The Effect of Peer Corrective Recast in CALL as a Language Teaching Methodology on Teaching Grammar to Intermediate Iranian English Foreign Language Students

The use of internet as a teaching tool is predominant all around the world and teachers try to devise it in order to accelerate and facilitate language learning for their students. However in Iran, few studies have concentrated on this type of methodology and it is rarely practiced among English language instructors. Thus this study aimed at investigating the effect of CALL methods on teaching English grammar in general and passive voice in particular to Intermediate EFL students. For this purpose the researcher took advantage of weblogs as a CALL program. The students who were being taught by the researcher were given a pretest at the beginning of the course and then a subject to write about each week on their weblog. They were advised to use more passive voice than active in their essays. Consequently their performance was evaluated in 2 ways: one group by their peers through recast and the other group by the teacher, via traditional methods to see which method was more effective in teaching grammar, peer corrective recast or instructor’s corrective hints. The text book used by the instructor during this experimental course was Top Notch. The number of errors could determine the results of pretest and posttest. Then frequency, mean and Standard Deviation were used for providing the results and statistics. Finally, a T-test was devised in order to verify the difference between means of both groups. This study found that corrective recast had statistically no clear impact on grammar acquisition of the Iranian EFL learners.

Introduction
Nowadays, the use of internet as a teaching tool is predominant all around the world and teachers try to use this tool to accelerate and facilitate language learning for their students.
On the other hand, as stated by Richards and Schmidt [2002], feedback in teaching is defined as any comment or information which is given to the learners regarding their success on learning tasks or tests, which is provided by the teacher or any other person. Feedback is divided to many categories including auditory feedback, error correction, recast, kinesthetic feedback, proprioceptive feedback, etc.
Although teacher feedback which is usually written with red pen at the bottom of the students' written assignments can be very beneficial for the students in many ways, it can also be quite discouraging to them as it is usually accompanied by stress and anxiety for the students, which is considered to be harmful for them if it continues to happen and can diminish their motives for learning.
With the development of technology nowadays, it is not merely the responsibility of teachers to give feedback on students' performance and feedback can also be provided by the peers, Computer-Assisted Language Learning programs (CALL), or even the students themselves to their own activities. Among all other types of feedback, peer feedback seems to be an effective way of receiving feedback in the improvement of the quality and accuracy of written assignments of the students. They read and respond to drafts of written assignments provided by their peers and then they have the opportunity to revise their work before submitting it to their instructor. According to Rollinson [2005], peer Teaching Grammar to Intermediate Iranian English Foreign Language Students response in the writing classroom is considered as a time consuming activity, but it is obviously not a waste of time. Bartholomae [1980] also reported that teaching students to edit their texts is easier than teaching them to write correctly at transcription point. In other words teaching students to become critical readers, we are helping them to become more self-reliant writers who can simultaneously be self-critical and also be able to self-edit their own writing assignments. However, it seems that most language learners prefer to receive some kind of feedback on their writings in order to know more about their weak and strong points. There have been many studies conducted by various researchers regarding this issue and it seems that peer feedback has been one of the most interesting types of feedback which can be given to the language learners' assignments, in language classes. It appears that students feel more convenient with peer feedback since in this type of feedback they receive it from their peers and friends. As a result it can help them feel less anxious or nervous. Peer feedback is supported by various concepts in education like Vygotskian? socio-cultural theory, the process approach to the teaching of writing, and the theory of well-established role of student-student interaction in second language acquisition proposed by Liu and Hansen [2002]. In cooperative learning which is proposed by Johnson and Johnson [1998], there are five basic principles in which peer feedback fits very well. These principles are: positive interdependence, face to face promoted interaction, individual accountability, interpersonal and small group skills, and processing. According to Murphy and Jacobs [2000], while giving peer feedback, students learn collaborative skills as they work with each other. Nevertheless, peer feedback is still a controversial issue in English language studies. Its effectiveness is not completely established in language classes. For example, Carson and Nelson [1996] found out that this type of feedback caused many problems for ESL students of East Asia who had little or no experience of collaborative learning. In addition Zhang [1995] also reported that the students preferred to receive teacher feedback rather than peer-feedback on their assignments. Therefore it can be concluded that recently peer feedback is being used in language classes and is becoming common in language learning and teaching pedagogy but it needs more investigation.
Another way to provide students with effective feedback nowadays seems to be the kind of feedback language learners can receive from different types of CALL programs. Powell [1998] has suggested that CALL courseware can provide learners with language learning around question and answer procedures within controlled environments. According to him, grammar reinforcement can be more frequently utilized in higher education than for beginners. Although CALL has been used on large computers for more than twenty years, since the introduction of micro-computers its use has become wide spread among EFL teachers [Fox, 1984]. In line with the use of computers in language learning, one important facility in achieving this aim is the use of internet. For example Li and Cao [2006] claimed that one advantage of using computer-mediated communication in foreign language learning via internet is that new technologies provide us with some methods of facilitating language learning and also challenging the traditional methods of learning and teaching. In the modern era teachers who want to adapt themselves to the rapid growth of technology must be ready to innovate some new teaching methods and context in order to contribute to foreign language teaching and learning.

Purpose of the Study
Considering the previously conducted researches in the field of computer-assisted language learning and teaching and the different types of feedback which can be given to language learners' assignments, the present study attempted to combine the peer recast with computer-assisted language learning programs and investigate the effectiveness of receiving peer corrective recast in CALL on the development and improvement of grammar knowledge among the students. However in order to be more specific in terms of grammar, the researcher has limited the scope of the study to teaching Passive voice to intermediate language learners.

Review of Literature
CALL is an abbreviation which stands for Computer Assisted Language Learning. It is a term used by teachers and students to explain the use of computers as part of a language course [Hardisty& Windeatt, 2000]. CALL is by tradition defined as a means of "presenting, reinforcing and testing" special language features.

Error Correction
According to Richards [1985], the word "error" is used for a form of structure which a native speaker believes is unacceptable due to its inappropriate use or the use of a linguistic item in a manner in which a native speaker of that language regards as showing faulty or an incomplete learning. During the past four decades, a number of both primary and secondary researches have been done on the subject of error correction in L2 writing [Lalande, 1982;Kepner, 1991;Truscot, 1996;Ferris, 2002Ferris, , 2003. It is obvious that providing feedback is a useful method for treating errors. Feedback has got many different types which will be discussed here.

Direct vs. Indirect Feedback
Many studies have differentiated between direct and indirect feedback and made efforts to find out which one of these two strategies can cause greater accuracy [Ferris, 1995;Ferris & Hedgcock, 1998;Robb, Ross, and Shortreed, 1986]. Gue´nette [2007] mentioned that explicit or direct feedback is referred to the kind of feedback in which the teacher indicates the error and provides the correct form of it. Ferris [2002] asserted that direct feedback can be dangerous because the teacher may misinterpret his/her students meaning and put his/her own words in their mouths. However this kind of feedback can be beneficial for beginner students and also in the case of the errors which are untreatable (i.e., errors which learners cannot correct by themselves, like vocabulary or syntax errors).
Alternatively Chandler [2003] indicated that direct correction is very useful for producing accurate revisions and students usually prefer this kind of feedback because it can be used more easily in their revisions than several drafts. However Chandler has also mentioned that the students feel that they can learn more from self-correction and teachers may spend less time on underlining errors on the first draft. On the other hand indirect strategies of providing feedback refer to situations in which the teacher points out that there is an error but do not offer a correction, thus leaving the learners to identify and correct it themselves. Implicit strategies in detail include recast, repetition, clarification request, and comprehension check. Recast refers to the teacher's reformulation of all or a part of the learner's utterance [Lightbown and Spada, 1999] In repetition the teacher repeats the student's exact utterance with rising intonation on the erroneous part, in order to inform the learner about the existence of an error. In a study Ferris and Roberts [2001] reported that 60% of the errors made by the subjects were revised through underlining. They also reported that 64% of the errors were revised by underlining plus coding. In contrast to the studies which show that both teachers and students prefer direct or explicit feedback rather than indirect feedback [ Ferris [2002] mentioned that direct error correction led to more correct revisions with the percentage of 88%, than indirect error feedback which was77%. However, over the course of the semester, students who received indirect feedback reduced their error frequency percentages substantially more than those who received direct feedback.
In contrast with this growing but far from convincing body of research on the written feedback strategies of teachers, nearly no researcher has investigated the impact of other feedback strategies, such as teacher-student conferences, peer editing sessions, and the maintenance of error logs [Ferris, 2002]. Some teachers of writing believe that one-onone teacher-student conferences is potentially more successful than written corrective feedback because they afford an opportunity for explanation, instruction, and compromise [Ferris, 2002;Ferris & Hedgcock, 1998], however, lack of published empirical research on this option means that this popularly held idea cannot be taken as a proof of helpfulness.

