Dr. Allan Reyes joins other members of the Assessment Professional Development (APD) Consortium during the proposal presentation to DepEd Secretary Sonny Angara on 28 October 2024.

A consortium of education experts, including RITQ Senior Program Manager Dr. Allan Reyes, met with Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Sonny Angara on 28 October2024 to discuss a proposal aimed at enhancing the Philippines’ performance in the 2025 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).

Known as the Assessment Professional Development (APD) Consortium, the group has a history of supporting DepEd’s PISA preparations. In 2021, the consortium developed and led a professional development program on assessment and emerging literacies, in collaboration with the DepEd Office of the Secretary, Bureau of Education Assessment (BEA), and Bureau of Learning Delivery (BLD), serving as a learning service provider for the National Educators Academy of the Philippines (NEAP).

The consortium’s new proposal, titled “Accelerating Education Quality Improvement for PISA 2025,” outlines targeted interventions to better prepare Filipino students and educators for the upcoming assessment. It consists of three primary components:

  • A General Competency-Based Learning and Assessment Program,
  • An Information Packet for PISA 2025 Sample Schools,
  • A Feedback Mechanism and Technical Support System to enable scalability.

Dr. Reyes is one of the consortium’s subject experts that helped develop strategies for aligning PISA assessment preparation with existing K-12 competencies. The consortium emphasizes a focus on equipping students with the critical thinking, problem-solving, and knowledge application skills necessary for success.

Addressing Secretary Angara, Atty. Nepomuceno Malaluan, former DepEd undersecretary and one of the consortium’s convenors, underscored the value of the initiative: “Given the urgency in addressing the challenges posed by the latest PISA results, we believe this approach can bolster the broader reforms already underway within DepEd. The intervention is designed to bridge the gap between current educational outcomes and the long-term goal of improving student performance in reading, mathematics, and science.”

The consortium’s proposal complements DepEd’s own Task Force interventions aimed at addressing low learning outcomes. In the latest PISA results, the Philippines ranked 76th in mathematics, 77th in reading, and 79th in science among 81 countries, with scores far below the baseline proficiency (Level 2). According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), around 62% of PISA performance variance across countries is influenced by per capita GDP; however, case studies like Vietnam show that educational reforms can drive significant improvements despite economic constraints.

“For the Philippines, a focused, well-designed intervention can accelerate educational progress and outpace what economic growth alone would achieve or predict,” the consortium stated in its briefer, emphasizing that targeted educational strategies can close performance gaps even in resource-limited settings. (RITQ Communications)

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A consortium of education experts, including RITQ Senior Program Manager Dr. Allan Reyes, met with Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Sonny Angara on 28 October2024 to discuss a proposal aimed at enhancing the Philippines’ performance in the 2025 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Known as the Assessment Professional Development...