Master of Arts in Education Major in MAPEH
Vol. 2 No. 1, January - March 2026 · pages 92–98
Academic underperformance in MAPEH remains a persistent concern, with learners earning failing or near-failing grades and requiring structured remedial support to recover lost competencies. This study developed and evaluated Project Rebound, a remedial support program for low-performing learners in Music, Arts, Physical Education, and Health at the Junior High School Department of Alejandro F. Oligan National High School during School Year 2025-2026. Specifically, it determined learners' academic performance before the intervention in terms of written assessments, performance-based tasks, and quarterly grades; identified the key components of the program; established its content validity and acceptability; examined the significant difference between pretest and posttest academic performance; assessed learner engagement and motivation after participation; and described the final form of the developed program. The study employed a quantitative developmental-evaluative design using a single-group pretest-posttest approach. Sixty learners with failing or near-failing MAPEH grades were selected through purposive sampling, while five MAPEH experts validated the program. Data were gathered through written achievement tests, performance-based assessment rubrics, an expert validation checklist, and a learner engagement and motivation questionnaire. Findings showed that learners initially performed below the proficiency level, while Project Rebound was found to be highly valid and acceptable. After the six-week intervention, written assessment scores, performance-based task ratings, and quarterly grades significantly improved. Learners also reported high to very high engagement and motivation. The study concluded that Project Rebound effectively improved academic performance and may serve as a structured remedial model for MAPEH learners in similar public secondary school settings.
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Academic underperformance remains a continuing concern in basic education, particularly among learners who obtain failing or near-failing grades and are at risk of developing persistent competency gaps. In performance-oriented subjects such as Music, Arts, Physical Education, and Health (MAPEH), low achievement may reflect not only limited content knowledge but also insufficient mastery of psychomotor, creative, and applied health-related competencies. Unlike purely written subjects, MAPEH requires learners to demonstrate understanding through written assessments, practical tasks, physical performance, artistic production, and behavioral application.
Consequently, learners who struggle in MAPEH may require a more structured, multidimensional remediation that addresses cognitive, affective, and performance-based learning needs. Remedial instruction has become a necessary academic support mechanism for learners who do not meet expected competency standards. In the Philippine basic education system, classroom assessment policies emphasize using assessment results to support learner progress and to provide opportunities for learners to catch up on competencies they have not mastered. DepEd Order No. 29, s. 2015, which clarified classroom assessment guidelines under the K to 12 Basic Education Program, recognized the need to provide learning opportunities for learners who had failed so they could make progress on specific competencies (Department of Education, 2015).
More recently, Republic Act No. 12028, also known as the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) Program Act, established a national learning intervention program intended to help struggling learners attain the competencies set by the Department of Education (Republic Act No. 12028, 2024). These policy directions affirm that academic recovery is not a peripheral activity but a formal responsibility of schools. The need for remedial support became even more pronounced as schools faced learning gaps intensified by disruptions in instruction and uneven learner readiness. The ARAL Program Act was designed as a national response to learning losses and seeks to provide free and effective learning interventions for struggling learners (Republic Act No. 12028, 2024).
Although the national program prioritizes essential learning areas such as reading, mathematics, and science, the principle behind ARAL is equally relevant to MAPEH: learners who fail to meet expected competencies need timely, structured, and accessible support. MAPEH is an important component of holistic education because it develops physical literacy, artistic expression, health awareness, creativity, discipline, collaboration, and performance confidence. Thus, remedial programs in MAPEH should be designed not only to improve grades but also to rebuild learners' confidence and engagement. Research on classroom interventions supports the use of systematic assessment, feedback, and repeated practice to improve learner outcomes.
Formative assessment has been shown to promote student learning by providing timely information about learners' progress and by guiding instructional adjustments. In a meta-analysis of formative assessment practices, Karaman (2021) reported that formative assessment had a positive overall effect on student learning, with different forms of feedback contributing to measurable improvement. Similarly, Yang et al. (2021) found that testing or quizzing can enhance classroom learning and long-term retention when it is used as an instructional strategy, especially when combined with corrective feedback and repeated opportunities for retrieval.