Empirical Studies on Error Feedback
Normally, claims about the impact of error correction have been made on two fronts; first, those who are proponents of error correction, and second, those who are against error correction. Williams [2003] suggested that most of the regularly used and reliable methods of teacher feedback on written assignments are unsuccessful when it comes to growing and encouraging students' English writing skills. Williams [2003] also mentioned that methods such as outright correction of surface errors, inconsistently marking errors, uncertain and unclear responses on content have all been discovered to have little positive and sometimes negative impact on student writing abilities. In his idea, teachers should increase more systemized and reliable types of feedback that take advantage of the process approach and make it obvious to students what the feedback means and what they ought to do with it.
Furthermore, teachers need to publicize and teach students in how to efficiently use the feedback in order to improve their proficiency and ability as English writers [Williams, 2003]. In this line, Truscot [1996] also made an insensitive attack on error correction in writing classes; to the extent that error correction was thought to be harmful and therefore must be eliminated. Truscott asserted that the error correction research in L2 writing was certain in showing that correction was unproductive in assisting improvement in student writing, and at last he mentioned that although students clearly want correction, that doesn't mean that teachers should do what they want them to do. likewise, many years before the publication of Truscott's article, a research done by Kepner [1991, quoted in Ferris, 2004] demonstrated that learners who were given error feedback on their journal entries made considerably fewer errors than those who were only given "message related" comments. In another study, Lalande [1982] results showed that both treatment groups including those who received direct feedback and those who received indirect feedback improved in accuracy in time but that the achievements of the "indirect" group were better.
In the same way, there are many other researches that did not discover that error feedback by the teacher to be considerably more efficient for developing accuracy in L2 Teaching Grammar to Intermediate Iranian English Foreign Language Students student writing than content-related comments or no feedback. [Smeke, 1984;Kepner, 1991;Polio, et al. 1998]. Nevertheless, Smeke's discovery of impacts of error correction on accuracy and negative impacts on fluency may not have been due totally to the diverse treatment methods but also to the differences in the amount of writing practices. Anyway, recently, many studies have reported positive results for the existence of error correction, use, and usability [Lalande, 1982;Ferris, 1995;Ferris and Helt, 2000]. In fact, most learners look ahead to and value the feedback they receive in writing, and results extracted from a research has shown that it seems there is a relationship between active correction of errors and progress in writing skills. Ferris [1995] has put emphasis on the value that students give to writing accurately and their identified need to get corrections from the instructor. In addition, according to Lee [1997] there is research proof to show that L2 learners want error feedback and think that it is beneficial for them [Leki, 1998].
Nevertheless, a vital feature declared by Truscott [1996] who, actually, opposes grammar correction is the inevitability of not treating every linguistic group [lexicon, syntax, and morphology] as corresponding since these categories symbolize separate learning areas that are learnt during different stages and through different procedures. However, the majority researchers [Lalande, 1982;Smeke, 1984;Ferris and Roberts, 2001] have the same opinion about the fact that corrections are beneficial for the learners as long as they are reliable and organized. Anyway, it is apparent that marking can be a boring classroom task. Hyland [2003] argues that instructor's correction rarely brings development in next writing since teacher correction is repeatedly regarded by both teachers and students -as a stop sign to the writing procedure. By means of reducing the harmful outcomes of marking errors without reducing the advantages of the teacher's careful attempts, Hyland [2003] proposed 'minimal marking' and taped commentary to make feedback more fruitful and interactive. 'Minimal marking' can be done by correction codes. It can leave a room for active correction by the learner rather than reading the discouraging corrections of the instructor which are written in red. Via decoding the correction signs, students have the chance of identifying the errors and correct them for re-examination by the teacher later on. In his research regarding the impacts of graded versus upgraded compositions, Chastain [1990] found that even though there was no major distinction between the quantity and kinds of errors, "in some ways the expectation of a grade may influence student's writing in some positive ways. Students in this study wrote longer papers containing longer sentences and a higher number of complex sentences." (p. 14). Corrections put a weight on what is corrected; therefore exclusive surface-level error correction puts emphasis on form. It is probable that students are motivated and encouraged by the error -correction and that the effects will become apparent over time [Ferris, 2004].
According to the results of studies learners show development from first draft to last version of the same essay and little perfection between first drafts of first and last papers; so it is likely that feedback in this condition has not had a long-lasting impact on writing ability. However, students revealed an increased aptitude to effectively recognize errors. The most important activity in writing is for learners to learn to write. through writing, the students is engaged in a multifaceted procedure which requires the knowledge of content which is to be written about, the technical information that allows the management of content (e.g. knowledge of syntactic form) and the practical information that permits the production of a piece of writing of a specific type [Hillocks, 1998] Comprehending the significance of supplying feedback does not essentially enable teachers to provide suitable feedback. Instructors should find the accurate way of giving feedback to learners. Johnson [1988] suggested two different conditions in which a learner may get things incorrectly.
Firstly, it is that the learner basically does not have the proper familiarity, and thus the knowledge or ability that the learner has is faulty or imperfect.
Secondly, it is the fact that a learner lacks processing capability. The problem here is not about whether the learner's information is imperfect or not; the problem is that the learner has obscurity performing the knowledge s/he has acquired in operating situations. Williams [2003] suggested that "many kinds of improvements that can be made for feedback on form can also be made for feedback on content" (p. 55). The collapse of written comments regarding content is due to a combination of using incoherent, indistinct comments together with not training learners in how to correctly use the feedback in order to have development in their writing ability. According to Williams, instructors should continuously use an average set of understandable and direct comments and questions to point out the place and type of content feedback. The comments of this kind and the questions should focus the learners' attention on the contents of their writing and the procedure they chased instead of simply showing the areas that the instructor thought to be appealing or the parts which were missing. As Leki [1990] has mentioned, these types of questions along with comments may be beneficial to construct a dialog between the learner and the instructor in order to provide both with a more apparent understanding of how the task was and should be considered and performed. Moreover, the instructors should familiarize their students with the kinds of comments, as well as grammar, that will be utilized and train students in how to use these comments. If the teachers do not train their students in how to utilize these comments in order to make their writing ability improve, students may probably neglect the comments, misunderstand them or not be able to use them correctly [Kroll, 2001]. According to Williams [2003], instructors should have a good idea about a useful method of feedback that deals with the limitations of common methods of feedback, the positive facets of them and the needs of learners. One of the most important aspects of any writing course is its goals which need to be taken into account when specifying how to provide learners with effective feedback. If the feedbacks which are provided with the teacher do not match the assignments or goals of the course, they may cause trouble for the students in knowing how to respond to them correctly. Among all these, there are concerns, of course and assignments objectives, the writing procedure and the type of the provided feedback.
Obviously, more investigation is required. Even though Hillocks [1998] in his comprehensive abstract of first language research found that generally, feedback has little impact, he motivates researchers to carry on looking at feedback because there are still a lot of variables which have not been investigated. Ferris's [2004] also believed that further research is needed in this field.

Methodology
The components of this research are as follows:

Participants
In order to perform this study, the researcher needed some participants to cooperate with him. The population of this research was composed of 2 Iranian Intermediate EFL classes with 20 students in each class at Iranmehr institute. The book being taught to these students was Top Notch. The participants included 26 female and 14 male students of around eighteen to thirty two years old.

Instruments
A pretest and post-test were utilized in order to quantify the progress among the students. This pretest and posttest were comprised of 20 grammar tests retrieved from IBT TOEFL tests in 2 groups of 1 identification of active and passive voices and 2) double choice items. The questionnaire is provided in Appendix 1.

