A comparative analysis of PAASCU and ISO accreditation in SPC schools

• Main Author: Racadio, Bernadette
• Format: text
• Published: Animo Repository 2004
• Subjects: Accreditation (Education); Educational surveys; Education > Standards; Business Administration, Management, and Operations
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_doctoral/23
• Institution: De La Salle University

This study is a comparative analysis and impact evaluation of PAASCU and ISO accreditations to guide policy and decision-making concerning choice of accreditation. The descriptive-comparative-evaluative research method was used in the study. As such, it presented the scope and the expenses incurred before and during accreditations of PAASCU and ISO accreditations and determined the merit or worth of the two forms of accreditation with respect to their outcomes and long-term effects on the participant institutions. The respondents of the study were a total of 1,251 administrators, faculty, and students from three participant schools. Sources of data for the study were the results of survey questionnaires and interviews, and ocular observations of the results of accreditation, as well as school documents and records relative to accreditation. Quantitative data gathered through the survey questionnaires were analyzed with the use of desciptive statistics such as frequencies and percentages. Qualitative information gathered through the interviews and the open-ended items of the survey instruments were analyzed and synthesized and subsequently presented in terms of frequencies, percentages and ranks. The common objective of both PAASCU and ISO is to improve the performance and delivery of services of their clientele, thereby encouraging and emphasizing quality of the same. The results of the study showed that PAASCU accreditation is more attuned to educational concerns such as curriculum and instruction while ISO accreditation is more focused on procedural steps and guidelines concerning educational services and operations. The influence of accreditation (either PAASCU and ISO) on students' choice of schools is likely to be minimal, the reputation of the schools being the major consideration. Results also showed that attainment of quality indicators of the participant schools are attributed to both ISO and PAASCU accreditations. However, based on the costs of accreditation incurred by the participant schools and the benefits and improvements that they enjoyed as a result of accreditation, PAASCU is more cost effective than ISO accreditation. The benefits expected of PAASCU-accredited schools were enjoyed by the participant schools. In contrast, two of the expressed benefits of ISO accreditation were not realized : world class management and attraction of financial investment.