INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVANCED MULTIDISCIPLINARY STUDIES

Paper Title: Analysis of the National Diagnostic Aptitude Test (NDAT) of Pre-Service
Teachers: Basis for Program Enhancement
Prescila I. Marcelo, EdD, Ryan Jayson V. delos Reyes,PhD, Rolando D. De Guzman, MAMath, Analyn Capitulo, JD, Graciane
Joy D. DE Guzman, MA Math
Urdaneta City University (UCU)
Corresponding Author: Prescila I. Marcelo, EdD, Ryan Jayson V. delos Reyes,PhD, Rolando D. De Guzman, MAMath,
Analyn Capitulo, JD, Graciane Joy D. DE Guzman, MA Math
E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected];

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

This study aimed to analyze the performance level of the Pre-Service Teachers
Received: of Urdaneta City University. This sought to answer the following problems: (1) profile of
Accepted: the respondents in terms of their program and area of specialization, (2) performance
Volume: level of the pre-service teachers on the following subjects: English, Social Studies ,
Issue: Biological Science, Physics, Mathematics, Filipino, PPST, K-12 and OBE, and (3) proposed
DOI: innovation to improve the Enhancement Program of the College of Teacher Education.
KEYWORDS The instrument used was the National Diagnostic Aptitude Test administered
by the Carl Balita Review Center in the Enhancement Program of the College of Teacher
National Diagnostic Aptitude Education of the Urdaneta City University during the school year 2019 – 2020. It was
Test, Program Enhancement composed of a total of 100 items: number of items in each of the different subject
areas: English (10items), Social Studies (10items), Biological Science(5items),
Mathematics (10items), Filipino(10items), PPST(36items), K-12 (4items) and OBE
(10items).
After a systematic and in-depth analysis of the data gathered, the
investigations finally come up with the following results: (1) Majority of the 4th year Pre-
Service Teachers are under the Bachelor in Secondary Education Program with 99 or
60%. Most of them are under the PEHM Major with 23.6%, followed by the Social
Studies Majors with 18 or 10.9% and with the least number, English Majors with only 7
or 4.2%. (2) The respondents’ performance level on the National Diagnostic Aptitude
Test are low when it comes to the subjects English, Social Studies, Biological Science,
Physics, Mathematics, K-12 and OBE.
The following conclusions were drawn based on the salient findings: (1) The
respondents of the study are BSEd Program dominated. Most of them are PEHM majors
and few of them are English Majors. (2) The respondents got a low performance level
on all of the subjects in the National Diagnostic Aptitude Test and are highly performing
on the subjects Filipino and PPST.
The following are the recommendations drawn based on the salient findings
and conclusions: (1) An intense and advanced enhancement on the following subjects
must be implemented. (2) The institution should implement a joint development of
initial teacher licensing tests for knowledge and skill areas they need to have. (3) The
College of Teacher Education should have an annual monitoring assessment to measure
learning outcomes for the department to be able to identify which topics or subjects to
enhance.

Introduction
The goal of education has become more complex as the number of the students has increased enormously. Teachers
have always been concerned in measuring and evaluating the progress of their students so they can adjust their instructional
practices to meet the needs of their students.

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Mathematical Abilities of Freshman Students: Basis in the Development of an Enrichment Material

