Assessment Policy SREENIDHI INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL AZIZ NAGAR VILLAGE MOINABAD MANDAL, RR DISTRICT HYDERABAD - 500075 WEB: www.sis.edu.in, Email: info@sis.edu.in
Sreenidhi International School Mission Statement Sreenidhi International School is a vision translated into reality of giving students a modern, meaningful and wholesome education. We have made this possible through an ongoing conversation between students, teachers and parents. Our aim is to ensure that every child learns to be intellectually sceptical yet optimistic, doubting yet positive, unconventional yet constructive, competitive but not destructive. A student who studies at Sreenidhi will be a renaissance individual in a universal sense. International Baccalaureate 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 inter-cultural understanding and respect. To this end the organisation works with schools, governments and international organisations 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.
IB Learner Profile Inquirers: We nurture our curiosity, developing skills for inquiry and research. We know how to learn independently and with others. We learn with enthusiasm and sustain our love of learning throughout life. Knowledgeable: We develop and use conceptual understanding, exploring knowledge across a range of disciplines. We engage with issues and ideas that have local and global significance. Thinkers: We use critical and creative thinking skills to analyse and take responsible action on complex problems. We exercise initiative in making reasoned, ethical decisions. Communicators: We express ourselves confidently and creatively in more than one language and in many ways. We collaborate effectively, listening carefully to the perspectives of other individuals and groups. Principled: We act with integrity and honesty, with a strong sense of fairness and justice, and with respect for the dignity and rights of people everywhere. We take responsibility for our actions and their consequences. Open-Minded: We critically appreciate our own cultures and personal histories, as well as the values and traditions of others. We seek and evaluate a range of points of view, and we are willing to grow from the experience. Caring: We show empathy, compassion and respect. We have a commitment to service, and we act to make a positive difference in the lives of others and in the world around us. Risk-Takers: We approach uncertainty with forethought and determination; we work independently and cooperatively to explore new ideas and innovative strategies. We are resourceful and resilient in the face of challenges and change. Balanced: We understand the importance of balancing different aspects of our lives intellectual, physical, and emotional to achieve well-being for ourselves and others. We recognise our interdependence with other people and with the world in which we live. Reflective: We thoughtfully consider the world and our own ideas and experience. We work to understand our strengths and weaknesses in order to support our learning and personal development.
Assessment Philosophy and Principles At Sreenidhi International School we believe that assessment is integral to planning, teaching & learning. It is an on-going process which brings forth the evidence of achievement as well as provides timely feedback to students. Assessments facilitate teachers to identify individual student s strengths and areas of concern in relation to the curriculum outcomes and reflect on their teaching & learning strategies as well. The focus of assessment practices is also gathering and analyzing information as well as catering to the individual learning needs & requirements. At Sreenidhi International School, teachers and students both collaborate to design the task as well as the tools for assessment. Essential agreements on Assessment policy All teachers & administrators will be a part of the process of writing and reviewing of the Sreenidhi International School assessment policy. The assessment policy will be a working document for the staff & administrators to connect to the vision & the practices of assessment at the school. Though the policy will be reviewed at the end of 2 academic years, it is open for discussions / new ideas / modification through programme coordinators / pedagogical leaders. Any modifications done in the policy will have the consensus of all and shared with all stakeholders. Assessment will be an integral part of the planning, teaching & learning and focus on gathering as well as analyzing information to further facilitate teaching & learning.
