MYP Assessment Policy

MYP Assessment Policy
The Assessment Policy at King Abdulaziz School
The primary aim of assessment at King Abdulaziz School is to support and promote students’ learning. Rigorous assessment is essential in providing students with ongoing evaluations and feedback on their academic achievements within the subject areas to monitor and measure student progress. Pre-arranged, clear criteria are provided to students so that they know what expectations are placed upon them, thus motivating students in their learning in order to meet subject objectives. These tools also allow teachers to tailor their approaches to teaching to meet the needs of individual students. Assessment tools are in place so that students make the transition between the Primary Years Programme to the Middle Years Programme and to build upon their knowledge and understanding.
Assessment is used as both a learning experience for the students as well as to gauge an understanding of their level of competence in their skills associated with learning, and their understanding of significant concepts. Through challenging and open-ended assessment tasks, we aspire to create an environment that values self-inquiry and individual motivation to learn.
KAS MISSION STATEMENT:
“King Abdulaziz School strives to cultivate dynamic educational experiences that prepare students for life. It aims at providing a stimulating academic programme and a friendly learning environment that enable students to reach their full potential intellectually, physically and emotionally. King Abdulaziz School prepares students to be open to other perspectives, values and traditions whilst recognizing their own identity and taking pride in their cultural heritage.”
The KAS mission statement is closely tied to our Assessment Policy. As assessment plays a crucial
role in students’ learning, this policy is important in helping our school achieve its mission.
Purpose of assessment
Assessment within the Middle Years Programme at King Abdulaziz School (KAS) is a tool for teachers to establish a picture of students’ understanding and monitor effectiveness of the programme taught. Additionally, it enables teachers to analyze and address areas of concern, areas for student development and implement strategies which address highlighted individual student learning needs. Assessment also supports student learning through receiving feedback in relation to set criteria or expectations. With this feedback, students can build strategies for further improvement and instill a sense of motivation. Finally, assessment enables parents and supports professionals to gain insight into student progress and give necessary feedback.
Assessment includes a number of internal assessment tools to constantly monitor the individual student’s academic achievement. Teachers use a variety of methods and tools to ensure that assessment is meaningful, purposeful, ongoing and age-appropriate for all individual students at KAS. Assessment at KAS is a learning tool for the student. Students are informed of their individual achievement and can measure this against predetermined criteria. A strong belief that we have at KAS is that assessment should assist students in identifying areas of strength and areas in need of
further development. Student results are compared to set criteria and not against other individual students.
KAS has developed a systematic approach to assessment where students’ records of achievement are constantly updated using both formative and summative assessment data, which are reported regularly to families.
Leadership in rigorous education
We acknowledge that in order for students to reach their greatest personal potential, they need to be provided with opportunities that challenge them and help them grow. To this end, teachers design authentic, rigorous, and student-centered assessments that promote important skills for 21st century learners and leaders.
Throughout their units of study, students develop the Approaches to Learning skills of thinking, communication, collaboration, reflection, organization, information literacy, and transfer. Students are able to call upon these abilities, not only on their summative assessment tasks but in everyday life, giving them the skills and experiences necessary for success.
Inquiring, knowledgeable, and caring citizens
At KAS, we strive to create opportunities for learning throughout all stages of a unit, including the assessment. By providing students with assessment tasks that encourage continued learning, we promote inquiry. In addition, we aim to develop knowledgeable students, who care about their education by involving them in the assessment process. Teaching students explicitly about the MYP objectives and assessment criteria, they are well-aware of the expectations and can take ownership for their learning. By offering specific feedback that highlights students’ strengths and addresses areas of improvement, we can help students reflect and set goals so they can move to the next level of achievement.
Intercultural understanding and respect
Nurturing intercultural understanding and respect among students happens when educators understand and respect the needs of all learners, while providing opportunities for exploration in real-world contexts. Being cognizant of the unique learning needs and language development of each student, we recognize that differentiation is the key to helping all students find success. By providing students with a variety of assessment tasks, we honor the identity of our learners. In addition, through the creation of assessments with real-world contexts, we encourage students to broaden their perspective, promoting international mindedness. At KAS, we see the diversity of our learning community, as well as that of our global community, as a positive resource that can enrich learning, providing opportunities for students and staff to heighten their awareness and expand their thinking.
PRINCIPLES OF ASSESSMENT
Assessment is a key component of teaching and learning and includes a balance of both formative and summative assessments. At King Abdulaziz School, our assessment practices reflect our philosophy of assessment:
A. Assessment is authentic, rigorous, and student-centered:
• Assessment is grounded in real-world application and is appropriately challenging.
