Assessment Policy

Al-Rayan International School

ASSESSMENT 

POLICY

2020 /2021


ARIS Core Purpose

“We are a diverse community of learners that are committed to inspire, empower and transform for a better world.”

 

ARIS Core Values

  • Greatness in Everyone
  • Learning with Everyone
  • Creativity and Innovation by Everyone
  • Service to Everyone
  • Change for Everyone

 

ARIS Characteristics

  • Responsibility and Respect
  • Passion and Mindfulness
  • Collaboration and Communication
  • Reflection and Action

 

IB Mission Statement 

The International Baccalaureate aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable, and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect. 

To this end, the organization works with schools, governments, and international organizations to develop challenging programmes of international education and rigorous assessment. 

These programmes encourage students across the world to become active, compassionate, and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right. 

ARIS offers the following programmes:

  • The International Baccalaureate  Primary  Years Programme (PYP)
  • The International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme (MYP)
  • The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme. (IBDP)
  • The International Baccalaureate Career Programme. (IBCP)

 

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENT

Introduction 7
Purpose of Assessment 8
Principles of Assessment 8
Monitoring and Collecting Evidence of Student Learning 10
Formative Assessment (Ongoing) 10
Summative Assessment 10
Common Assessment 10
External Assessment 11
Assessment Examples at ARIS 11
Administration Of The Various Types Of Assessments 13
Frequency and Limits of Administration of Summative Assessments 13
Providing Feedback of Learning 14
Documenting and Measuring Learning 15
Academic descriptors for the Primary Years Programme- PYP 15
Standardization 15
Academic descriptors for the Middle Years Programme- MYP 15
Academic descriptors for the Diploma and Career Programmes- DP/CP subjects 18
Academic descriptors IB-CP Core and Reflective Project 19
Academic descriptors for the Career Related Study (BTEC) 20
Assessment Plan Requirements 20
Managebac Recording Guidelines 21
Portfolio 21
Late Submission of Assessments 21
Reassessment 23
Evaluation of Assessment Data 23
Reporting on Learning 24
Final Semester Achievement Level 24
Reporting periods 24
Student support on Assessment 25
Language Learners 25
Assessment and Academic Honesty 25
Training of New teachers 25
Communication with stakeholders 25
Roles and responsibilities 26
Policy Review 26
References 27

 

 

 

 

 
 
INTRODUCTION

The ARIS educational model is centred on personalised learning with a special focus on student performance and experiences, giving an ode to student agency as they take ownership of their learning.

At ARIS, we view assessment and reporting as a systematic and continuous collection, review, and use of information undertaken to track student performance and improve student learning. It allows us to identify what students know, understand, value and can do at various stages of the learning process. It also supports us in setting targets and goals that meet the needs of every one of our students. 

ARIS encourages all facilitators to use assessment practices that are student-centred and consistent with programme and curricular learning goals. The school expects that these assessment tasks help our diverse student population make judgments about their learning, incorporate varying learning styles, accommodate specific student learning needs, and provide students with feedback on their knowledge on a regular and consistent basis.

In alignment with our Core Values, we design our assessment to prepare students to be problem-solvers who make meaningful contributions in the real-world. Our assessments provide an opportunity for the student to use critical and creative thinking skills that allow for connections and applications of knowledge in real-world situations.



PURPOSES OF ASSESSMENT

Assessment at ARIS is designed to benefit all community stakeholders. 

For the Students:

  • to allow demonstrating learning
  • to allow understanding their progress
  • to help students challenge themselves and plan the next stages of their learning
  • to provide learners with the opportunity to understand, set, and achieve learning goals

 

For the Facilitators:

  • to determine degrees of learner prior knowledge and connect it to new learning
  • to identify and support learning differences and learning styles 
  • to plan, monitor, and adapt the curriculum, in addition to learning, teaching, and assessment practices

 

For the Parents:

  • Provides the opportunity to be partners in the learning process 
  • Provides accurate information on their children’s progress
  • Provides accurate information on their children’s strengths and areas in need of support

 

PRINCIPLES OF ASSESSMENT

 At ARIS, we ground our thinking in the following principles of effective assessment. 

