About

The Center for Educational Measurement, Inc. traces its roots to a series of consultation meetings and conferences between the Fund for Assistance to Private Education (FAPE) and the educational sector in the 1970s.
 

CEM was launched on September 1, 1978 in the Silangan Hall of the Cultural Center of the Philippines. Minister of Education and Culture Juan L. Manuel welcomed the creation of CEM and delivered his keynote address before more than 100 guests and officials from schools, educational associations, and foreign foundations.
 

CEM became an affiliate member of the International Association for Educational Assessment (IAEA).

CEM released the first locally-develped admission test for nursing schools in the Philippines, the Nursing Aptitude Test (NAT).

New Diagnostic Tests for 1st and 2nd year high school were also developed to meet the need of schools to gauge the proficiency of their students in English, Filipino, Mathematics, Science and Social Studies.

CEM marked it’s 5th founding anniversary on September 1, 1983 at the Century Park Sheraton Hotel with the 2nd Invitational Conference on Issues in Philippine Educational Testing and a Testimonial Dinner for business corporations, civic organizations, and foundations in recognition of their efforts to further educational opportunities for students.

The Philippine Occupational Interest Survey (POIS) was administered together with the Philippine Aptitude Classification Test (PACT) to incoming college students to measure their preference for various types of work and identify the occupational field of their interest. It served as an aid in the formulation of educational and career plans towards a satisfying career life.

The National Medical Admission Test (NMAT) is an aptitude test approved by the Board of Medical Education (BME) in consultation with the Association of Philippine Medical Colleges (APMC) was first administered in the Philippines and Bangkok, Thailand on December 1, 1985 .
 

The Philippine Merit Award for Scholastic Potential (PMASP) or “Alay sa Pangarap” was a nationwide recognition project launched during CEM’s 7th anniversary on September 24, 1985. It’s aim was to identify, honor, and encourage talented CEM member school students in a way that will draw public attention and support to the importance of students’ intellectual attainment and increase educational opportunities for able students.
 

NMAT was first administered in the US on January 11, 1986 in San Francisco and New York.
 

The Philippine Aptitude Test for Teachers (PATT) is used for screening applicants for a teaching position through an assessment of their basic strengths and weaknesses. 

The Advanced Placement Tests (APT) are administered to incoming college freshmen who would like to obtain advanced credits in English and Mathematics if the institution they are enrolled in has such a policy.

CEM organized an Educational Forum on “Measurement for Excellence and Equity in Education” on September 8, 1988 at the Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Center, Roxas Boulevard.
 

CEM acquired its very own printing machines and established an in-house printing facility to expedite production and maintain maximum security of test materials.
 

CEM released the following tests: 

• Graduate Level Test (GLT)
• Allied Medical Courses Admission Test (AMCAT)
• Elementary Level Competency Measure (ELCOM)
• Admission Test for Colleges and Universities (ATCU)
• Reading Tests

CEM developed the Law School Qualifying Test (LSQT) to measure the potential of students for legal education in the Philippines.

CEM organized an Educational Forum on “Educational Assessment - A Tool for Quality Education” on September 15, 1993 at the Mandarin Oriental in Makati.

On February 20-24, 1994, CEM spearheaded, sponsored, and hosted the 1st Asia-Pacific Conference on Educational Assessment and Research at the Hotel Intercontinental Manila, Makati.

“CEM at 20: Crossing Over” was held on September 22, 1998 at the Manila Hotel.
 

The NMAT Highlights was the first comprehensive evaluation of NMAT performance since its first administration by CEM for the government in 1985. The findings of the study were disseminated during a roundtable discussion on the NMAT held on September 10, 1999 at the Asian Institute of Management’s Center for Continuous Executive Education (ACCEED) in Makati.
 

Four new statistical packages, BasicPlus, BasicPlus+, Multi-Year Trends of Test Scores (MTTS), and Multi-Year Trends of Learning Competencies (MTLC) were launched during a forum for CEM member schools on September 6, 2002 at the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) Conference Center in Makati.
 

CEM held two events to commemorate its 25th anniversary: Recognition Night, a dinner hosted by CEM on September 17, 2003 at the Mabuhay Pavilion of the Manila Hotel in recognition of CEM’s Board of Trustees, center coordinators, and scholarship clients. Educational Forum on “Leading the way in educational assessment and research” held in Manila, Cebu, and Davao.
 

CEM and the Office of Measurement Services (OMS) of the University of Minniesota signed a Momarandum of Understanding on November 5, 2005.
 

CEM, as exclusive distributor in the Philippines, launched the International Benchmark Tests (IBT) at the CEM Educators’ Conference in September 2007.

CEM held its National Conference on “Using Data to Improve Instruction and Learning” on October 15, 2008 at the Edsa Shangri-La Manila.
 

Awarding of the first ever CEM Teaching Excellence Awards (TEA) was held during CEM’s 30th Anniversary National Conference.
 