Procedure
As mentioned earlier, the participants were divided into two groups, one group being exposed to teacher correction (Control group) and the other group to peer correction via CALL (experiment group). The members of control group were asked to write a text on the subject given by the instructor at the end of each session in which they were supposed to use as much passive voice as possible and next session, after they had submitted their written assignments to the instructor, it was instructor's turn to provide students with his comments on their performance. The CALL group members, on the other hand, were divided to ten groups of 2 and were asked to build a weblog for themselves and provide their team mates with the address of each other's weblogs. Each student was supposed to read his/her team mate's weblog every other day and put comments on his/her written assignment given by the instructor at the end of each session (just like the control group). The study was conducted within 2 weeks. As mentioned earlier, before starting the period, a pretest was given to both groups and after the two-week period, the same test was provided to them again as post-test to see which group (control or experiment) would perform better in post-test. For grading the tests, the number of correct items was counted and compared in pretest and posttest.

Data Analysis
In order to analyze the data gathered via pretest and post-test, the scores of students in both tests were extracted and the percentage, mean and standard deviation of total progress in each group was calculated. Then a T-test was devised in order to verify the difference between means of both groups since the two groups of candidates were independent from each other. The independent ttest compares the means between two unrelated groups on the same continuous, dependent variable. The SPSS ttest procedure allows the testing of equality of variances (Levene's test) and the tvalue for both equal-and unequal-variance. It also provides the relevant descriptive statistics. To implement independent ttest the study should meet the following set of assumptions: 1. Independent variable consists of two independent groups. 2. Dependent variable is either interval or ratio. 3. Dependent variable is approximately normally distributed 4. Similar variances between the two groups (homogeneity of variances) In this study particularly the first two assumptions are met, since both independent and dependent variables are interval.
Statistics are provided in tables 4-1, 4-2, 4-3, and 4-4.  As it is shown in tables 4.3 and 4.4, the analysis indicated that there was no significant difference between the two groups since the significant level was well above 0.05. Since the findings indicated no impact from the part of the independent variable, or corrective recast, on the dependent variable, grammar acquisition, and the t value obtained in post-test was somehow meaningless in terms of statistical significance, it was impossible conceive any kind of impact from the part of the treatment program.
This study found that corrective recast had statistically no clear impact on grammar acquisition of the Iranian EFL learners.

Discussion
As the results of this study showed, Corrective Recast had no impact on learner's grammar acquisition. Based on the outcomes of the post-test, integration of peer corrective recast in CALL does not have a significant impact on the Iranian EFL learners' grammar acquisition. This study concluded that students felt more convenient to accept a supervisor's comments on their essays about their grammatical errors than their peers' comments. This study showed that the participants of the control group who received the professor's comments were more active and motivated to write their essays every week on time than the participants of the experimental group who had to give and receive peer corrective recast on each other's essays in their weblogs. It seems that the students do not trust their peers' grammatical knowledge so that they could not accept their peers as a suitable judge about their grammatical errors or in general writing ability. According to the findings of this research it seems that the Iranian EFL learners seem to prefer to follow the conventional or traditional methods of learning than new methods which they are not used to.
Integration of peer corrective recast in CALL for teaching grammar will let the students get some corrective feedback to correct their grammatical errors in writing, which gives them little anxiety compared to the teacher's feedback, and they will be given a chance of unlimited editing. Although the results of this study indicated that peer corrective recast does not have a significant effect on the grammar knowledge progression of the students, but it still seems that using CALL programs in writing classes has its benefits like reducing the anxiety of the students, making them feel more comfortable so that they can concentrate even more on their achievement. This will also help students to promote the sense of independence in language learning and group work among their peers and overcome their fears in writing since they are not forced to do their assignments in the classroom in a conventional manner which would bring them some anxieties and inconvenience. Finally as the last implication, integration of technology in education requires significant investments in hardware, software, man power, support, training, etc. and all this demands huge budgets, hence recognizing the effect of this integration might even be of some help to justify these kinds of investments.

Conclusion
English foreign language student`s performance was evaluated in 2 ways: one group by their peers through recast and the other group by the teacher, via traditional methods to see which method was more effective in teaching grammar, peer corrective recast or instructor's corrective hints. The text book used by the instructor during this experimental course was Top Notch. The number of errors could determine the results of pretest and posttest. Then frequency, mean and Standard Deviation were used for providing the results and statistics. Finally, a T-test was devised in order to verify the difference between means of both groups. This study found that corrective recast had statistically no clear impact on grammar acquisition of the Iranian EFL learners. Students felt more convenient to accept a supervisor's comments on their essays about their grammatical errors than their peers' comments. Participants of the control group who received the professor's comments were more active and motivated to write their essays every week on time than the participants of the experimental group who had to give and receive peer corrective recast on each other's essays in their weblogs.
17. Or plan ……… by the members of the committee A. is being considered B. is considered 18. He ……….. responsible for the accident. A. was holding B. was held 19. A prize ……….. to whoever solves this equation. A. will be giving B. will be given 20. When the manager arrived, the problem ………. A. had already been solved B. had already solved


Marathon Kids UK: study design and protocol for a mixed methods evaluation of a school-based running programme

Introduction Schools are promising settings for physical activity promotion; however, they are complex and adaptive systems that can influence the quality of programme implementation. This paper presents an evaluation of a school-based running programme (Marathon Kids). The aims of this study are (1) to identify the processes by which schools implement the programme, (2) identify and explain the contextual factors affecting implementation and explications of effectiveness and (3) examine the relationship between the level of implementation and perceived outcomes. Methods Using a realist evaluation framework, a mixed method single-group before-and-after design, strengthened by multiple interim measurements, will be used. Year 5 (9–10 years old) pupils and their teachers will be recruited from six state-funded primary schools in Leicestershire, UK. Data will be collected once prior to implementation, at five discrete time points during implementation and twice following implementation. A weekly implementation log will also be used. At time point 1 (TP1) (September 2016), data on school environment, teacher and pupil characteristics will be collected. At TP1 and TP6 (July 2017), accelerometry, pupil self-reported physical activity and psychosocial data (eg, social support and intention to be active) will be collected. At TP2, TP3 and TP5 (January, March and June 2017), observations will be conducted. At TP2 and TP5, there will be teacher interviews and pupil focus groups. Follow-up teacher interviews will be conducted at TP7 and TP8 (October 2017 and March 2018) and pupil focus group at TP8. In addition, synthesised member checking will be conducted (June 2018) with a mixed sample of schools. Ethics and dissemination Ethical approval for this study was obtained through Loughborough University Human Participants Ethics Subcommittee (R16-P032 & R16-P116). Findings will be disseminated via print, online media and dissemination events as well as practitioner and/or research journals.

Introduction Schools are promising settings for physical activity promotion; however, they are complex and adaptive systems that can influence the quality of programme implementation. This paper presents an evaluation of a school-based running programme (Marathon Kids). The aims of this study are (1) to identify the processes by which schools implement the programme, (2) identify and explain the contextual factors affecting implementation and explications of effectiveness and (3) examine the relationship between the level of implementation and perceived outcomes. Methods Using a realist evaluation framework, a mixed method single-group before-and-after design, strengthened by multiple interim measurements, will be used. Year 5 (9-10 years old) pupils and their teachers will be recruited from six state-funded primary schools in Leicestershire, UK. Data will be collected once prior to implementation, at five discrete time points during implementation and twice following implementation. A weekly implementation log will also be used. At time point 1 (TP1) (September 2016), data on school environment, teacher and pupil characteristics will be collected. At TP1 and TP6 (July 2017), accelerometry, pupil self-reported physical activity and psychosocial data (eg, social support and intention to be active) will be collected. At TP2, TP3 and TP5 (January, March and June 2017), observations will be conducted. At TP2 and TP5, there will be teacher interviews and pupil focus groups. Follow-up teacher interviews will be conducted at TP7 and TP8 (October 2017 and March 2018) and pupil focus group at TP8. In addition, synthesised member checking will be conducted (June 2018) with a mixed sample of schools. Ethics and dissemination Ethical approval for this study was obtained through Loughborough University Human Participants Ethics Subcommittee (R16-P032 & R16-P116). Findings will be disseminated via print, online media and dissemination events as well as practitioner and/or research journals.

