Table of Specification

The purpose of a Table of Specifications is to identify the achievement domains being measured and to ensure that a fair and representative sample of
questions appear on the test. Teachers cannot measure every topic or objective and cannot ask every question they might wish to ask. A Table of
Specifications allows the teacher to construct a test which focuses on the key areas and weights those different areas based on their importance. A Table
of Specifications provides the teacher with evidence that a test has content validity, that it covers what should be covered.

Designing a Table of Specifications 

Tables of Specification typically are designed based on the list of course objectives, the topics covered in class, the amount of time spent on those topics,
textbook chapter topics, and the emphasis and space provided in the text. In some cases a great weight will be assigned to a concept that is extremely
important, even if relatively little class time was spent on the topic. Three steps are involved in creating a Table of Specifications: 1) choosing the
measurement goals and domain to be covered, 2) breaking the domain into key or fairly independent parts- concepts, terms, procedures, applications,
and 3) constructing the table. Teachers have already made decisions (or the district has decided for them) about the broad areas that should be taught,
so the choice of what broad domains a test should cover has usually already been made. A bit trickier is to outline the subject matter into smaller
components, but most teachers have already had to design teaching plans, strategies, and schedules based on an outline of content. Lists of classroom
objectives, district curriculum guidelines, and textbook sections, and keywords are other commonly used sources for identifying categories for Tables of
Specification. When actually constructing the table, teachers may only wish to use a simple structure, as with the first example above, or they may be
interested in greater detail about the types of items, the cognitive levels for items, the best mix of objectively scored items, open-ended and
constructed-response items, and so on, with even more guidance than is provided in the second example.

How can the use of a Table of Specifications benefit your students, including those with special needs? 

A Table of Specifications benefits students in two ways. First, it improves the validity of teacher-made tests. Second, it can improve student learning as
well.

A Table of Specifications helps to ensure that there is a match between what is taught and what is tested. Classroom assessment should be driven by
classroom teaching which itself is driven by course goals and objectives. In the chain below, Tables of Specifications provide the link between teaching
and testing.

Objectives  Teaching  Testing 

Tables of Specifications can help students at all ability levels learn better. By providing the table to students during instruction, students can recognize
the main ideas, key skills, and the relationships among concepts more easily. The Table of Specifications can act in the same way as a concept map to
analyze content areas. Teachers can even collaborate with students on the construction of the Table of Specifications- what are the main ideas and
topics, what emphasis should be placed on each topic, what should be on the test? Open discussion and negotiation of these issues can encourage higher
levels of understanding while also modeling good learning and study skills.

PLANNING THE UNIT TEST

 Start with curriculum guide

 then operationalize by writing up series of objectives
 can do a quick review of writing Behavioral Objectives, if you would like.

SPECIFICATIONS CONSTRUCTION
 A table that shows what will be tested (and taught)
 Theoretically, a completely detailed table of specifications would have every learning objective listed for every
lesson for the whole year

o things haven't gone quite that far here in Alberta

o not sure there is really a point to having a document that lists every single fact students are to know
o not only is this too inflexible -- because it wouldn't allow for any room for teacher to respond to student needs,

it is also reductionism

 try to reduce learning to individual skills, misses that education is more than the sum of its parts
 part of difference between training and education I talk about in Social Context
o currently this totally detailed approach is dominant one in England
o some movement toward that end of the continuum here: "competency based" education is an attempt to move
towards defining education in terms of a finite number of specific competencies
o so we do not need that level of detail --> main topics for year, main concepts for a unit plan good enough

Sample Table of Specifications

Bloom's Taxonomy
Subject
Knowledge & Comprehension Application Analysis, Synthesis &Evaluation TOTALS
Content
Topic A 10% 20% 10% 40%
Topic B 15% 15% 30% 60%
TOTALS 25% 35% 40% 100%
 usually a two sided chart used in construction of tests
 content down one side, cognitive levels across the top
 common format in Alberta, but no rule: could have content across the top, Bloom'down the side
o usually group Bloom'categories: in this example, knowledge, understanding, and higher mental activity
o I prefer grouping knowledge/understanding (because straight recall usually too simple to count as real learning) and
than application, then analysis, synthesis and evaluation as higher level
o for more on Bloom'Taxonomy, please see Glossary
 Content usually much more detailed than this, but will use two categories here to keep illustration simple
 totals tell you at a glance what percenteage of course emphasis given to each topic and what percentage lower and higher
level mental processes

Here is an example of more detail

CANADA: Respondind to TOTA

CONTENT Economic Growth: USA Economic Growth: USSR
Change L
Centrall
Market Qualit y Qualit Mixed Qualit
Industrializati Geograp Industrializati Technolo
PROCESSES Econom y of Planned y of Econom y of
on hy on gy
y Life Econom Life y Life
y
KNOWLEDGE
AND
COMPREHENSI
ON
17% 17% 18% 52%
Recall Facts

