NAT to be held on March 5-13

CEBU, Philippines - The National Achievement Test will be administered on March 5, 11 and 13, this year.

Education Secretary Armin Luistro expressed, through a Central Office communication, that the DepEd through the National Education Testing and Research Center is set to facilitate the tests on the said dates for fourth-year high school students of public and private schools, Grade 3 pupils of public and Madrasah schools, and Grade 4 pupils of public and private schools, respectively.

Luistro noted that "only private elementary and secondary schools with permit to operate from the DepEd will be included in the conduct of the test." However, the following are exempted from taking the NAT: classes of behavioral programs and home study programs, private schools using the American Standard Curriculum, foreign students who are newly enrolled, students with Intellectual Disability and Visual Impairment, irregular students with back subjects, and students in night classes.

Each examinee in NAT (Grade 6) will be issued with a Certificate of Rating containing the actual rating per subject area. The COR will reflect the examinee's readiness for high school.

The NETRC's authorized forwarder or courier is assigned to deliver the test materials at least two weeks before the test administration, except for the National Capital Region divisions, which will be delivered five days before the test administration.

"The same forwarder/courier will retrieve all the test materials one week after the test administration. Hence, all division testing coordinators and private school supervisors are instructed to ensure that the test materials are ready for pickup/retrieval of the authorized forwarder/courier," Luistro said.

Meanwhile, the Test of English Proficiency for Teachers and Process Skills Test in Science and Mathematics will be administered by cluster starting February 1 and 2, 2014 until May 2014, all Saturdays (post-test) and Sundays (pre-test).

Luistro pointed out that the NETRC will provide the dates, venues and clustering of regions through another DepEd advisory.

"The TEPT-PST will be administered to Grades 1 and 2 public school teachers (post-test) and Grades 5 and 6 public school teachers (pre-test). In the conduct of the TEPT and PST, the division testing coordinators will serve as chief examiner, while the Education supervisors and elementary school principals will be the room examiners. On the other hand, teachers who took the test are given one-day service credit as per DepEd Order No. 53, series of 2000 entitled 'Updated Guidelines on Grant of Vacation Service Credits to Teachers'," Luistro added.

In relation to this, the NETRC will conduct the National Conference on the Utilization of the NAT, TEPT and PST Results and Standardized Administration for the purposes of updating information and resolving issues and concerns on testing. Concerns include proper conduct/administration of the test, standard procedure in test administration, security of test materials, delivery, and retrieval scheme; allocation of test materials, information derived from the individual Certificate of Rating; utilization/dissemination of findings/implications of test results; and financial matters relative to test administration. (MEEV)(FREEMAN)