MARIKINA POLYTECHNIC COLLEGE

2 Mayor Chanyungco St. Sta. Elena, Marikina City 1800

Graduate School Program

CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT

TABLE OF SPECIFICATION (TOS)

DEFINITION
• A TOS, sometimes called a test blueprint, is a table that helps teachers align objectives,
instruction, and assessment (e.g., Notar, Zuelke, Wilson, & Yunker, 2004)
• The table of specifications (TOS) is a tool used to ensure that a test or assessment measures
the content and thinking skills that the test intends to measure.
• TOS is a chart that provides graphic representations of a related to the content of a course
or curriculum elements and the educational objectives.

PURPOSE OF TABLE OF SPECIFICATION

• identify the achievement domains being measured and to ensure that a fair and
representative sample of questions appear on the test.
• to ensure alignment between the items or elements of an assessment and the content, skills,
or constructs that the assessment intends to assess.
• helps test constructors to focus on issue of response content, ensuring that the test or
assessment measures what it intends to measure.
• Gives us the proof we need to make sure our test has content validity.

PURPOSE OF TABLE OF SPECIFICATION

• Helping in building a balance test
• Give true weight for each lesson
• Achieve the reliability and validity of the test
• Selecting a representative sample
• Giving students self confidence about the justice of the test

COMPONENTS OF TABLE OF SPECIFICATION (TOS)

The TOS depends on the following components.
• course objectives/ topic discussed
• total number of hours used in discussing topics,
• total number of test items to be constructed.
TYPES OF TABLES OF SPECIFICATION (TOS)
• ONE-WAY TABLE OF SPECIFICATION
Only the basic components are needed and the placement of the test items in the test is
created.

• TWO-WAY TABLE OF SPECIFICATION

Here, after identifying the number of test items, the test items are then allocated depending on
the hierarchy of thinking skills. The allocation will depend on the type of topic being tested. If the
test requires only recall of information, it is placed in the lowest level of thinking skills.

LEVELS OF COGNITIVE DOMAIN

SAMPLES OF TABLE OF SPECIFICATION
 TEACHER MADE TEST
WHAT IS TEST?
• a procedure intended to establish the quality, performance, or reliability of something,
especially before it is taken into widespread use.
• a test refers to a tool, technique or a method that is intended to measure students’
knowledge or their ability to complete a particular task. In this sense, testing can be
considered as a form of assessment. Tests should meet some basic requirements, such as
validity and reliability.
• A test is a method of measuring a person’s ability, knowledge. or performance in each
domain (Brown, 2000:384).

WHAT IS TEACHER MADE-TEST?

• used to evaluate the progress of the students in school. However, the specific use of tests
may vary from school to school and teacher or teacher. • The test results can be used for
students, teachers, and for other administrative purposes.
• teacher-made test is an evaluation tool designed by a teacher for his/her students that can
be used at any point during a unit of study. Often the most instructionally relevant tests are
those created by a teacher for a specific group of students to emphasize information
important to the concepts taught” (Childs,1989).
• Teacher Made Test Teacher made test arranged and prepared by the teacher accordance
with his/her necessity. It aims to determine the level of student’s learning progress in
learning language (Jiwandono, 1996:22).

USES OF TEACHER MADE-TEST

• To help a teacher to know whether the class in normal, average, above average or below
average.
• To help him in formulating new strategies for teaching and learning.
• A teacher-made test may be used as a full-fledged achievement test which covers the entire
course of a subject.
• To measure students’ academic achievement in each course.
• To assess how far specified instructional objectives have been achieved.
• To know the efficacy of learning experiences.
• To diagnose students learning difficulties and to suggest necessary remedial measures.
• To certify, classify or grade the students based on resulting scores.
• Skillfully prepared teacher-made tests can serve the purpose of standardized test.
• Teacher-made tests can help a teacher to render guidance and counseling.
• Good teacher-made tests can be exchanged among neighboring schools.
• These tests can be used as a tool for formative, diagnostic and summative evaluation.
• To assess pupils’ growth in different areas.