A variety of assessment and evaluation tools like a diagnostic test are used to determine students’ level of
knowledge, skills and understanding of a course, subject, or lesson to test the students on what they already know. These
various test allow the instructor to adjust the curriculum and pedagogy to meet the needs of the students.
Consequently, process of augmentation or improvement of learners’ attributes, knowledge, ability, skills and
potentials are observed by schools. Enhancement program in teacher education institutions, for example, is being undertaken
to strengthen the knowledge and capabilities of pre-service BSE and BEEd students.
The success level of the enhancement program is measured not only in terms of the effectiveness of the
administration of the program and the effectiveness of the instructors handling enhancement subject areas, relevance of
topics and adequacy of information shared by them, but also in terms of the learning level of the students taking the
enhancement subjects/courses.
Esomonu and Eleje, (2020), that diagnostic testing can help improve students’ achievement. As mentioned in the
study, their finding provided empirical support to earlier findings by Betts et al., (2015), Ofem et al., (2017) and Rusrus (2007)
that recorded an increase in learners’ achievement when diagnostic test goes together with feedback and a corrective
measure remediation.
Moreover, the results of the study of Geok Shim et al., (2017), indicated that students who performed well in their
diagnostic test also performed well in their mathematics final assessments. Likewise, those who did not perform well in their
diagnostic test obtained poor results in their final mathematics assessment. As cited, the result of this study supported
Carmody et al., (2006) which also found that there was a significant positive correlation between the students’ diagnostic test
and the final examination.
In the country, The Philippine Educational Placement Test (PEPT) was the principal instrument used in the
Accreditation and Equivalency Program (AEP) in 1977. The PEPT Test the competencies gained through formal, informal and
non - formal education which was equivalent to those developed in five subject areas, Communication Arts in English,
Filipino, Science, Mathematics, and Social Studies.
Juan Miguel Luz, 2005; alleged that Filipino students are doing so badly in national achievement test and in
international comparative survey tests.
Fruehling, (2004), stated that placement test are administered to assist in appropriate academic placement, to
assess academic achievement, to identify individual aptitudes, to explore vocational interests, and to examine personal
characteristic. Houston, (2004), told that placement test are designed to try to predict the eventual success of student in
college, Allington, (2004), said that schools administer placement test in the form of standardized tests to determine which
student would benefit from a remedial course. The University of Wisconsin System Placement Test, (2000), has major
purpose of identifying the students who could be place into advanced appropriate course.
However, placement test according to Armstrong, do not predict grade significantly because there are too many
outside variables that determine final grade. Some of these variables are sex, previous knowledge, commitment of learning
the material, and instructor variation.
Thus, the National Diagnostic Aptitude Test administered by the Carl Balita Review Center during the Enhancement
Program in the College of Teacher Education of the Urdaneta City University was one method assessing/evaluation adopted
by the College of Teacher Education of the Urdaneta City university in identifying the weaknesses and strengths of the
students. The National Diagnostic Aptitude Test was formulated to identify and implement policies and innovation in the
teaching-learning process and enhance the knowledge and skills acquisition of students especially those who performed
below the prescribed rating. The tests determine the level of achievement of the respondents through interpretation and
analysis of their raw scores in the nine subject areas: English, Social Studies, Biological Science, Physics, Mathematics, Filipino,
PPST, K-12, and OBE.
Literature Review
There were studies that would really relate the present study. This study explains further the factors and effect of
the diagnostic test of the pre-service teachers on the College of Teacher education.
Diversity is increasing in our classrooms implying the need for teachers to be prepared to work effectively with
students from different backgrounds, such as cultural, linguistic or national origin. Additionally, the focus on diversity
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education is important because of the need for students to develop, from an early age, the ability to communicate with and
relate to others from diversity backgrounds. This study of Keengwe (2010) focuses on cross cultural experiences gained from
cross cultural partnerships between pre-service teachers and English language learners over the course of a semester at a
medium size public university. Evidence from this project suggests the need for teacher educators to model and support
appropriate cultural competencies that are critical in classrooms that are fast becoming more culturally as well as
linguistically diverse (Keengwe, 2010)
Moreover, Sticker, et al. (1993) appraised 2 explanations for sex differences in over and under prediction of college
grades by the Scholastic Aptitude Test: sex-related differences in (1) the nature of the grade criterion and (2) the variables
associated with the academic performance. An entire freshmen class at a large state university was studied. Women’s GPA
was under predicted (and men’s GPA was over predicted), but only by a small amount. When the GPA was adjusted for
differences in grading standards for individual courses, over and under predictions were not affected, when sex differences
were controlled for in individual differences variables concerned with academic preparations, studiousness, and attitudes
about mathematics, over and under predictions were reduced.
In addition to the above study, Nichols (1964) mentioned that a sample of 356 National Meri Finalists attending 91
colleges was used to assess the effects of colleges on student Graduate Record Examination performance. Precollege
characteristics of the students were controlled by multiple partial correlation and by modifications of this technique. Colleges
tended to influence the Verbal and Quantitative scores of the students in opposite directions. Northeastern men’s colleges
tended to increase Verbal relative to Quantitative while technical institutes and state universities tended to increase
Quantitative relative to Verbal. The student’s major field of study had a similar reciprocal effect on the Verbal and
Quantitative scores, but most of the differences between colleges remained when the effect of the major field of study was
controlled. The size of the college effects was small relative to the variability attributable to differences between students
which existed before the students entered college.
Also, Levine, et al. (1979) stated that a student may be so typical and unlike other students that his or her aptitude
test score fails to be a completely appropriate measure of his or her relative ability. We consider the problem of using the
student’s pattern of multiple choice aptitude test to decide whether his or her score is an appropriate ability measure.
Several indicators of appropriateness are formulated and evaluated with a simulation of the Scholastic Aptitude Test.
Applications to investigations of alignment errors, exceptional creativity, suboptimal test taking strategies, and unauthorized
access to test items are noted.
It is greatly noted that these review of literature provides further knowledge in the conduct of this present study.