Primary Years Programme Assessment is the gathering and analysis of information about student performance and is designed to inform practices. It identifies what students know, understand, can do and feel at different stages in the learning process. Assessment is integral to all teaching and learning. It is central to the PYP goal of thoughtfully and effectively guiding children through the five essential elements of learning: the understanding of concepts, the acquisition of knowledge, the mastering of skills, the development of attitudes and the decision to take responsible action. The prime objective of assessment in PYP is to provide feedback on the learning process. Students and teachers need to be actively involved in assessing the student s progress. Everyone concerned with assessment (teacher, student, parent, administrators) should have a clear understanding of : -What is being assessed? -Why is it being assessed? - How is it being assessed? -Who is assessing? The tools used to assess the essential elements are varied at SNIS. They include observations, performance assessments, process-focused assessments, selected responses, open-ended tasks and portfolios. Hence at SNIS, assessment includesassessing, recording & reporting. Why do we assess? Assessment is an integral part of our planning, teaching and learning. We assess To extend student learning To provide information about student learning To assist in the evaluation of the programme To identify what and how the student is learning To build a clear picture of the student- his / her interests, strengths weaknesses (feedback to work upon) Identify student s specific needs as well as group needs Self reflection for teachers to review their own teaching & learning process. What do we assess? We assess all the 5 essential elements of the programme as well as the attributes of the IB Learner Profile. Understanding of concepts Acquisition of knowledge in the different subject areas
Development of trans-disciplinary skills Development of attitudes Demonstration of the attributes of the IB Learner Profile Assess the prior knowledge & experience of the students How is it that we assess? Collect evidence of student understanding / thinking Engage students in reflecting on their learning Develop rubrics / checklist & tools of assessment in collaboration with students Self assessment as well as peer assessment is encouraged Identifying exemplars Keeping records of student work/ tasks Documenting the learning process Use a range of assessment strategies & tools How is student learning promoted? The results of assessment are used to guide further teaching and learning: Students are involved in the assessment process: reflection on their own learning, taking responsibility for their own learning, developing their ability to be self critical and setting targets for subsequent work. Students also learn to critically assess the work of their peers. By checking learning outcomes in relation to curriculum aims. At Sreenidhi International School, assessment is important for teachersstudents- parents. Assessments in PYP facilitate students to 1. Share their learning & understanding 2. Demonstrate their understanding of knowledge, concepts, skills and use of attitudes. 3. Use different ways according to their abilities / techniques ac to demonstrate their learning 4. Participate in self assessment as well as peer assessment 5. Be a part of making the tool for assessment 6. Express different points of views 7. Know in advance the criteria for assessments 8. Analyze their learning and feedback to understand what and how he/ she need to improve. Assessments in PYP facilitate teachers to - 1. Inform every stage of the teaching-learning process 2. Plan- re-look at their planning-for the future 3. Gather evidence & analyze-further reflect 4. Guide students by providing feedbacks 5. Take into account the fact there are students with different abilities / learning styles. 6. Opportunity to look at the process as well as the product 7. Use self assessment as well as peer assessment.
Assessments in PYP facilitate parents to 1. See evidence of student learning & development 2. Develop an understanding of the student progress 3. Support & celebrate student learning How information about student learning is provided? Examples of students work and performance Examples of student reflection and evaluation Records of results Reports PYP Exhibition Assessments lead to evaluate the effectiveness of the programme- Assessment of student performance is also seen in relation to the general and specific aims of the programme. The questions to reflect are- To what extent are the goals being met? How can we ensure that overall curriculum aims are met? All teachers attend collaborative meetings to discuss the effectiveness and share ideas related to teaching, learning and assessments every week. The agendas as well as the minutes of meetings are recorded / documented. The scope and sequence documents guide the teachers in planning their teaching and learning as well as assessments keeping the conceptual understanding in focus in all subject areas. At SNIS PYP assessment is both summative and formative Summative assessment: This aims to give teachers and students a clear insight into students understanding. Summative assessment is the culmination of the teaching and learning process, and gives the students opportunities to demonstrate what has been learned. It can assess several elements simultaneously: it informs and improves student learning and the teaching process; it measures understanding of the central idea, and prompts students towards action. Summative assessment provides varied opportunities for the students to show their understanding of the central ideas and appropriate assessment tasks are designed with this in mind. All assessment tasks are planned in advance-prior to the start of the unit. However the summative task might undergo variation / changes depending upon the students progression into the learning from the prior knowledge assessment through their inquiry. The school encourages sharing of the summative task with the students and providing an opportunity in collaborating in designing a summative task as well. The criteria for the task must be built upon by the teachers and students together. Formative assessment: This provides information that is used in order to plan the next stage in learning. It is interwoven with learning, and helps teachers and students to find out what the students already know and can do so that further provocations can be provided in order to improve knowledge and understanding. Teachers strive to ascertain students prior knowledge so as to provide them with challenging provocations and experiences to further construct meaning.
Formative assessments are frequent, formal or informal (e.g. questioning, anecdotal records, written comments, oral feedback), embedded in teaching and provides clear and timely feedback that helps students in their learning progression. It also provides evidence that informs, or shapes, short term planning for learning. Strategies and Tools used for assessment Strategies- All teachers will assess students prior knowledge and experience before embarking on new learning experiences in an appropriate way. Observations: All students are observed regularly, with the teachers taking notes on the individual, the group, and the whole class. Observations include how groups work and the roles of participants within the group. Performance Assessments: The assessment of goal directed tasks with established criteria. They provide authentic and significant challenges and problems. There are numerous approaches to the problem and rarely only one correct answer. (Use of audio, video and narrative records encouraged). Process focused Assessments- Students are observed often & regularly by noting the typical & non typical behaviours- collecting multiple observations to enhance reliability and validity. Selected responses-test & quizzes are the most familiar examples of this form of assessment. Open ended tasks- Situations in which students are presented with a stimulus and asked to communicate an original response. The answer may be written, drawn, a diagram or a solution. Tools Checklists: These are lists of information, data, attributes or elements that should be present. A mark scheme is a type of a checklist. Rubrics: An established set of criteria for rating students in all areas. The descriptors tell the assessor what characteristics or signs to look for in the student s work and then how to rate them on a predetermined scale. Rubrics can be developed by the student as well as the teacher. Exemplars: Samples of student s work that serve as concrete standards against which other samples are judged. Anecdotal records: These are brief written notes based on observations of students. They need to be systematically compiled and organized.