  • Improves student learning :  Assessments at our school set out to measure intended learning outcomes. Assessments are implemented as tools of learning and for learning. 

 

  • Recognises learning differences:  Understanding that students vary greatly in interests, aptitudes, and development, our assessment tasks offer opportunities for all students to demonstrate their skills and understanding. 

 

  • Is valid, reliable, and consistent: Our facilitators aim for assessments to directly and regularly measure what they are intended to measure. 

 

  • Is fair and ethical: Our assessments measure what students have learned. We create assessments based on students' learning needs and Socio-Cultural differences.  

  • Various forms of assessment:  Our facilitators use a variety of assessment tools aligned to the specific information they seek and differentiate according to students’ needs. 

 

  • Is standardised: at different levels to ensure consistency (departmental, year level, with external bodies…) and that it meets the needs of the programmes.

 

  • Is authentic and contextual: Our assessments emphasise the importance of understanding and applying the acquired knowledge, skills and concepts in real-world situations. 

 

  •  ATL integration: Addresses the Approaches to Teaching and Learning-ATL Skills and the profiles embedded in the IB Programs

 

  • Involves feedback and reflection: Our assessment tools allow students to get detailed feedback on their performance. Students get time to reflect on the learning, while facilitators consistently use assessment results to reflect on their practice.  

 

Comprehensive feedback is provided to all students on both formative and summative assessments in a timely manner (within 2- 12 working days of work being submitted or at the next lesson) and be supportive. All feedback is directly and implicitly linked to specific learning goals. Feedback is descriptive and highlights specific student strengths, should address specific areas of improvement and suggest ways to improve using language accessible to all learners. Feedback should provide the opportunity for student reflection on their learning, and allow students to act on that feedback without penalty. Feedback can be both written and verbal.

 

  • Is ongoing with clear and accurate records:  Student learning is best fostered when assessment involves a linked series of activities and opportunities over time. Our facilitators monitor student progress regularly and maintain records of evidence (portfolio, seesaw, managebac, google classroom, files) as students strive to meet the intended learning outcomes of each unit.

 

  • Is collaborative as facilitators work together to suggest successful strategies and best practices in assessment research. 



MONITORING AND COLLECTING EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

 We recognise and implement four main categories of assessment: formative, summative, common and external. 

 

Formative Assessment (Ongoing)

  • Monitors student learning and provides detailed and ongoing feedback that can be used by facilitators to improve their teaching and by students to improve their learning.
  • Is focused on developing students’ skills,  conceptual/contextual understanding and learning.
  • Is ongoing and can be both formal or informal, written and verbal.
  • Should be used by facilitators to monitor and adjust teaching methods, strategies and plans.
  • Is used by students as an opportunity to focus on learning in a low-risk environment
  • helps facilitators meet the unique needs of individual students because, through formative assessment, facilitators can discover what has been taught and learned.



Summative Assessment 

  • comprises information about student mastery of a unit
  • supports facilitators, school, student and parent accountability
  • is focused on assessing students’ skills, profile, conceptual/contextual understanding and learning of concepts
  • does not need to be used only at the end of a unit, but can be used during the unit to inform facilitators of student progress
  • can become a formative assessment if students need more time and more practice to demonstrate mastery of unit knowledge and understanding
  • should be linked to relevant real-world premises and how reflecting has led them towards action
  • must be linked directly subject guide statements in MYP, DP and CP
  • is criterion-based and linked to the Statement/Lines of Inquiry in MYP and PYP

 

Common Assessment

  • Is to measure student performance and growth beyond a single classroom or facilitator. 
  • Is developed by a team of teachers and can be evaluated by someone other than the student’s teacher or before marking begins the team of teachers can moderate together to ensure that marking is consistent. 
  • Can be formative or summative.
  • Results of these assessments are analysed collaboratively. 

 

External Assessment

  • Is used to improve teaching and learning.
  • Matches student performance to cumulative data through the use of standardised assessments developed and administered by outside sources (GL Progression Test, CAT4, MYP eAssessment, IBCP, IBDP).
  • Can be used as indicators of both the educational achievement of students and the quality of instruction in the school.