• Assessment provides multiple opportunities for students to demonstrate what they know, value, understand, and are able to do.
• Assessment is designed to assist students’ development of the Approaches to Learning skills,
which coincide with 21st century skills.
• Assessment provides students with opportunities to guide their inquiry and continue their learning.
B. Assessment is differentiated:
• Assessment is varied in type and purpose.
• Assessment practices recognize and take into account students with special educational needs.
C. Assessment is a transparent shared process:
• Assessment criteria are shared with students prior to the assessment, making students aware of the expectations at all stages of their learning.
• Assessment practices provide students with opportunities for reflection, as well as peer- assessment and self-assessment.
• Assessment enables ongoing communication between students and teachers.
• Assessment data promotes content-area and interdisciplinary collaboration among teachers.
D. Assessment provides meaningful feedback:
• Assessment focuses on both the learning process and learning outcomes.
• Assessment aligns with the MYP aims and objectives, informing students and teachers of the level to which learning targets are met.
• Assessment provides teachers with data to reflect upon and drive instructional practices.
• Assessment practices provide students with timely and meaningful feedback about their progress and areas of growth.
THE FOUR PRINCIPLES OF GOOD PRACTICE
A. AFFIRMING IDENTITY AND BUILDING SELF-ESTEEM
Valuing the diverse needs of all members of our learning community affirms identity and promotes self-esteem. For this reason, differentiation is an important part of teaching and learning at King Abdulaziz School. Differentiation can take many forms and can be found in assessments throughout a unit of study, as teachers adjust the content, process, and/or product to meet the needs of the individual learner.
B. VALUING PRIOR KNOWLEDGE
Understanding that students possess various amounts of prior knowledge, and even differing viewpoints on and/or understandings of the same concept, teachers take into consideration students’ unique background experiences when planning assessment tasks. Through the use of various pre- assessment strategies, teachers can determine whether they need to:
• bridge a student’s experiences with the information they are learning in class
• link the student’s past learning in class with new learning
• build background knowledge in the absence of prior knowledge
• provide more rigorous tasks for students who have already been exposed to and mastered the current learning
C. SCAFFOLDING
KAS and IB strive to develop lifelong learners. However, in order for students to gain independence in learning, there must be a gradual release of responsibility, often known as scaffolding. Through scaffolding, teachers help increase student confidence and achievement on formative and summative tasks. For example, teachers may scaffold larger assessments, breaking them into smaller, more manageable tasks, ensuring that all learners can accomplish each step that is a pre- requisite for the next. In addition, rubrics are distributed prior to the assessment task and are discussed using student-friendly language. These task-specific descriptors provide students with a clear understanding of the expectations. When possible, exemplars are also made available to students. Finally, teachers provide meaningful and prompt feedback to facilitate student reflection and goal-setting. By purposefully scaffolding assessment practices, teachers at KAS are able to create a ladder of success for all students.
D. EXTENDING LEARNING
To take learning to the next level, teachers provide students with authentic experiences that will extend their thinking. At KAS, one of our main instructional goals is to provide student-centered classrooms driven by inquiry. To facilitate the achievement of this goal, educators strive to develop authentic assessment tasks that require students to call upon the concepts they have learned and the Approaches to Learning skills they have developed. In addition, teachers aim to create assessment tasks that provide unfamiliar situations in which students can apply their learning in a new context.
ASSESSMENT PRACTICES
A. PLANNING FOR ASSESSMENT
• Assessment is integrated into planning, teaching, and learning in all content areas.
• Assessment is planned using backwards design. Focusing on the MYP aims and objectives, teachers create assessments that will allow students to demonstrate an acceptable level of achievement of those goals.
• Teachers are thoughtful in their choices to ensure that the strategies, tasks, and tools are appropriate to the learning objectives, the subject area, and the student.
• Assessment is differentiated based on student learning needs.
• Assessment is vertically and horizontally articulated throughout the programme to ensure age appropriateness and skill development.
• Teachers work collaboratively to design MYP unit planners, assessments, and task-specific rubrics.
Types of assessment:
Formative Assessment
Formative assessment is ‘assessment for learning’ and is a vital learning experience for the students to develop the skills and knowledge needed in a subject. Formative assessment gives the teachers a chance to provide constructive feedback for the students. As it is assessment for learning, it does not directly relate to the student’s grades, but is used to make final judgements of student capabilities if any uncertainty occurs in summative assessment.
