In this domain, school heads are expected to provide technical assistance on instruction that relates to curriculum, practice, and performance. They should also create a learner-centered environment that ensures access to inclusive, excellent, relevant, and liberating education.

Developing Self and Others recognize the role of school heads in nurturing themselves and others.

This Domain centers on the school heads’ commitment to ensuring people and team effectiveness.

In this domain, school heads are expected to reflect on their personal and professional development to enhance their practice in leading and developing people as they support their personnel’s professional development and welfare. They should provide others the means for development such as opportunities to learn, reflect, lead and progress in their profession.

Building Connections, underscores the school heads’ competence in engaging stakeholders in initiatives towards the improvement of school communities. This domain points to the school heads’ commitment in advocating that education is everyone’s responsibility.

In this domain, school heads are expected to be responsible and accountable for inculcating a deeper understanding of the vision, mission and core values, and directions of the school to relevant entities. They possess skills in relating with, dealing with, and forging relationships with people. They should be able to build relationships with individuals and organizations anchored on mutual trust, honesty, openness, respect, and commitment towards sharing the same vision for the attainment of institutional goals.

According to Fountas & Phinnel, “Assessment is not teaching; it is gathering information for teaching”

The principle adhered to by DO No. 8 s. 2015 still holds true,

I. assessment should be used to inform,

II. improve classroom practices

III. promote learning outcomes.

Under distance and blended-learning we should utilize alternative tools without creative undue pressure on teachers, learners and their families.

This issuance covers

I. all public elementary and secondary schools.

II. Private schools, technical and vocational institutions and higher education institutions including state and local university and colleges offering k-12 basic education program are encouraged to implement these interim policy guidelines.

III. Private schools and institutions are permitted to modify these policy guidelines in accordance to their philosophy, vision, mission w/ the approval of the DepEd regional office.

Policy Statement: DepEd is committed to ensure educational continuity in this time of crisis while looking after the

I. health, safety,

II. well-being of its learners,

III. teachers

IV. personnel

Policy Principles:

I. Assessment should be holistic and authentic in capturing the attainment of the most essential learning competencies.

II. Assessment is integral for understanding student learning and development.

III. A variety of assessment strategies is necessary, with formative assessment taking priority to inform teaching and promote growth and mastery.

IV. Assessment and feedback should be a shared responsibility among teachers, learners, and their families; and

V. Assessment and grading should have a positive impact on learning.

Teachers, school leaders, learners and parents must commit to uphold the integrity of learning and instruction in the context of distance education. The desired outcomes of this policy are:

I. To ensure that all learners are fairly assessed and graded in the continuation of education during this health crisis; and

II. To emphasize that learning standards shall be attained, with the provision of reasonable leniency and considerations for possible difficulties met by the learner.

III. To ensure that all stakeholders are involved in the grading system of their children

IV. To ensure that churches, LGUs and other departments take part in the grading system

Distance learning poses challenges for teachers and learners in the conduct of assessment. Limitations includes the following:

I. Limited giving of immediate feedback

II. All out giving of feedback to complete data

III. The need to involve parents since they knew more their children than teachers

IV. The need to account for different contexts in designing, implementing, and grading assessment tasks. 

Designing the assessment:

I. To allow for flexibility in multiple modalities;

II. Communicating to learners and parents/guardians the design and standards for grading the assessment;

III. Setting up mechanisms to monitor and record progress remotely;

IV. Giving timely, constructive, and relevant feedback; and

V. Facilitating remediation for learners who need further guidance

Learners Roles and Responsibilities:

I. Learners are expected to be proactive in updating their teacher of their situation, progress and challenges encountered.

II. A non-mandatory self-monitoring tool maybe accomplished independently or with the assistance of their parents/guardians if necessary.

Parents and Guardians Roles and Responsibilities:

DepEd aims to develop independent learners who can study on the assessments on their own. However, in this SY implementation of distance learning modalities, parents play a crucial role in guiding their children in adapting to the changes of distance learning processes. They are requested to assist in the assessment process by:

I. Communicating with the teacher to give updates on their child’s situation, progress & challenges encountered; and

II. Guide their children in accomplishing the assessment tasks and/or monitoring tools designed by the teacher.

Planning the Assessment. Teachers should ensure that all assessment activities:

I. Align with the MELCs

II. Are reliable, valid and transparent

III. Are fair, inclusive, and equitable

IV. Are practical and manageable for both learners and teachers;

V. Give learners a range of ways to demonstrate their learning; and

VI. Provide timely and accurate information as basis for feedback.

Planning the Assessment: “In Distance learning modalities, teachers shall design assessments bearing the assumption that the learners will asynchronously take them and have open access to various sources.

I. In order to inform teaching and promote growth and mastery, formative strategies should establish clear learning targets and success criteria;

II. Elicit useful evidence of learning;

III. Provide timely and effective feedback;

IV. Engage learners in assessing and improving each other’s work; and

V. Increase ownership of their own learning.

To evaluate learning at particular points, summative assessment shall continue in the form of written works and performance tasks. 

1. Written works shall be administered to assess essential knowledge and understandings through   quizzes and long/unit tests. Items should be distributed across the Cognitive Process Dimensions (DO no. 8, s. 2015) using a combination of selected-response and constructed-response formats so that all are adequately covered.

2. Performance tasks refer to assessment tasks that “allow learners to show what they know and are able to do in diverse ways. They may create or innovate products or do performance-based tasks, skill demonstrations, group presentations, oral works, multimedia presentations, and research projects. It is important to note that written outputs may also be considered as performance tasks.

Performance Tasks must be designed to promote opportunities for learners to apply what they are learning to real-life situations. Teachers should take into consideration the following:

I. Each task must be accomplished with clear directions and appropriate scoring tools (ex. Checklists, rubrics, rating scale, etc) to help learners demonstrate their learning.

II. Teachers are advised to collaboratively design and implement performance tasks that integrate 2 or more competencies within or across subject areas. Complex tasks maybe broken down into shorter tasks to be completed over longer periods of time.

III. Learners must be given flexibility in the accomplishment of the performance tasks to consider time and resources available to them.

A Rubric is a learning and assessment tool that is used to evaluate written output, products, or performance-based tasks. It is a scoring guide that articulate the expectations and describes the levels of quality expected from a learner.

Four Essential Features of a Rubric:

I. A task description or a descriptive title of the task learners are expected to perform;

II. A scale (and scoring) that describes the level of mastery (e.g. exceed expectation, meets expectation, doesn’t meet expectation).

III. Components/criteria learners are to attend to in completing the assignment/tasks (ex. Types of skills, knowledge, etc)

IV. Description of the performance quality of the components/dimensions at each level of mastery.

A rubric can be analytic or holistic. An analytic rubric articulates different dimensions of performance and provides ratings for each criterion or dimension.

A holistic rubric describes the overall characteristics of a performance and provides a single score. In developing a rubric, it should be emphasized that higher points could be given for a certain level of mastery depending on the complexity of the question.

In communicating the assessment task, teachers must ensure that the ff: details are explained:

I. Objectives of the assessment task

II. Roles of Learners and parents/guardians

III. Procedures and expected timeline

IV. Standards and rubrics

The teacher must consult the learners and, when necessary, parents to allow room for adjustments/flexibilities needed.

The collection and recording of evidences of learning is integral for monitoring student learning and development. Some sample strategies for this purpose are:

I. Self-Monitoring Tool. Consider the needs of learners per key stage, ex. Early grades need assistance from parents, while older learners are expected to accomplish self-reflection tools on their own.

II. Check-ins of teachers with learner (during assessment period)

III. Evidence of learning in the student’s learning portfolio.