 

As is to be expected, the menu of appropriate assessment task types varies from one programme to another (PYP, MYP, DP, CP) and from one subject to another, and they are elaborated on in each set of departmental policies and procedures. In each case, there will be a balance between tasks to be undertaken in the classroom and for homework. There will also be a balance between tasks assigned on individual and group bases. 



Assessment Examples at ARIS

 

Types of Assessment

Formative

Summative

Common

External

Completed Essay

X

X

X

 

PYP Exhibition

 

X

  

MYP Personal Project

 

X

  

DP Group 4 Project

 

X

  

GL Progression tests

  

X

X

CAT4 test

   

X

Guided Reading

X

   

SAT

   

X

DP, CP End of year Exams

 

X

 

X

BIG Writing

X

   

Oxford Reading and Writing Assessment- Primary

X

X

  

DP Extended Essay and CP Reflective Project

 

X

 

X

MYP eAssessment

 

X

 

X

Math quizzes

X

X

  

End of Unit Quiz

X

X

  

Observation

X

X

  

Mathletics/Mathseeds Tests

X

X

  

Class discussions

X

X

  

Essay/ Written production

X

X

  

Presentation

X

X

X

 

Commentary

X

X

X

 

Practical report

X

X

  

Production/Performance

X

   

Portfolio/Dossier Entry

X

X

  

Listening Comprehension- IGCSE

X

X

 

X

Coursework- IGCSE, DP, CP

 

X

 

X

Oral Task

 

X

 

X

DP Internal Assessment-PHE, Design and art 

 

X

 

X

Portfolio in MYP courses

 

X

 

X

Personal and Professional Skill document- CP

 

X

 

X

CAS and Service Learning

X

   



Administration Of The Various Types Of Assessments

Each department would determine the specific types and number of assessments. However, there should be a minimum number that would ensure equitable and sufficient assessment of all of the major aspects and components of each topic/unit. It is equally not compulsory for the administration of all the assessment types, however, apart from the ones which are mandatory, each department has to determine which of them to administer as well as the number of times and frequency. However, this may also vary in specific courses within each subject area.

 

Frequency and Limits of Administration of Summative Assessments

 

  • Primary Years Programme- PYP
    • Summative assessment at the end of each of the Units of Inquiry
    • Summative assessments at the end of units in Mathematics, Literacy and Languages

 

  • Middle Years Programme- MYP
    • 4-6 Summative Assessments each Year. 
    • Each Subject Objective strand assesses at least twice each year.
    •  1 End of Year Exam at the end of May

 

  • IB Diploma Programme- IBDP:

IBDP1:

    • 4-6 Summative Assessments each YEAR
    •  1 End of Year Exam at the end of May

 

IBDP 2:

    • 4-6 Summative Assessments each YEAR
    •  1 Mock Exam at the end of February



  • IB Career Programme-IBCP

IBCP1

    • 4-6 Summative Assessments each YEAR
    •  1 End of Year Exam at the end of May
    • tasks, performances or written tests set by the CP partner (BTEC, Swiss Group, SCAD)

 

IBCP2

    • 4-6 Summative Assessments each YEAR
    •  1 Mock Exam at the end of February
    • tasks, performances or written tests set by the CP partner (BTEC, Swiss Group, SCAD)

 

PROVIDING FEEDBACK OF LEARNING 

ARIS facilitators are required to give descriptive and persuasive feedback to students on the learning. When providing feedback, facilitators include the learning goals, the progress made toward the learning goals, and the activities that need to be undertaken to improve. According to the research on feedback, how input is given, is a vital determinant in its potential long term value. Students should be given opportunities to act on the feedback during the retrieval process to close the learning gaps. Students need to be taught how to interpret feedback. In addition, feedback should be continuous and delivered after each retrieval attempt to help students meet the intended learning outcomes. Lastly, feedback should be timely and the length of time before feedback is given is based on what the facilitator is providing feedback. Facilitators may use Assignments and homework to consolidate and close learning gaps.