IntroduCtIon
School-based physical activity programmes have rapidly grown in within the public health policy agenda over recent years. 1 This has predominantly been driven by efforts to address increases in childhood obesity. 2 Indeed, the recent Childhood Obesity Strategy 3 outlined ambitions for schools to provide at least 30 min of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) a day through active break times, physical education (PE), extracurricular clubs, active lessons and/or other sport and physical activity events. Interestingly, the strategy specifically identified running programmes as a potential approach schools could use to provide additional physical activity time. Intuitively, these programmes offer an attractive prospect for schools due to their simplicity and apparent replicability. They typically consist of pupils regularly walking/running, while in school uniform, along a marked route on the school grounds (field and/or playground) for approximately 15 min.
The combination of additional funding for PE, school sport and physical activity, 4 5 government support of running programmes and the 'grass roots' style movement, led by initiatives such as The Daily Mile 6 has created a 'perfect storm' for schools to address inactivity. 7 Although these programmes offer opportunities for children to increase their physical activity levels in school, schools are complex social structures with unique strengths and limitations of this study ► This study will result in a rich dataset, reflecting multiple levels, which will expand knowledge on translation of school-based physical activity programmes into practice. ► Data will be collected over a two year period, making it possible to evaluate sustainability of implementation. ► Adopting a realist framework to evaluate implementation, on different levels and using mixed methods, will develop a better understanding of the complexity of implementing physical activity programmes in schools. ► The evaluation will only focus on one year group within the schools, which may limit the applicability of the findings across the primary school setting.
Open Access qualities that can influence the quantity and quality of implementation and do not always allow for programmes to be transferred from one school to another with predictable results. 8 In order to maximise the potential of running programmes, there is a need to understand how they can best be delivered, and the factors that influence their implementation, in order to ensure they are being used effectively and that all children, including the least active, are engaged. Achieving optimal implementation is challenging, and researchers have suggested that suboptimal implementation may dilute an intervention's effects and potentially account for small effect sizes in many schoolbased interventions. 9-12 A programme's lack of success could be attributed to any number of reasons, including poor design, poor or incomplete implementation and/ or failure to reach sufficient numbers of the target audience. 13 However, only examining programme-related reasons overlooks the potential impact of contextual factors on implementation and subsequently outcomes. Implementation evaluations can describe and explain what was delivered, how implementation was achieved, as well as the contextual factors that might explain intervention outcomes and understanding of intervention theory, thereby narrowing the gap between intervention development and its application in practice. 14 An increasing emphasis is now placed on measuring implementation, in part because of great variability in programme implementation and policy adoption in school settings. 15 However, implementation evaluation outside of the USA is infrequent, and there are a limited number of such studies that have been found within a UK context (eg, refs 16 17 ). It is likely that differences in educational policies and practices within the UK mean that there are salient issues impacting on implementation processes, relating to national contexts, which may not have been reported elsewhere in the literature. 18 AIM The purpose of this paper is to outline the study design and protocol for an implementation evaluation to examine the implementation of Marathon Kids (MK), a primary school-based running programme.
The objectives of this study are to: ► Identify the processes by which teachers and schools implement the programme. ► Identify and explain the contextual factors most likely to contribute to implementation and explications of effectiveness. ► Examine the relationship between the level of implementation of MK and perceived outcomes.
Programme description MK 19 gives primary school pupils the opportunity to run or walk the distance of a marathon over a given period (ie, the school year). The programme aims to inspire and empower children of all fitness and ability levels to achieve by using personalised goal setting. It is managed and delivered by the charity Kids Run Free (KRF) who provide opportunities for children to take part in organised running events. The programme encourages pupils to complete laps of a course on the school grounds once or twice a week during lunch break. For every lap completed, pupils are given an elastic band, which are recorded centrally in school via a digital tracking system (DTS). The DTS provides a computerised log of when pupils participate, how may laps each pupil completes and accumulated distance to date. Distance is monitored over time and rewards are given at key milestones, for example, quarter, half, three-quarter and full marathon. MK shares many characteristics with other school-based running programmes such as The Daily Mile 6 and Golden Mile, 20 although it differs in its timing (lunch time rather than class time), monitoring (lap bands) and goal setting (reaching the equivalent of a marathon). A number of tools and resources are provided to schools to support the programme's implementation via the Marathon Champion (a member of school staff who takes responsibility for coordinating MK in the school). On-site support is also provided during a school launch by a member of staff from KRF who: delivers a marathon themed assembly to staff and pupils, demarcates the running route(s), populates the DTS with pupils' details and provides training on how to administer the programme with the Marathon Champion and a selection of peer leaders or Marathon Ambassadors.
During the summer of 2016, KRF partnered with Nike who also supports Marathon Kids US, a comparable charity in terms of vision and mission that works to support sustainable running clubs in the community. Consequently, Kids Marathon rebranded to Marathon Kids UK, and a number of principles of practice were formally adopted, namely the MK's five pillars of goal setting, tracking, role modelling, celebrating and rewards. In addition, pupils are now encouraged to set themselves goals to complete up to four marathons over the course of the school year. Previous research on the initial model of MK provides some foundation for its potential effectiveness. 21 This evaluation, however, aims to inform a strategic approach to the growth and development of the UK programme as a result of the partnership with Nike, with specific attention being given to how schools can effectively implement the programme to ensure sustained participation.

Evaluation framework
A realist evaluation framework 22 will be used to explore the underlying processes of implementation and mechanisms of action and how these vary by contextual characteristics of person (eg, gender) and place (eg, socioeconomic deprivation). Realist evaluation is a member of a family of theory-based evaluation approaches that recognise that for socially dependent programmes there Open Access are multiple causal mechanisms operating at different levels and emphasises the contextually contingent nature of these mechanisms. 23 Specifically, this methodological approach involves the formulation, testing and refining of a number of different hypotheses to describe how the underlying mechanisms are expected to operate in different contexts and what outcomes will be generated. This interaction can be expressed as a context+mecha-nism=outcome or CMO hypothesis and is the analytical basis for realist evaluation. 22 Realist methods support the development and use of 'middle range theories', which help to generate transferable learning. The term 'middle-range theory' was developed to distinguish grand social theories from the process of incorporating theory and empirical research to explain patterns of social behaviour and outcomes in a particular social setting. 24 The development and testing of theories (CMO configurations) within realist evaluation is an example of middle-range theory and research. 25 For understanding the translation into practice of interventions such as MK and for the purpose of this study, realist principles have much to offer in acknowledging the contextual heterogeneity of the different primary schools and facilitating knowledge about implementation processes, longer term sustainability, benefits and potential unintended consequences, as well as the likely effects of interventions for different localities and population subgroups. 14 This study will therefore use existing theory and the generation and analysis of empirical data to develop theory-based empirical results to inform how, why, for whom and in what circumstances the programme works or not. Furthermore, it will allow the development of a set of portable principles applicable to other running programmes (such as The Daily Mile) and/or schoolbased physical activity programmes. study design A mixed method, single-group before-and-after design will be used to empirically test the explanatory framework and help understand and explain the processes and context of implementation. The use of mixed methods in implementation research is advocated 26 and is particularly pertinent where the input of various stakeholders is needed to understand the contextual influences on implementation, thus maximising the likelihood of findings having practical significance. 27  study population and recruitment The study will be conducted within the East Midlands region of the UK. Through a partnership with a teaching school alliance i , six state-funded primary schools from i Teaching School Alliances are groups of outstanding schools that work with others to provide high-quality training and support for school improvement in their local area.
across Leicestershire, which are new to MK, will be recruited. All schools in the Alliance will be invited to participate via a face-to-face head teacher meeting, facilitated by the Alliance, at which they will be asked to provide an initial expression of interest to take part in the study. With over 85% of the schools in Leicestershire being part of a teaching school alliance ii , it is felt that this approach is likely to provide a representative sample and include schools that would not necessarily have considered engaging in a programme of this nature, and thereby would provide valuable insight into real world challenges relating to implementation. Interested schools will be categorised into tertiles based on the Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index 28 and further stratified by geographic location, identified by the Edubase database, 29 and school size according to the number of pupils on roll (from Ofsted Data dashboard iii ). A minimum of two schools will be selected from each tertile and invited to participate. Where possible, this will include a spread of schools in terms of size and geographic location (urban/rural). Consideration will also be given to each school's capacity to engage with the project based on supplementary insight provided by the Alliance.
Given that this study will explore the school level and individual level characteristics associated with implementation, participants from each school will include the head teachers, year 5 pupils (aged 9-10 years), year 5 class teachers and the Marathon Champion, that is, the member of school staff who takes responsibility for coordinating MK in the school (if not the year 5 teacher).
Year 5, the penultimate year of primary school education was chosen for pragmatic reasons. First, pupils needed to have adequate comprehension for the chosen measures deemed to be valid and reliable, and second to ensure availability for follow-up data collection the subsequent year.

