Orientation on Table of

Specifications Relative to
Constructing Test Questions
July 19, 2018 | 4th and 5th Congressional District Elementary School Heads (Bantayan IS Mangaldan)
July 24, 2018 | 6th Congressional District Elementary School Heads (CB Mall Urdaneta)
July 25, 2018 | Secondary School Heads and Department Heads (CB Mall Urdaneta)

Atty. Donato D. Balderas, Jr

Schools Division Superintendent
Lecturer/ Discussant
 PREFATORY
1. This Orientation on the TOS Relative to Constructing Test
Questions requires you to momentarily forget previous lessons or
workshops you have already attended with respect to the
preparation of the TOS.
2. The ensuing discussions/lecture (Table of Specifications) will be
made as pragmatic or practical as possible in order to be
understood and thereby appreciate its importance to
measurement and evaluation.
3. The TOS requires a thorough knowledge of Bloom’s Revised
Taxonomy.
4. The TOS requires, as reference, the budgeted lessons (allocation
of time per topic in every grading period with respect to the
desired total number of days / time to be spent for the grading
period.)
 PREFATORY
5. The TOS requires some simple mathematical computations that will
result to proportional allocation of test items per topic.
6. The TOS requires that previous experiences are recalled and to some
extent, requires likewise the imagination of the TOS constructor to
concretize the actual teaching-learning process based on previous
encounters in the classroom in order to determine more or less the
domain/s where he would based from his questions.
7. An accepted percentage of the number of items in each domain with
respect to the desired/ total number of items shall be pre-computed to
become a reference norm.
8. The TOS and the corresponding test questions (Grading period exam) is
not the all of measurement and evaluation, to my estimate this only
accounts to a little more than 10% of our efforts for others may take the
form of quizzes, long tests, summative tests, recitations, and practical
exams.
 PREFATORY
9. Since our outputs will only be the TOS, there is a need to train our
teachers on how to construct appropriate questions reflective of the
domains (LAC sessions and In-SETS at the school or district level).
10. With this effort the preparation of test questions shall still be
“Teacher-made test” but to a certain degree, it is standardized and
therefore we can compare outputs or test results between and
among schools and districts.
11. The TOS constructors shall likewise prepare the budgeted lesson
to accompany the TOS from first grading to fourth grading period.
12.The TOS constructors and the CID are tasked to make available
the TOS and budgeted lesson on or before July 16, 2018.
 PREFATORY
13. The TOS and the budgeted lessons shall be uploaded to an
appropriate medium in order that teachers can gain access to them
the soonest possible time.
14. The supervisors and principals are tasked to check the
appropriateness of the test questions based on the TOS .
15.The participants are School Heads and Subject Area Department
Heads who are expected to supervise and check the tests
questions constructed by their respective teachers. They must
therefore pay extra attention to the ensuing discussions.
How to Construct the Table of Specification

1.Determine the desired number

of test items.
 TABLE OF SPECIFICATIONS
_________________ _________________ _________________ _________________
Subject Grade Grading period School Year
DOMAINS Total Number
Time
Topic Spent/ Of Test items
Frequency Remembering Understanding Applying Analyzing Evaluating Creating Actual Adjusted
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

TOTAL
50
How to Construct the Table of Specification

2. List the topics with the

corresponding allocation of time

•The reference is the budgeted

lesson.
 TABLE OF SPECIFICATIONS
_________________ _________________ _________________ _________________
Subject Grade Grading period School Year
DOMAINS Total Number
Time
Topic Spent/ Of Test items
Frequency Remembering Understanding Applying Analyzing Evaluating Creating Actual Adjusted
1. 3
2. 4
3. 1
4. 6
5. 8
6. 5
7. 8
8. 2
9. 4
10. 4
45
TOTAL
50
 How to Construct Table of Specification
3. Determine the total number of items per topic by using the formula:
Time Spent / Frequency per topic divided by the total number of
frequency in the grading period times total number of items.