Methodology
Research Design

The descriptive survey method was used in this study. The respondents of the study are the pre-service teachers (4 th
year) A.Y. 2019-2020 of the College of Teacher Education. A total of 165 students.
The instrument used was the National Diagnostic Aptitude Test administered by the Carl Balita Review Center in the
Enhancement Program of the College of Teacher Education of the Urdaneta City University during the school year 2019 –
2020. It was composed of a total of 100 items: number of items in each of the different subject areas i. e.;
a. English (10 items) f. Filipino (10 items)
b. Social Studies (10 items) g. PPST (36 items)
c. Biological Science (5 items)
h. K-12 (4 items)
d. Physics (5 items)
e. Mathematics (10 items)
i. OBE (10 items)
Population and Locale of the Study

The respondents of the study are the pre-service teachers (4 th year) A.Y. 2019-2020 of the College of
Teacher Education. A total of 165 students.

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Mathematical Abilities of Freshman Students: Basis in the Development of an Enrichment Material

Data Collection Instruments

The instrument used was the National Diagnostic Aptitude Test administered by the Carl Balita Review Center in the
Enhancement Program of the College of Teacher Education of the Urdaneta City University during the school year
2019 – 2020. It was composed of a total of 100 items.

Table 1. Distribution of the Respondents in terms of their Program and Area of Specialization.

Frequency Percent
Program
BEEd 66 40.0
BSEd 99 60.0

Area of Specialization
PEHM 39 23.6
Social Studies 18 10.9
Filipino 15 9.1
English 7 4.2
Science 8 4.8
Mathematics 12 7.3

It is presented on the table that there are 66 or 40% BEEd pre-service teachers and 99 or 60% BSEd pre-
service teachers, who took the National Diagnostic Aptitude Test administered by Carl E. Balita Review Center. 39 or
23.6% of the BSEd pre-service teachers are PEHM majors, 18 or 10.9% of them were Social studies majors, 15 or
9.1% were Filipino majors, 7 or 4.2% were English majors, and there were 8 or 4.8% and 12 or 7.3% who’s major of
specialization were Science and Mathematics, respectively.

Performance of the Pre-service Teachers on National Diagnostic Aptitude Test in terms of General Education Subjects, PPST,
K-12 and OBE

Table 2 below shows the distribution of the frequency of upper 50% and lower 50% of BEEd, PEHM and
Social Studies pre-service teachers’ scores on National Diagnostic Aptitude Test in terms of General Education
Subjects, namely English, Social Studies, Biological Science, Physics, Mathematics, and Filipino, PPST, K-12 and OBE.

Table 2. Performance of the Pre-Service Teachers on National Diagnostic Aptitude Test in Terms of General Education
Subjects, PPST, K-12 and OBE

Major
BEEd PEHM Soc.Stud.
Subjects n=66 n=39 n=18
>50 <50 >50 >50
<50% % % % <50% %
freq
English . 57 9 31 8 14 4
13.6 79.4 20.5 22.2
% 86.36 4 9 1 77.78 2
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 IJLLT 2(1):10-14

freq
Soc. Stud. . 64 2 36 3 13 5
92.3 27.7
% 96.97 3.03 1 7.69 72.22 8
freq
Bio Sci . 60 6 35 4 17 1
89.7 10.2
% 90.91 9.01 4 6 94.44 5.56
freq
Physics . 65 1 38 1 18 0
97.4 100.0
% 98.48 1.52 4 2.56 0 0.00
freq
Math . 62 4 34 5 18 0
87.1 12.8 100.0
% 93.94 6.06 8 2 0 0.00
freq
Filipino . 49 17 32 7 14 4
25.7 82.0 17.9 22.2
% 74.24 6 5 5 77.78 2
freq
PPST . 28 39 25 14 6 12
57.5 64.1 35.9 66.6
% 42.42 8 0 0 33.33 7
freq
K-12 . 60 6 36 3 17 1
92.3
% 90.91 9.09 1 7.69 94.44 5.56
freq
OBE . 60 6 35 4 11 7
89.7 10.2 38.8
% 90.91 9.09 4 6 61.11 9

