CHAPTER 7

PLANNING THE
TEST
Intended Learning Outcomes

At the end of the chapter 7, students are

expected to:

• Prepare a table of specifications for a classroom

test.
OVERALL TEST DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

• The purpose of test construction for classroom testing

applies the same initial steps in the construction of any
instrument designed to measure a psychological
construct.

•A. Planning Phase- purpose of the test is identifies

learning outcomes to assessed and clearly specified and
lastly a table of specifications is prepared to guide item
construction phase.
• B. Item Construction Phase- where the test items are
constructed following the appropriate its format for the
specified learning outcomes of instructions.

• C. Review Phase- where items are examined by the

teacher or his/her peers, prior administration based on
judgement of their alignment to content and behavior
components of the instructional competencies, and after
administration, based on an analysis of student
performance in each item.
 IDENTIFYING PURPOSE OF TEST

• Testing as an assessment mechanism aims to gather

valid and reliable information useful to both learners
and teachers for formative as well as summative
purposes.

• Classroom formative assessment seek to uncover what

students know and can do to get feedback on what they
need to alter or work on farther to improve learning
• Teacher can use the result to map out their pedagogical
moves to improve teaching learning for appropriate
mentoring.

• Feedback provided is used primarily to address specific

student learning problem while instruction is still in
progress ( Russel and Airasian,2012).
• Multiple-choice items, lend themselves well in the
detecting and diagnosing the source of difficulty in
terms of misconceptions and areas of confusion.

• Items test 9/12 – 2/4

• A. 7/8 (error in getting difference in both numerator and
denominator)
• B. 3/12 (correct option)
• C. 4/12 (error in changing dissimilar fraction to similar
ones)
• D. 6/12 (error in getting difference between similar
fractions)
• The test considers the planned competencies to be
developed in the unit of work.

• Their test motivation is contingent on stake they put on

testing, to “pass the test”, to “pass the course” or to
“get high grades”.

• Many teachers conveniently use testing as their sole

means to arrive at objective measures for evaluating
students’ performance and later, for communicating
grades to stakeholder.
 SPECIFYING THE LEARNING OUTCOMES
• Assessment has changed considerably as advances
occur in the field of educational and cognitive
psychology particularly in defining learning and its
domain.

• Defining learning has progressed from being simply an

accumulation of facts to being able to allow the learner
to interpret and apply such facts to create new
knowledge.
• The learning outcomes communicate both specific
content and nature of tasks to be performed

• Assessment then becomes a quality assurance tool for

tracking student progress in attaining the curriculum
standards in terms of content and performance.
• Summative test given at the end of an instructional
process focus on the accomplishment the learning
outcomes demarcated in every unit of work designed
in the curriculum.

• Classroom tests need to be carefully planned to ensure

that they truthfully and reliably quantify what are
intended to measured.
 PREPARING A TEST BLUEPRINT

• The purpose of the test maybe, a teacher must

determine appropriately the learning outcomes to be
assessed and how they will be assessed.

• The curriculum dictates the instructional as well as

assessment strategies to be applied while assessment
informs both the curriculum and instruction what
decision to make to improve learning.
• To assure the preparation of a good test, a test is
commonly set up in a two-way Table of
specifications (TOS) that basically spell out needed.

• WHAT will be tested and HOW it will be tested to

obtain the information needed.
• WHAT covers two aspects: the content area (i.e subject
matter) being covered and the target learning
outcomes (i.e competencies).

• HOW specifies the test format i.e. the type of

assessment question or task to be used and the item
distribution to attain an effective and balanced
sampling of skills to be tested.
•One-way TOS is often used for skill-oriented subjects
like language an reading or for classroom formative tests
focusing on specific skills.
•Table 7.1 A Simple One-way TOS For A Language
Test
Objectives/Skills Number of items/points
• 1. Identify the statements 10
with errors in verb use.
• 2. Supply the correct verb 10
forms in a paragraph.
• 3. Prepare a new article 20
reporting a past school activity.
•Total items/points 40
• Both elements are shown, i.e. what (subject matter and
skills) and how (type of test format).
• This instantiates a two-way grid or three-way grid
depending on the elements displays.
• TABLE 7.2 SAMPLE TWO-WAY TABLE OF
SPECIFICATION
• Table 7.3 shows an expanded TOS by indicating the
specific item format to be used in framing the test
questions
• TABLE 7.3 AN EXPANDED TABLE OF
SPECIFICATIONS
• Table 7.4 each unit may be intended to develop a
common set of skills like conceptual understanding,
computational skills and problem solving in mathematics.
• TABLE 7.4 TABLE OF SPECIFICATIONS IN
MATHEMATICS
• In language, the outcomes “demonstrate use of
correct subject-verb agreement” can be broken into
more specific tasks for diagnostic purposes as shown in
Table 7.5.
•Table 7.5 Table of Specifications for a Mastery
Test onType
Subject Subject-Verb Agreement
Use correct Use correct Numberof
verb forms verb form items
with singular with plural
subjects subjects
First person 5 5 10
Second 5 5 10
perso
Third person 5 5 10
 Activity 1: REFLECTING ON ASSESSMENT PURPOSE
Given in the matrix are some of the testing events
you may have experienced. Reflect on the possible
purpose of the teacher in giving the test and identify
whether it is formative or summative in nature.
Check the appropriate box for each item.

Testing Event Formative Summative

1. A quiz was given
after reading a short
story in your English
class
2 Teacher gave a test to find out how familiar
the class is with words they will meet in the
story

3. A periodical test is scheduled at the end of

the month in all subjects

4. Teacher determine how many have obtained

80% of the weekly test given in addition.

5. Teacher administered a year end test in

preparation for student report cards.
6. An oral recitation was conducted to find out
how well they read the editorial.
7. Teacher sample the instructional objective
to be tested at the end of the quarter.
8. Students were asked to record their weekly
score in their math notebook.
9. Class was given a pretest before they start
the unit on long division.
10. Fifty % of the final test score determined
the students grades.
ACTIVITY 2: ASSESSMENT BASED
INSTRUCTIONAL DECISION

Identify the possible instructional decision the teacher

may have to make in each of the testing events in
Activity 1?
ACTIVITY 3: RELATING COMPETENCIES TO
COGNITIVE LEVEL
Below is a list of some learning competencies in Science.
Opposite each one. indicate the cognitive lovet being
focused on.
APPLY
ANALYZING A UNIT OF STUDY
1. Select a unit of study in any subject area of your
choice. You can make we of a chapter book being
used by a target grade of level of learners. Study the
chapter well and identify the topic areas and the
learning outcomes (competencies) intended to be
developed. Provide the learning target for each
outcome. There may be more than one competency
for each topic or you may find the same outcome
appearing in different topics. Use the matrix that
follows to indicate your response.
Subject Area:__________
Unit:_____
Grade:_________
2. Given the intended learning outcomes you have
identified in No. 1. group together those having the
same learning target and rewrite them in the matrix
below. Suggest an appropriate test format for each.
Leaming Instructional Test Format
Target Outcomes/Tasks (Selection, Supply
or Performance)
A. Knowledge 1.

2.

3.
 4.

5.

B. 1.
Reasoning
2.

3.

4.

5.
C. Process/Skills 1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
D. Product 1.
2.
3.
E. Effect
ASSESS

Name:________ Date:_____

Task: Preparing table of specifications

Construct a two-way table of specification for a

summative test to assess what the learners have
learned in the unit you have chosen. Include the
necessary elements that will guide you in preparing the
items. Label the columns appropriately.
A two-way table of specifications for ____________
Grade______________
The end.