Understand
Concepts and
Generalizations
PROCESS
SKILLS A

Locating
8% 8% 8% 24%
Interpreting

Organizing
PROCESS
SKILLS B
Etc...
Analyzing
 Example of running content across the top, Bloom'down the side
 notice that some curriculum'translate Bloom into subject specific taxonomy, but principle is the same

Table of Specifications Relates the Outcomes to the Content and Indicates the Relative weight of each area
 weight is usually based on how much time devoted to teaching concept
o but also how important it is that students remember, transfer to other contexts, courses --> some important ideas may
be easy to teach but still important to include
o also determined by type of material --> don't put a lot of weight on higher mental activity category for unit on
memorizing state capitals --> don't put a lot into recall for drama class on risk taking and creative dance
o weight -- start simple --> four topics, divide into 4, then maybe add bit more to topic you are particularly interested in,
or figure students will be interested in, etc.
 weight usually given in %, but you can use marks (e.g., 50) if you like
 usually out of 100%, but might make two separate blueprints, one for 70 multiple choice, and second 30% for written
response
 Acts as a:
 blueprint for teaching --> don't just start teaching page one on day one, or suddenly discover that its Easter and you're still
on first unit --> need to figure out how much time you're going to allocate per unit, per concept within units
 blueprint for the test
 So that we get:
 representative sample of course content -->not all random sample

o this is important so that you don't just choose questions from last two weeks before exam
 representative sample of skills, cognitive levels across content

o not just rote memorization; or just high level stuff

o often sabotage great course by teaching high level skills (sculpting, acting, playing solo) then giving rote memorization
test (date that Mozart composed 43rd symphony) that does not reflect actual time spent

kids learn quickly what actually &#34counts"is stuff on test, so if you have rote memorization test, don'try to get class discussion
going!
 analyze results by level and content area

o if students getting all lower level questions but missing higher level, then you're not doing your job; if all have got
answers to one unit but not another, may have to reteach that unit, etc.

Do classroom teachers actually do this?

 No, but most of them have not had the benefit of your training.
 Part of my job when I worked for Student Evaluation branch was to do inservice workshops at PD days and teacher
conventions and on item writing committees; teachers were always surprised and pleased by this obvious concept.
 So more teachers are doing this each year.
 Now, most principals will want to see your year plans, and expect some evaluation planning as part of it.
 It is becoming a standard part of unit planning

Strictly speaking there is a difference between a Table of Specifications and a Blueprint:

 Specifications refer to a plan of what is to be taught/tested by weighting
 A blueprint is the plan of the specific test, i.e., which questions test which concept
 So same specifications could give rise to several different blueprints

TABLE OF SPECIFICATIONS

What is a Table of Specification?

 Test map that guides teacher in constructing a test.

 Two – way chart which decribes the topics to be covered by a test and the number of items or points which will be
associated with each topic.
 Table of specification is a plan prepared by a classroom teacher as a basis for test construction especially a periodic
test.

What is the importance of TOS?

 Help teachers frame the decision making process of test construction and improve the validity of teacher’s evaluations
based on tests constructed.
 Helping teachers to identify the types of items they need to include on their tests.
  Identify the achievement domains being measured and to ensure that a fair and representative sample of questions
appear on the test.
 Provides the teacher with evidence that a test has content validity, that it covers what should be covered.

Higher Thinking Skills

Lower Thinking Skills

Consist of four columns

 Level objective
 Statement of objective
 Item number
 Number items and percentage

Level Objective Item Numbers Number Percentage

1.Knowledge

2.Comprehension

3.Application

4.Analysis

5.Synthesis

 KNOWLEDGE- remembering facts, terms, definitions, and concepts

 COMPREHENSION-understanding the meaning of material
 APPLICATION- selecting a concept or skill and using it to solve a problem
 ANALYSIS- breaking material down into its parts and explaining the hierarchial relations
 EVALUATION- making a judgment based upon a pre-established set of criteria

Steps in Preparing Table of Specification

1. List down the topics covered for inclusion in the test.

2. Determine the objectives to be assessed by the test.
3. Specify the number of days/hours spent for teaching a particular topic.
4. Determine percentage allocation of the test items for each of the topics covered. The formula applied is as follows: % for a
topic = Total Number of Days/Hours Spent
EXAMPLE:
 Mrs.Reyes utilized 10 hours for teaching the unit on photosynthessis. She spent 2 hours in teaching the topic,
“Chemical Processes”. What percentage of test items should she allocate for the topic? % for a topic.
2/10 = ( 20% )
5. Determine the number of the items for each topic. This can be done by multiplying the percentage allocation for each topic
by the total number of items to be constructed.
EXAMPLE:
 Mrs.Reyes decided to prepare a 50-item test on the unit, “Photosynthesis”. How many items should she write for
the”Chemical Processes”?
50 items x 0.20 = 10 items
6. Distribute the numbers to the objectives. The number of items allocated for each objective depends on the degree of
importance attached by the teacher to it.