Time Spent / Frequency per Topic Total Number of items

Total Frequency in the grading period
Example:

3
45
50 = 3.33
 TABLE OF SPECIFICATIONS
_________________ _________________ _________________ _________________
Subject Grade Grading period School Year
DOMAINS Total Number
Time
Topic Spent/ Of Test items
Frequency Remembering Understanding Applying Analyzing Evaluating Creating Actual Adjusted
1. 3 3.33
2. 4 4.44
3. 1 1.11
4. 6 6.66
5. 8 8.88
6. 5 5.55
7. 8 8.88
8. 2 2.22
9. 4 4.44
10. 4 4.44
45 49.95
TOTAL
50
How to Construct Table of Specification

4. Round off the value to become

whole numbers.
 TABLE OF SPECIFICATIONS
_________________ _________________ _________________ _________________
Subject Grade Grading period School Year
DOMAINS Total Number
Time
Topic Spent/ Of Test items
Frequency Remembering Understanding Applying Analyzing Evaluating Creating Actual Adjusted
1. 3 3.33 3
2. 4 4.44 4
3. 1 1.11 1
4. 6 6.66 7
5. 8 8.88 9
6. 5 5.55 6
7. 8 8.88 9
8. 2 2.22 2
9. 4 4.44 4
10. 4 4.44 4
45 49.95 49
TOTAL
50
How to Construct Table of Specification

5. Adjust or Balance by either

adding or subtracting (any of the
topic totals) so that the sum will
amount to the desired number of
test items.
 TABLE OF SPECIFICATIONS
_________________ _________________ _________________ _________________
Subject Grade Grading period School Year
DOMAINS Total Number
Time
Topic Spent/ Of Test items
Frequency Remembering Understanding Applying Analyzing Evaluating Creating Actual Adjusted
1. 3 3.33 3
2. 4 4.44 4
3. 1 1.11 1+1
4. 6 6.66 7
5. 8 8.88 9
6. 5 5.55 6
7. 8 8.88 9
8. 2 2.22 2
9. 4 4.44 4
10. 4 4.44 4
45 49.95 49
TOTAL
50
How to Construct Table of Specification

6. Scatter the items per topic per

domain

• Determine the number of items per

complexity / level of cognitive domain.
In this case, we have already a
pre-computed value of 30-20-20-30
(10-10-10)
 BLOOM’S REVISED TAXONOMY Suggested Percentage
Allocation
CREATING
Generating new ideas, products, or ways of viewing things
10%
Designing, constructing, planning, producing, inventing

Higher-order EVALUATING
Justifying a decision or course of action 30%
Thinking 10%
Checking, hypothesizing, critiquing, experimenting, judging

ANALYZING
Breaking information into parts to explore understandings and
relationships 10%
Comparing, organizing, deconstructing, interrogating, finding.

APPLYING
Using information in another familiar situation 20%
Implementing, carrying out, using, executing

UNDERSTANDING
Explaining ideas or concepts 20%
Interpreting, summarizing, paraphrasing, classifying, explaining

REMEMBERING 30%
Recalling information
Recognizing, listing, describing, retrieving, naming, finding.
 TABLE OF SPECIFICATIONS
_________________ _________________ _________________ _________________
Subject Grade Grading period School Year
DOMAINS Total Number
Time
Topic Spent/ Of Test items
Frequency Remembering Understanding Applying Analyzing Evaluating Creating Actual Adjusted
1. 3 3.33 3
2. 4 4.44 4
3. 1 1.11 1+1
4. 6 6.66 7
5. 8 8.88 9
6. 5 5.55 6
7. 8 8.88 9
8. 2 2.22 2
9. 4 4.44 4
10. 4 4.44 4
45 15 10 10 5 5 5 49.95 49
TOTAL
30% 20% 20% 30% ( Higher-order Thinking) 50
 How to Construct Table of Specification
7. On the basis of your experience / analysis start allocating the
items with respect to the total number of items per domain and the
total number of items per topic beginning with the higher-order
thinking domains down to remembering. It is suggested that the
order of complexity from creating to remembering is not altered.

• Review the topics, reflect on previous experiences, and imagine

the teaching learning processes (TLP) that can go with the
topics. You may use teaching guides and other similar materials.

• Be mindful of the total points per topic.

