The Department of Education (DepEd), mandated to ensure access to quality basic education for all Filipinos, is committed to engage in various national and international system assessments to guide its efforts to address the challenge of improving the quality of basic education. Towards this end, DepEd participated in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) for the first time in the 2018 cycle. The Department likewise participated in the Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics (SEA-PLM) 2019 and in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2019.
The results of the participation by the Philippines in these international large-scale assessments (ILSA) bring to light the need to accelerate the efforts to improve education quality. One way to contribute to the improvement of quality of basic education is to enhance the alignment of classroom assessment with ILSAs such as PISA. Studies have shown that proper alignment between formative assessments and subsequent summative assessment is crucial in effective learning and assessment quality. In line with this, Gulikers et al. (2013) submit that formative assessments should “change along with summative assessment innovations,” highlighting that teachers’ conceptions must be addressed to ensure the development of formative assessment practices aligned to these innovations. Further, according to Care (2018), “It is essential that there is strong alignment, not only between curriculum, assessment and pedagogy, but also across the different assessment levels - from classroom to national system - if stated learning goals and the educational philosophy of the country are to be realised.”
This professional development program, entitled Professional Development Program on Assessment and Emerging Literacies with focus on PISA, will thus aim improve teachers’ assessment literacy and content knowledge to help them align their classroom practice with the emerging literacies measured by international assessments.