Continuums: These are visual representation of the developmental stages of learning. They show a progression of achievement or identify where a student is in a progress. REPORTING Reporting should involve parents, students & teachers as well as reflect on the values / vision of the school at large. It should be clear and understandable. It must be comprehensive, honest and credible. Reporting to parents- Ongoing communication: Teachers can be contacted by e-mail or during telephone hours. Individual meetings with teachers: By appointment, to discuss student performance and progress. Student-led conferences: Some of the personal development dialogues take the form of student-led conferences where the student discusses his/her work and progress with the parent. Future goals are identified and set by the student in conjunction with the parent and teacher. Parent-Teacher Conferences: It will be held twice each semester sharing general information about the work in the class and sharing areas of strength and weaknesses. 3 way conference- This is held 2 times a year (once a semester) to facilitate all the 3 stakeholders- parents, students and teachers come together. Students discuss their learning and understanding with their parents and teacher, who are responsible for supporting the student through this process. They are responsible for reflecting upon work samples. The student, parents and the teacher collaborate to establish and identify the student s strengths and areas for improvement. Report Card: Once in each of the two semesters. Parent sessions: Parent orientation programmes, sessions for parenting, effective home environment.
Student Led 1 per semester Conference (SLC) Teacher Student 1 per semester conference (TSC) Teacher Parent 1 per semester Conference (TPC) 3 way conference 1 per semester Portfolios All stakeholders are aware of their roles and responsibili@es through circulars and orienta@on programmes. It will be a collection of student s work, reflection and assessment specific to the subject. It is tool for meta-cognition, self management, goal setting and celebration. The portfolios are kept in the home rooms. This portfolio is used for parent conferences and student led conference. PYP Portfolios Home room & subject teachers will be responsible for monitoring student s portfolio content - both teacher-selected and student- selected. The students will choose a piece of work that best demonstrates their progression in learning in the home room or outside the home room. They will also reflect on the attributes of the learner profile, attitudes and skills built in each semester both inside and outside the home room. The portfolio may also contain images / photographs as evidence of students in the process of constructing meaning. The portfolio will be sent to the next grade along with the child. The best piece of work will also be followed by the need for both teacher and student to fill in a reflection/ justification sheet for choosing that particular piece of work. All summative assessments from the units of inquiry will be a part of the portfolio. Each grade every year will design their essential agreements for the portfolio which will be signed by both the teacher and the student. Report Card The SNIS report card is clear, understandable and honest. The students are also involved in writing the report as they self reflect on the attributes of the learner profile and attitudes displayed in the semester. The school report card includes the essential elements of the programme Skills, Knowledge (subjects & learning outcomes) and concepts (units on inquiry). All the teachers involved in the teaching-learning process are a part of writing this document. Grades and scores are considered inappropriate & emphasis is laid on checklist as well as anecdotal records.
The Exhibition The students in the final year of the PYP carry out an extended, collaborative inquiry approach the PYP Exhibition. At Sreenidhi International School the PYP Exhibition take place towards the end of the school year but the planning, research and gathering information about issues start at the beginning of the year. The students along with their teachers decide the transdisciplinary theme under which they would carry out their inquiry. The Exhibition is an important learning experience for all. The PYP exhibition has a number of key purposes: for students to engage in an in-depth, collaborative inquiry -to provide students with an opportunity to demonstrate independence and responsibility for their own learning to provide students with an opportunity to explore multiple perspectives for students to synthesise and apply their learning of previous years and to reflect upon their journey through the PYP to provide an authentic process for assessing student understanding to demonstrate how students can take action as a result of their learning -to unite the students, teachers, parents and other members of the school community in a collaborative experience that incorporates the essential elements of the PYP As the culminating PYP experience, the exhibition reflects all the major features of the program and it includes regular and carefully planned assessment. This assessment takes two forms: -ongoing assessment of each individual student s contribution to and understanding of the exhibition -a summative assessment and reflection on the event itself The home room teachers maintain a detailed anecdotal record of the PYP Exhibition learning journey for each student. The students plan and share their assessment strategies and tools for the lines of inquiry/ any learning experience with their mentors. They also self reflect on the attributes of the Learner Profile and the attitudes as well as transdisciplinary skills. Each group of students develop their essential agreements and self reflection continuum.the mentors maintain a record of the learning through anecdotes, photographs and videos. The parents participate in the summative assessment on the day of the PYP Exhibition. The students are involved in the reflection of the event itself and their learning. The home room teacher writes a detailed analysis on each student s learning, action and involvement in the school report.