 TABLE OF SPECIFICATIONS
_________________ _________________ _________________ _________________
Subject Grade Grading period School Year
DOMAINS Total Number
Time
Topic Spent/ Of Test items
Frequency Remembering Understanding Applying Analyzing Evaluating Creating Actual Adjusted
1. 3 3.33 3
2. 4 4.44 4
3. 1 1.11 1+1
4. 6 1 6.66 7
5. 8 2 8.88 9
6. 5 5.55 6
7. 8 2 8.88 9
8. 2 2.22 2
9. 4 4.44 4
10. 4 4.44 4
45 15 10 10 5 5 5 49.95 49
TOTAL
50
 TABLE OF SPECIFICATIONS
_________________ _________________ _________________ _________________
Subject Grade Grading period School Year
DOMAINS Total Number
Time
Topic Spent/ Of Test items
Frequency Remembering Understanding Applying Analyzing Evaluating Creating Actual Adjusted
1. 3 3.33 3
2. 4 1 4.44 4
3. 1 1.11 1+1
4. 6 1 1 6.66 7
5. 8 2 8.88 9
6. 5 2 5.55 6
7. 8 2 8.88 9
8. 2 2.22 2
9. 4 1 4.44 4
10. 4 4.44 4
45 15 10 10 5 5 5 49.95 49
TOTAL
50
 TABLE OF SPECIFICATIONS
_________________ _________________ _________________ _________________
Subject Grade Grading period School Year
DOMAINS Total Number
Time
Topic Spent/ Of Test items
Frequency Remembering Understanding Applying Analyzing Evaluating Creating Actual Adjusted
1. 3 1 3.33 3
2. 4 1 1 4.44 4
3. 1 1.11 1+1
4. 6 1 1 6.66 7
5. 8 2 2 8.88 9
6. 5 2 5.55 6
7. 8 2 8.88 9
8. 2 2.22 2
9. 4 1 4.44 4
10. 4 1 4.44 4
45 15 10 10 5 5 5 49.95 49
TOTAL
50
 TABLE OF SPECIFICATIONS
_________________ _________________ _________________ _________________
Subject Grade Grading period School Year
DOMAINS Total Number
Time
Topic Spent/ Of Test items
Frequency Remembering Understanding Applying Analyzing Evaluating Creating Actual Adjusted
1. 3 1 1 3.33 3
2. 4 1 1 1 4.44 4
3. 1 1.11 1+1
4. 6 2 1 1 6.66 7
5. 8 2 2 8.88 9
6. 5 2 5.55 6
7. 8 2 2 8.88 9
8. 2 1 2.22 2
9. 4 2 1 4.44 4
10. 4 1 1 4.44 4
45 15 10 10 5 5 5 49.95 49
TOTAL
50
 TABLE OF SPECIFICATIONS
_________________ _________________ _________________ _________________
Subject Grade Grading period School Year
DOMAINS Total Number
Time
Topic Spent/ Of Test items
Frequency Remembering Understanding Applying Analyzing Evaluating Creating Actual Adjusted
1. 3 1 1 3.33 3
2. 4 1 1 1 4.44 4
3. 1 1 1.11 1+1
4. 6 2 2 1 1 6.66 7
5. 8 2 2 2 8.88 9
6. 5 2 2 5.55 6
7. 8 2 2 2 8.88 9
8. 2 1 2.22 2
9. 4 2 1 4.44 4
10. 4 1 1 1 4.44 4
45 15 10 10 5 5 5 49.95 49
TOTAL
50
 TABLE OF SPECIFICATIONS
_________________ _________________ _________________ _________________
Subject Grade Grading period School Year
DOMAINS Total Number
Time
Topic Spent/ Of Test items
Frequency Remembering Understanding Applying Analyzing Evaluating Creating Actual Adjusted
1. 3 1 1 1 3.33 3
2. 4 1 1 1 1 4.44 4
3. 1 2 1.11 1+1
4. 6 2 1 2 1 1 6.66 7
5. 8 3 2 2 2 8.88 9
6. 5 2 2 2 5.55 6
7. 8 3 2 2 2 8.88 9
8. 2 1 1 2.22 2
9. 4 1 2 1 4.44 4
10. 4 1 1 1 1 4.44 4
49.95 49
TOTAL 45 15 10 10 5 5 5
50
 Item Placement

A. Items 1-15 (Type of Question is to measure remembering

which cut across all topics within the grading period.)

B. Items 16-25 (Type of Question is to measure understanding…)

C. Items 26-35 (Type of Question is to measure applying…)

D. Items 36-40 (Type of Question is to measure analyzing..)

E. Items 41-45 (Type of Question is to measure evaluating…)

F. Items 46-50 (Type of Question is to measure creating…)

 Benefits of the Table of Specification

1. Test Items are proportionally distributed to all topics in the grading

period (Number of time spent in the topic is proportional to the
number of items from the topic which means that the more time that
the teacher spend in the topic, the more test questions should be
constructed from that topic)

a. This ensures that the teacher has to cover all topics listed/
budgeted in the grading period.

b. There is therefore sense or urgency.

c. Remediation becomes spontaneous.

d. Assures high “Time on task” rate.