 

ARIS facilitators need to analyse their feedback using the following criteria: 

  • Does the feedback assist the learner in understanding the learning outcome? 
  • Does the feedback offer the learner specific strategies on how to close the gap between the desired learning and his/her present position on that learning? 
  • Is the feedback understandable to the learner? (e.g. is the rubric or comment in “student-friendly” language)? 
  • Does the learner have the opportunity to act on the feedback without penalty? 
  • Is the feedback timely? Does feedback occur during learning? 
  • Does the feedback promote self-reflection? 



DOCUMENTING AND MEASURING LEARNING

 

Academic descriptors for the Primary Years Programme- PYP

Students are evaluated in relation to the content standards of the PYP scope and sequence. This includes the acquisition of new learning objectives, profiles and skills. Students are graded in the following manner:

 

  • Highly Competent-HC:  Learners have exceeded the majority of the learning objectives described in the scope and sequence for the period in question
  • Competent-C:  Learners have achieved the majority of the learning objectives described in the scope and sequence for the period in question.
  • Developing Competency-DC:  Learners have achieved some of the learning objectives described in the scope and sequence for the period in question
  • Area of Concern-AC: Learners have achieved some of the learning objectives described in the scope and sequence for the period in question. 
  • Not applicable-NA to this semester 
  • Explained-Ex but not assessed

 

Standardization

In secondary school, before grades are recorded and reported, they will be standardized using both internal and external guidelines.

 

Academic descriptors for the Middle Years Programme- MYP

Assessment in MYP is task-specific:

  • Teachers use the published IB criteria relevant to year groups (MYP 1, 3, 5) or phases (phase 1-5 in language acquisition).

 

  • Each subject is assessed using 4 subject-specific Assessment Criteria (A, B, C, D); criteria-based descriptor rubrics guide the issuance of grade level with the maximum grade in each criterion being an 8. Grade band descriptors are subject-specific and linked to skills and Command Terms.

 

  • Because the MYP-published assessment criteria are general statements about student achievement, it is necessary to create task-specific clarification for the students in all summative assessments.

 

  • When clarifying expectations for MYP assessments, teachers must not alter the standard expected in the published criteria nor introduce objectives beyond those developed in the unit.

 

  • Although the MYP does not formally assess ATL skills, such skills contribute to student achievement in all subject groups. Teachers must provide students with regular feedback on the development of ATL skills through formative assessment tasks.

 

  • Type of assessment identifies the strengths and weaknesses of each individual student and provides an overview of student achievement in the various aspects of all subjects.



In MYP, the Overall Level of Achievement-OLA is determined in the following way:

  • Throughout the Year teachers will collect evidence of student’s achievement from many different types of assignments/ tasks/ presentations/ group work, including formative and summative assessment.

 

  • Sometimes 4 criteria in the subjects are applied to an assignment but more often one or two criteria are assessed per task.

 

  • The teacher evaluates the student on a best-fit approach to award the achievement level for each student. Where it is not clear which overall level should be awarded, teachers use their judgment to select the best-fit, informed if necessary by formative tasks.

 

  •  Only the assignment or task that are both summative and criterion-related will be directly linked to OLA.

  • Disciplinary and interdisciplinary assessment These refer to assessments made in discrete subjects within subject-groups and assessments made using interdisciplinary criteria (which are only used when an interdisciplinary unit of work has been created between different subjects). Interdisciplinary units of work require that assessments take place using individual subject group criteria for each subject involved and the interdisciplinary criteria. Each MYP year group participates in interdisciplinary units in the MYP.



OLA

Boundary Guidelines

MYP general Grade Descriptor

7

28-32

Produces high quality, frequently innovative work. Communicates a comprehensive, nuanced understanding of concepts and context. Consistently demonstrates critical and creative thinking. Frequently transfers knowledge and skills with independence and expertise in a variety of complex classroom and real-life situations.

