PEMEA is a professional organization of assessment academics and practitioners who are pushing for high-quality theory, research, and practice in educational measurement and evaluation. The conference’s theme was “Unlocking the Potentials of Assessment in Reimagining Curriculum and Instruction.” The theme is very timely given the present challenging times for Philippine basic education.
On the first task, the administration of former Education Secretary Leonor Briones shone a light on the challenge of quality in basic education. As early as November 2016, she singled out quality as the foremost challenge of basic education in the country, based on historical performance in national assessments.
Specific to assessment, we implemented a Professional Development Program on Assessment and Emerging Literacies with focus on PISA. We partnered with a consortium that included assessment experts from the Philippine Normal University, De La Salle University, University of the Philippines, and organizations like the Assessment, Curriculum, and Technology Research Center , Center for Educational Measurement , and FrontLearners, Inc., to develop and implement the program.
On the second task of responding to the urgent need to recover the learning loss during the pandemic, undoubtedly pure distance learning was fraught with challenges faced by teachers and learners. These included the availability of quality distance learning resources, instructional assistance in the home, limitations on formative assessment and feedback, home learning environment, time management and motivation, and monitoring of the time and effort for learning.