Instructional Practices During Catch-Up Fridays and Academic Performance of Junior High School Students in Araling Panlipunan

Abstract

COVID-19 pandemic caused school closures which affected many students globally. Long periods of isolation resulted in the decline in education, particularly in basic skills like reading, writing, and arithmetic. Catch- Up Fridays was implemented with the aim of providing students with additional support and instruction to bridge learning gaps. This study evaluated the extent of instructional practices of teachers during Catch-up Fridays and how these were related to the academic performance of Junior high school students in Araling Panlipunan subject in the District of Sto. Nino, South Cotabato Division. This is descriptive-correlational study, 30 Araling Panlipunan teachers and 2,998 Junior high school students were selected as respondents. Total enumeration was applied to choose the teacher-student respondents. The data was analyzed using frequency, percentage, rank, mean, standard deviation, and Pearson r-moment correlation. Findings revealed that the extent of instructional practices of teachers during Catch-up Fridays was often, which means that the instructional practice was frequently used with moderate consistency. The level of academic performance in Araling Panlipunan was statistically diverse. Junior high school students performed very satisfactory on the said subject. Instructional practices and students’ academic performance were significantly related. Despite the positive effect of catch-up Fridays on students’ academic performance, teachers encountered challenges particularly on the availability of sufficient resources, such as books, technology, and other learning materials, and the lack of sufficient quality-assured reading materials/reference materials during Catch-Up Fridays. It is suggested that school administrators must address these problems for the effectiveness of the implementation of the said program