6

24-27

Produces high quality, occasionally innovative work. Communicates an extensive understanding of concepts and contexts. Demonstrates critical and creative thinking frequently. Uses knowledge and skills in the familiar and unfamiliar classroom and real-life situation often with independence

5

19-23

Produces generally high quality of work. Communicates a secure understanding of concept and context. Demonstrates critical and creative thinking sometimes. Uses knowledge and skills with some flexibility in a familiar classroom situation, but requires support in an unfamiliar real-life situation.

4

15-18

Produces good quality of work. Communicates a basic understanding of many concepts and contexts with occasionally significant misunderstandings or gaps. Often demonstrates basic critical and creative thinking. Uses knowledge and skills with some flexibility in a familiar classroom situation but requires support in an unfamiliar situation.

3

10-14

Produces work of acceptable quality. Communicates a basic understanding of many concepts and contexts with occasionally significant misunderstanding or gaps. Begins to demonstrate some basic critical and creative thinking. Infrequently demonstrates critical and creative thinking. Generally inflexible in the use of knowledge and skills in a familiar classroom situation

2

6-9

Produces work of limited quality. Expresses misunderstanding or significant gaps in most of the concepts and contexts. Infrequently demonstrates critical and creative thinking. Generally inflexible in the use of knowledge and skills in a familiar classroom situation.

1

1-5

Produces work of very limited quality. Conveys many significant misunderstandings or lacks understanding of most concepts and contexts. Very rarely demonstrates critical and creative thinking. Very inflexible, rarely use knowledge and skills.




Academic descriptors for the Diploma and Career Programmes- DP/CP subjects

 

IB subjects and IBDP Core

 

Grade

Boundary/ Extended Essay

Descriptor 

1

1 – 5

Minimal achievement in terms of the objectives.

2

6 – 9

Very limited achievement against all the objectives. The student has difficulty in understanding the required knowledge and skills and is unable to apply them fully in normal situations, even with support.

3

10 – 14

Limited achievement against most of the objectives, or clear difficulties in some areas. The student demonstrates a limited understanding of the required knowledge and skills and is only able to apply them fully in normal situations with support.  

4

15 – 18

A good general understanding of the required knowledge and skills, and the ability to apply them effectively in normal situations. There is occasional evidence of the skills of analysis, synthesis and evaluation.  

5

19 – 23

A consistent and thorough understanding of the required knowledge and skills, and the ability to apply them in a variety of situations. The student generally shows evidence of analysis, synthesis and evaluation where appropriate and occasionally demonstrates originality and insight.  

6

24 – 27

A consistent and thorough understanding of the required knowledge and skills, and the ability to apply them in a wide variety of situations. Consistent evidence of analysis, synthesis and evaluation is shown where appropriate. The student generally demonstrates originality and insight.  

7

28 – 32

A consistent and thorough understanding of the required knowledge and skills, and the ability to apply them almost faultlessly in a wide variety of situations. Consistent evidence of analysis, synthesis and evaluation is shown where appropriate. The student consistently demonstrates originality and insight and always produces work of high quality.




Academic descriptors IB-CP Core and Reflective Project 

Facilitators are encouraged to develop their own assessment criteria for all core components except the reflective project, depending on the context of the assessment, the student and the course.

The form of assessment should vary and facilitators must ensure that students are explicitly aware of what is expected and that measurement of their achievements is valid, reliable, consistent, authentic and fair.

 

The following are the criteria for the assessment of the Reflective Project.

 

Criterion

The aspect of the reflective project assessed

Marks available

A: Focus and method

  • Ethical dilemma and issue
  • Research question
  • Methodology

6 marks

B: Knowledge and understanding in context

  • Context
  • Local or global example
  • Alternative perspectives and perceptions of dilemma

9 marks

C: Critical thinking

  • Research
  • Analysis
  • Discussion and evaluation

12 marks

D: Communication

  • Structure
  • Layout

3 marks

E: Engagement and reflection

  • Process
  • Engagement
  • Research focus

6 marks

Total marks

 

36



Academic descriptors for the Career Related Study (BTEC)

BTEC has ongoing, continuous assessment, and students will not receive final accreditation until the end of IBCP 2. 