As can be gleaned from the table, BEEd pre-service teachers got lower than 50% of the number of items in
all of the subjects except for PPST. There are 39 or 57.58% of the BEEd pre-service teachers and 12 or 66.67% got a
passing score in PPST. This could mean that a considerable number of pre-service teachers from both programs,
BEEd and BSE, particularly Social Studies majors are equipped with ample knowledge on the framework for teacher
quality and teacher development as enunciated in DepEd Order No. 42, series of 2017, also known as the National
Adoption and Implementation of the Philippine Professional Standards for Teachers (PPST). This only means that
they are aware and functional understanding of the seven domains and 37 strands that pertain to more specific
dimensions of teacher practices such as content knowledge and pedagogy, learning environment, diversity of
learners, curriculum and planning, assessment and reporting, community linkages and professional engagement, and
personal growth and professional development.

On the other hand, out of 39 PEHM Pre-service teachers, only 14 or 35.90% of the students got more than half of the
correct answers on PPST. And there is only one or 2.56% student who got more than 50% of the correct answers on Physics.
This means that PEHM majors have lower performances in PPST and Physics as against their counterparts in the BSE Social
Studies. This implies the need to enrich lessons on the said subjects to enhance their background knowledge along these
subject areas.
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Mathematical Abilities of Freshman Students: Basis in the Development of an Enrichment Material

Moreover, Social Studies Pre-service teachers got higher than 50% of the number of items in PPST but none of them
got higher than 50% on Physics and Mathematics. This only means that Social Studies majors are strong in terms of their
knowledge on teacher quality in the Philippines but considerably weak in terms of exact sciences such as Physics and
Mathematics.

Table 3. Performance of the Pre-Service Teachers on National Diagnostic Aptitude Test in Terms of General Education
Subjects.

Major
Filipino English Science Math OverAll
Subjects n=15 n=7 n=8 n=12 N=165
<50% >50% <50% >50% <50% >50% <50% >50% <50% >50%
English freq. 10 5 2 5 5 3 8 4 127 38
% 66.67 33.33 28.57 71.43 62.50 37.50 66.67 33.33 76.97 23.03
Soc. Stud. freq. 14 1 5 2 7 1 7 5 146 19
% 93.33 6.67 71.43 28.57 87.50 12.50 58.33 41.67 88.48 11.52
Bio Sci freq. 9 6 4 3 0 8 10 2 135 30
% 60.00 40.00 57.14 42.86 0.00 100.00 83.33 16.67 81.82 18.18
Physics freq. 12 3 6 1 7 1 12 0 158 7
% 80.00 20.00 85.71 14.29 87.50 12.50 100.00 0.00 95.76 4.24
Math freq. 15 0 6 1 6 2 2 10 143 22
% 100.00 0.00 85.71 14.29 75.00 25.00 16.67 83.33 86.67 13.33
Filipino freq. 3 12 4 3 5 3 9 3 116 49
% 20.00 80.00 57.14 42.86 62.50 37.50 75.00 25.00 70.30 29.70
PPST freq. 8 7 0 7 2 6 2 10 105 60
% 53.33 46.67 0.00 100.00 25.00 75.00 16.67 83.33 63.64 36.36
K-12 freq. 15 0 7 0 6 2 12 0 153 12
% 100.00 0.00 100.00 0.00 75.00 25.00 100.00 0.00 92.73 7.27
OBE freq. 12 3 2 5 6 2 9 3 134 31
% 80.00 20.00 28.57 71.43 75.00 25.00 75.00 25.00 81.21 18.79

It can be gleaned from the table above that out of 15 Filipino pre-service teachers, 12 or 80% of them got
higher than the 50% of number of total items in Filipino. This means that most of them really is performing well and
are strong in their area of specialization. On the other hand, none of the Filipino pre-service teachers got higher than
the 50% number of items in the subjects Math and K-12 which could mean that these could be their waterloo
subjects.