Middle Years Programme PURPOSE OF ASSESSMENT: We at Sreenidhi recognize that assessment is to improve and not to prove. We recognize that assessments monitor the progress of a student and are an important tool to give feedback to the students. It also helps us to review curriculum and improvise our teaching learning process. Why do we assess? We assess to 1. Support and encourage student learning by providing feedback on the learning process 2. Inform, enhance and improve the teaching process 3. Provide opportunity for students to exhibit transfer of skills across disciplines, such as in the personal project and interdisciplinary unit assessments 4. Promote positive student attitudes towards learning 5. Promote a deep understanding of subject content by supporting students in their inquiries set in real-world contexts 6. Promote the development of critical and creative thinking skills 7. Reflect the international-mindedness of the programme by allowing for assessments to be set in a variety of cultural and linguistic contexts 8. Support the holistic nature of the programme by including in its model principles that take account of the development of the whole student. MYP from principles into practice TYPES OF ASSESSMENTS How many types of assessments are there? Summative Assessment: (Assessment of learning) Evaluation of student achievement though a culminating activity generally at the end of a course of study or a unit. Summative assessments usually involve higher order thinking skill on the Blooms Taxonomy and engage students to come up with products, which demonstrate their understanding. In the MYP the Global Context, Key Concept and the Statement of Inquiry drive the Summative task. The Summative task should be able to let the student explore and create understanding and meaning based on the Statement of Inquiry. Summative tasks are generally open-ended task, which presents a stimulus for a student to communicate an original response. The response could be in many forms such as presentations, an essay, a diagram or a solution to a problem. Summative tasks will always be assessed based on subject criteria. Criteria referenced assessment is explained in the later part of this policy. Some of the examples of summative tasks are: o o Compositions Musical, Physical, artistic Creation of solutions or products in response to problems.
o Essays o o o o o Examinations Questionnaires Investigations Research Performances o Presentations (Oral or written) Formative Assessment: (Assessment for learning) Evaluation aimed at identifying the learning needs of students and forming part of the learning process itself. Formative assessments take place throughout a course of study. The goal of formative assessment is to monitor student learning to provide ongoing feedback that can be used by teachers to improve their teaching and by students to improve their learning. More specifically, formative assessments: o o o Help students identify their strengths and weaknesses and target areas that need work Help faculty recognize where students are struggling and address problems immediately Formative assessments are generally low stakes, which means that they have low or no point value. Examples of formative assessments include asking students to: o o o o Draw a concept map in class to represent their understanding of a topic Cyclic tests conducted every Wednesday. Submit one or two sentences identifying the main point of a lecture Turn in a research proposal for early feedback A teacher may choose to assess the Formative assessments based on MYP criteria or they can give a feedback to the students. There is a large range of formative assessment methods available. Please refer to Annexure A
ASSESSMENT PRACTICES What is being assessed and how is being Assessed? 1. All assessment at Sreenidhi is criterion related. The teachers use descriptor to identify students achievement levels against established assessment criteria. The assessment criteria are available in individual subject guides. The list of Assessment criteria for each subject group can be seen in Annexure B 2. MYP Year 5 objectives and criteria will be used during the final year of the program. 3. Assessment criteria for years 1, 3 and 5 of the programme are provided in MYP subject-group guides, and their use is mandatory 4. Each assessment activity must allow students access to the full range of achievement descriptors. This may be achieved by assessing students against all strands within a descriptor, or by formulating assessment tasks that evaluate a limited number of strands. 5. Students must be informed which criteria will be used by the teacher to evaluate any work which will be assessed. Teachers should help students understand what is required of them to fulfill the criteria for a particular piece of assessed work. 6. Feedback will be provided in a timely manner. There will be a continuous cycle of presenting a challenge, performance, feedback, and improvement. Feedback to students should be prompt (within 7 working days of work being submitted) and supportive. 7. Assessment and evaluation practices and expectations are discussed with students at the beginning of each unit including the distribution and discussion of rubrics. 8. Students are involved in the development of criteria, checklists, and rubrics. 9. Rubrics are clarified using student-friendly language. Clarifying a task means to redraft the value statements within the level descriptors in terms of the specific assessment tasks in the MYP unit. A well-constructed Task Specific Clarification should a. Support learning by providing clear guidance b. Provide clear, measurable evidence of learning c. Link generic descriptors and their command terms to task-specific clarifications 10.Exemplars are made available to students.
