In the bustling classrooms of Philippine public schools, where kindergarten teachers like those at Malagasang II Elementary navigate limited spaces and materials to foster early literacy through play, a 2025 evaluative analysis by Ancheta Jr. emerged as a vital lens on Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) programs. This study delved into standardized checklists tracking children's progress across cognitive skills, health metrics, self-help abilities, expressive language, and nutrition, painting a clear picture of regional strengths—like budding cognitive gains—but stark weaknesses, such as lagging self-help skills and incomplete immunizations that demand targeted, child-centered interventions.​

What shone brightest in this work was its deep roots in the local context, mirroring the DepEd standards that guide your daily practice in Imus City and offering actionable insights for play-based tweaks, such as enriched nutritional activities to bolster holistic growth amid resource hurdles. Yet, the analysis faltered in breadth, leaning too heavily on quantitative checklists without longitudinal follow-ups or control groups to capture long-term shifts or diverse urban-rural dynamics, while sidelining qualitative nuances like family influences that checklists alone can't reveal in motivation or emotional readiness.​

Ultimately, this ECCD evaluation stands as a practical call to action for teachers balancing PPST reflections with classroom realities, proving powerful when paired with observations during learning stations, though it underscores the need for scalable, mixed-method approaches to truly illuminate every child's developmental journey