INVESTIGATING THE BEST PRACTICES IN MANAGING THE K TO 12 PROGRAM IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLS OFFERING GENERAL ACADEMIC STRAND IN A SCHOOL DIVISION

The study revealed that a greater number of senior high schools offering academic tracks in a DepEd School Division are in the public schools, mostly in the rural area, and categorized as big schools. Best practices in managing K to 12 program among public and private senior high schools offering academic track in a DepEd School Division include leadership and governance, curriculum and learning, accountability and continuous improvement, and management of resources. Mixedmethod approach was used in this research where both quantitative and qualitative methods were employed. In the quantitative analysis of data, descriptive-survey and descriptive-comparative were utilized while naturalistic inquiry using key informant interview was used in qualitative analysis of data. In the analysis of quantitative data, percentage, weighted arithmetic mean, and t-test for independent samples were used. In the analysis of qualitative data, coding was used to identify the themes based on the best practices in managing K to 12 program in terms of the schoolbased management principles. Results revealed that there was no significant difference found in the best practices in managing the K to 12 program among public and private senior high schools offering the academic track in terms of leadership and governance, curriculum and learning, accountability and continuous improvement, and management of resources regardless of their geographical location, school size, and type of school. The findings also imply that geographical location, school size and type of school are not influencing factors in the best practices in managing K to 12 program among public and private senior high schools offering the academic track as based on the school-based management principles. The continuous improvement plan was developed to further sustain the best practices in managing K to 12 program among public and private senior high schools offering the general academic strand based on the school-based management principles.