Publications

T.O.S. – BLUEPRINT FOR EVALUATION

by:
Gilbert Ramos
Teacher I, Hermosa National High School

Being a teacher, it is known fact the lesson plan is the blue print of the lesson
proper. It serves as the guide of the teacher in delivering and executing the lesson set
for the day. It is used to ensure that the process of learning takes place in a systematic
and orderly manner. and at the end of every lesson there is evaluation. But the question
come in, if the lesson plan is the blue print for the lesson is there a blueprint for
evaluation?

The answer is the Table of Specification or TOS. This is the plan used in
constructing test exams for evaluation.

It is important to have a plan for testing as much as lesson plan is important to

teaching. The Table of specification serves as the guide in creating the exam. It is useful
in choosing the type of test questions and the number of items per topic and the level of
difficulty for each question.

Though table of specification has been a part of the training for teachers since
college days, it is a part of the evaluation process that has been often neglected. Most of
the time teachers would resort to creating a “table of speculation” rather than a table of
specification. They would just speculate how much test items to be constructed at a
given topic not minding the level of difficulty and the importance of skill that has to be
tested. Skipping the rudiments of creating the TOS but compromising the quality of the
test being constructed and administered to students.

How is a table of specification constructed? What are the factors to consider in

creating it and lastly, how does it affect the construction of the test exam itself?

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 Publications
The TOS depends on the following components; topic discussed, number of
hours or meetings the topic was discussed, total number of hours used in discussing
topics, and the total number of test items to be constructed. These four components
basically dictate the contents of the TOS.

The number of test items allocated for a specific topic depends on the length of
time spent in teaching it. The following equation is followed.

Items = Hours spent teaching a topic

Total number of hours for a grading period x Total number of items of the test

By following this equation, the number of test items per topic is identified.
Proper emphasis is given to topics which are more important. This provides enough
evaluation to measure items which are deemed to be given more attention.

There are two types of TOS. One is the One-Way Table of Specification. Here,
only the basic components of the equation are needed and the placement of the test
items in the test is created. See the sample table below.

Topic Number of hours Percentage Number of Item placement

spent items
Topic 1 2 20% 4 1 –4
Topic 2 3 30% 6 5 – 10
Topic 3 5 50% 10 11 – 20
Total 10 100% 20 20
Note that the total number of items of the test must be identified before computing for the TOS.

The other one is the Two-Way TOS. 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. The following
table would best explain the process.

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 Publications
Topic No. % No. Item Specification
of of Remembering Understanding Applying Analyzing Evaluating Creating
Hours Item
Topic 1 2 20% 4 1 –4
Topic 2 3 30% 6 6 – 10
Topic 3 5 50% 10 11 – 20
Total 10 100 20
Note that the item specification depends on the type question per topic.

By creating a table of specification, the teacher is sure to create a good instrument

for evaluating the skills acquired by the students and the results best describe their level
of mastery.

Reference:

Quijano, M. E. (2014), Preparing the Table of Specifications, Slideshare, retrieved

from https://www.slideshare.net/daenice/preparing-the-table-of-
specification

25 July 2017