These findings support the idea that remedial programs should not merely repeat regular lessons but should include diagnosis, targeted instruction, feedback, practice, and reassessment. Project Rebound responds to this need by offering a structured remedial support program for low-performing learners in MAPEH. The program is designed around key instructional components, including instructional design, remedial strategies, learning materials and activities, and monitoring and feedback mechanisms. This structure reflects the principle that academic recovery should be planned, competency-based, and measurable. Through diagnostic assessment, differentiated instruction, guided practice, performance-based tasks, and continuous feedback, the program seeks to address specific learning gaps among learners who obtained failing or near-failing grades.
The inclusion of both written assessments and performance-based evaluations is particularly important in MAPEH because achievement in the subject cannot be captured solely through paper-and-pencil tests. Despite the recognized importance of remediation, many intervention studies and school-based programs focus primarily on core academic subjects, leaving performance-based disciplines such as MAPEH less examined. This creates a research-practice gap. MAPEH requires a remedial model that can address multiple learning domains simultaneously: cognitive understanding in Music, Arts, Physical Education, and Health; psychomotor performance in movement and skills; creative expression in arts-based outputs; and motivation to participate in learning activities.
Moreover, remedial programs are often implemented informally, without systematic validation, structured monitoring, or empirical evaluation. Such limitations make it difficult to determine whether a program is instructionally sound, acceptable to experts, feasible for school use, and effective in improving learner outcomes. The present study was therefore conducted to develop and evaluate Project Rebound as a remedial support program for low-performing learners in MAPEH. Specifically, the study determined learners' academic performance before the intervention in terms of written assessments, performance-based tasks, and quarterly grades; identified the key components of the program; established its content validity and acceptability through expert evaluation; examined whether significant differences existed between pretest and posttest academic performance; assessed learner engagement and motivation after participation; and described the final form of the developed program.
Using a quantitative developmental-evaluative design with a single-group pretest-posttest design, the study aimed to generate empirical evidence on the effectiveness of Project Rebound. The findings are expected to support MAPEH teachers, school administrators, curriculum planners, and future researchers in designing structured, validated, and learner-responsive remediation programs that promote academic recovery, skill development, and sustained learner engagement. 2. Method
The study employed a quantitative developmental-evaluative research design to develop, validate, and determine the effectiveness of Project Rebound as a remedial support program for low-performing learners in MAPEH. The developmental phase focused on the systematic construction of the program, including its instructional design, remedial strategies, learning materials and activities, and monitoring and feedback mechanisms. This phase also involved expert validation to establish the program's content validity, acceptability, and feasibility prior to implementation. The evaluative phase used a single-group pretest-posttest design to assess changes in learners' academic performance before and after participation in the six-week remedial intervention.
Academic performance was assessed through written assessments, performance-based tasks, and quarterly grades, while learner engagement and motivation were measured after the intervention using a structured survey questionnaire. This design was appropriate because the study aimed to determine whether exposure to a structured remedial program produced measurable improvements among learners with failing or near-failing grades. Although no control group was used, the design allowed the researcher to compare baseline and post-intervention performance and to generate empirical evidence regarding the effectiveness of Project Rebound as a school-based academic recovery program in MAPEH. 2.2 Participants The study was 60 low-performing Junior High School learners enrolled at Alejandro F.
Oligan National High School, Asan Sur, Sison, Pangasinan, during School Year 2025-2026. The learners were selected through purposive sampling based on official academic records showing that they obtained failing grades below 75% or near-failing grades between 75% and 77% in MAPEH during the third quarter. This selection criterion ensured that the respondents were academically at risk and well-suited to the objectives of Project Rebound, a remedial support program. Learners were included if they were officially enrolled during the study, met the academic eligibility criteria, expressed willingness to participate, and secured parental or guardian consent, along with learner assent.
Those who obtained grades above 77%, were not officially enrolled during the intervention period, had medical or documented conditions that prevented participation in performance-based tasks without clearance, or declined to participate were excluded from the study. In addition, five qualified MAPEH educators served as expert validators of the program, evaluating its objectives, content relevance, instructional strategies, assessment procedures, and implementation feasibility. Through this participant structure, the study obtained both learner- based intervention data and expert-based validation evidence necessary for evaluating the effectiveness and acceptability of Project Rebound. 2.3 Instrumentation The study used structured, validated quantitative instruments to collect data on the development, acceptability, and effectiveness of Project Rebound.
