The Department of Education as the leading agency in uplifting the Educational system in our country, give its best to achieve in every students. The DepEd has never stopped in order to attain its objective towards quality education as mandated in Article XIV, Section 1 of the 1987 Constitution which states that “ The State shall protect the right of all citizens to quality education at all levels and shall take appropriate steps to make sure such education is accessible to all”. The Educational system is part of the State apparatus with defined objectives, structure, and delivery system. The State does not intend to provide more education or even education for education’s sake. The State clearly endeavors to provide quality education for all citizens, the people and society. Thus, the social, economic and cultural rights of all citizens to quality education are recognized. Different methods, techniques as well as incentives ideas are being used for the improvement of educational system to make teaching effective and come out with meaningful learning because the main objective of effective teaching is learning. But effective teaching will not happen without assessment of learning. Assessment of learning is done through giving of Standardized tests, exams designed objectively to measure the academic aptitude of students and develop understanding what student knows, can do with their knowledge from varying social backgrounds and with different educational experience. This process culminates when assessment results are used to improve subsequent learning.
In our country, the National Educational Testing and Research Center (NETRC) leads in research, evaluation and assessment of the effectiveness of education which provide information vital of the formulation of educational policies geared towards the realization of an empowered and globally competitive Filipino. One of the key programs is the National Achievement Test or NAT that is given annually in March to assess the knowledge, skills and competency of students in Elementary and Secondary both public and private. The NAT used to be called the National Elementary Achievement Test (NEAT) for the grade school level and the National Secondary Achievement Test (NSAT) for the High School level. Both NEAT and NSAT were precursors of the National College Entrance Examination (NCEE) , use to gauge the competency of students entering college. In 1994 through Executive Order No.632, the NCEE was abolished by then Education Secretary Raul Roco, this is to give chance to all High school students to enter college. When DECS was officially converted to DepEd, NEAT and NSAT were abolished and replaced by the National Achievement Test or NAT. The annual NAT is used to determine what the students know, understand and can do at their level. NAT for Grade Three includes Grammar and Reading Comprehension in English and Filipino, Science and Mathematics. Jesli Lapus (2010) said that “by measuring our students’ strengths, weaknesses and achievement levels, we can derive ways on how the present education system can be further improved.” He added that from 2006-2009, the percentage increase of 21.36% was achieved indicating a steady improvement in primary education in the country’s public school system,”
By: Mrs. Jenny G.Pascual | Teacher III | Bonifacio Camacho | National High School