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF TEACHER MADE-TEST

Advantages
• They are better aligned with classroom objectives.
• They present consistent evaluation material, having the same questions for all the students
in the class.
• They are easy to store and offer accessible material for parents to consult.
• They are easy to administer.
Disadvantages
• Some teachers may not have the necessary abilities to design their own test, and therefore
evaluations may be less reliable.
• teacher-made tests can only measure a student's performance against other students in the
same class.
• teacher made tests may only align with the teacher's goals rather than state and national
goals.
• The type of behavioral changes covered are often limited in scope.

GUIDELINES FOR TEACHER MADE-TEST

1. Create a test before beginning the unit
2. Make sure the test is correlated to course objectives to learning standards and benchmarks.
3. Give clear directions for each section of the test
4. Arrange the questions from simple to complex
5. Give point values for each section (e.g., true, or false (2points each)
6. Vary the question types (true or false, fill in the blank, multiple choice, essay, matching
type) Limit to 10 questions per type.
7. Group question types together.
8. Type or print clearly. (Leave space between questions to facilitate easy reading and writing)
9. Make sure appropriate reading level is used.
10. Include a variety of visual, oral, and kinesthetic tasks.
11. Make allowances for students with special needs.
12. Give sufficient time for all the students to finish.

DIFFERENT TYPES OF TEACHER-MADE TEST

OBJECTIVE TESTS

➢ Objective tests are measures in which responses maximize objectivity, in the sense that
response options are structured such that examinees have only a limited set of options

1.SIMPLE RECALL TYPE TEST

➢ This is the most common tool to measure knowledge. There are varieties of Simple Recall
Test, to include Fill in the blanks, Enumeration, Identification.

FILL IN THE BLANK

➢ These are questions that may contain a sentence or even a paragraph with a blank space.
This space represents a word, number, symbol, or maybe a phrase that the designer has left
out on purpose. The learner is required to fill in this blank. They are expected to know the
exact word or phrase to get the answer correct.
Things to remember when constructing Matching Type Test

1. Only use fill-in-the-blank questions for testing major points, not specific details.
2. Indicate the units and degree of precision expected. For example, on a math question
whose answer is several decimal places, make sure that you say how many decimal
places you want the student to include.
3. Omit only keywords.
4. Avoid too many blanks in one item. It is best to only have one or two blanks for students
to fill in per question.
5. When possible, put blanks near the end of the item.
6. Do not provide clues by adjusting the length of the blank or the number of blanks.
Example
“George Washington _______ the first president of the United States.
” The first president of the United States was________________.” (better)

ENUMERATION
➢ An objective type test in which there are two or more responses to an item.
Example:
Enumerate example of Animals

1. dog
2. ox
3. rabbit
4. eel
5. chameleon

Enumerate Example of Plants with Carbohydrates

• rice
• barley
• wheat
• sweet potato

IDENTIFICATION
➢ It is a type of an examination which can be scored objectively. It usually demands a short
answer and most often to test (remembering) key facts and terms.
Things to remember when constructing Identification Type Test
1.Include in the stem all the qualifying terms or description to arrive at a definite answer.
Example:
It is the center for speech information. _________
It is that part of the hemisphere that is responsible for speech formation. ___________ (better)

2. Give the students a reasonable basis for the responses desired. Avoid indefinite statements.
Example:
President Noynoy Aquino was born. __________
The birthplace of President Noynoy Aquino. __________ (better)

3.Avoid giving the student unwarranted clues to the desired response.

4.Avoid lifting statements directly from the book.
5.Guard against the possibility that one item or part of the test may suggest the correct response
to another item.

2.TRUE OR FALSE
➢ a test consisting of statements that must be marked as either true or false
Things to remember when constructing True or False Test
1. Do not give a hint (inadvertently) in the body of the question.
 Example:
The Philippines gained its independence in 1898 and therefore celebrated its centennial year
in 2000.

2. Avoid using the words “always”, “never” “often” and other adverbs that tend to be either
always true or always false.
Example:
Christmas always falls on a Sunday because it is a Sabbath day.

3. Avoid trick statements with some minor misleading word or spelling anomaly, misplaced
phrases, etc. A wise student who does not know the subject matter may detect this
strategy and thus get the answer correctly.
Example:
The Principle of our school is Mr. Albert P. Panadero.