 

At the end of IBCP1 (Year 12) students must have achieved a successful ‘PASS’ for all their BTEC Units and Core components. 

 

Each unit outlines a range of Pass, Merit and Distinction criteria that must be achieved. This is the evidence the student must produce to achieve a specific unit. All units are internally assessed based on the achievement of specified learning outcomes. Each unit within the qualification has specified assessment and grading criteria which are to be used for grading purposes. Each unit will consist of a number of assignments (typically 3-4) which must be completed in order to achieve a final grade for the unit.

  • In order to gain a PASS mark for a unit students must complete all of the Pass criteria to the required standard. 
  • In order to gain a MERIT mark for a unit students must complete all of the Pass criteria plus all of the Merit criteria to the required standard. 
  • In order to gain a DISTINCTION mark for a unit students must complete all of the Pass criteria, all of the Merit criteria plus all of the Distinction criteria to the required standard. 

 

Students must produce the evidence stated in the assessment evidence. It must fulfil the requirements exactly as stated in the grade criteria. The criteria for merit and distinction focus on improving the quality of the evidence and demonstrating higher level skills, not producing more evidence.

 

In Year 13, students sit mock examinations in January and the final IB examinations in May. 

 

The BTEC course will be assessed summatively, and in May of Year 2 it will be externally moderated by representatives of Edexcel-Pearson. Final accreditation will then be approved and certification completed.



Assessment Plan Requirements

It is vital that students understand how they are to be assessed and graded, and the process needs to be transparent. Teachers will craft a unit assessment plan before the unit begins and share this with students and parents so the expectations are clear. It is important to include how much evidence will be collected and to identify which assessments are critical to being able to determine student achievement and learning habits. The assessment plan includes the major summative assessments to be used to determine what the student knows and can do each semester. Below is the list of guidelines for individual assessment plans: 

  • The assessment plan must be clearly communicated to students and parents at the start of each unit 
  • Any changes made to the original assessment plan during the semester should be clearly communicated to students and parents. 
  • Each assessment should be explicitly connected to standards, skill, concept and/or benchmarks
  • facilitators must provide students with criteria for each assessment using rubrics, checklist, oral instruction, modeling and exemplars etc. prior to the assessment. 
  • Facilitators must ensure that multiple section courses offer consistent curricular objectives, academic rigor and opportunities to achieve success while preserving diversity in teaching modes and methodologies. The summative assessment tasks in the assessment plan shall be common to all sections within the same course. 
  • Formative assessments should primarily be used to help students achieve learning goals via meaningful feedback. These formative assessments will assist the facilitator to adjust teaching and learning activities but should not be included in the assessment plan. 

 

Managebac Recording Guidelines 

Each facilitator is responsible for setting up their online Managebac Gradebook (with the support of the IB Coordinator) in line with the assessment policy and guidelines. This can include both formative and summative assessments. Students also use ManageBac to access their grades for their submitted tasks. Facilitators should ensure that frequent and open communication about assessment and student performance occurs in all classes. 

 

Portfolio 

A portfolio is a record of students’ involvement in learning which is designed to demonstrate success, growth, high-order thinking, creativity, assessment strategies and reflection. Students will upload their portfolios on Managebac or keep them in a folder depending on the programme. As a holistic assessment tool, the portfolio must include contributions from all areas of a student’s school life. Teachers are responsible for monitoring the student portfolio content, for both the teacher-selected and student-selected entries. All the work in a student portfolio should be annotated with either a teacher or student reflection stating what the work shows and why/how it was chosen. The student portfolio should include self-, peer- and teacher assessments. The work samples should include both draft and final copy, student reflections and samples that show growth/progress/development over time. 

 

Late Submission of Assessments 

Dealing with non-submitted and late work will be considered consistently across all subjects and grade levels. Facilitators should insist that all work is submitted on time and is representative of the student’s best ability. If students do not submit work on time the students should be strongly encouraged to do the work within a reasonable time frame. Total non-submission of work will be recorded as insufficient evidence and marked as missing in the achievement category.  