11. Assessments allow students to reach the highest level of achievement in the rubric descriptor bands. 12.MYP assessment will be continuous with each criterion being assessed at least twice per semester per subject area. This is not applicable to subject groups where process cycles are used. 13.All summative assessment must be notified as a task on the Managebac calendar. Students should be informed by email. Managebac notification should include the following features: a. Indication of task content and conceptual understandings b. Form of the task, e.g. an essay, report, presentation, podcast, oral, performance, etc. c. The criteria to be assessed, with generic descriptors and task-specific clarifications d. Task s due date 14.Ideally, at the beginning of each teaching unit the final summative assessment should be posted as a task on the Managebac calendar. At a minimum, the summative task should be on the ManageBac calendar at least 14 days before the submission date. 15.Formative assessment, or non-summative assessment tasks to check for student understanding, may be notified as an event on ManageBac, but are more usually expected to be notified via written task-sheets and/or via electronic forums or class instructions. Notification of all formative tasks should include information about the teacher s expectations (a-d above) and students should make a record of the same. 16. The Personal Project will be assessed using MYP Personal Project criteria. 17.Teachers will record criterion achievement level scores for in the MYP assessment on ManageBac. 18. Teachers participate collaboratively in the planning, development, and standardisation of assessments where appropriate. Standardisation framework is available in Annexure C 19. Authentic assessment tasks will provide opportunities for students to apply learned knowledge and skills to real-life situations. 20.Assessments will be differentiated to address a variety of learning styles and a choice of process or product will be offered.
21.ManageBac will be used to analyze data and to create personal learning plans. 22.Modifications will be made for students with identified learning disabilities. How do we grade: When using criterion-related assessment, student answers are placed where the majority of descriptors correspond to the student s work. If the descriptors include many strands of an objective and student performance is at a high level on most of the strands but not all of them, teachers adopt a best-fit model. If most of the performance was, for example, at the 5 6 level, and yet student work on a particular strand was missing, teachers might consider reducing the overall performance to a lower band. If a piece of work seems to fall between two level descriptors, only partially fulfilling the requirements of the higher descriptor, teachers will re-read both of the descriptors in question and choose the descriptor which is a best fit description of the candidate's work. What NOT To do with Assessments. The following grading practices are inappropriate and are counter to MYP assessment Principles. Determining grades using proportion of scores for classwork, homework and tests. (Averaging is a big NO) Determining grades by averaging summative performance scores over the year. Using single pieces of work to determine final grades. Decimals percentages, or fractions are not consistent with criterionrelated assessment and are not used at Sreenidhi. Determining the final grade during the programme. To determine the final achievement level in each of the criteria for each student, whether at the end of a marking period or the end of a year, teachers must gather sufficient evidence from a range of assessment tasks to enable them to make a professional and informed judgment. All units include summative tasks that are assessed according to one or more MYP criteria to ensure continuous assessment and feedback of students performance against the MYP objectives. The planning of units and assessment tasks should ensure all criteria have been included over time, providing balanced evidence that is sufficient for determining a final achievement level. The judgments will reflect the teacher s professional opinion on the achievement level of each student in each of the criteria at the end of the marking period or year. The final judgment is reported in the 1-7 scale. The General MYP grade descriptors are available in Annexure C.
Academic Misconduct. If a teacher suspects that a student is guilty of malpractice, he/she should not award a level of achievement and refer to the school s Academic Honesty Policy for further guidance. If a teacher, or another member of staff, suspects that a MYP student may have breached the school s standards of academic honesty, he or she will inform the MYP Coordinator. The latter will investigate the matter and will inform the student of the concerns of the teacher. In serious or contested circumstances, the Principal will decide the outcome of the case. ASSESSMENT DOCUMENTATION. How are we recording? How do we collect and analyse the data? Recording and tracking Record keeping and assessment provide the mechanism through which teachers can focus on the needs and attainment of each child and also to further develop the curriculum. It is essential that the information recorded should be absolutely necessary, relevant and useful. Sreenidhi uses ManageBac to keep a record of assessment data. The recording process is based on evidence from: observation listening questioning referring to examples of student work setting tasks/tests and assessing it We keep records to check the student progress and ensure that the curriculum guarantees continuity and progression through the programmes of study from class to class; provide teachers with information which enable plans and schemes of work and the allocation of resources and teaching methods to be evaluated and modified where appropriate; provide feedback to student as well as forming a basis for discussion about their strengths, weaknesses and areas for future focus; provide evidence which will be used as a basis for discussion with parents about the attainment and achievement of their children; Examples of Records Mid-semester reports and end of semester reports Assessment record Sheets and Personal Engagement Sheets (in specific subject areas) Summative records of achievement Admission Profiling. Benchmark testing Formative records of attainment in Students portfolio Student achievement portfolio [for student-led conference] Individual records o progress in specific areas; teacher s records and student s books
Submission of Student Work Time, Procedure, Penalties: All work is expected to be submitted on the due date at the time specified either on the notification assessment sheet or on the ManageBac calendar. Work must be handed to the relevant teacher or submitted on line when requested. It is the responsibility of the student to ensure that their teacher has received work. There will consequences for late submission of work. This be determined by the professional judgment* of teachers and may take into consideration the following factors: the age of the student previous occurrences the student s academic history (e.g. whether the student has specific learning needs) other personal circumstances Teachers are encouraged to get in touch with the MYP Coordinator if they have concerns over late/non-submission of student work. Parents will be notified in writing when assessment is not submitted on the due date consistently. Work not submitted on time may be marked but with no credit recorded at the discretion of the teacher. The task may still be required to be completed in order to demonstrate an ability to meet the criteria for the task and course requirements. Incomplete work should be submitted on time despite not being finished. The following consequences for the late submission of tasks apply to Grades 6-10. 1-3 days or first occurrence in a school year Responsibility reminder issued and parents contacted by classroom teacher. Parents will be informed of the expectation that the work is still to be submitted by the new deadline. If the task is submitted by the new date students will receive feedback and grades will count towards their final MYP subject grade. This task will also be recorded as a late submission and will impact Approaches to Learning judgment on MYP reports. 4-9 days or second occurrence in a school year Parents are to be informed of this consequence by the MYP Coordinator. In the case of persistent lateness (i.e. more than one occasion) parents may be requested to come to school for a meeting with the MYP Coordinator and the subject teacher(s) involved.
