INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCIENTIFIC & TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH VOLUME 7, ISSUE 7, JULY 2018 ISSN 2277-8616 128 IJSTR©2018 www.ijstr.org Linking The DOTS Of STEM Instruction In Private Higher Education Institution Inocencia Marcojos – Canon Abstract: This research determined the factors affecting STEM Instruction in the K to 12 implementation at Private Higher Education Institution in Maasin City, Southern Leyte, during School Year 2017 - 2018 as basis for Development Plan. The respondents were 44 instructors and 238 Grade 12 students in STEM. The researcher used the descriptive method to measure teacher’s instructional competency, school climate and teaching – learning facilities. Another questionnaire was used to measure student’s attitudes toward STEM. The following were the highlights of the study: (a) Majority of STEM teachers were females and at their young age, married and have master’s degree units. The teachers are in need of adeq uate number of hours K to 12 trainings and seminars. (b) In terms of Instructional competence results are highly proficient; Further, school climate and teaching-learning facilities are proficient. (c) In students’ academic performance, majority of the students got very satisfactory and have a desirable attitudes toward STEM. (d) The teacher-respondents’ Hours of K to 12 Trainings correlates with Teachers’ Competence; Curriculum Content and Pedagogy is also correlated with Teacher-respondents’ Bachelor’s Degree Course. Also, School Climate is correlated with Gender. (e) There is no significant relationship between the factors affecting K to 12 implementation and the Academic performance of students. (f) The best practices observed by the teachers manifest their preeminent obligation to give their best to be effective of the entire school system. Keywords: Development Education, STEM Instruction, Descriptive Method, Leyte, Philippines ——————————  —————————— INTRODUCTION Most countries across the globe operate on a 12-year basic education cycle. Nearly all countries in the world revitalized educational system during the last two decades. Even Indonesia and Japan reformed their curriculum in the primary and secondary school to meet global and social demands of changing technology. Worldwide, the Philippines joined Djibouti and Angola of Africa having the shortest pre-university education system with the other countries having 13 or 14 year cycle. These facts has been seen as an academic disadvantage for our students who are competing in an increasingly global job market. The educational system has failed the Filipino students whose achievement scores are very low. The results in International test like TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) showed that the Philippines was ranked 34 th out of 38 th countries in HS Math II and 43 rd out of 46 countries in HS Science II. For elementary level, the Philippines ranked 23 rd out of 25 th participating countries in both Math and Science subjects in grade 4. In 2008, even with only the Science high schools participated in the Advanced Mathematics category, the Philippines was ranked lowest. Report on the World Economic Forum which showed the Philippines ranks a poor seventh among the ninth Southeast Asian nations in the area of education and innovation. The result also showed that the Philippines were only faring better than Cambodia among the Southeast Asian countries that were surveyed in the field of education, science and technology and innovation. In all categories, the Philippines was behind Singapore, Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. Because education program in the Philippines is described as congested students have limited time to perform tasks in a span of 12 years. Furthermore, because Filipino students are not equipped with the basic skills or competencies needed at work, therefore, they are not yet ready to go to college or employment. Given all these supported facts, there is a need to improve the quality of basic education by enhancing it and expanding the basic education cycle (Vellasco, 2012). The much – needed overhaul of the Philippine’s basic education system becomes a reality through Republic Act 10533, also known as the Enhanced Basic Education Act which was made into a law last May, 2013 making the pre-university and basic education from 10 to 13 years. The expansion of basic education brings the country into conformity with other countries worldwide. The educational shift does not only focus on curriculum enhancement but also aims to produce holistically developed citizens equipped with 21 st century skills essential for both life-long learning and employment. The government had decided to implement the K to 12 basic education after considering various proposals and studies, the design that is crafted by DepEd is the K-6-4-2. This design involves Kindergarten, six years of elementary education, four years of junior high school (Grades 7 to 10) and two years of senior high school (Grades 11 to 12). The purpose of adding two years of senior high school is to provide time for students to acquire academic skills and competencies that will equip them with skills for the future, whether it be for employment, entrepreneurship, skills development (further Tech-Voc training), and higher education or college. The Senior High School Curriculum is aligned with the curriculum of the Commission of Higher Education (CHED) to ensure that by the time students graduate from senior high school, they are enhanced with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to go to college. The collaboration of state universities and colleges (SUCs) and local universities (LUCs) are required in the implementation of the K to 12 program to fill up the lack of classrooms and teachers. Senior high students could be put up in the already existing classrooms in SUCs and LUCs and college teachers could be tapped to teach senior high. However, for private HEIs that do not offer high school, this could be a valid concern that might lead to displacement of teachers. The students after undergoing Senior High School can choose among four tracks: Academic; Technical-Vocational-Livelihood; Sports Track; and Arts and Design Track. The Academic track includes four strands: Accountancy, Business, Management (ABM); Humanities and Social Sciences (HUMSS); Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM); and General Academic Strand (GAS). These tracks-based competencies are developed to meet the country’s varied human capital requirements, and to prepare students for productive endeavor (Calderon, 2013). The absence of the