A written achievement test was used to measure learners' cognitive mastery of MAPEH competencies before and after the intervention, with parallel pretest and posttest forms prepared to ensure comparability of results. Performance-based assessment rubrics were employed to evaluate learners' psychomotor and creative competencies in Music, Arts, Physical Education, and Health through practical demonstrations, skill execution, and performance tasks. To determine the affective outcomes of the program, a learner engagement and motivation survey questionnaire was administered after the six-week intervention, using a Likert-scale format to measure participation, interest, effort, confidence improvement, and overall motivation.
During the developmental phase, five qualified MAPEH educators used an expert validation checklist to assess the program's objectives, content relevance, instructional strategies, assessment procedures, and implementation feasibility. The instruments were aligned with the study objectives and MAPEH competencies, and they underwent content validation to ensure clarity, relevance, appropriateness, and consistency. Through these instruments, the study generated measurable data necessary to determine the validity of Project Rebound and its effectiveness in improving the academic performance, engagement, and motivation of low-performing learners in MAPEH. 2.4 Data Analysis The quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistical procedures aligned with the study's developmental and evaluative objectives.
Descriptive statistics, including mean, standard deviation, weighted mean, and descriptive interpretation, were used to summarize learners' pretest and posttest academic performance in written assessments, performance-based tasks, and quarterly grades, as well as the expert validators' ratings on the content validity and acceptability of Project Rebound. Weighted means were also used to determine the level of learner engagement and motivation after participation in the program, including participation, interest, effort, confidence improvement, and overall motivation. To determine t h e intervention ' s e ffectiveness, a paired-samples t-test was used to examine whether there was a statistically significant difference in learners' academic performance before and after the six-week implementation of Project Rebound.
The null hypothesis was tested at the 0.05 significance level. In addition, the effect size was considered to determine the practical magnitude of the intervention's impact beyond statistical significance. Through this analytical procedure, the study established whether Project Rebound produced measurable academic improvement and whether the developed remedial support program was valid, acceptable, and pedagogically useful for low-performing learners in MAPEH.
The results showed that prior to the implementation of Project Rebound, the low-performing learners demonstrated below-proficiency levels in MAPEH. The pretest mean for the written assessment was 72.45, and the mean for performance-based tasks was 73.10, both indicating proficiency below. The quarterly grade mean of 74.20 further indicated that the learners were academically at risk and near the failing level. These findings confirmed the presence of measurable competency gaps in both cognitive and performance-based areas of MAPEH. The baseline results, therefore, justified the need for a structured remedial support program that could address learners' deficiencies through targeted instruction, guided practice, and continuous feedback.
In terms of program development, Project Rebound was designed around key components that addressed the identified learning needs of low-performing learners. These components included instructional design, remedial strategies, learning materials and activities, and monitoring and feedback mechanisms. The instructional design ensured that the remedial objectives were aligned with MAPEH competencies, while the remedial strategies emphasized scaffolded instruction, differentiated activities, and guided practice. Learning materials and activities were developed to support both written and performance-based learning tasks, and monitoring mechanisms were incorporated to track learner progress.
This structured organization strengthened the program's instructional coherence and provided a clear framework for implementation. The content validity and acceptability results indicated that Project Rebound was highly valid as evaluated by five expert validators. Content relevance received the highest mean rating of 4.70, followed by objectives (4.65), assessment procedures (4.60), instructional strategies (4.58), and implementation feasibility (4.55). These ratings showed that the program was considered appropriate, relevant, feasible, and aligned with the intended competencies and learning needs of the respondents.
The high validation results further established that Project Rebound had sufficient pedagogical soundness before its field implementation. After the six-week implementation of Project Rebound, the learners demonstrated significant improvement in academic performance. Written assessment scores increased from 72.45 to 82.30, yielding a mean gain of 9.85. Performance-based task scores improved from 73.10 to 84.15, with the highest mean gain of 11.05. Quarterly grades also increased from 74.20 to 83.40, producing a mean gain of 9.20. The p-values for all three measures were below the 0.05 level of significance, indicating a statistically significant improvement after the intervention.