Patient and public involvement
The teaching school alliance will be consulted on the research design to offer pragmatic solutions to minimise potential burden on teachers and pupils and to ensure that the research will contribute to the support provided to the schools by the alliance for school improvement. In addition, a joint dissemination event with the alliance will be planned to communicate the findings of the research and recommendations for practice to the research schools and others in the Alliance implementing physical activity programmes.

Programme theory
Realist approaches to evaluation posit that all programmes, regardless of whether they are based on academic ii Personal communication with management staff at the Teaching School Alliance. iii The Ofsted Data Dashboard subsequently shut down in September 2016.
Open Access psychology theory, are 'theories incarnate', 18 that is, whenever a programme is implemented, it is reflecting assumptions about what might cause the problem and how programme components may facilitate change. Identifying these assumptions or 'programme theory' is essential to gain sufficient depth of understanding of the implementation and functioning of the programme and to inform evaluation design. 25 Thus, interviews and focus groups were conducted, and field notes were recorded in a sample of 20 schools that had implemented MK between 2013 and 2016 (for a detailed description of data collection methods, see Chalkley et al submitted). Data were used to gain information on the programme theory of MK and to inform a programme logic model (see figure 1). The use of logic models in physical activity evaluation has been advocated to improve their quality 30 by making explicit the intended core components of the intervention, how they interact to produce change, anticipated short-term, medium-term and long-term outcomes as well as the resources and structures in place to ensure implementation.
theoretical framework of the implementation evaluation Applying theories and methods of implementation research helps evaluators clarify the challenges of implementing programmes such as MK; however, school-based public health implementation research is still in its infancy with much of the literature lacking an explicitly identified theoretical framework. 31 This evaluation will address key dimensions and theoretical constructs of implementation within widely used frameworks, specifically: reach (rate of involvement and representativeness of pupils participating in MK), fidelity of delivery (extent to which the delivered programme relates to the originally intended programme), dose received (how much of MK has been delivered), implementation quality (how well MK has been delivered by teachers), participant responsiveness (degree to which MK stimulates interest in pupils), adaptation (changes made to MK during implementation) and sustainability (the extent to which MK is maintained or embedded within the schools' usual practice). Observation of participation in MK will take place at TP2, TP3 and TP5 (January, March and June 2017). Distance ran by pupils will be objectively measured using a radiofrequency identification (RFID) chip timing system at TP4 (April 2017). Teacher interviews and pupil focus groups will take place at TP2 and TP5 (January and June During the continuation of the 2016/2017 academic year, teachers will also complete an online implementation log, and data from the DTS will be used to verify and/or explain the findings from the implementation evaluation. In addition, validation of the findings will be sought using synthesised member checking. 33 Measures and instruments A number of different measurements and instruments will be used to collect data; these are detailed below according to the level of influence on implementation they will be used to measure.

School level measures
School environment A number of instruments will be used to collect data pertaining to the school environment, which will be collected at TP1 only (September 2016). First, the paperbased Sport, Physical activity and Eating behaviour: Environmental Determinants in Young people (SPEEDY) Grounds Audit tool 34 will be completed by the researcher during the initial visit to the school to objectively assess opportunities for physical activity within the school environment.
Second, all year 5 teachers will be asked to complete a paper-based school characteristics questionnaire, relating to their respective school's availability, opportunities and access to physical activity and recreation facilities; physical activity, PE and sport policies and practices (eg, wet weather); the structure of PE classes and clubs; participation in physical activity or sport initiatives or programmes; and accreditation schemes. Questions are adapted from the International Study of Childhood Obesity, Lifestyle and the Environment (ISCOLE) school administrator questionnaire. 35 Third, pupils' perceptions of the school physical activity environment will be assessed using a modified version of the paper-based Questionnaire Assessing School Physical Activity Environment (Q-SPACE-R). 36 The Q-SPACE-R has 16 items: eight items assess a school's physical, physical activity environment (ie, equipment, facility quality and programming) and eight items assess a school's social physical activity environment.
Finally, the head teacher in each of the schools will be asked to participate in a semistructured interview to elicit contextual information including the school's policies, practices and ethos relating to the promotion, teaching and delivery of physical activity and healthy lifestyles, as well as of the influences on their decision to adopt the programme.

Individual level measures Teachers
Demographic, teaching qualifications, experience and physical activity level: at TP1, teachers will be asked to complete a series of selected response and open-ended questions to Open Access report their teaching experience, qualifications, professional development relating to sport, PE, physical activity and health. In addition, teachers will be asked to self-report their level of physical activity using a single-item physical activity measure. 37

Semistructured interviews
All year five teachers and MK Champions (if different) will participate in semistructured face-to-face interviews. At TP2 and TP5, interviews will be used to elicit information on characteristics of pupils and schools (participating and non-participating); the extent to which components of the intervention were completed and used; the delivery of MK and teacher satisfaction; pupil behaviour; uptake by pupils; and perceptions of influences on uptake. At TP7 and TP8, questions will explore the long-term effects on pupils, teachers and school(s); changes to policy and practice; and any factors affecting sustainability.

Teacher log
To obtain data on the frequency and duration of exposure to MK as well as uptake, teachers will be asked to complete a weekly log of MK activities during the implementation period (October 2016-June 2017). Teachers will receive an email prompt with a link to an online survey consisting of nine questions that will elicit data on each class' participation in the intervention. In addition to recording frequency and duration of use of the intervention during the week, five items will collect the following information on each occasion: the surface/route; supervisor overseeing participation; any disruptions to lessons as a result of participation; teacher satisfaction; plus a free text box for teachers to provide thoughts and reflections on programme delivery and add any contextual information on factors affecting implementation that week (eg, a special event, teacher absence, examinations and weather).

Pupils
Demographics At TP1, each pupil's name, date of birth, ethnicity, free school meal status and home postcode will be collected from the schools' management information systems. Home postcode will be used to calculate area level socioeconomic status using the 2015 Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD). 28 Anthropometrics At TP1 and TP6, pupils' standing height will be measured in school by trained researchers using a standard protocol. Measurements will be taken to the nearest 0.1 cm using a free-standing portable stadiometer (Seca, Seca, Leicester, UK). Height will be measured twice, with a third observation taken if the values differ by greater than 0.4 cm. Weight will be measured to the nearest 0.1 kg using digital weighing scales (Seca 899, Seca). Body mass index (BMI) will be calculated from height and body mass as a proxy measure of body composition (kg·m 2 ) and BMI z-scores assigned to each pupil. Age-specific and sex-specific cut points will be used to classify children's weight status based on UK reference data. 38 Objective physical activity At TP1 and TP6, pupils will be asked to wear an Actigraph accelerometer (GT3X, GT3X+ or BT) over the right hip using an elasticated waist band during all waking hours for seven consecutive days. These devices have been identified as having acceptable validity and reliability in children 39 and have been successfully used in other school-based physical activity interventions. 40 Data will be recorded as accelerometer counts and averaged across a 15 s interval (epoch). Raw Actigraph data files will be reprocessed to derive outcome variables, using custom data reduction software (Kine Soft, V.3.3.67, Loughborough, UK). Non-wear time will be defined as 60 min of consecutive zero counts, allowing for 2 min of non-zero interruptions. 41 The following variables will be derived from the accelerometer data using the Evenson intensity cut-points 42  Pupil questionnaire At TP1 and TP6, pupils will be asked to complete a paperbased questionnaire that will be used to capture the following: Knowledge and understanding of physical activity and health Four questions will assess their knowledge of physical activity as well as their understanding of how physical activity contributes to health. These include: stating how much physical activity young people of their age should do each day in minutes; identifying activities (from a list provided) that would contribute to their daily total; identifying other activities that might contribute towards a young person's daily amount of physical activity; and answering a series of six true or false statements relating to physical activity and health.

