Assessment Practices of Teachers and Critical Thinking Skills of Students in Public Secondary Schools in Bolinao, Pangasinan

This study examined the relationship between teachers’ assessment practices and students’ critical thinking skills among public secondary schools in Bolinao, Pangasinan, using a descriptive-correlational research design. The study's respondents were 88 public secondary school teachers from the Bolinao District. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, such as frequency counts, percentage distributions, weighted means, and rankings, and inferential statistics, such as the Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient, to determine significant relationships among variables. Findings revealed that the majority of the public secondary school teachers are within the middle-age bracket (aged 31-40), predominantly female and married, occupying Teacher I to Teacher VI positions, with units in master’s degree or master’s degree holders, having several years of teaching experience, earning below Php50,000 monthly, and attending 5 or less number of seminars and training related to assessment practices. The study further revealed that teachers made extensive use of formative and summative assessments, authentic and performance-based assessments, assessment design and alignment, and assessment results for instructional decision-making. Likewise, students demonstrated a high level of critical thinking skills in analysis, interpretation, inference, evaluation, explanation, and self-regulation. However, teachers encountered challenges in implementing assessment practices due to limited instructional resources, time constraints, large class sizes, and insufficient training opportunities. Results also showed significant relationships between selected teacher profile variables and assessment practices, as well as between teachers’ assessment practices and students’ critical thinking skills. The findings imply that effective assessment practices significantly enhance students’ higher-order thinking skills. Hence, the study recommends implementing a comprehensive capacity-building program to strengthen teachers’ competencies in assessment design, feedback mechanisms, and learner-centered assessment strategies to further improve students’ critical thinking.