Most educational institutions strive to deliver quality instruction and services, prompting continuous reformulation, implementation, and evaluation of policies grounded in research-based evidence. As such, research has become a vital institutional function, particularly in improving teaching and learning, fostering innovation, and ensuring quality assurance. This expectation presents a challenge to teachers in both basic and higher education to conduct classroom-based research that addresses instructional issues and contributes to system improvement in line with institutional mandates. Anchored on this premise, this descriptive-correlational study examined the research capability of 160 public elementary school teachers. A survey questionnaire was employed to assess their competence in key areas, including technical research skills, problem conceptualization, research planning, and data processing. Findings revealed that teachers demonstrated a moderate level of research capability, indicating their ability to perform research tasks with minimal supervision. The majority of respondents were female, held bachelor’s degrees with master’s units, and occupied Teacher I–III positions. However, most had limited participation in international, national, and regional research trainings and reported minimal research engagement, as evidenced by a lack of completed, presented, or published studies. Key challenges identified included limited time due to teaching and administrative workload, insufficient writing and referencing skills, inadequate data analysis competence, and financial constraints. Based on these findings, the study recommends the development of a research capability enhancement program in collaboration with the Department of Education and research-oriented stakeholders to strengthen teachers’ engagement in research.