10+ days A non-submission (NA on ManageBac) will also be recorded for this task after 10 days; a zero will be recorded, as the student has not shown evidence of reaching a level 1-2. Student transcripts will also reflect the non-submission of work. If a student is absent on the day work is due, he/she must submit the assessment item the following school day to the teacher. The task is still to be completed in order to demonstrate an ability to meet the criteria for the task and to meet the requirements of the course. In-class task If a student is absent from school on the day an assessment task is to be completed in, he/she must see their teacher on their first day back, before attending any classes, to organize a time to catch-up on the missed task. Failure to follow this procedure could result in the student receiving no credit for the missed task (students will still need to complete the task in order to meet the learning outcomes for the course). Scheduling for missed assessment tasks When scheduling a time to complete a missed task, the teacher will take into account a student s circumstances (e.g. recovery from a sickness) during his/her preparation time. In some cases an alternative task may be given. Each case will be reviewed individually before a decision is made. Extensions A student may apply for an extension through their classroom teacher prior to the due date. Students must have a valid reason for application and, if approved, a new date will be set for submission.
Middle School Examinations At the end of each semester of the school year, students in Grades 6-10 will sit for formal written examinations conducted by the examination department. It is mandatory for all students to sit for these examinations and exemptions will only be provided with necessary approvals from the MYP Coordinator. Grade 6-10 IB MYP students have end-of-semester formal examinations for some subjects. These exams will be criterion-related. When material is drawn from work undertaken during the semester, these scores can be a component of a student s semester grade. As a mode of assessment, a formal examination provides useful information for teachers to help inform their professional judgment on student achievement against published objectives. The school believes, however, that summative student achievement levels should be based on a range of balanced strategies and not solely on examination performance. Please note: Teachers should give students clear guidelines concerning the material to be included in any summative examination and provide a clear explanation of the expectations and criteria to be assessed. School Examinations: Specific Guidelines General 1. When instructed to enter the examination room, students must do so in a quiet and orderly manner. 2. No form of refreshment, except water carried in a re-sealable container, may be taken into the examination room. 3. Students may take to their desk/table only the following items: a. General stationery (for example, pens, pencils, colored pencils, an eraser, geometry instruments and a ruler). Pencil cases must be clear (transparent). b. Other materials specified by the school as required for a particular examination (for example, an electronic calculator). 4. The examination supervisor will decide where each student will sit during an examination. 5. Students must remain seated until permission is given to leave the examination room. 6. The instructions of the examination supervisor must be obeyed. The examination supervisor has the right to expel from the examination room any student whose behavior is interfering with the proper conduct of the examinations.
Late arrival 7. No additional time will be allowed for students arriving late for the examination. Temporary absence 8. During a temporary absence, a student must not take any material out of the examination room, have access to material during the absence, or return with any material. Malpractice 9. During the examination, and at other times specified by the examination supervisor, a student must not communicate with any other candidate. Failure to observe this regulation may constitute malpractice, resulting in no grade being awarded for the examination. 10.If a student finds that he or she has accidentally taken unauthorized material (papers, books, notes of any kind) into an examination, this material must be given to the examination supervisor immediately. Failure to do so may lead to no grade being awarded for the examination. Early departures 11. Students will not be allowed to leave the examination room during the first hour or during the last 15 minutes of any examination. If the duration of the examination is less than one hour 15 minutes, students will not be allowed to leave during the examination. 12.If a student leaves the examination before the scheduled finishing time, the student will not be allowed to return. End of the examination 13.No examination materials examination papers, answer papers, rough working may be taken out of the examination hall. 14.Students must leave the examination room in a quiet and orderly manner.
