Involvement in the Regional Field Testing and Revision Phase of EPP 4, 5, and 6 (ICT and Entrepreneurship)

Last Monday,  at past 3 in the afternoon,  our District Supervisor arrived.  He called the principal to the office and instructed her to select 4 Master Teachers who will be assigned to administer the tests. One MT was assigned for Agriculture. Another was assigned in Industrial Arts. Another for Home Economics. And me?  Yes,  me!  I was assigned for ICT (Information and Communications Technology)  and Entrepreneurship. Oh!  I was bewildered. A new task was before me. And my eagerness to experience new tasks pushed me to accept the challenge. I got a strike of excitement for the FIELD TESTING AND REVISION PHASE OF TEST ITEM BANK DEVELOP FOR EPP 4, 5, 6! This was based on a regional memorandum to conduct field testing of test banks developed by curriculum writers. Each Division was assigned a learning area.  And for Northern Samar,  EPP was given.  Yes that's it!  I am one of the four lucky teachers given this BIG opportunity to conduct the field testing in the division amd region. What an honor.

The supervisor handed us the test materials. As I was reading it,  I noticed its columns labeld competencies,  code,  test question,  answers key. I realized the main purpose of conducting the test. It was quite different to what we thought it was. Commonly we conduct test to measure the learners abilities,  diagnose their strengths and weaknesses, assess how far they have learned about the competencies. But this time,  the purpose is to test if the test really covers what it intends to measure,  note some rooms for improvement, and see the tests' capacity to test learners' varied abilities.

The next day,  August 1, was the test administration schedule. I started giving the test to Grade 5 FL,  then Grade 6 FL,  and Grade 4 FL in the afternoon. It was while administering test to Grade 6 FL when the Division Supervisor for EPP arrived to monitor the conduct of Field Testing. Dr. Lucilla Balondo was accomponied by my principal, Ruth Gorda and supervisor Dr. Pedro Vargas. I already had worked with Dr. Balondo in the Division Federated Teachers Association. Seeing her in our school made me so glad, as she was also delighted to see me in my class.  She even said "Now I know where to find you! ".

After each test, we checked learners answers at once. We also accomplished the template provided by the regional office for the purpose.

On August 2, I have personally submitted the results to Dr.  Rey F.  Bulawan,  our Division Chied for CID. I thanked him for the opportunity,  and he thanked me for the help. But for me,  it is me who would always be thankful about the experience because it is seldom a chance.

I usually analyze things as they happen so that I would gain insights from them. And for this, I have beautiful insights:

The tests were great. The curriculum writers who developed them did a commendable work. The items would definitely be useful to both teachers and learners.  To teachers,  those are candid collection of formative tests.  To learners,  the tests provide them comprehensive application of what they learn.

However,  there were minimal corrections that I have spotted. Spelling.  Grammar. Spacing. Ambiguity of some items. Missing rubrics. Inappropriate rubrics indicators. Missing Answers Key.  Misleading facts. Others.

I realized for the test to really serve its purpose,  it has to undergo lots of revisions and editting. Though works of experts,  errors are inevitable. But yes,  they can be minimized.

It was a rewarding experience. I enjoyed it. It was I am like a true editor, consultant,  critique.  Or whatever they call it. But for me,  I am just an ordinary worker given an extra challenge and very much willing to explore an adventure to improve professional growth. If I will be given chance to work on the same or even higher task (like editting or writing questions) I will be more willing to accept it.