BASIC EDUCATION SECTOR REFORM AGENDA (BESRA) PERFORMANCE IMPLEMENTATION IN DAVAO CITY DIVISION: RHETORIC AND REALITY Elsie E. Gagabe, PhD EPS – SBM Coordinator Abstract The study sought to determine the significant determinants of the BESRA Policy implementation performance in Davao City Division. Primary and secondary data were used through key informant interview and focus group discussion. Using Exploratory Factor Analysis and Linear Regression, it generated results that BESRA policy performance implementation is very sufficient, and continuous school improvement facilitated by active involvement of stakeholders (KRT 1) and better learning outcomes are achieved through standards-driven reform in teacher education and development (KRT 2) are significant determinants amongst public schools across congressional districts; while KRT1 and desired learning outcomes enhanced by National Learning Strategies and quality assurance (KRT 3) are significant determinants of BESRA Policy implementation performance in Elementary and Secondary levels. Furthermore, human resources, appreciation, efficiency and effectiveness and good public perception are checkpoints, whilst, less participation, low motivation and insufficient equipment are chokepoints in the implementation of BESRA Policy in Davao City Division. Introduction Policymakers are responsible for developing a vision and strategy for educational development and mobilizing support and cooperation in implementing the vision and strategy into a wide range of constituencies. These include government and non- government agencies that have influence on the amount of resources; teachers and school administrators; students and their families; and the public at large who supplied skilled labor and contributed to nation building and enriched the country’s social and cultural life. Given the diversity of constituencies, conflict of interests among them is inevitable, so it is hard to identify policy that would best serve the whole country. The way forward typically will involve tradeoffs among competing ends. Managing these tradeoffs well is therefore a key mission for decision makers in the education sector. 1