Formative assessment takes place throughout a course of study, informing teachers about student learning and guiding instruction. Formative tasks are designed to prepare students for the summative task by assessing students’ progress in acquiring skills and concepts needed for the summative assessment. While firmly rooted in the MYP objectives, formative assessment tasks can be differentiated based on the abilities, learning styles, and interests of students.
Summative Assessment
Summative assessment is described as ‘assessment of learning’. It is used to measure a student’s understanding or capability as a learner after the relevant skills or content has been covered. Within the assessment in the Middle Years Program, this means that summative assessment should measure the student’s ability to inquire, communicate, reflect, and investigate.
Summative assessment tasks are created to be open-ended, providing differentiation by allowing students to showcase their knowledge and understanding in a variety of ways, while still aligning with the MYP subject area objectives.
Examples of these can include (but are not limited to):
● Tests/exams
● Essays
● Laboratory plans and investigation/research
● Data analysis tasks
● Oral, written and visual presentations/tasks
● Individual and group projects
● Performances of understanding
Assessment criteria and determining achievement levels
In the MYP, achievement levels are determined by relating students’ work in summative tasks to the use of internationally-benchmarked IB objectives, following a best fit model in which teachers work together to establish common standards and guided by teachers’ professional judgement.
ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES
Assessment strategies provide a variety of ways for students to demonstrate their learning. They can be used as methods of assessing students during the learning process, allowing teachers to monitor and further support learning. These strategies can also be used at the end of a unit to assess a student’s levels of achievement. When used in conjunction with one another, these assessment strategies present a balanced view of the student.
• Observation is a helpful strategy when assessing engagement and skills. Teachers can observe the class as a whole, as well as individual students, while looking at the task from an outside perspective or engaging in the task with the student(s).
• Selected response is useful during the course of a unit in formative assessments such as quizzes and pre-assessments. In addition, it can be used on end-of-the-unit examinations. This strategy allows teachers to ask general or specific questions to determine students’ understanding. It provides students and teachers with immediate feedback.
• Open-ended tasks present students with a prompt and allow them to communicate their understanding through an original response. This strategy could take the form of a pre- assessment activity, a discussion (whether a whole class Socratic seminar or small group Reciprocal Teaching), a writing task, or a presentation.
• Performance tasks provide students an opportunity to demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and understandings they have gained in relationship to the learning objectives.
• Process journals facilitate student reflection, a crucial part of the learning process. While required in some areas of the MYP, such as the Process Journal in the Personal Project, the use of reflective journals in all subject areas is encouraged. These journals provide students with a means to become actively involved in their own learning, leading to improved understanding.
• Portfolios provide a means for students and teachers to compile evidence of learning achievements. Portfolios involve students in reflection of their learning, as they choose pieces of work that demonstrate their level of knowledge and understanding, as well as their skills. Portfolios are particularly useful during student-led conferences.
ASSESSMENT TASKS
Assessment tasks are summative assessments created by teachers for a particular unit. These tasks may appear in the form of one of the previously-mentioned assessment strategies. Assessment tasks are aligned with the MYP objectives for that subject area and are used for assigning an MYP score. KAS teachers aim to create assessment tasks that are authentic, learner-centered, and inquiry based, so that students can apply their knowledge and skills to real-life situations.
While teachers are free to create tasks that are based on their subject area’s criteria, the IB MYP does prescribed minimum tasks for each subject area, which are to be implemented in the final year of the programme. To prepare students for year 5, teachers in each subject area aim to implement the prescribed minimums throughout each year of the programme.
ASSESSMENT TOOLS
1. FORMATIVE TOOLS AND FEEDBACK
Assessment tools are used to collect formative data, which are then used to inform instructional practices, such as planning differentiated tasks. The formative data also provide feedback to students about their current level of achievement toward the MYP objectives along with their development of the Approaches to Learning skills. With this feedback, students can reflect on their progress, prepare for the summative assessment task, and make continued growth.