 Benefits of the Table of Specification

2. Items are significantly scattered along Bloom’s Taxonomy

(Complexity) / cognitive domain with respect to a desired percentage
which may adhere to the Psychology of learning and evaluation.

a. Assures that all levels of complexity (R-C) are given emphasis.

b. Assures varied learning activities inside the classrooms.

c. Ensures that Higher-order Thinking skills are developed across all

levels
 Benefits of the Table of Specification

3. It is easier to constr uct a test question because the TOS ser ves as
a blueprint.

• In fact the teacher, (provided she has master y of her lesson and
with the aid of the TOS), she can constr uct test questions without
using any textbooks and there is an assurance that test questions
are constr ucted in her own words and therefore the test questions
appeal or relate better to the pupils/ students.
REVISED BLOOM’S TAXONOMY:
Pathway to
Improve Thinking
 What is Bloom’s Taxonomy?

• Bloom’s Taxonomy is a classification of

thinking organized by levels of complexity.
It gives teachers and students an
opportunity to learn and practice a range
of thinking and provides a simple structure
for many different kinds of questions.
What is REVISED BLOOM’S TAXONOMY?
The Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy provides the
measurement tool for thinking. The changes
in RBT occur in three broad categories.
• Terminologies
• Structure
• Emphasis
A.Visual Comparison of Two Taxonomies
(Terminology Changes)

Evaluation Creating
Synthesis Evaluating
Analysis Analyzing
Application Applying
Comprehension Understanding
Knowledge Remembering

1956 2001

(Based on Pohl, 2000, Learning to Think, Thinking to Learn, p.8)

Changes in Terms
• Noun to Verb
• Thinking is an active process therefore verbs
are more accurate
• Knowledge is a product of thinking and was
inappropriate to describe a category of
thinking and was replaced with the word
remembering.
Changes in Terms
• Comprehension became
understanding and synthesis was
renamed creating in order to better
reflect the nature of the thinking
described by each category.
THE LEARNER IS ABLE TO RECALL, RESTATE AND REMEMBER
LEARNED INFORMATION.
- RECOGNIZING
- LISTING
- DESCRIBING
- IDENTIFYING
- RETRIEVING
- NAMING
- LOCATING
- FINDING
CAN YOU RECALL INFORMATION?
Sample Questions for Remembering
• What is _____________?
• Where is __________?
• How did it happen ____________?
• Why did __________ ?
• When did ___________?
• How would you show _______?
• Who were the main ________ ?
• Which one ________ ?
• How is __________?
THE LEARNER GRASPS THE MEANING OF INFORMATION BY
INTERPRETING AND TRANSLATING WHAT HAS BEEN LEARNED.
- INTERPRETING
- EXEMPLIFYING
- SUMMARIZING
- INFERRING
- PARAPHRASING
- CLASSIFYING
- COMPARING
- EXPLAINING
CAN YOU EXPLAIN IDEAS OR CONCEPTS?
Sample Questions for Understanding
• State in your own words…
• Which are facts? Opinions?
• What does this means…?
• Is this the same as …?
• Giving an example
• Select the best definition
Questions with what, where,
why and how questions answers
could be taken between the lines
of the text through organizing,
comparing, translating,
interpreting, extrapolating,
classifying, summarizing and
stating main ideas fall under
understanding.
•Condense this paragraph
•What would happen if … ?
•What part doesn’t fit?
•How would compare? Contrast?
•What is the main idea of … ?
•How would summarized … ?
THE LEARNER MAKES USE OF INFORMATION IN A CONTEXT
DIFFERENT FROM THE ONE IN WHICH IT WAS LEARNED.
- IMPLEMENTING
- CARRYING OUT
- USING
- EXECUTING
CAN YOU USE THE INFORMATION IN ANOTHER FAMILIAR
SITUATION?
Sample Questions for Applying

• How would you organize _______ to show ________?

