Gatchalian mulls bill creating independent body for education assessment

Senator Win Gatchalian plans to file a bill that seeks to create an independent agency or body for testing and evaluation to properly measure and improve learner outcomes.

"If you think about it, the Department of Education (DepEd) formulates and delivers the curriculum, formulates the assessment, analyzes the data, and based on the findings, the DepEd tells itself to make corrections. If you think about it, how can the DepEd do self-correction when it is the one who developed and delivered the curriculum? So it makes sense to have an independent body to come up with the assessment, analyze it, and tell the DepEd what to do, because then you have the concept of check and balance," said Gatchalian.

The senator shared the example of Australia's National Assessment Program-Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN), which determines how well young Australians are developing literacy and numeracy. The NAPLAN is developed by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, an independent statutory authority responsible for the development of a national curriculum, a national assessment program, and a national data collection and reporting program.

In Finland, the Finnish Education Evaluation Centre (FINEEC) carries out evaluations for early childhood education all the way to higher education. The FINEEC is an independent agency and is guided by Finland's national education evaluation plan.

Gatchalian pointed out that in 1991, the first Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM I) already recommended the creation of an autonomous national testing and evaluation agency, which "shall develop, administer, supervise, and evaluate national achievement tests." The EDCOM I also proposed that this agency shall conduct and evaluate other tests on aptitude, intelligence, personality, equivalency, and tests for national scholarships. The creation of this body, however, never materialized.

The Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Basic Education also flagged that there is no consolidated, central data bank despite the administering of several tests such as the Early Language, Literacy and Numeracy Assessment (ELLNA), the National Achievement Test (NAT), the Comprehensive Rapid Literacy Assessment (CRLA), and the Philippine Informal Reading Inventory (PHIL-IRI), among others.

Gatchalian also lamented that there is no periodic and systemic analysis of assessment data to inform educational policy. Assessment datasets are also not publicly available for external review, which also leads to the lack of a clear and timely feedback mechanism of assessment data for learners, teachers, experts, policy makers, and other stakeholders.

Independent body para sa education assessment imumungkahi ni Gatchalian

Balak ni Senador Win Gatchalian na maghain ng isang panukalang batas na naglalayong magtatag ng isang independent body, o hiwalay na ahensya na siyang magsasagawa ng assessment sa performance ng mga mag-aaral.

"Kung iisipin natin, ang Department of Education (DepEd) ang bumubuo at nagpapatupad ng curriculum, ito rin ang nagsasagawa ng assessment, sumusuri sa datos, at batay sa mga nagiging resulta ng pag-aaral, mismong DepEd din ang nagwawasto sa sarili nito. Pero bakit kailangang iwasto ng DepEd ang sarili nito kung siya naman ang gumagawa at nagpapatupad ng curriculum? Kaya marapat lamang na magkaroon ng isang independent body na siyang magsasagawa ng assessment, susuri ng mga resulta, at magbibigay ng mga rekomendasyon sa DepEd upang magkaroon tayo ng konsepto ng check and balance," ani Gatchalian.

Ibinigay na halimbawa ng senador ang National Assessment Program-Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) ng Australia na sumusukat at sumusuri sa literacy at numeracy ng mga batang Australians. Ang NAPLAN ay itinatag ng Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, isang hiwalay na tanggapan para sa pagbuo ng national curriculum, national assessment program, at national data collection and reporting program.

Sa Finland naman, isinasagawa ng Finnish Education Evaluation Centre (FINEEC) ang mga evaluation mula early childhood education hanggang sa kolehiyo. Isang malayang ahensya ang FINEEC na ginagabayan ng national education evaluation plan ng Finland.

Paliwanag ni Gatchalian, 1991 pa lang noong magbigay ang unang Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM I) ng rekomendasyong lumikha ng isang malayang national testing and evaluation agency na bubuo, magsasagawa, at magsusuri sana ng mga national achievement tests. Inirekomenda rin ng EDCOM I noon na magsasagawa at susuri rin sana ang ahensyang ito ng iba pang mga test o pagsasanay sa kakayahan, talino, personalidad, equivalency, at mga pambansang scholarships. Ngunit hindi naisakatuparan ang pagbuo ng ahensyang ito.

Ayon pa sa Chairperson ng Senate Committee on Basic Education, walang organisado at sentralisadong data bank sa kabila ng pagsasagawa ng maraming mga test tulad ng Early Language, Literacy and Numeracy Assessment (ELLNA), National Achievement Test (NAT), Comprehensive Rapid Literacy Assessment (CRLA), Philippine Informal Reading Inventory (PHIL-IRI), at iba pa.

Dagdag pa ng senador, ngayon ay walang regular at sistematikong pagsusuri ng assessment data upang magabayan ang mga kasalukuyang polisiya sa edukasyon. Hindi rin ibinabahagi sa publiko ang mga assessment dataset para sa pagsusuri, bagay na nagdudulot ng kawalan ng malinaw at napapanahong feedback mechanism sa datos ng assessment ng mga mag-aaral, mga guro, mga eksperto, mga policy makers, at iba pang mga katuwang sa edukasyon.