Students ready for SAT9 on Monday

Public school students are scheduled to take the Stanford Achievement Test 9th Edition (SAT9) starting Monday, a nationwide assessment which puts tabs on the average standing or norm of students in the Public School System.

PSS will be conducting the SAT9 evaluation only for the third time in the history of its education system.

This year, only students in the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 8th, 10th, and 11th grades are required to take the test, the PSS Curriculum and Instruction disclosed. In the last two years, all grade levels were subjected to the evaluation.

Public schools resorted to major preparation campaigns this last week to prepare students for this annual assessment.

PSS Administrative Officer Cathy Pangelinan-Salas said all 3rd grade students were made to take practice exams yesterday and will be given another test again today.

Garapan Elementary School Principal Juan Babauta said GES students are well-prepared to take SAT9 this year.

“This is nothing new to them since they take the same test every year. I feel confident that they will do very well based on instructional efforts we’ve put in,” said Mr. Babauta.

The principal added that in mainland schools preparations for the SAT9 begin as early as the school year starts.

GES has also been aggressive in exposing its students to a series of tests in anticipation for the yearly evaluation, according to Mr. Babauta.

Dandan Elementary School acting Principal Andie Dela Cruz said DES has been issuing practical examination tips to its students.

“We’ve been making them practice how to shade the bubbles,” she said.

CNMI schools have been sending letters to parents, informing them of the test schedules and advising them to keep the children well-rested for next week’s SAT9.

Students were also told relax despite the time pressure and eat nutritious meals before the exams.

Examination hours will start at 8:00 a.m. and go on for several hours throughout the day, from Monday through Friday. Classes will still resume in between exams.

Last year’s SAT9 results improved from the previous year’s assessment, said Education Commissioner Rita H. Inos.

PSS employed a Cohort Analysis where the school system looked at two grades, like comparing data from two grade levels (3rd graders who are now 4th graders in the current school year).

The 1999 SAT9 data show that in the areas of Reading, Math, Language, Spelling, Science, Social Science, and Basic Battery, there is positive growth as opposed to 1998 SAT9 results.

Dr. Inos said the results are not far behind the national standards and that the CNMI school system encounters the same educational issues that U.S. mainland public schools face.

Comparing CNMI SAT9 District results with that of the California State report, Dr. Inos pointed out that for the 2nd grade level, there is only a 12 percentile difference in the field of Reading.

CNMI 2nd graders are on the 27th percentile as opposed to California students who are at the 39th percentile in Reading.

The commissioner further noted that CNMI students rank higher than California Limited English Proficiency (LEP) students, again using 2nd grade students on both schools as a frame of reference.

Reports show that 2nd grade LEP students are at the 22nd percentile in Spelling with CNMI students at the 34th percentile.