4. Avoid quoting verbatim from reference materials or textbooks. This practice sends the
wrong signal to the students that it is necessary to memorize the textbook word for word
and thus, acquisition of higher-level thinking skills is not given due importance.

5. With true or false questions, avoid a grossly disproportionate number of either true or
false statements or even patterns in the occurrence of true and false statements.

3.MULTIPLE CHOICE
➢ is a form of an objective assessment in which respondents are asked to select only correct
answers from the choices offered as a list.

Things to remember when constructing Multiple Choice Test

1. Use Plausible Distractors (wrong-response options)
• Only list plausible distractors, even if the number of options per question changes
• Write the options so they are homogeneous in content
• Use answers given in previous open-ended exams to provide realistic distractors

2. Use a Question Format

• Experts encourage multiple-choice items to be prepared as questions (rather than
incomplete statements)
Example:
The capital of California is in--------------.(Less effective)
In which of the following cities is the capital of California? (more effective)

3. Emphasize Higher-Level Thinking

• Use memory-plus application questions. These questions require students to recall
principles, rules or facts in a real-life context.
• The key to preparing memory-plus application questions is to place the concept in a life
situation or context that requires the student to first recall the facts and then apply or transfer
the application of those facts into a situation.
• Seek support from others who have experience writing higher-level thinking multiple-
choice questions.
Example:
Memory Only Example
Which description best characterizes whole foods? ( less effective)
a. orange juice
b. toast
c. bran cereal
d. grapefruit
 Memory-Plus Application Example
Sally’s breakfast this morning included one glass of orange juice (from concentrate), one
slice of toast, a small bowl of bran cereal and a grapefruit. What “whole food” did Sally
eat for breakfast? (more effective)
a. orange juice
b. toast
c. bran cereal
d. grapefruit

4. Use negative stated stems sparingly and when using negatives such as NOT underline or
bold the print.

5. Use none of the above and all the above sparingly, ang when you do use them, don’t
always make them the right answer.

4.MATCHING TYPE
➢ matching-type test is like the multiple-choice test. In this kind of test, the examinee
associates an item in one column with a choice in the second column
Things to remember when constructing Matching Type Test
1. Give clear directions and instructions
2. The premises column must be in the left while the response column is in the right.
3. Premises is less than the number of responses.
4. Be sure item has a pair
5. Place all the items for one matching exercises on the same page.
6. Arrange items in the response column in either logical or natural order alphabetically if
there is no apparent organizational basis.
Example of Perfect Matching Type
Match the theories in Column A with their proponents in Column B. Write the letter of the
correct answer.
Column A (Premise) Column B (Responses)
___1. Psychodynamic Theory A. Albert Bandura
___2. Trait theory B. B.F Skinner
___3. Behaviorism C. Carl Rogers
___4. Humanism D. Gordon Allport
___5. Social Learning Theory E. Karn Horney
F. Raymond Cattell
G. Sigmund Freud
SUBJECTIVE TEST
➢ an assessment tool that is scored according to personal judgment or to standards that are
less systematic than those used in objective tests.

1.ESSAY
➢ Essay test is a test that requires the student to structure a rather long written response up
to several paragraphs.” -William Weirsama. I.e.
➢ the essay test refers to any written test that requires the examinee to write a sentence, a
paragraph or longer passages.”

RESTRICTED RESPONSE ITEM

➢ This is like an expanded form of short answer type objective test. There is a limit on both
the content scope and the form of student response. It is, most useful in measuring
learning outcomes that require the interpretation and application of data in a specific area.

Examples:
1.What are the main body parts of the plant? Describe each part.
2.Why is the barometer one of the most useful instruments to forecast the weather?
Explain in one paragraph.

EXTENTED RESPONSE ITEM

➢ The student is generally free to select any factual information that can help in organizing
the response. The contents of an extended essay will depend on the analysis, synthesis,
evaluation, and other higher order thinking skills of the test takers.
Examples:
1.Evaluate the significance of the result of national referendum of Scotland to the global
peace condition.
2.Comment on the term “new normal” that refers to the environmental condition and
climate change.