Secondary+School+Assessment+Practices

=ASSESSMENT PRACTICES AT IST SECONDARY SCHOOL= To ensure effective learning, IST uses assessment to inform about ongoing instruction, to evaluate and report progress of student learning and to revise and review programmes that support the school’s mission.

Assessment is continuous and integral to the learning process. Students receive regular and frequent feedback either orally or in writing in a timely manner, so that they can use it to monitor their own learning (formative assessment). Formative assessment is ongoing and students undertake self and peer assessment as well as writing their own rubrics.

Assessments are also used to determine the degree to which students have mastered content and skills (summative assessments). A variety of relevant data is collected and analysed for all areas of study to enable students, teachers and administrators to monitor and improve learning and programmes. Work is standardized in each department, with teachers sharing assessment information and practices, to ensure consistency and to improve teaching across a grade level and/or subject area. The IB curriculum embraces a philosophy of education (constructivism) which encourages continuous reflection and analysis of individual and large group learning by all members of the educational community. For admission purposes, IST uses appropriate entry assessments to ensure that the each student is placed in the learning environment that will most appropriately meet his/her educational needs.

Purposes of Assessment
The purposes of assessment are to support and encourage student learning, to provide information about student learning in order to inform, enhance and improve the teaching process and to contribute to the efficacy of the programme.

Student learning is supported and teaching improved by
· assessing the children’s prior knowledge and experience brought to the topic or task · planning the teaching and learning in order to meet individual or group needs · building a profile of children’s understanding · engaging children in reflection on their learning and in the assessment of their work and the work of others

Information about student learning is provided by
· examples of children’s work or performance · statistics about student performance based on explicit objectives · test results

Programme evaluation uses a variety of student assessments to
· assess students’ performance in relation to the general and specific expectations of the programme · assess group performance in relation to other classes or groups both internally and externally · inform others, including children, colleagues and parents

Effective assessments allow the child to
· understand in advance the criteria by which the work will assessed · analyse their learning and understand what needs to be improved · demonstrate the range of their conceptual understandings, their knowledge and their skills · synthesize and apply their learning as well as recall facts · base their learning on real-life experiences that can lead to other questions to ask or problems to solve · focus on producing a quality product or performance · highlight their strengths and demonstrate mastery and expertise · express different points of view and interpretations · promote reflection, self and peer-evaluation.

Effective assessments allow the teacher to
· plan assessment tasks as an integral part of the learning process · identify what is worth knowing and which tasks will accurately assess it ·  encourage collaboration between child and teacher or among children · take into account different cultural contexts and different ways of learning and knowing · produce evidence that can be reported and understood by children, parents, teachers, administrators and board members · plan further activities which address areas of interest or development needs for the teacher and the children.

Classroom Assessment
Each subject / faculty uses a variety of assessment and reporting methods depending on the objectives to be assessed. All subjects value and use rubrics to assess work. Rubrics and marking schemes are explained to students prior to assessments being assigned and are reviewed with students once the work has been marked. Each teacher realizes the importance of returning assessed work within a reasonable timeframe and ensuring that feedback is given to each student (whether it be written or oral feedback).

//Formative assessment//
Formative assessment is interwoven with the daily learning and helps teachers and children find out what the children already know in order to plan the next stage of learning. Formative assessment and teaching are directly linked; neither can function effectively or purposefully without the other.

//Summative assessment//
Summative assessment takes place at the end of the teaching and learning processes and gives the children opportunities to demonstrate what has been learned. Summative assessments may include any of, and any combination of, the following: acquisition of data, synthesis of information, application of knowledge and processes. ===//Rubrics// are sets of criteria used for scoring or rating student work. The descriptors tell the child and the assessor what characteristics or signs to look for in the work and then how to rate that work on a predetermined scale. Rubrics can be developed by children as well as by teachers.===

//Assessment Strategies//
The following methods of assessment cover a broad range of approaches, from the more subjective and intuitive to the more objective and scientific. They are chosen in order to provide a balanced view of the student. Tasks may include quizzes, role-play, vocabulary tests, reading comprehension, essay writing, portfolios, multi step assignments, end of unit tests, projects, oral presentations (including the use of technological aids) research and investigation. //Portfolios// are collections of children’s work that are designed to demonstrate successes, growth, higher order thinking, creativity and reflection. A portfolio should be thought of as an exhibition of an active mind at work. //Open-ended tasks// are situations in which children are presented with a stimulus and asked to communicate an original response. The answer might be a brief written answer, a drawing, a diagram or a solution. //Selected responses// are single occasion, one-dimensional exercises. Tests and quizzes are the most familiar examples of this form of assessment. //Process-focused assessments// are observed often and regularly and the observations are recorded by noting both typical as well as atypical behaviours, collecting multiple observations to enhance reliability, synthesizing evidence from different contexts to increase validity. A system of note-taking and record-keeping is created that minimizes writing and recording time. Checklists, inventories and narrative descriptions are common methods of collecting these observations. //Performance assessments// are goal-directed tasks with established criteria that are authentic challenges and problems. They often require the use of many skills and more than one correct response. Audio, video and narrative records are often useful for this kind of assessment. ===//Observations// are recorded often and regularly, with the teacher taking a focus varying from ‘wide angle’ on the whole class, to ‘close-up’ on one child or activity, and from ‘non-participant’ observing from without, to ‘participant’ observing from within.===

IST administers standardized tests once a year to its students in grades 6 to 10. While IST has a responsibility to ensure that the test results are used appropriately, and recognizes that all testing has some cultural and linguistic bias, the tests are administered for the following important educational reasons:
 * Standardized Testing**
 * 1) to understand the learning profile of its students in order to provide an effective curriculum that ensures progression vertically and horizontally
 * 2) to measure the impact of its curriculum on student learning in order to be accountable to students and parents.
 * 3) to place students in learning situations that match their background and abilities.
 * 4) to identify students with special needs so that they can receive appropriate support. This may be either students with learning disabilities or students who are gifted and talented.
 * 5) to monitor the effects year to year of its admission policies on the composition of its student body.
 * 6) to give parents an additional tool to understand the particular profile of their children.
 * 7) to provide parents and students with test results that may be used in admission and placement decisions by other international schools around the world.
 * 8) to give students practice in test taking strategies (which also make their standardized test results more reliable measures of student learning).

R//eporting to Students and Parents// Written reports using the IST Secondary format go home to students and parents at the end of each term. The report provides teacher feedback for all of the academic areas, in addition to community and service requirements (R2, R4). Parent-teacher conferences are held twice yearly to allow parents and students to discuss progress and achievements related to the subject criteria.