Physical activity
Self-reported physical activity will be measured using the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Children, 44 a 7-day recall instrument used to assess general physical activity levels during the school year.

Self-reported physical fitness and sportiness
Pupils will self-report perceptions of their physical fitness using the International Fitness Scale. 45 In addition, a single-item question will be used to assess the degree to which pupils perceive themselves to be 'sporty'.

Open Access
Participants will be asked to rate themselves on a scale of 0-10, where 0= 'not sporty at all' and 10 = 'extremely sporty'.

Psychosocial measures
Several psychosocial measures will be employed with the pupils. Self-efficacy will be assessed using the Physical Activity Self Efficacy Scale. 46 Enjoyment will be assessed using the Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale. 47 Global selfworth (six items) and athletic competence (six items) will be assessed using 12 items from the Physical Self Perception Profile for Children. 48 Attitude towards being active will be assessed using a 14-item questionnaire. 49 Social support will be assessed using the Social Support for Physical Activity Scale. 50 Intention to be physically active will be assessed using three items asking about intentions to be active for at least 60 min every day during the next month adapted from Hagger et al. 51 Motivation to be physically active will be measured using the Behavioural Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire. 52 These instruments were chosen based on evidence of their psychometric properties and suitability given the age and cognitive abilities of this age group. [53][54][55] Pupil focus group At TP2, TP5, TP7 and TP8, a sample of year 5 pupils from each school will participate in a semistructured focus group. One mixed sex group of six to eight pupils per class will participate and will be selected by their teacher. Guidelines will be provided to the teachers when selecting pupils, such as ensuring a range in relation to age, sex, enthusiasm and participation level in the programme (eg, high, medium and low), as well as in the pupil's ability to communicate their experiences and opinions. Where possible, the same pupils from each school will participate in the focus groups at all time points. At TP2 and TP5, questions will explore pupils' exposure to, and level of engagement with, the programme as well as perceptions of enjoyment and acceptability. At TP7 and TP8, questions will explore their overall physical activity levels, participation status, perceived impact of MK and barriers and facilitators to participation in MK. Focus groups will be conducted on the school site and at a time deemed by the teachers to be the least disruptive to the school day.

Running programme participation
As participation in physical activity is complex, 56 detailed information will be triangulated via a number of different sources.

Digital tracking system
During the intervention period (October 2016-June 2017), data from the schools' DTS will be collected every half term via KRF. This contains a record of how far each individual child has run based on the school administered lap band system. Data will be verified using contextual information from the teacher log.
Objective measurement of distance At TP4, distance and speed, during a one-off running session, will be objectively measured using the The Orbiter RFID chip timing system. Data will be used to provide an indication of pupils' intensity of activity while participating in MK.

Direct observation of physical activity
At TP2, TP3 and TP5, pupils' use of the programme during a lunchtime period will be observed. Uptake will be assessed using an observation protocol based on the Children's Activity Rating Scale (CARS) 57 in order to code physical activity behaviour. CARS defines observed activities into five intensity categories: stationary, stationary with limb or trunk movements, slow movement, moderate movement and fast movement, and discriminates between levels of energy expenditure in children. An additional coding system will be used to capture the social context of the physical activity behaviour such as pupil and teacher interaction and use of the lap bands.

Field notes
Field notes will be recorded to capture supplementary data in order to aid understanding of the data captured using the other methods. These will include those taken by the member of staff from KRF following the delivery of the school launch, as well as those from the lead researcher during each data collection visit. Consideration will be given to observations of school context, teacher and pupil engagement and social interactions.

Synthesised member checking
In order to validate the refined programme theory, synthesised member checking will be used to gain consensus as to the degree it resonates with Marathon Champions, year 5 teachers and year 5 pupils within a mixed sample of schools. Participants will be recruited from schools that will be implementing MK for the first time during the 2017/2018 academic year as well as from some of the 20 schools that participated in the development of the initial programme theory. Interviews (Marathon Champions and/or year 5 teacher) and focus groups (year 5 pupils) will be conducted (June 2018) to explore the degree to which the refined programme theory is reflective of their experiences. Member checking is an appropriate method to employ within the realist evaluation framework, particularly where data have been collected from different sources and/or at different time points 58 and will limit the potential for researcher bias by actively engaging participants in checking and confirming the results.
AnAlysEs of dAtA Analysis of the qualitative data will be concurrent with data collection to allow the identification of further hypothetical pathways and allow emergent lines of enquiry to be explored. All interviews and focus groups will be audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim into Microsoft Word Open Access before being imported into NVivo 10 software. Consistent with realist evaluation methodologies, thematic analysis of the interviews will be guided by the initial programme theories identified in the formative evaluation (Chalkley et al submitted). The developed theory of context, mechanism and outcome will be tested using deductive coding; however, analysis will be open to emergent themes based on the principle of inductive content analysis to facilitate further theory refinement. 59 Descriptive analysis will be undertaken to describe the school (eg, school-level deprivation), teacher (eg, number of years of teaching experience) and pupil level (eg, ethnicity) baseline characteristics, as well as level of implementation (obtained from teacher logs) over time and also between schools. Appropriate summary measures including totals, percentages, means and standard deviations, medians and interquartile ranges will be used.
If appropriate, a linear multilevel model will be used to examine whether the level of implementation is associated with participation. This will include participation data (from the DTS) as the outcome variable, levels to indicate the clustering of pupils within a class and within schools and a categorical indicator for level of implementation (from the teacher logs) as the explanatory variable. Where there is insufficient data to undertake a regression analysis, exploratory analysis will be undertaken using t-tests to consider how mechanisms produce outcomes in an accompanying context, as per the realist evaluation methodology. To examine factors associated with implementation, potential mediating (eg, self-efficacy), moderating (eg, social support) and a priori confounder variables (eg, IMD) will be included.
The combination of both qualitative and quantitative data will allow the verification of data using triangulation. 60 Based on a convergent parallel design, qualitative and quantitative data will be collected in parallel, analysed separately and then merged. This will provide a more holistic understanding of the implementation of MK on both the individual and school levels.
A matrix will be used to analyse and synthesise both the qualitative and quantitative data available for each school. The columns of the matrix will contain the individual CMO configurations, and each row in the matrix will represent a different school. This approach will be used to facilitate within-case analysis highlighting similarities and discrepancies between data sources as well as cross-case analysis to identify patterns across cases. This will inform the acceptance, modification or rejection of the CMO hypotheses to inform a plausible explanation of if, how and why MK is effective.

dIsCussIon
The combination of political interest, 61 increased investment 4 5 and public health necessity 3 have resulted in school-based physical activity programmes receiving much attention. 62 However, despite the numerous research studies on what works to promote and increase school-based physical activity, there is a lack of generalisable, effective and sustainable programmes that have been translated into practice. 63 This study will provide a timely examination of the implementation of a school-based running programme, helping to contribute to our understanding of implementing running specific programmes and school-based physical activity programmes more broadly. Understanding the ways in which head teachers, school staff and pupils interact with and perceive a programme is essential for determining how and why it is or is not effective. This paper has outlined the protocol for a mixed methods study to investigate the implementation of a school-based running programme in UK primary schools and establish which aspects of the programme are working, for whom and in which circumstances. Data from the implementation evaluation will be used to unpack the processes of engagement and participation, which are hypothesised to mediate the programme's success. Use of the realist approach will help to identify and test the hypothesised causal mechanisms, evaluate the extent to which MK activated them, use this analysis to refine the programme theory and identify areas of strength and potential future improvement in the programme design. The identification of underlying causal mechanisms and the development of propositions will enhance the utility and transferability of the findings. 22 Given the popularity of school-based running programmes and the growing awareness of programmes among the general public, teachers and policy makers, the findings of this study will be of great interest and relevance and will help to inform national strategies to support quality implementation. Furthermore, findings will contribute more generally to our understanding of implementing physical activity programmes within the complex educational setting of schools.

strEngths And lIMItAtIons
The strengths of this study include: the recruitment strategy to ensure a representative sample (in terms of size, socioeconomic status and geographic location), the use of mixed methods and measures at multiple levels to provide a more holistic understanding of the implementation, plus the adoption of a realist framework, which encourages exploration of the complexity of implementing programmes in a school setting. Due to financial limitations and the ambition to have equitable representation of one age group, the evaluation only focuses on 1 year group, which may limit the applicability of the findings across the primary school setting more broadly.