For English pre-service teachers, 5 out of 7 or 71.43% got more than the passing score on their major,
English, and OBE which means they are doing well in these subjects. It can also be seen that all of the English pre-
service teachers got greater than the passing score. This only means that English majors are strong in the above
mentioned subject areas.

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 IJLLT 2(1):10-14

All of the General Science pre-service teachers got higher than 50% of the total number of items on
Biological Science which shows their competency in their major field. Also, 6 or 75% of them got more than the
passing score in PPST which is indicative of their strength along this line.

Out of 12 Mathematics pre-service teachers, 10 or 83.33 of them got higher than 50% of the number of
items on their major, Mathematics, and PPST which affirms the fact that they are strong in their line of specialization
and have high potential in terms of teacher quality and development.

For the overall performance of the pre-service teachers, it can be deduced from the table that they
perform well on the subjects Filipino and PPST with 70.30% and 63.64%, respectively. On the other hand, out of 166
pre-service teachers, 76.96% of them got lower than the 50% of the number of items in all of the subjects except for
the two: Filipino and PPST. This means that the pre-service teachers of the College Teacher Education of Urdaneta
City University are strong in the subjects Filipino and PPST and relatively weak in terms of other subject-areas such
as: English, Social Studies, Biological Science, Physics, Math, K-12, and OBE. This implies the need to strengthen and
enrich lessons pertaining to the latter subjects to enhance the knowledge and capabilities of the pre-service teachers
on the said subject-areas.

Results and Discussion

After a systematic and in-depth analysis of the data gathered, the investigations finally come up with the following results: (1)
Majority of the 4th year Pre-Service Teachers are under the Bachelor in Secondary Education Program with 99 or 60%. Most of
them are under the PEHM Major with 23.6%, followed by the Social Studies Majors with 18 or 10.9% and with the least
number, English Majors with only 7 or 4.2%. (2) The respondents’ performance level on the National Diagnostic Aptitude Test
are low when it comes to the subjects English, Social Studies, Biological Science, Physics, Mathematics, K-12 and OBE.

Conclusion
Based from the following findings, conclusions were drawn: (1) The respondents of the study are BSEd Program dominated.
Most of them are PEHM majors and few of them are English Majors. (2) The respondents got a low performance level on all of
the subjects in the National Diagnostic Aptitude Test and are highly performing on the subjects Filipino and PPST.

References
Betts, J. R., Hann, Y., & Zau, A. C. (2015). Does Diagnostic Math Testing Improve Student Learning? https://www.
Monash.edu/_data/assets/pdf_file/0003/925644/can_testing_improve_student_learning_an_evaluation_of_the_mathe
matics_diagnostic_testing _project.pdf

Carmody, G, Godfrey, A., & Wood, L. (2012, October). Diagnostic Tests in a First Year Mathematics Subject.
http://sydney.edu.au/science/uniserve_science/pubs/procs/2006/carmody.pdf

Esomonu, N.P., & Eleje, L. I., (2020, February). Effect of Diagnostic Testing on Students’ Achievement in Secondary School
Quantitative Economics. https://doi.org/10.5430/wje.v10n3p178

Geok Shim, George T., Abang Shakawi, A.M. H., & Azizan, F.L. (2017, July). Relationship Between Students’ Diagnostic
Assessment and Achievement in a Pre-University Mathematics Course. http://doi.org/10.5539/jel.v6n4p364.

Ofem, U. J., Idika, D. O., & Ovat, S. V. (2017). Effect of Diagnostic and Feedback Assessment Approaches in Enhancing

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Mathematical Abilities of Freshman Students: Basis in the Development of an Enrichment Material

Achievement in Mathematics Among Secondary School Students in Calabar Municipality. International Journal of
Scientific Research in Education, 10 (2), 221-227.

Rusrus, H. R. (2007). A Suggested Program to Remedy the Common Mistakes in Solving the Mathematical Problems for the
Eleventh Literary Section Graders in Gaza. http://library.iugaza.edu.ps/thesis/95917.pdf