INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE MIDDLE YEARS PROGRAM (6-10) Plaza Middle School & Princess Anne High School Assessment Policy In addition to the grade reporting policies set forth by Virginia Beach City Public Schools, International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program (IB MYP) students will also be assessed utilizing the established criterion set forth by the International Baccalaureate (IB). IB MYP assessments are scored internally by MYP staff. Criterion-related rubrics which are specific to each discipline will be utilized. All MYP students have access to the rubrics and are given the rubrics along with any specific requirements prior to the task. Tasks are scored and feedback is provided to students. IB MYP assessments may be converted into a regular grade. If this occurs, students will be informed of the grade conversion when the task is assigned. Twice each year, parents will receive an official IB Progress Report informing them of their child s progress in meeting IB objectives. Additionally, student conferences will be held on a needs basis by individual teachers. Moreover, IB progress will be reported to parents informally at scheduled teacher/parent conferences.
Princess Anne High School International Baccalaureate Programme Assessment Policy Princess Anne High School is committed to the success of each IB student. The IB faculty aims to prepare students for IB assessments by effectively and efficiently delivering course curricula, providing opportunities for students to display content knowledge in a variety of ways, providing students with practice IB assessment opportunities, familiarizing students with the IB assessment procedure and ensuring the above standards are maintained. The following principles have been adopted: 1. Students shall receive guidance and support regarding IB course selection that provides them the highest potential for success. a. In addition to the IB Coordinator, the school has Guidance Counselors to assist students in choosing IB courses. The counselor, together with the IB teachers and IB Coordinator assist students in scheduling IB courses that will best lead to student success. b. Students receive information in the winter from the IB Coordinator and guidance counselor. This provides students an opportunity to ask questions about available IB courses and receive further counsel so they are able to pick the most appropriate IB course schedule. Since DP students must take at least three higher level courses and MYP students must take eight subject group courses, it is critical that students select the most appropriate courses at the beginning of this process. 2. Students shall be adequately prepared for IB assessments through internal assessments, practice examinations and exposure to scoring criteria. a. The Princess Anne High School IB Programme provides the last two years of the IB Middle Years Programme in grades 9 and 10. Students are familiar with the IB criteria and perform assessments that help to prepare them for IB monitoring, IB exams and IB. b. Assessment of student learning is ongoing throughout the four years of the two IB programs. Purposeful assessments, both formative and summative, are used to develop and assess student knowledge and understanding. Teachers are encouraged to collaborate on the development of their rubrics, units, and assessments. c. DP Students are exposed to practice IB exams and are given multiple opportunities to complete practice IB exams and sample IB exam questions prior to the examination session. The school purchases the released IB exam and markscheme CDs each year and has purchased exam Questionbank CDs and other resource exam preparation materials. Exposure to actual exam questions provides students not only with IB content area questions, but with IB terminology that may differ from the language that may be most familiar to the students. d. It is strongly suggested that all IB teachers provide MYP students with ample internal assessments and DP students with complete, timed practice IB examination for their specific subject area prior to the final monitoring assessment and the IB DP May examination session each year. 3. IB DP teachers shall be provided with examination data and shall be required to establish goals for the following year based upon previous examination session data. Examination data shall serve to drive curriculum changes in all IB courses. Following each examination session, IB DP teachers are provided with: a. Predicted grades and awarded grades for the previous May examination session b. Subject component grades for the previous May examination session c. Cumulative examination data since the first examination session, including school average and worldwide average for each subject area d. Examination copies from the previous examination session e. Enquiry Upon Results reports for subjects in which students performed worse than predicted, performed below the worldwide average, or when specifically requested by the subject area teacher. 4. IB teachers shall be trained as subject curriculum is updated and shall participate in staff development opportunities in order to remain current in IB staff development.
a. Each IB teacher will attend Level 2 or 3 training as his/her subject curriculum is updated. b. IB staff members will attend regional networking sessions whenever possible to share best practices with other area IB teachers. c. IB teachers will attend monthly IB school staff meetings in order to share relevant IB course information with colleagues, receive information updates from the IB Coordinator and participate n staff development activities where appropriate.6 5. Classroom grading practices shall be designed to support the IB assessment criteria in all IB courses. a. Formative assessments should not exceed 35% and summative assessments should not exceed 65%. b. Within IB courses, teachers attempt to reflect the Internal Assessment vs. External Assessment percentage breakdown, when possible. This falls within Virginia Beach City Public Schools requirements and also reinforces the IB assessment framework. 6. Communication among teachers shall be required to manage student workload at any given time. a. Teachers communicate in person and via email often to prevent overlap in critical course assignments. b. Whenever possible, teachers create syllabi at the beginning of the course so students are able to schedule assignments in advance and make teachers aware of any overlap of large assignments. c. The Princess Anne High School IB Programme developed a policy in 2000 that no more than two major tests or projects could be due on the same day. If this is the case, one teacher must reschedule his/her assignment. d. Internal Assessment deadlines and Personal Project and Extended Essay deadlines are provided for all IB teachers so they are able to schedule class assignments around these critical IB deadlines. These dates vary each year for the Internal Assessment, but are generally the same for the Personal Project and Extended Essay.,, and Exam Paper Language A: English Literature MYP and DP HL o Written Examination Paper 1 and Paper 2 o World Literature Paper 1 and 2 o Oral Presentations o Oral Commentary o Written essays and responses to literature o Projects Language B: French, Latin, Spanish MYP and DPSL/HL/ab initio o Written Examination Paper 1 and 2 o Individual Oral o Interactive Oral o Written Assignments History: Humanities MYP and DP HL
o Written Examination Paper 1, Paper 2, and Paper 3 o Historical Investigation o Individual Oral o Interactive Oral o Written Essays and Research, Projects, Presentations Experimental Sciences: Biology, Chemistry, and Computer Science MYP and DP SL/HL o Written Examination Paper 1, Paper 2, and Paper 3 o Investigations, Laboratory work or practical in lab notebook and Projects o Lab write ups o Dossier Mathematics: MYP and DP SL/HL o Written Examination Paper 1, Paper 2, and Paper 3 (HL only) o Portfolio or Project o Multi-step problems o Investigations and Real-life problem solving Physical Education and Health: MYP Internal Assessment o Journals and Projects o Performances and Videos Arts or Electives: MYP and DP SL/H Music o Written Examination Paper 1 o Music Investigations o Recordings of solo or group performances o Written essays o Performances and Projects
Psychology (DP only) o Written Examination Paper 1 and Paper 2 o Experimental Study Visual Arts o Studio and Investigation/Research Workbook o Investigations and Studio Work o Projects and Journals and Workbooks o Written essays Computer Technology MYP o Projects Theory of Knowledge DP SL o Prescribed Titles Extended Essay and Personal Project The Coordinator provides the students, staff, administration, and parents with all pertinent information and timelines for students to complete stages of the Personal Project Extended Essay process in order to allow students time for all stages of the process including reflection and communication with the advisor. The IB Coordinator provides direct instruction to students in the second semester of the freshman year for the Personal Project and second semester of the junior year for the Extended Essay. Students are assigned an advisor. The Advisor provides time to meet with the student to help with components of the Personal Project and the Extended Essay to provide feedback on the student s progress. The Advisor and Coordinator set up the assessment for the Personal Project and set up the viva voce for the Extended Essay.