MYP/DP/CP: Students are required to check the ManageBac internal deadline calendar every day and submit all assignments on time and in the appropriate format. Facilitators are responsible for reporting assessment deadlines on ManageBac in a timely manner (minimum 1 week for major assessments and at least 2 days prior for smaller formative assessments).

 

If students do not submit the work by the original deadline then the following guidelines should be used in the Secondary School: 

 

 

Consequence

1-2 Days 

or 

1st occurence in a school year

Formative: Comment should be made on ManageBac and Seesaw, responsibility reminder issued and parents contacted by classroom Facilitator. Feedback will still be provided by facilitator


Summative: Comment should be made on ManageBac and Seesaw, responsibility reminder issued and parents contacted by classroom facilitator. Grade will still be issued for task.

3-4 Days

or 

2nd occurence in a school year

Formative: Comment should be made on ManageBac and Seesaw, parents contacted by classroom teacher. Delayed feedback might still be provided by the teacher. A contract will be signed by student and teacher regarding steps the student will take to avoid further late assignments. Appropriate Coordinator notified.


Summative: Comment should be made on ManageBac and seesaw, parents contacted by classroom teacher. Grades will still be issued for tasks only if students and parents sign a contract regarding steps the student will take to avoid further late assignments. Appropriate Coordinator notified.

> 4 Days 

or 

3rd or more occurrences in a school year

Formative & Summative:

Appropriate Coordinator is contacted and an in-school meeting will be scheduled with the Parent, Student, Teacher, Coordinator, and as appropriate Counselor to discuss strategies for Corrective Action.


Students will be issued a No Grade for the task, and this may appear on student transcripts.

Special Circumstances

Consequences may be waived and a new due date issued by the Classroom Teacher for circumstances that include, but are not limited to: illness, personal or family emergency, technical issues.


For research work, students are required to present all work in their own words with appropriate citations as stated in the Academic Honesty Policy. Failure to submit assignments or late submissions will result in consequences determined by the subject facilitator. However, parents will be notified through email when students fail to submit assignments on due dates.

 

Reassessment

Students should be encouraged to take all assessments as planned. A teacher may use his/her discretion to reassess a student. However, the circumstances must clearly be explained to the relevant programme coordinator. There are some external and summative assessments that cannot be reassessed, students will be informed in advance regarding any assessment that can not be retaken.  

 

Evaluation of Assessment Data

Evaluation of assessment data is done twice in each semester based on assessments and exams. Analysis of assessment data endeavours to help facilitators and the Senior Management Team to reflect on performance and what improvements might be made. These include predicted and/or potential grades. 

 

On the receipt of external examination results, an analysis is made on students’ target/predicted grades against performance and will be treated as a performance indicator of the school. Head of School and Program Coordinators clearly explain the assessment report, the meaning of the target/predicted grades and performance indicators to staff, students and parents. 




REPORTING ON LEARNING

ARIS uses ManageBac as the online reporting system: students and parents will have access to grades and comments throughout the academic year. 

  • All teachers must enter assessment marks and comments in ManageBac in a timely manner. This applies to both formative and summative assessments.

 

  • All assessment scores should be reported in whole numbers (MYP, DP, CP).

 

  • Only summative assessment will be included in the semester grade calculation. 

 

  • Mock examination conferences will be held with parents to discuss student results and improvement strategies for MYP, IBCP and IBDP. 

 

  • During the semester, parents of underperforming students will need to be notified via email and telephone call; a conference with subject teacher, Coordinator, Head of Support and Head of School must be set up to determine course of action and strategies to help student improvement.

 

  • Three Way Conference and Student Led Conference will be held in semester one and two respectively. In the Three Way Conference, the student, parents and teacher collaborate to establish and identify the students’ strengths and areas for improvement. Students and teachers set the goals and the strategies for achieving them. The students are responsible for leading the conference, and also take responsibility for their learning by sharing the process with their parents. It may involve students demonstrating their understanding through a variety of different learning situations. 

 

Final Semester Achievement Level 

In order to determine the final level of achievement for each student, facilitators are under the obligation to gather sufficient evidence from a range of assessment tasks. 

