Republic of the Philippines

SULTAN KUDARAT STATE UNIVERSITY

TABLE OF SPECIFICATIONS (SAMPLE)

EASY (30%) AVERAGE (50%) DIFICULT (20%)

Items r of Numbe
Number of Minutes Spent in
TOPICS AND OBJECTIVES

Teaching

Comprehension
Knowledge

Analysis

Synthesis

Evaluation
Placement

Placement

Placement

Placement

Placement

Placement
Application
Item

Item
Item

Item

Item

Item
Topic I.
1. Define
Topic II.
1.
Topic III.
1.
Topic IV.
1.
Topic V.
1.
Total
* Please use your prescribed department/college heading

Prepared by:
________________________________________
Signature over Printed Name of Faculty and Date

Reviewed by:

________________________________________
Signature over Printed Name of Faculty and Date
Program Chairman

GUIDELINES ON THE PREPARATION OF THE TABLE OF SPECIFICATIONS

A Table of Specifications (TOS) can be used to help teachers frame the decision-making process of test construction and improve the validity of
teachers’ evaluations based on test constructed for classroom use (Fives & Barnes, 2013). The primary purpose of a TOS is to ensure alignment between
the items or elements of an assessment and the content, skills, or constructs that the assessment intends to assess (Barnes, 2018).
The following are the steps in making a Table of Specifications:
Step 1: Determine Content Areas or Objectives
Step 2: Identify the No. of Hours/ Minutes Allotted (Or you spent) for each topic (This means you have to go back to your course)
Step 3: List the total number of test items (This step is either prerogative of the teacher or the institution)
Step 4: Determine the number of Items per topic or Content Areas (formula: total Number of items/total number of minutes= result x allotted minutes
of a topic) 60/ 1, 260 = 0.048
Total number of items: 60 = 0.048x 180
Total number of minutes: 1, 260 = 8.64
Allotted minutes of a topic: 180
OR
180 (Allotted Minutes) x 60 (Items) = 8.64 or ≅9 items
1,260 (Total Number of Minutes)
Step 5: Identify the levels of difficulty and their percentages in the examination (Easy 30%; Average 50%; Difficult 20%)
Step 6: Determine the number of items for each topic per level of difficulty (Formula: multiply the allotted number of items per topic with the level of
difficulty)
Step 7: make sure the vertical and horizontal sum of the items are correct
Step 8: Write the item placement for each number of items
Step 9: Complete the Table of Specifications, making sure everything is in place
Step 10: Always have your TOS side by side your examination draft

References:
Constructing test questions and the Table of Specifications. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.slideshare.net/RonaldQuileste/constructing-test-
questions-and-the-table-of-specifications-tos

Barnes, H. F. (2018). Table of Specifications. SAGE Encyclopedia of Educational Research, Measurement, and Evaluation, 1655-1657.
Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications, Inc.

Fives, H. & Barnes, N. (2013). Classroom test construction: The power of a Table of Specifications. Practical Assessment, Research, &
Evaluation. 18. 1.