NASH Competency Domains: The Five PPSSH Domains

DepEd’s memos point to one content standard for the National Assessment for School Heads (NASH). DepEd Memorandum (DM) No. 069, s. 2025 says its questions are aligned with the Philippine Professional Standards for School Heads (PPSSH), adopted through DepEd Order (DO) No. 024, s. 2020. If you want to know what the NASH covers, the PPSSH is the document to read.

This guide summarizes the five PPSSH domains, lists their 34 strands, and explains why the domains matter so much in your NASH result.

Domains, strands and indicators

DO 24, s. 2020 uses three terms you will keep meeting:

• Domain: a broad sphere of school leadership practice.
• Strand: a specific dimension of practice within a domain.
• Indicator: a concrete, observable and measurable behavior or practice under each strand.

The five domains together contain 34 strands. The NASH reports scores at the indicator, domain and overall levels, so this structure is also the structure of your results.

Domain 1: Leading Strategically

This domain is about setting the school’s direction. The PPSSH describes quality school heads as people who set goals and objectives, make sure stakeholders understand and embrace them, and draw on laws, policies, research and feedback to respond to the school’s changing needs.

Domain 1 has seven strands:

1. Vision, mission and core values
2. School planning and implementation
3. Policy implementation and review
4. Research and innovation
5. Program design and implementation
6. Learner voice
7. Monitoring and evaluation processes and tools

Domain 2: Managing School Operations and Resources

This domain covers the school’s systems and processes: managing people, money and materials according to laws and issuances, with transparency and accountability.

Domain 2 has six strands:

1. Records management
2. Financial management
3. School facilities and equipment
4. Management of staff
5. School safety for disaster preparedness, mitigation and resiliency
6. Emerging opportunities and challenges

Domain 3: Focusing on Teaching and Learning

This is instructional leadership. The PPSSH expects school heads to give technical assistance on curriculum, practice and performance, and to keep the school learner-centered and inclusive.

Domain 3 has eight strands:

1. School-based review, contextualization and implementation of learning standards
2. Teaching standards and pedagogies
3. Teacher performance feedback
4. Learner achievement and other performance indicators
5. Learning assessment
6. Learning environment
7. Career awareness and opportunities
8. Learner discipline

Domain 4: Developing Self and Others

This domain is about people: the school head’s own growth and that of the staff. It covers reflection, professional learning, and creating opportunities for others to learn, lead and progress.

Domain 4 has eight strands:

1. Personal and professional development
2. Professional reflection and learning
3. Professional networks
4. Performance management
5. Professional development of school personnel
6. Leadership development in individuals and teams
7. General welfare of human resources
8. Rewards and recognition mechanism

Domain 5: Building Connections

The last domain covers relationships with stakeholders: communicating the school’s vision, building trust with individuals and organizations, and advocating that education is everyone’s responsibility.

Domain 5 has five strands:

1. Management of diverse relationships
2. Management of school organizations
3. Inclusive practice
4. Communication
5. Community engagement

Where aspiring school heads fit

The PPSSH describes four career stages. Career Stage 1 is explicitly the aspiring school head: someone who has acquired the prerequisite qualifications and shows basic knowledge and understanding of the authority, responsibility and accountability of a school head. Career Stages 2 to 4 describe increasing independence, depth and mastery.

That is a useful reality check when you study. The NASH is aimed at people preparing to become principals, so you are expected to understand the role well, not to have years of experience running a school.

Why the domains decide your result

The domains are not just study headings. In the FY 2025 results (DM 097, s. 2025), DepEd placed each taker in a competency level based on the overall score and the domain scores, each on a 1 to 100 scale:

• Meeting PPSSH standards in 4 domains: 65 or higher overall and in at least four domains.
• Meeting PPSSH standards in 3 domains: 65 or higher overall and in at least three domains, with a required development program within three months of appointment.
• With Developmental Areas: everyone else, who must complete professional development interventions before being considered.

So a high overall score is not enough on its own. You need 65 or more in at least three of the five domains to be a prospective candidate, and in four to avoid extra training after appointment. A domain you neglect can hold you back even if the others are strong. Our guide How the NASH Is Scored: The 65-Point Rule explains the full method.

How to use this when studying

• Read the full PPSSH document (DO 24, s. 2020), not only the strand titles. The indicators under each strand describe the behavior the standards expect at each career stage.
• Give every domain real time. The scoring rewards breadth across domains.
• For each strand, think of a real school situation it applies to. The NASH tests situational critical thinking, so practice applying the standards, not reciting them.

We turn this into a week-by-week schedule in An 8-Week NASH Study Plan Built on the PPSSH.

Key points

• The NASH is aligned with the PPSSH (DO 24, s. 2020): 5 domains and 34 strands.
• Career Stage 1 in the PPSSH describes the aspiring school head the NASH is meant for.
• FY 2025 competency levels depended on scoring 65 or higher overall and in at least three or four domains.
• Study every domain; a weak domain can lower your competency level.