REPORTING How do we present the data? Formal reporting takes the following form: Consultation sessions where parents are offered a time for personal discussion with the teacher. If parents cannot make it on that day, a separate mutually convenient time is fixed A quarterly written report by the homeroom and subject teachers to the parent detailing the pupil s progress as well as record of set targets, achievements and other activities. The report which goes out at fixed times in the year also includes attitudes and behaviour. Giving out Progress Reports* (*In the MYP, this is a brief report of academic or behavioural progress or lack of it which is given out to individual students by subject teachers as and when the need arises, with the approval of the Coordinator) Students with learning disabilities who take sessions with the school special educator are given a semester report on their progress. Reporting will also be done through student led confrence. Parents will be provided with two sem end reports which will include teacher feedback and final achievement levels.
Annexure A: Types of Formative Assessment There is a large range of formative assessment methods available. These include: Question and Answer in the Lesson This is perhaps the most commonly used method and is almost instinctive for teachers. It gives instant feedback, can be used to develop motivational but is largely ephemeral that is to say that it is momentary and difficult to record Short Tests and Quizzes These are either from textbooks or devised by the teacher. These are informal, can be fun and marks can be simply recorded. Used with care they can become part of everyday teaching and learning. Homework Exercises These vary in purpose, design and complexity. Purpose is the key word here. Students will make good use of homework if they feel it is useful, for example, preparation of material for a class discussion, seeing how a piece of writing ends, developing a skill, are all appealing tasks. Skill Assessment using Formal Assessment Criteria These may be the foundation for many skill-based courses. This method requires experience in on the hoof assessment and systematic recording. Observation of Performance This is often used in the arts such as music and skill assessment such as team and leadership exercises. It needs expert and experienced assessors. Assignments This term spans a vast range of tasks but an example might be individual research assignments say for a group project. A very useful and increasingly used method, especially in conjunction with homework. May involve library and Internet investigations, visits and interviews. Difficult to manage and assess. Projects Increasingly used in modern education as it is felt that developing your own learning material/methods gives you an ownership of your own learning experience. The assessment methods of the various project components need careful design and clear communication to the students. Written Questions/ Exercises with Short, Extended or Multiple-Choice Answers Very widely used. Easy to design, mark and assess. Simulations, Business Games Almost guaranteed to produce lively learning sessions! Can teach a number of skills imaginatively and effectively. The better ones contain useful directions to possible methods of assessment. May well be time-consuming.
Conferencing/ Reviews/ Audit This involves sitting down with learners and reviewing their written work/homework/ progress in general. A very useful and beneficial process for teachers and students. Can be used to introduce care, involvement and motivation into the teacher-learner relationship. Three points to watch when operating it as a method: 1. It can be time consuming, as you have to give all students a review session. (If you do not those who are omitted will feel rejected) 2. If you do it in class you must ensure that those not involved have something useful to be getting on with. 3. Make notes on student performance immediately, after the review, not during it. Exit Tickets 1. Give students tickets small pieces of paper designed to look like tickets, but with space for writing. 2. Ask students two questions. One that requires a factual answer about the big idea of today s lesson, but in their own words. A second question should require more explanation of a concept. 3. Give students five minutes at the end of the class to write their answers. Their names do not go on these exit tickets. 4. They must give you an Exit Ticket to leave class for that day. 5. Analyze the ticket to learn how many students got the big idea and how they understand or misunderstand it. Photocopy 4-6 on a single sheet of paper for your portfolio. Select ones that you learned something about your students from that you didn t know before reading the Exit Tickets. One-Minute Papers 1. Give students an open-ended question and one to three minutes to write their answers. 2. Good question: What is the most important thing we discussed today? Or what was the most confusing idea presented today? 3. Collect the papers and use for promoting discussion, identifying misconceptions, or confusion. 4. Photocopy samples of the papers to use with your reflections. Problem Solving Observation 1. Give the class a complex problem to solve. Ask them to work in pairs. 2. Good problems will have more than one part and will require students to explain their thinking to each other. It may be helpful to use problems that require students to show their thinking in more than one way. Examples of
showing their thinking in more than one way might include graphing, diagramming, explaining how someone with a different perspective might answer the question, and generating answers. 3. Join one of the groups while they work. Have in mind that you are observing and focus in a way that you can write down later what you observed. You may find it helpful to jot down 2 or 3 words during this observation to prompt your recall later. 4. Prompt students to explain their thinking to each other. Ask them to say aloud what they are thinking while they are solving the problem. Prompt them with questions such as Why how are you deciding to or What were you thinking about when you did that. 5. As soon as practical jot down notes about what you observed- especially including notes about student s problem solving process and what they understand about the proves. Document information amalgamated from: http://rmit.net.au/browse;id=izr6vv1b3k1 http://taoschools.org/ths/school%20improvement/ CIEDipTTModule7TypesofFormativeAssessment.pdf e3t.org/formassess/assets/formative%20assessment%20strategies.doc [in turn adapted from the Millersville University, CIRQL Project] www.k12.wa.us/.../form_assess_tactic%20ospi%20jan%202009.ppt https://www.cmu.edu/teaching/assessment/basics/formative-summative.html