These findings led to the rejection of the null hypothesis and confirmed that Project Rebound effectively enhanced learners' academic performance in MAPEH. The study also found that learners reported high to very high levels of engagement and motivation after participating in Project Rebound. Confidence improvement obtained the highest mean of 4.50, interpreted as very high, followed by overall motivation with a mean of 4.45, also interpreted as very high. Interest, participation, and effort were likewise rated high, indicating that the intervention positively influenced learners' involvement in remedial activities.
These findings suggest that Project Rebound not only improved academic performance but also strengthened learners' confidence, willingness to participate, and motivation to continue improving in MAPEH. Overall, the results support the usefulness of Project Rebound as a structured academic recovery program for low-performing learners.
The finding that low-performing learners demonstrated below-proficiency levels before the implementation of Project Rebound confirms the need for structured remedial support in MAPEH. The baseline results showed that learners had difficulty not only in written assessments but also in performance-based tasks, indicating that their academic gaps covered both cognitive and applied skill domains. This pattern is expected in MAPEH because the subject requires learners to understand concepts, perform skills, produce outputs, and apply health-related knowledge. The result is consistent with the principle of classroom assessment under DepEd Order No. 8, s. 2015, which states that assessment allows teachers to track and measure learners' progress and adjust instruction accordingly (Department of Education, 2015a).
It is also aligned with DepEd Order No. 29, s. 2015, which emphasizes that learners who incurred failures should be provided with learning opportunities to catch up or make progress on specific competencies (Department of Education, 2015b). Thus, the pre-intervention findings justify implementing Project Rebound as a targeted response to documented learning deficiencies. The high content validity and acceptability ratings from expert validators suggest that Project Rebound was instructionally sound, relevant, and feasible prior to implementation. The program components-comprising instructional design, remedial strategies, learning materials and activities, and monitoring and feedback mechanisms-were aligned with the needs of low-performing learners and with the competency-based nature of MAPEH.
This supports the view that remedial instruction must be systematically planned rather than implemented as an informal repetition of previous lessons. A validated remedial program increases the likelihood that intervention activities are coherent, measurable, and responsive to learner needs. The expert validation results therefore strengthened the intervention's credibility by confirming that the program was acceptable in terms of objectives, content relevance, instructional strategies, assessment procedures, and implementation feasibility. The significant improvement in learners' written assessment scores, performance-based task ratings, and quarterly grades after the six-week implementation of Project Rebound indicates that the intervention was effective in improving academic performance.
The increase from below-proficiency and near-failing baseline scores to higher post-intervention performance supports the value of structured remediation, guided practice, and continuous feedback. This finding is corroborated by Karaman's (2021) meta-analysis, which found that formative assessment practices positively affect student learning. It is also supported by Yang et al. (2021), who conducted a systematic and meta-analytic review and found that classroom testing or quizzing can enhance learning and retention, especially when paired with corrective feedback and repeated learning opportunities. In the present study, the use of pretest-posttest assessment, performance rubrics, remedial drills, and feedback mechanisms likely contributed to the observed learning gains.
The high to very high level of learner engagement and motivation after participation in Project Rebound further suggests that academic remediation can influence not only achievement but also affective readiness for learning. Confidence improvement obtained the highest rating, indicating that learners felt more capable of performing MAPEH tasks and improving their grades after experiencing structured academic support. This finding is important because learners with failing or near-failing grades may experience discouragement, avoidance, or low participation. When remedial programs are designed to provide achievable tasks, feedback, and visible progress, they can help rebuild learners' confidence and willingness to participate.
In this sense, Project Rebound functioned not only as an academic recovery program but also as a motivational support mechanism that encouraged learners to re-engage with MAPEH learning activities. Finally, the challenges encountered during implementation, including time limitations, occasional absenteeism, and limited supplementary materials, show that remedial programs require institutional support to become sustainable. These challenges do not weaken Project Rebound's effectiveness; rather, they point to areas for program refinement. The enactment of Republic Act No. 12028, or the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning Program Act, affirms the State's policy to establish free and effective learning intervention programs so struggling learners can attain competencies set by the Department of Education (Republic Act No. 12028, 2024).
Although the law prioritizes reading, mathematics, and science, its academic recovery framework supports the broader principle that schools should provide systematic learning interventions for learners at risk. Therefore, Project Rebound may be strengthened by using modular materials, extending remedial schedules, implementing structured attendance monitoring, and providing administrative support to ensure continuity and scalability in MAPEH.
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