Kindergarten is the first step in a formal education pre-requisite to Grade 1 as stipulated in Kindergarten Education Act (Republic Act 10157). This education level is a critical year for children where their experiences nurture positive approaches to learning and prepare them for the more thorough academic expectations of the primary grades (National Association for the Education of Young Children, 2009). The study determined the best predictors of teaching performance emanating from the teachers and pupils using a Multivariate Linear Regression Analysis.

Twenty kindergarten teachers together with the 275 kindergarten pupils proportionately and randomly selected from the 875 kindergarten pupils enrolled in the different public schools of Nueva Vizcaya were the respondents. A researcher-made questionnaire was used to gather the demographic profile of the teacher-respondents. The Competency-Based Performance Appraisal System for Teachers (CB-PAST) result was the basis of teacher's teaching performance. The Early Childhood Development Checklist (ECCD) Post-Test result was used as the level of kindergarten pupils' level of early childhood development.

The study found that five out of seven best predictors of teachers' teaching performance emanated from the teachers themselves; these were teachers' dialect spoken, ethnicity, civil status, number of seminars/trainings, and number of years in teaching kindergarten. The pupils' dialect spoken and preschools attended were likewise determined as predictors of teachers' teaching performance.

Thesis (Master of Education - Educational Administration)

Includes appendices and bibliographical references.