepEd has replaced. These are the changes that touch the six roles, as of October 2026.
Standards for school heads
The National Competency-Based Standards for School Heads (NCBSSH) of DepEd Order No. 32, s. 2010, with seven domains.
The PPSSH of DepEd Order No. 024, s. 2020: five domains, 34 strands, and four career stages.
The school head assessment
The National Qualifying Examination for School Heads (NQESH) and the Principal’s Test.
The NASH under DepEd Memorandum No. 069, s. 2025: a developmental assessment of conceptual and situational items built on the SOLO taxonomy.
Lesson plans
The daily lesson log and the detailed lesson plan of DepEd Order No. 42, s. 2016, often checked for completeness.
The ILAW framework of DepEd Order No. 016, s. 2026, with no required national template, qualitative review, and coaching.
Grading and awards
DepEd Order No. 8, s. 2015 on assessment and DepEd Order No. 36, s. 2016 on awards, with honors levels.
DepEd Order No. 015, s. 2026: new weights, a stricter transmutation for SY 2026-2027, and one Academic Excellence Award.
School-based management
DepEd Order No. 83, s. 2012: weighted scores and Levels I to III.
DepEd Order No. 007, s. 2024: 42 indicators in six dimensions, with no score and no overall level.
Teacher performance appraisal
The Results-based Performance Management System for teachers (RPMS-PPST).
The Performance Management and Evaluation System (PMES) of DepEd Memorandum No. 089, s. 2025.
Procurement
Republic Act No. 9184, the Government Procurement Reform Act.
Republic Act No. 12009, the New Government Procurement Act of 2024.
The school calendar
Four quarters.
Three terms under DepEd Order No. 009, s. 2026.
The school improvement plan
The Enhanced School Improvement Plan of DepEd Order No. 44, s. 2015.
Unchanged: DepEd Order No. 44, s. 2015 still governs the plan and the School Report Card.
How the NASH tests the roles
DepEd Memorandum No. 069, s. 2025 says the NASH covers conceptual and situational critical thinking questions aligned with the PPSSH, built on the SOLO taxonomy.
Conceptual items
Ask what a rule, a framework, or an indicator means: what RA 9155 lets a school head do, or what the ILAW framework asks of a lesson plan.
Situational items
Give a school, a problem, and four responses. More than one response may be partly right; the best one solves the core problem.
What earns full points
In SOLO terms, a relational response: it follows the rule in force, through the right person and in the right order, and connects the action to its purpose for learners.
See how items are written and scored in the free NASH practice questions with answers, and read the PPSSH indicators by domain.
Common questions
Short answers drawn from the issuances. Your division office has the final word on your case.
Republic Act No. 9155 makes the school head both an instructional leader and an administrative manager, with 12 areas of authority, accountability, and responsibility. This guide groups the work into six roles: the person, the leader, the instructional leader, the leader of school improvement, the steward of resources, and the leader of change and community.
Section 4 defines a school head as “a person responsible for the administrative and instructional supervision of the school or cluster of schools.” Section 7(E) requires a school head for every public elementary and high school, or cluster of schools, and lists the 12 areas the school head answers for.
Yes, when duly designated. DepEd Order No. 005, s. 2024 requires a designation order from the schools division superintendent and says a teacher-in-charge shall be relieved of teaching and perform fully the function of a school head.
Not for completeness. DepEd Order No. 016, s. 2026 has school heads lead qualitative reviews of lesson plans and use the findings for coaching. It also bars regions, divisions, and schools from requiring lesson plan templates or forms beyond its simplified standards.
Not for teachers. DepEd Memorandum No. 089, s. 2025 set the multi-year Performance Management and Evaluation System (PMES) for school years 2025-2026 to 2027-2028. Depending on who else the school has, the school head rates teachers or approves the ratings that master teachers, department heads, or assistant school heads give.
The NASH tests the PPSSH through conceptual and situational items built on the SOLO taxonomy, and DepEd does not list which issuances its items draw on. Knowing the rules in force helps you pick the response that follows the right rule, by the right person, in the right order.
From knowing the rules to using them
Practice the decisions a school head makes
Timed practice sets put you in a school head’s place, one situation at a time, and score your choices by PPSSH domain and strand.
What you practice with
- Timed situational items, two minutes each
- Every item tagged to a PPSSH domain, strand, and indicator
- Results by domain, with the strands to study next
- An explanation for every answer
- 34 practice sets
- ₱1,000 for 30 days
- ₱3,000 once
How to cite this page
Use APA style (7th edition). The date is the day the page was last updated. Where you use a figure or a rule, also cite the law, issuance, or report the page names for it.
Llego, M. A. (2026, October 30). The roles of a school head. NASH Reviewer. https://nash.com.ph/school-head-roles
In-text citation: (Llego, 2026).
Sources
Every rule on this page comes from these laws and DepEd issuances, and the leadership frameworks from their authors. Check the official text before you act on any rule.
- Republic Act No. 9155 (2001)The Governance of Basic Education Act: the definition of a school head (Section 4) and the school head’s 12 areas of authority, accountability, and responsibility (Section 7, E).
- DepEd Order No. 024, s. 2020The Philippine Professional Standards for School Heads: five domains, 34 strands, and four career stages.
- DepEd Memorandum No. 069, s. 2025Administration of the NASH: conceptual and situational items aligned with the PPSSH, built on the SOLO taxonomy.
- DepEd Order No. 016, s. 2026Guidelines on Lesson Planning and Learning Design: the ILAW framework, qualitative review of lesson plans, and non-rated walkthroughs.
- DepEd Order No. 015, s. 2026Revised guidelines on classroom assessment, the grading system, and awards and recognition.
- DepEd Memorandum No. 089, s. 2025The multi-year Performance Management and Evaluation System (PMES) for teachers, school years 2025-2026 to 2027-2028.
- DepEd Order No. 35, s. 2016The learning action cell as a school-based continuing professional development strategy.
- DepEd Order No. 007, s. 2024The revised School-Based Management system: six dimensions, 42 indicators, and the school head as School SBM Coordinator.
- DepEd Order No. 44, s. 2015The Enhanced School Improvement Planning process and the School Report Card.
- DepEd Order No. 8, s. 2019The release, use, monitoring, and reporting of school MOOE and other funds managed by schools.
- Republic Act No. 12009 (2024)The New Government Procurement Act, which governs how schools buy goods and services.
- DepEd Orders No. 002 and No. 005, s. 2024The removal of administrative tasks from teachers, and the rationalization of teachers’ workload.
- DepEd Order No. 009, s. 2026The three-term school calendar.
- DepEd Order No. 001, s. 2026 and Republic Act No. 11510The Enhanced Alternative Learning System and the Alternative Learning System Act.
- DepEd Order No. 014, s. 2026Guidelines on learning continuity in emergencies.
- Republic Act No. 6713 (1989)The Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees: the norms of conduct and the prohibited acts.
- Kotter (2001); Kouzes and PosnerJohn P. Kotter, “What Leaders Really Do,” Harvard Business Review; James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner, The Leadership Challenge.