Awarding of the first ever School Leadership Excellence (SLEx) was held during CEM’s 31st anniversary conference on “The Principal and the Challenge of Transformative Leadership.”
 

CEM hosted an international conference for the first time when the 37th Annual Conference of the International Association for Educational Assessment (IAEA) was held on October 23-28, 2011 at the Edsa Shangri-La Hotel.
 

On October 25, 2011, Dr. Robert Sternberg was a speaker at the “Successful Intelligence: What It Takes to Succeed and Lead in School, Work, and Life”. This event was fourth in the Leadership Conference Series made possible through CEM, Campaigns and Gray, and De La Salle University-Manila.
 

CEM held a nationwide conference on “Lead with data. Lead change.” for its member schools in Manila on September 6, Cebu on September 13, and Davao on September 20.
 

CEM rolled out K to 12 ready tests beginning with Kindergarten, Grade 1 and Grade 7. Packaged with the tests are reports on how the students measure up to the prescribed competencies.

CEM released its CEM Career Interest Profiler (CEM Profiler) to help guidance personnel facilitate the school’s career guidance and counselling programs.

The Legal Education Board (LEB) tapped CEM to develop, monitor, and administer the Philippine Law School Admission Test (PhiLSAT).

The test was first administered on April 16, 2017 in Manila, Baguio, Legazpi, Cebu, Iloilo, Davao, and Cagayan de Oro.

CEM officially launched the CEM School Portal during its 39^th Anniversary Conference held on September 22, 2017, at the EDSA Shangri-La Hotel. Member schools can:

• Retrieve their CEM Membership Information and CEM Test Reports
• Access the CEM Database of Occupational Information
• Watch tutorial videos on interpreting the CEM K to 12 achievement tests
• Get exclusive updates and announcements on CEM programs and services.

The awarding for the 2nd School Leadership Excellence (SLEx) Awards was held during the Manila leg of CEM’s 39th Anniversary Conference on “Leading Our Schools to Success”  on September 8, 2017 at the Edsa Shangri-La Hotel.
 

On February 21, 2017, CEM launched its Facebook Business Page. This social media outlet gave CEM the valuable opportunity to publicize its products and services and to communicate more with its stakeholders.

CEM launched the Readiness Test For Colleges and Universities and the Senior High School Achievement Tests (SHSAT) for senior high school students.

On November 27, 2019, CEM organized its first-ever Corporate Social Responsibility Campaign entitled “CEM School-based Storytelling and Reading Outreach Activity” at Biaan Aeta Integrated School (BAIS)- a DepEd-managed school in Mariveles, Bataan that offers Kindergarten to Senior High School programs to the Magbucon Aeta Tribe and its neighboring communities. CEM staff volunteers conducted storytelling and reading sessions to all elementary pupils of BAIS.

CEM, in partnership with Radio Veritas 846 Kapanalig, hosted four episodes of Campus Hour United with the Center for Educational Measurement, Inc. aired on June 8, 15, 22, and 29, 2019. September saw the launch of CEM’s newest radio program, CEM On Air. The 30-minute program aired 24 episodes every Saturday from September 2019 to February 2020. It was hosted by some of CEM’s staff and the discussions focused on relevant assessment-related and other educational topics and issues encountered by educators.

CEM celebrated its 41^st founding anniversary with a 7-city conference (Manila, Dagupan, Cebu, Cagayan de Oro, General Santos, Iloilo, and Davao) on "Making Schools Effective Through Quality Management Systems".

Videos have become one of the most effective media to communicate key messages across various audiences. In response, CEM launched its YouTube channel on October 22, 2019 as part of its community-building initiative.

On August 10-19, 2020, the first-ever CEM online test was launched through the NMAT Online. Over 6000 registered applicants from the March testing took the test and their test results were made available on August 28, 2020 through the NMAT website.

CEM officially launched its standardized online assessments during the first part of the CEM 42^nd Anniversary Virtual Conference held on September 25, 2020, via Zoom. These tests were designed to help schools, organizations and other individuals evaluate and document the learning progress of students amidst the pandemic.

CEM unveiled its redesigned website www.cem-inc.org.ph on July 30, 2020. The comprehensive website overhaul was undertaken to update the design and structure of the site and to improve the organization and presentation of the content provided so that visitors can quickly navigate to desired pages.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, CEM transformed its 42^nd anniversary into its first-ever three-part virtual conference on Education Reimagined: Starting and Sustaining New Approaches to Learning, from September to October 2020 via Zoom and live-streamed on the CEM Facebook page.  Registration was free and open to the public through CEM’s Learning Management System at www.cem-cpd.com.ph.

Building on the success of its radio program, CEM On-Air, from September 2019 to February 2020, CEM launched CEM Connections on its YouTube channel. This online resource discusses relevant assessment-related and other educational topics and issues encountered by educators and the education sector, in general.

CEM launched its new e-learning platform in August 2020 to help deliver its Professional Development Programs with CPD Accreditation online.