PSS crafts tool to assess students’ reading ability

A Public School System reading assessment tool will elevate the quality of public education in the CNMI against 10 other educational entities in the Pacific region, according to a Hawaii-based expert.

The reading assessment tool is now less than four months away from completion.

In baring the progress of the Reading tests currently being developed for 4th, 8th, and 10 grade level students, Pacific Resources for Education and Learning Program Specialist Don Burger disclosed PSS will gain a vital advantage through test measures that will reveal the true picture of students’ reading aptitudes.

“Right now, PSS is in front of the rest of the Pacific versus 10 entities that PREL works with. Hawaii is a little bit ahead but PREL is working with CNMI teachers towards that direction also,” said Mr. Burger.

In this process, PSS is in a better place because teachers will now have the capacity to understand what the test measure are and how to create instruction for those tests. As a result, using the PSS test would be a lot easier over here because teachers are vested in the assessment and the standards, the education expert added.

Mr. Burger facilitated a three-day discussion with PSS educators on the Reading Assessments as part of the school system’s five-year accountability plan.

The PREL consultant added that PSS, among other educational institutions in the Pacific, is the “shining star” in terms of creating good and solid assessments that measure accurate standards that may be used by schools and the community to advance its interests.

The assessment tool currently in the making is envisioned to gauge the reading aptitude of local students which will deviate from typical “bubble” tests normally used in statewide reading evaluations.

PSS teachers and Mr. Burger over the past week worked on the reading tests’ second revision, taken from the first version created last fall.

In March, the assessment team is expected to formulate the second reading test pilot based on the results of last week’s discussions. “In May, it will be finished and we will have the CNMI PSS Reading test,” said Mr. Burger.

Unlike the nationally-formed Stanford Achievement Test-9th Edition, the new reading evaluation is anticipated to tap specific areas of concern directly relevant to the CNMI situation.

“So here’s another way to look at achievements with our students. This is a better way of knowing how well we’ve been doing in teaching the kids those we identify as standards that are important to us in the CNMI,” according to Education Commissioner Rita H. Inos.

Dr. Inos has initiated the development of the PSS five-year accountability plan.

“Under SAT9, it closely aligns with national standards but we did not develop it. And so there are always arguments of whether that’s the true picture of our kids. But when the development of this test is completed, it will show us what the CNMI’s true achievements are,” she added.