• How would you show your understanding of _______ ?
• What facts would you select to show what ________?
• What elements would you change __________ ?
• What other way would you plan to __________?
• What questions would you ask in an interview
with_______?
• How would you apply what you learned to
develop_________ ?
• How would you solve ___________ using what you
have learned?
THE LEARNER BREAKS LEARNED INFORMATION INTO ITS
PARTS TO BEST UNDERSTAND THAT INFORMATION.
- COMPARING
- ORGANIZING
- DECONSTRUCTING
- ATTRIBUTING OUTLINING
- FINDING
- STRUCTURING
- INTEGRATING
CAN YOU BREAK INFORMATION INTO PARTS TO EXPLORE
UNDERSTANDINGS AND RELATIONSHIPS?
Sample Questions for Analyzing
• Which statement is relevant?
• What is the conclusion?
• What does the author believe? Assume?
• Make a distinction between _________
• What ideas justify the conclusion?
• Which is the least essential statement?
• What literacy form is used?
THE LEARNER MAKES DECISIONS BASED ON IN-DEPTH
REFLECTION, CRITICISM AND ASSESSMENT.
- CHECKING
- HYPOTHESIZING
- CRITIQUING
- EXPERIMENTING
- JUDGING
- TESTING
- DETECTING
- MONITORING
CAN YOU JUSTIFY A DECISION OR COURSE OF ACTION?
Sample Questions for Evaluating
• What fallacies, consistencies,
inconsistencies appear __________?
• Which is more important ___________ ?
• Do you agree _________ ?
• What information would you use
____________ ?
• Do you agree with the ___________ ?
• How would you evaluate _________ ?
THE LEARNER CREATES NEW IDEAS AND INFORMATION USING
WHAT HAS BEEN PREVIOUSLY LEARNED.
- DESIGNING
- CONSTRUCTING
- PLANNING
- PRODUCING
- INVENTING
- DEVISING
- MAKING
CAN YOU GENERATE NEW PRODUCTS, IDEAS, OR WAYS OF
VIEWING THINGS?
Sample Questions for Creating

• Can you design a _____________?

• What possible solution to _________ ?
• How many ways can you __________ ?
• Can you create a proposal which
would_________ ?
B. STRUCTURAL CHANGES

Bloom’s original cognitive taxonomy was a one-

dimensional form consisting of Factual,
Conceptual and Procedural – but these were never
fully understood for use by the teachers because
most of what educators were given in training
consisted of a simple chart with the listing of levels
and related accompanying verbs.
A.Visual Comparison of Two Taxonomies
(Terminology Changes)

Evaluation Creating
Synthesis Evaluating
Analysis Analyzing
Application Applying
Comprehension Understanding
Knowledge Remembering

1956 2001

(Based on Pohl, 2000, Learning to Think, Thinking to Learn, p.8)

One Dimensional

The Knowledge
Dimensions

Factual

Conceptual

Procedural

Metacognitive
 Factual Knowledge

- Refers to the essential facts,

terminology, details or
elements student must know
or be familiar with in order to
solve a problem in it.
 Conceptual Knowledge

- is knowledge of classification,
principles, generalizations,
theories, models or structure
pertinent to a particular
disciplinary area.
 Procedural Knowledge

-Refers to information or
knowledge that helps students to
do something specific to a
discipline subject, area of study.
It also refers to methods of
inquiry, very specific or finite
skills, algorithms, techniques and
particulars.
 Meta-cognitive Knowledge

- is a strategic or reflective
knowledge about how to go
solving problems, cognitive
tasks to include contextual and
conditional knowledge and
knowledge of self.
The Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy takes the form of
Two-dimensional table. The Knowledge Dimension or
the kind of knowledge to be learned and second is the
Cognitive Process Dimension or the process used to
learn.

The The Cognitive Process Dimensions

Knowledge
Dimensions Remembering Understanding Applying Analyzing Evaluating Creating

Factual

Conceptual

Procedural

Metacognitive
C. CHANGE IN EMPHASIS

Emphasis is the third and final

category of changes. It is placed upon
its use as a more “authentic tool for
curriculum planning, instructional
delivery and assessment”.
•More authentic tool for curriculum planning,
instructional delivery and assessment
•Aimed at a broader audience
•Easily applied to all levels of schooling
•The revision emphasizes explanation and
description of subcategories.
 BLOOM’S REVISED TAXONOMY Suggested Percentage
Allocation
CREATING
Generating new ideas, products, or ways of viewing things
10%
Designing, constructing, planning, producing, inventing

Higher-order EVALUATING
Justifying a decision or course of action 30%
Thinking 10%
Checking, hypothesizing, critiquing, experimenting, judging

ANALYZING
Breaking information into parts to explore understandings and
relationships 10%
Comparing, organizing, deconstructing, interrogating, finding.

APPLYING
Using information in another familiar situation 20%
Implementing, carrying out, using, executing

UNDERSTANDING
Explaining ideas or concepts 20%
Interpreting, summarizing, paraphrasing, classifying, explaining

REMEMBERING 30%
Recalling information
Recognizing, listing, describing, retrieving, naming, finding.
THANK YOU!

Atty. Donato D. Balderas, Jr

Schools Division Superintendent
Lecturer/ Discussant