FAQs
CONTACTCEM held its annual conference series at Dusit Thani in Makati on September 2, Quest Hotel Cebu on September 8, and on September 14, 2016 at Grand Men Seng in Davao.
Fr. Roderick C. Salazar, CEM Board of Trustees Chair, in his welcome address remarked, “remembering we do at this time of the year, our foundation as an organization, as is our practice, our kind of September is when we meet one another in Manila, Cebu, and Davao. Holding our anniversary conferences, renewing acquaintances, reviewing practices and policies, exploring new horizons in ways of doing things.”
Fr. Salazar also mentioned the indispensable characteristic of data, which test makers can utilize in developing better tests and reporting better results for the purpose of learning itself.
For the President’s message, Dr. Lenore Ll. Decenteceo shared random thoughts on learning, technology, and validity of international assessments. She argued that the fairness and validity of outcomes of comparisons continue to be challenged. She added,” I have always regarded each CEM conference as an opportunity to learn and understand how school administrators, teachers, guidance counsellors choose their external assessments. The benefits for learners derived from sound assessments must and will never be compromised.”
Katrina L. Francisco, test development specialist, introduced the CEM Career Interest Profiler (CEM Profiler) through her presentation entitled, “Your Interest in the World of Work.” The new instrument measures student’s interest in different activities associated with various occupational groups.
Jesus E. Sevilla, Jr., product research and development officer, and Jellaine L. Tan, assistant principal of Meridian International Learning Experience, co-presented “Establishing Performance Standards on the CEM K to 12 Achievement Tests: Procedures and Outputs.” Sevilla gave an update on the accomplishments of CEM Standards Setting Project. Tan described in detail the performance level descriptors as the project’s output.
Cecile M. Gatchalian, test development officer, presented “Test Scores: What do they mean, really.” She discussed the different ways of interpreting reports from CEM test scores. Gatchalian also clarified several issues related to score interpretation.
Iris Lark H. Dizer, professional development section head, guided the participants to a small data utilization practice with her presentation,” Data Use: from evidence to action.”