An instrument to measure School Adaptive Capacity Index was developed using livelihood assets and school management as the main determinants using the theory driven approach to indicator development. Randomly selected teachers from the 38 public elementary and high schools from Bay and Los Baños Laguna, grouped according to the effects of floods experienced, were interviewed. It was found that the schools in general were highly adaptive. High schools have better human and physical assets than elementary schools, while non-flooded schools have better natural assets than flooded schools. SACI of high schools were significantly higher than elementary schools. On the other hand, flooded and non flooded schools have more or less the same SACI. School management and social assets were vital in increasing the adaptive capacity of schools in the different groups. Scores in a particular asset may vary between groups and within each group implying that there is no uniform approach to improving the adaptive capacity and that interventions should always consider the uniqueness among each of these schools. The instrument developed is highly recommended to assess the institutional adaptive capacities of other schools to floods.

This descriptive study examined the acceptability of the Senior High Shool (SHS) program during its first year of implementation, considering urban and rural differentiation. Cluster and purposive sampling selected 1,420 students and 96 parents, respectively, from five urban and five rural schools offering two or more academic with technical-vocational-livelihood strands in Laguna. Factor analysis on indicators revealed higher program acceptability among urban respondents, who recognized its role in making students college- or work-ready and cited advocacy efforts as crucial to acceptability. Finance-related factors elicited poor acceptability, especially among low-income families due to additional expenses and lost opportunity for children. Mann-Whitney U test results indicated more openness and willingness among urban respondents towards SHS implementation. Content analysis of interviews with four purposively chosen local government officials showed that advocacy programs significantly raised acceptability and that government provision of needed resources is paramount, especially in rural areas. Policy and practice implications are discussed.