EthICs And dIssEMInAtIon
Informed written consent has been sought from each participant prior to conducting the interviews, and all pupils will be asked to assent prior to their participation in data collection. Parental consent to participate in evaluation activities has also been sought from pupil's Open Access parents/carers. All participants will be given a unique identification number, and anonymity will be assured at each school site.
The study results will be embedded in the development of the programme to contribute to future decision making and inform an evidence-based strategic approach to improve implementation quality and effectiveness. Dissemination will be targeted at multiple levels and will include: a project research report for the funder, circulation of findings to public health practitioners via the opportunities available through the National Centre for Sport and Exercise Medicine, via publications in peer-reviewed journals and attendance at conferences and events for those working within the field of physical activity and public health.


Teacher Quality in the Light of the Philippine Professional Standards for Teachers

The paper aimed to assess the respondents’ level of teaching standards competence using the Philippine Professional Standards for Teachers (PPST) and their performance using the school’s Teacher Performance Evaluation, respectively. Likewise, it purported to determine the significant difference in the level of teaching standards competence and performance of teachers when teachers were grouped according to sex, marital status, educational attainment, and status of employment. The respondents were the whole population of the basic education department of a diocesan school in Antique composed of 33 teachers. Using a descriptive-comparative and correlational research design, the standardized questionnaires on teaching standards competence using PPST and teaching performance using teacher performance evaluation of the diocesan school were utilized to gather the data. Descriptive and inferential analyses using the mean, Mann Whitney U and Independent Samples t-test, and the Pearson Product Moment of Correlation were utilized to analyze the data. The findings revealed that the level of teaching standards competence and performance of basic education teachers as assessed by the principals and teachers themselves were proficient and satisfactory, respectively. Moreover, the findings further showed no significant difference in both the teaching standards competence and performance when the teachers were grouped according to sex, educational attainment, marital status, and status of employment. However, the overall findings revealed that there is a significant relationship between the level of teaching standards competence and performance.

Introduction
The 21st century teaching focuses on teaching standards or standards of teaching practice CEPPE, 2013) which define what teachers and school leaders should be able to do (Chung & Kim, 2010;CEPPE, 2013). Therefore, teachers are placed at the center of the school in the teaching standards . Moreover, teaching quality is widely recognized as the single most important factor affecting student learning outcomes (CEPPE, 2013). Hence, the attributes of highly effective teaching must be aimed to produce a common point of reference for effective practice in teaching and learning .
In the Philippines, the K to 12 Basic Education Curriculum was launched in 2012 (D. O. No. 31, 2012). This major change has consistently pursued teacher quality reforms. The Philippine Professional Standards for Teachers (PPST) formerly the National Competency-Based Teacher Standards (NCBTS) (D. O. No. 32, 2009) was established as a framework of teacher quality (D. O. No. 42, 2017). In view of this study, the question on the practicability and effectiveness of PPST as a response to the 21st century learning shall be used as a ground or basis whether teachers employed in the private schools also observe and maintain the same standards. Relatedly, Pandan Bay Institute, a Catholic diocesan school, has experienced a great challenge regarding faculty retention and faculty turnover that make the quality of education become an issue. To address this concern, the diocesan school annually administers its Teacher Performance Evaluation instrument as a quality standard system to sustain teacher quality.
The paper intended to assess the level of teaching standards competence of basic education teachers in the areas of content knowledge and pedagogy, learning environment, diversity of learners, curriculum and planning, assessment and reporting, community linkages and professional engagement, and personal growth and professional development as assessed by the principals and teachers themselves when they are taken as a whole and when they are grouped according to demographic variables such as sex, marital status, educational attainment, and status of employment. Moreover, it investigated teachers' level of performance in terms of teaching competence, administrative compliance, personal, social, and professional competence, and service to school and community. Furthermore, it determined if a significant difference existed between their levels of teaching standards competence and performance when they were grouped according to demographic variable. Finally, it examined if there is a significant relationship between teaching standards competence and performance.

Framework of the Study
This study was mainly anchored on the Theory of Constructivism by Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky and the Framework for 21st Century Learning. It was further directed to the Philippine Professional Standards for Teachers as basis of the standards for teaching competence. The Teacher Performance Evaluation of the school was also used to examine the teaching performance of the teachers.
The Theory of Constructivism represents one of the big ideas in education . It is the leading theory in teaching and learning. It was the anchor of this study because its objective was not to set standards but to look into probable areas for the improvement of teachers based on the given standards aided by their learning experiences . Primarily, educational reforms aimed for all students to succeed . In the light of these reforms, the students must be the focus of teaching.  pointed out that constructivism has shifted in pedagogy from teacher-focused to student-focused. This is the most important contribution of constructivism in education .
Moreover, a student-centered pedagogy implies a critical role of the teachers. In a constructivist classroom, the teacher is a facilitator and guide and is primarily responsible for creating and maintaining a collaborative problem-solving environment where students are allowed to construct their own knowledge . In the process, learning approaches emerging from constructivism are designed to create a more successful classroom experience for students. Hence, this is the important role of the teachers. The teachers must focus on what learning outcomes to achieve, the design of the instruction, the activities of the students, and the related assessment strategies . Consequently,  identified that teachers under constructivism need to reflect on their own practices and apply these ideas into their work.
Furthermore, this is also anchored on the Framework for 21st Century Learning. This framework describes the skills, knowledge and expertise students must master to succeed in work and life. It is a blend of content knowledge, specific skills, expertise and literacies. Additionally, this enables the 21st century professional learning communities for teachers that model the kinds of classroom learning that best promote the 21st century skills and the role of teachers to teach the students (P21 Framework for 21st Century Learning, 2015).
In addition, the study is further directed to the Philippine Professional Standards for Teachers (PPST). In the K to 12 program of the Department of Education (DepED), this is the quality assurance instrument assessing the competence of teachers in line with the national educational standards. Through this instrument, the teacher will be able to cultivate his or her ability to identify students' particular learning styles, intelligences, strengths and weaknesses (P21 Framework for 21st Century Learning, 2015).
Finally, the study is linked to the teacher performance evaluation as an institutional instrument used to assess the performance of the teachers. The performance of teachers is vital toward the achievement of educational success, thus the need to keep the teachers abreast of the dynamic teaching standards arises. In conclusion, the theory of constructivism and teacher quality assurance instruments must work together to complete the process of seeking improvements in the 21st century teaching and learning framework. Therefore, the role of teachers becomes dynamic. And for teachers to maintain excellent professional performance under these conditions, they must assume a personal responsibility for their own performance, growth, and development .

Methods
The study employed the descriptive-comparative approach to measure the levels of teaching standards competence and performance of teachers. Likewise, it was also used to determine the significant difference in the level of teaching standards competence and performance. On the other hand, a correlational research design was used to assess the relationship between teaching standards competence and performance.
The respondents of the study were the whole population of the basic education teachers of Pandan Bay Institute for the School Year 2017 -2018. There was a total of 33 teacher-respondents composed of nine elementary school teachers, one of them was the principal, and 24 high school teachers, one of them was also the principal.
The data were gathered using two (2) standardized questionnaires, namely: the Philippine Professional Standards for Teachers (PPST) and the Teacher Performance Evaluation of the school. To measure the teaching standards competence of the teachers, the standardized survey questionnaire of the Philippine Professional Standards for Teachers (PPST) developed and adopted by the DepED was used. The Teacher Performance Evaluation tool of the diocesan school was used to rate the performance of the teachers. Reliability and validity procedures were not conducted because both instruments are standardized measurements.
In gathering the data, the approval of the Rector of the school was secured before the conduct of the study. The respondents were oriented about the purpose and scope of the study, the nature and parts of the questionnaire, and most especially, the affirmation of their willingness to participate in the study. The researcher secured the informed consent of the participants. They were assured of full confidentiality. The materials that contained the raw information derived from them were disposed by manual shredding.
Descriptive and inferential analyses were employed to analyze the data using appropriate statistical tools. The mean was used to determine the level of teaching standards competence and teacher performance. Meanwhile, the Mann Whitney U test and Independent samples t-test were employed to determine the significant difference in the level of teaching standards competence and teacher performance. The Pearson product moment of correlation was used to determine the correlation between teaching standards competence and teacher performance.

