IPLAN is a diagnostic and formative tool designed to assess the foundational skills of students in literacy and numeracy based on the Department of Education K-12 curriculum. The assessment is criterion-referenced; therefore it evaluates performance against a set of
predetermined learning standards.

IPLAN is performance-based and administered one-on-one to students using an interview style; its mode of assessment includes the use of reading materials and manipulatives. Testing conditions and behaviors of the students during testing are also reported as such factors may affect their performance during the conduct of the assessment (Aylward & Carson, 2005).

IPLAN indicates the skill strengths across the content areas and sub-areas of literacy and numeracy. It also shows whether or not a student is at risk in his/her foundational skills and pinpoints specific areas of difficulties that need further interventions.

IPLAN measures the Literacy skills of students in major content areas of oral language, phonological awareness, phonics and word recognition, grammar, vocabulary development, reading fluency and comprehension as well as writing/composition. For numeracy, it measures skills in number and number sense, geometry, patterns and algebra, measurement as well as statistics and probability.

The assessment is offered to Kinder and Grades 1, 2, and 3 students. It also consists of a pre-test at the beginning of the school year (June) to measure the pre-existing knowledge, and a post-test at the end (March) to compare the knowledge attained after instructional interventions done by the teacher.

Literacy and numeracy are fundamental and foundational skills that constitute key information processing, becoming a foundation for the development of higher-order cognitive skills and a pre-requisite for attaining and understanding specific domains of knowledge.

High literacy and numeracy skills are also associated with personal, social and economic wellbeing and are essential in a broad range of contexts in everyday life. These skills are also increasingly significant in the labor market and can hugely affect employability, as these skills underpin a much wider set of work-related competences. (EU Skills Panorama, 2014).

Literacy and numeracy skills are crucial as they are used in many aspects of our lives, are often used in conjunction with other skills, and are used to begin, establish, and maintain lifelong learning (Getting the Basics Right: Quality Primary Education in the North Pacific, 2015). Early education is also essential for assessment as critical skills and knowledge learned throughout the years can be a determining factor for future performances (Langham, 2009). These skills must therefore be acquired early on in order to achieve success in life.

Lack of such without early diagnosis and intervention of problem areas may lead to student’s falling farther behind in all future learning as they progress through school.

Grace followed a standard and stringent process during the test development of IPLAN. Anchored on a conceptual framework, a team of Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) provided by Phoenix Publishing House developed items based on the Test of Specifications (TOS) formulated by GRACE. The initial items developed were then subjected to an external item review panel of Subject Matter Experts (SMEs). After rigorous process of content validation, the items were pilot tested in selected schools across the country. The pilot test data were used to do item analysis to establish IPLAN’s psychometric properties and formulate the final form of IPLAN.

Once the client school decides to avail of the assessment service, GRACE immediately coordinates with the school administrator/principal through an agent from Phoenix Publishing House (PPH) to formally sign a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) effective for one (1) year. GRACE will then contact a representative from the client school for details on the test administration.

IPLAN It is typically non-written and conducted over approximately 15 to 20 minutes per student. It is administered one-on-one, with a particular pupil-assessor seating arrangement conducive for test administration. For Literacy, the student must be seated beside the assessor for proper communication and execution of reading and listening tasks. On the other hand, students are to be seated across the assessor when it comes to Numeracy as they would be using counters and manipulatives for the entirety of the assessment.

Establishing rapport with the student is an important aspect of test administration as informal behavioral observations are made throughout the entire assessment process via the Assessor’s Informal Observation Questionnaire. A scoring sheet for Literacy/Numeracy per student is also provided for the assessor to score the appropriate response/s made by the student based on the analytic rubric per item.

GRACE will be providing assessors and site coordinators to administer the test to the school. Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) and licensed professionals who underwent extensive screening and training for the IPLAN test administration will be the ones to assess the students, whereas site coordinators are in-charge of monitoring the overall progress of the assessment, and are responsible for accompanying the students to the testing room and back to their classrooms end of every test administration. Site coordinators must be accurate in timing the assessment and ensure that it is within schedule.