ANNEXURE B
Annexure C Internal Standardisation: The process involves teachers meeting to come to a common understanding on the criteria and achievement levels and how they are applied. In so doing, teachers increase the reliability of their judgments. Standardisation throughout the school year promotes consistency and builds common understandings about student achievement with respect to MYP objectives. Teachers at Sreenidhi will engage in the process of Internal Standardisation at least once every semester. Semester 1 being July to November and Semester 2 being December to May. The following protocol can be used. STEP 1: Approximately 5 minutes Generally, the quality of students work is quite dependent on how teachers define the task and on the guidance given. The presenter should fill out a Nature of the task and background information sheet along with their task, and will have an opportunity to explain this information to you. This added information will help you to put the task into larger context of the unit of instruction. The following questions can be considered 1. Instructions to students 2. Length of task & time to complete 3. How clear are the expectations? Analyze the context and content of the chosen task 1. What objectives are it designed to assess achievement in? 2. Does the assessment task address those objectives? 3. Have appropriate criteria (and strands within those) been selected to assess achievement in the task, in line with the objectives? STEP 2: three minutes Determine if the task involves higher-level thinking 1. Was this task designed to give students the opportunity to demonstrate the required knowledge, understanding, skills and attitudes, and to reach highest levels of achievement in the descriptors contained in the rubric- although all students will not do so? STEP 3: ten minutes 1. Individually score the student work using the appropriate rubric. Use the assessment score form to record your individual score. Use the best-fit approach described in the section how do we grade. 2. As a group, compare your scores with your team members scores and reconcile any major differences. If a team cannot reach a full agreement, they should at least decide which band a piece of work falls into.
STEP 4: five to ten minutes Providing feedback to the presenter. 1. Look closely at the students work and make notes on the most frequent and fundamental problems. Are there any major misconceptions on the students part? Common weakness or failings? What might be clarified more in order for them to address the task more successfully? 2. If the assignment needs adjusting, how might that be done? Nature of the task? Wording? Etc. STEP 5: five minutes The presenter shares their interpretation of the task and scoring with the group. Adapted from Team Feedback Guidance Form Version32.doc- Nate Maier ( OCC Resources)
Diploma Programme. Students studying for the full diploma are required to select one subject from each of groups 1 to 5. A sixth subject is chosen from group 6, or as a second subject from one of the other groups. Three subjects (occasionally four) are taken at higher level (HL) and three subjects (occasionally two) are taken at standard level (SL). At the heart of the DP are three requirements that students fulfill in addition to their work in six subjects theory of knowledge (TOK), extended essay and CAS. The DP s curricular structure defines the framework in which assessment must operate. Individual assessment models are constructed for each subject at both HL and SL, for theory of knowledge (TOK) and for the extended essay. SNIS will present candidates for examination during May session with results being released by IBO in early july. The published results are made up of subject grades, which equate to diploma points, in the range from 1 (lowest) to 7 (highest) at HL and at SL, and grades from E (lowest) to A (highest) for TOK and extended essay. A matrix table converts the combined letter grades for TOK and the extended essay into a points score from 0 to 3. CAS does not contribute to the points total, but authenticated participation in CAS is a requirement without which the diploma cannot be awarded. At SNIS the assessment models are developed with the parameters clearly defined in DP assessment policy given under (appendix B of IBO Diploma Programme assessment : principles and practice). All assessment in Diploma Programme subjects relate directly to the course of study and its objectives via a policy, as far as it is practicable, of discrete testing within each assessment environment (written papers/internal assessment and so on). For School based reports All courses normally have either three or four separate assessment components. These assessments are designed keeping in mind the final examination which students will write in may. There are two semester exams in a year.task in each subject can be inclined towards completion of Internal assessments for submission to the IB. Unit Test: A test assigned by Subject teachers based on the paper pattern of IB. Task: An assignment assigned by subject teachers, this could be a sub task for the Internal assessment, A presentation, Research work, investigation, oral assignment, written task, project. Semester Exam: End of Semester examination. All assessments will have set criterion to test skills in every subject with pre designed rubrics. Implementation SNIS emphasises the importance of clear, comprehensive and transparent analyses and reporting of assessment practices in departments and faculties.