Teaching standards competence
The descriptive results showed that the level of teaching standards competence of basic education teachers of Pandan Bay Institute is "proficient" (M=2.02, SD=0.54) as rated by both the teachers (M=2.38, SD=0.46) and the principals (M=1.65, SD=0.33). Proficient teachers are professionally independent in the application of skills vital to the teaching and learning process. In the PPST, they belong to Career Stage 2. In terms of domains, all areas in the PPST were rated proficient.
The area of personal growth and professional development got the highest rating. This result manifests that teachers of a diocesan school practice high regard for the teaching profession. They keep themselves abreast of the new and requisite knowledge, skills and attitudes as expected from them . On the contrary, the area of diversity of learners got the lowest rating. This result indicated that there is a need to focus on the area of diversity of learners. At the diocesan school, there are facilities intended for diverse learners but programs for learner diversity are not well-articulated in the curriculum.  mentioned that as early as 1990s when teacher education prepared teachers to work in schools responsive to social and economic shifts. This idea indicates that the school and the teachers must be prepared to respond to the needs of diverse learners. Therefore, training and other programs pertaining to the establishment of learning environment that are responsive to learner diversity must be provided. In terms of variables, master's degree teachers got the highest rating. This result emphasized the role of continuous study and faculty development as an important consideration for improving teaching competence especially on the standards. However, probationary teachers got the lowest rating as they rated themselves "proficient". This situation can be described that beginning teachers face a high degree of instructional performance problems (Cho & Dae-Bong, 2014).

Teaching performance
The teaching performance of basic education teachers of Pandan Bay Institute as a whole as assessed by both the teachers (M=3.42, SD=0.46) and the principals (M=3.43, SD=0.57) is "satisfactory" (M=3.43, SD=0.51). The result is satisfactory, but it still implies that there is a need to improve in order to advance to high or very high teaching performance.  contended that in order to get through with an objective measure of teaching performance, a continued teaching evaluation should be conducted regularly.
Through regular and continued evaluation, the progress in the performance of teachers can be tracked properly. Relative to the teaching performance, personal, social, and professional competence and service to school and community got the highest rating.
However, the area of administrative compliance got the lowest rating as assessed by both teachers and principals. This could be because a number of teachers in the diocesan school really have difficulty in meeting the requirements of submission, punctuality, and attendance. Besides,  correspondingly stated that standard-based education focuses more on assessment and reporting practices which can be the reason why teachers were rated low in administrative compliance because of the paper works on assessment and reporting. Likewise, the attitude and habit of work of teachers must also be considered because learning is both cognitive and situative (Yakhlef, 2010 as cited by . In terms of variables, master's degree teachers displayed high performance for getting the highest rating from the assessment of both the teacher and the principal. This result indicated the high commitment of master's degree teachers to the profession. The result on the level of teaching performance with the highest rating is similar to the result of the level of teaching standards competence. Meanwhile, probationary teachers scored lowest in the teaching performance.

Difference in teaching standards competence
The inferential results present no significant difference in the teaching standards competence as assessed by teachers and principals using the Mann Whitney U test and Independent samples t-test. Using this result, the teachers found out that certain variables used in this study did not determine the differences in their competence when it comes to standards. However, there was a significant difference when teachers were grouped according to status of employment except in the area of personal growth and professional development. In the area of personal growth and professional development, there was also a significant difference when teachers were grouped according to educational attainment. The assessment of the principals showed a very significant difference in the teaching standards competence in terms of status of employment. Regular teachers are expected to perform better while probationary teachers need to gain more inspiration from experience.

Difference in teaching performance
The result also showed no significant difference in the teaching performance as assessed by the teachers and principals using the Mann Whitney U test and Independent samples t-test. This result of the study shows that sex, marital status, educational attainment, and status of employment are not determinant to the performance of the teachers. However, in the assessment of the teachers, a significant difference was found in the area of personal, social, and professional competence when teachers were grouped according to status of employment. Also, in the area of service to school and community, there was a significant difference when teachers were grouped according to educational attainment. As assessed by the principals, there was a significant difference in the area of service to school and community when teachers were grouped according to status of employment.
In the study of , educational qualification of teachers affects students' performance. The study of  supports this finding that there was a significant difference in the area of service to school and community when they were grouped according to educational attainment. Teachers with high qualification are more dedicated in terms of service to school and community. Same result was based on the status of employment whether teachers are probationary or regular. In the case of probationary teachers, it is understood and given because they are experiencing difficulties like facing multiple unfamiliar responsibilities and challenges . Comparably, this result is in congruence to the level of teaching performance of master's degree teachers which is high compared to the bachelor's degree teachers which is satisfactory.

Relationship between teaching standards competence and performance
For the correlational result, the findings in Table 3 revealed that there is a significant relationship between teaching standards competence and performance [r (64)=0.457, p=0.000] analyzed using Pearson product moment of correlation (PPM). The findings revealed that teaching standards competence is associated with the teaching performance of the basic education teachers of the diocesan school. This result establishes the connection between competence which includes skills, knowledge and behaviors and performance which are indicated as the specific outcomes of competence. The findings of this study negate or contradict the findings of the study conducted by  that there is no significant relationship between teaching standards competence and efficiency performance. The results are contradicting in the sense that the context and the environment of the teachers where the study was conducted was totally different.  conducted their study in a university where teacher-respondents were exposed to trainings and other professional development while this study was conducted in an average catholic school with limited provision of professional trainings, and some teachers were neophytes in the profession.
The study presented that the assessment levels of competence and performance of basic education teachers are proficient and satisfactory. In the pursuit of quality, it can be noted that there is still room for continuous improvement to advance to the higher level of competence and performance. Thus, quality teaching through quality teachers must be realized through the provision of enough trainings and professional assistance to teachers coupled with a regular and continued evaluation of performance. Attitude and habit of teachers toward work must also be assessed. The teachers must document their practices and commit themselves for continuous improvement in the weak areas. The strength and expertise of master teachers and other competent teachers can be utilized in mentoring new teachers through the creation of professional learning communities or learning action cells. The school has to give attention to programs in the curriculum that respond to the diversity of learners considering other factors like cultural, socio-economic, disabilities, giftedness, and those learners from indigenous groups.

Conclusion
The teaching standards competence of teachers is determined by their knowledge, skills, and attitudes through their participation in the different in-service trainings and programs. However, the teaching performance is mostly affected by habit of work and experience in the profession. The competence of the teachers in the standards associates or influences their teaching performance. The teachers can continuously monitor their own progress in the teaching standards to help them meet the required competence toward improving their teaching performance. The importance of personal growth and development like seeking further studies and pursuing master's degree and other professional courses is a prime concern that the school has to embark on to maintain teacher quality. The school may opt to invest resources on the training and development of the teachers to further bring out the desired outcomes. Master teachers and probationary teachers must closely work in harmony and collaboration since it was found out that it is effective to achieve educational success in developing best pedagogical practices.

Recommendations
Based on the findings of this study, the researcher recommends the following plan of actions: Relative to teaching competence of teachers, the school must create a functional and well-articulated faculty development program that is geared toward the continuous development of the teachers. The board of trustees can be provided with a concrete faculty development program of the school which they can use as basis in appropriating budget intended for this purpose. Teachers should attend and actively participate in the different school-based or sponsored training and enhancement programs. The administration should encourage the teachers to professionally upgrade themselves by pursuing master's and doctorate studies. Probationary teachers should be provided with induction programs that will prepare them for the real tasks.
With regard to teaching performance, the school administrators may consider an evaluation instrument that is aligned with the PPST; conduct close and regular monitoring and supervision of the teachers; and provide a variety and adequate opportunities for teachers to collaborate with one another, particularly the master's and competent teachers with the probationary teachers. Also, a systematic ranking can be created to put in place the status of teachers. The basic education teachers should be provided with a system to assess their own teaching standards competence and performance through annual updating and monitoring in the PPST and performance evaluation. The school has to establish and strengthen connections with other stakeholders like the alumni, parents, and government leaders.
Future researchers are also encouraged to conduct a similar study on the competence and performance of the teachers by looking further into this instrument aligned with PPST and on learner diversity so that the findings would rectify the result this study has found.