 

Reporting periods 

There are four formal reporting periods: mid-semester conferences are provided in

November and April while semester reports are provided in December and June. If a student joins a class during the school year a report might not be issued straight away if assessment of the student is not yet sufficient. The teacher may decide to report on progress to date through comments. 

 

Student support on Assessment 

Teachers work closely with the Personalised Learning Department to provide for the needs of all students. Adjustments for students with diverse learning needs are met with continued support from the teachers while teaching. Access arrangements for exams/assessments cannot occur for students, except for those with a diagnosed learning need in which inclusive assessment arrangements have been granted by the IB. These students and parents should refer to the Inclusion Policy for more details.

 

Language Learners

Upon admission, students are assessed to evaluate their foreign language proficiency. Students will then be placed in a phase of language acquisition and assessed at their language level. Please refer to the Language Policy for further information.

 

Assessment and Academic Honesty

Students should approach assessment with integrity and principled action. Academic Honesty is crucial in the students’ learning process and assessment. When enrolling in the program, students are informed of the Academic Honesty Policy and it is addressed in all subjects. The school uses Turnitin as an anti-plagiarism tool to ensure all assessment is monitored and checked by subject teachers and the IB librarian for academic honesty. The Turnitin tool is integrated into the ManageBac data system. Please refer to the Academic Honesty Policy for more details.

 

Training of New teachers

Assessment in the IB programmes poses pedagogical challenges for new teachers. To this end, the Head of School in liaison with the HR department and coordinators will endeavour to train new teachers and provide in-service training as and when appropriate. IB professional development courses will also be availed to new staff when available.

 

Communication with stakeholders

Communication on assessment through regular feedback provides parents and students with meaningful information on the progress of the student. Assessment policies are communicated to parents through various means. Parents are welcomed at the beginning of the school year in orientation and subsequent parent meetings where the academic program, assessment and academic honesty policies are outlined and expectations communicated. In addition to the Assessment Policy, parents are also provided with the IB Admission, Language, Academic Honesty and Inclusion policies. These are published on the school website as well.

The Parent-Teacher conference is held in the first semester so that parents can meet with individual subject teachers and the Personal Project/EE, Service/CAS and PYP/MYP/DP/CP Coordinators.



Roles and responsibilities

Learning Leadership Team, Heads of Department, Year  Leaders have a responsibility to ensure that:

  1. The assessment principles and practices are carried out. This will require some monitoring procedures to be instituted. 
  2. All facilitators are consistent in their approach and that common practices  for formative and summative assessments are upheld
  3. Opportunities exist in departmental/syndicate meetings to discuss and consider varied styles of marking;
  4. Consistent, reliable and valid moderation and standardisation procedures are in place to ensure consistency
  5. The marking of student work is monitored during lesson observations and teacher appraisal, and commented on in Appraisal for Growth documentation

 

Policy Communication

This policy is communicated on the school website. At the beginning of each academic year, the Programme coordinators and Head of School communicates the policy to parents, students, and staff during orientation programs.

 

Policy Review

As an institution, we believe in growth through reflection and continuous improvement, and we recognize our role as life-long learners. We are therefore committed to reviewing this policy on a yearly basis during the months of October - November, with the aim of ensuring that our policies are aligned with that of the International Baccalaureate.

 

References

“Archive | Middle Years Programme (MYP).” News from around the IB Community, blogs.ibo.org/blog/category/middle-years-programme/.

Ermitage International School.

International Baccalaureate Organization, Making the PYP Happen. Cardiff, Wales United Kingdom 2009

International Baccalaureate Organization, Coordinator Support Material, Cardiff, Wales United Kingdom 2020

St. Peters Woodlands Policies & Procedures: PYP Assessment Procedures, http://spw.sa.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/POLICY-PROCEDURES-PYP-Assessment.pdf

Turner Fenton S.S. - MYP Assessment Policy,  http://schools.peelschools.org/sec/turnerfenton/ib/policies/Documents/MYP%20Assessment%20Policy.pdf

Wildwood World Magnet School PYP Assessment Policy Manual Revised Spring 2011