Students take NMI-designed Reading tests

Over 2,000 public school students from selected grade levels this week began sitting through 45-minute tests on Reading, jump-starting the implementation phase of a five-year accountability plan designed to gather baseline data on how local students are faring on major content areas.

Armed with knowledge accumulated through years of schooling, students in the 4th, 8th and 11th grades across CNMI public schools started taking the two-part, locally-made standardized assessments since Wednesday.

The Reading tests, which took an entire year for a team of 40 community members to develop, are not in multiple choice format. Rather, they are styled to generate constructive responses in a bid to measure the depth of what students know and can do.

Public School System officials kicked-off the Reading Assessments’ implementation with excitement, taking pride in being one of the first among state education agencies to move forward with such an accountability plan.

“This week is quite a celebration for the PSS, this is the first time for the Reading Assessment and it’s been a lot of effort for teachers and administrators. These are really exciting times to find out how kids are doing,” said Dr. Don Burger, Pacific Resources for Education and Learning Program Specialist.

Education Commissioner Dr. Rita H. Inos explained that the results of the Reading Assessment, expected to come out in June 2002, will enable the PSS to pay attention to areas that need utmost focus.

“The results will be a baseline data. It tells us where the students are in the standards that we have identified—what they should know and be able to do in the 4th, 8th and 11th grades,” said Burger.

“One of the things that’s really nice about this type of test is that when we report the scores, we report a profile across all of the standards, not just a single Reading score. And this is in line with what the “No Child Left Behind” and the “Reading First” federal initiatives are asking for. So PSS is ahead of what the regulations are for the new legislation. And that’s very good news,” the program consultant added.

Aside from pinpointing students’ area of strengths and weaknesses, the test data is also expected to show the standards and benchmarks on how teachers can improve their instruction techniques.

According to Burger, the information can be used in making Reading goals and action plans.

“Principals in the schools can look at the data and think about what kind of professional development teachers need to get kids above the standard in all of these areas. So it’s a tool that will give teachers a direct insight into their own teaching strategies and how effective they are,” he said.

PSS Deputy Commissioner for Instruction, Curriculum and Assessment Rita Sablan further gave credence to the merits of the Reading Assessment, saying that data from the tests can determine priorities and set the direction for PSS in terms of standards in the Language Arts.

“In a sense it’s an exciting period for PSS. This is a very important tool in providing guidance to the board. We need to know where our students are, amid all these policies that we’re adopting,” echoed Board of Education Chair Herman T. Guerrero, adding that the assessment is sure to help PSS score high points in the accreditation of its schools.

The implementation of the Reading Assessment is Year 2 in the timeline of PSS’ Comprehensive Accountability Plan, which will be followed by the Math, Writing, Science and Social Science assessments in the next three years.

Currently, the PSS leadership with aid from consultants, teachers and administrators, are developing the Math and Writing assessments that will be administered to PSS students next year.

“This will start some great conversations in the PSS, about how kids are doing and how we can do a better job for kids,” Burger said.

Inos also said that “This is going to speak about our curriculum, to the quality of our teaching workforce, our whole education and support to students. It’s also going to help us determine how to prioritize limited resources so that we can reach the level where we need to help our students.”