Formative assessment tools include, but are not limited to:
• Teacher tools, warm-up activities, exit slips, daily work checks, homework checks, regularly scheduled quizzes, qualitative observation, formative rubrics, checklists
• Collection of work samples
• Student tools
• Self-reflection in the form of: journal entries, short essays, charts/graphs of personal achievement of unit objectives
• Peer tools, Peer-assessment
Methods of providing feedback on formative assessments include, but are not limited to:
• Teacher methods
• Correction of daily work/ homework, highlighting the process and product
• Check-ins with students
• Formative assessment checklist of concepts and skills to inform the student of areas of achievement and areas of growth
• Scale of proficiency levels: exceeds, meets, partially meets, and does not yet meet
• Rubrics created for formative tasks using IB MYP criteria
• Highlighted portions of the MYP rubric to show the student’s current performance level
• Written feedback focusing on what the student can do to improve
• Written questions/ steps to consider
• Verbal feedback
• Student methods
• Self-reflection using rubrics
• In-class correction and reflection on personal daily work
• Record of personal achievement of unit objectives using charts/ graphs
• Peer methods
• Critiques/evaluations using rubrics
2. SUMMATIVE TOOLS AND FEEDBACK
Summative Assessments are criterion-related in all MYP subject areas. The IB MYP provides rubrics within each content area that align with the subject area objectives. Teachers use the IB MYP rubrics specific to their subject area, and the criteria being assessed, to determine student achievement levels.
Students are assessed against each of the MYP criteria a minimum of two times over the course of the year in each subject area. Feedback is provided on the rubric by highlighting achievement descriptors that were met and offering suggestions for improvement in order to reach the next level of achievement.
Summative assessment tasks, and the expectations tied to them, are discussed with students prior to the assessment through the distribution and study of the MYP rubrics. These rubrics are clarified using task-specific descriptors with student-friendly language. When possible, exemplars are also made available to students. In addition, students may be involved in the development of task specific descriptors for the MYP rubrics to aid their understanding of the assessment task and the method of evaluation.
ASSESSMENT MEASURES:
1. FORMATIVE MEASURES
Formative tasks are measured in various ways including:
• Achievement levels which may be aligned with IB achievement levels
• Points in the gradebook
• Percentages
• Charts and graphs
2. SUMMATIVE MEASURES
Summative tasks are assessed using the IB MYP rubrics. These achievement levels are then translated into a point value so that grades, consistent with national practices, can be calculated.
Arts Individuals & Societies Language and Literature Language and Literature (Arabic) Mathemat ics Physical and Health Education Sciences Design
Criterion
A Knowing and Understa nding Knowing and understan ding Analyzing Analyzing Knowledge and Understand ing Knowing and Understan ding Knowledge and Understan ding Inquiri ng & Analyzi ng
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
B Developi ng skills Investiga ting Organizing Organizing Investigat ing patter ns Planning for Performa nce Inquiring and designin g Developing Ideas
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
C Thinkin g creativ ely Communicati ng Producing Text Producing text Communic ation in mathemati cs Applying and Performi ng Processing and evaluatin g Creating the Solutio n
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
D Respondi ng Thinki ng critical ly Using Language Using language Applying mathemati cs in real world contexts Reflecting and Improving Performa nce Reflectin g on the impacts of science Evaluating
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
The PERSONAL PROJECT
The Personal Project is a learner-centered project completed by students in MYP year 5 (Grade 10). This project promotes inquiry and helps students exercise their independent learning skills.
Students select topics and products of their own choosing. Encouraged to focus on their areas of interest, students have the freedom to design a project about which they are truly passionate.
Whatever topic they choose, students call upon the concepts and skills they have gained during their time in the MYP to make their project successful. The Personal Project requires students to use the Approaches to Learning skills they have developed, specifically in the areas of information literacy, communication, collaboration, thinking, reflection, and transfer. The Personal Project is supported through homeroom, but a majority of the work is completed outside of class. Therefore, it is essential that students also utilize their organizational skills, especially in regard to time management. Each student is given guidance from a staff advisor, with whom they regularly meet. As students work on their Personal Projects, they keep process journals. This journal, along with the final product, report, and bibliography, are the basis for the Personal Project and are assessed using the Personal Project criteria of:
• Criterion A – Use the process journal
• Criterion B – Define the goal
• Criterion C – Select sources
• Criterion D – Apply information
• Criterion E – Achieve the goal
• Criterion F – Reflect on learning
• Criterion G – Report the project
GRADES AND REPORT CARDS
IB Published Grade Boundaries
Individual criteria are divided into various achievement levels that appear in bands (1-2, 3-4, 5-6 and 7-8). Each specific band for a given criterion contains a level descriptor, which uses a series of qualitative value statements to describe work within that level.
Level descriptors for each one of the bands describe a range of student performance in regard to the strands of each objective; a level of 0 is available for work that is not sufficiently described by the 1-2 band descriptor. Subject specific criteria, along with their specific band descriptors, are shared with students and can always be accessed via MangeBac.
At the end of each semester, teachers make judgments on their students’ achievement levels for each subject group criterion, based on achievement evidence from the range of summative tasks and learning experiences that have taken place.
Final levels for each subject are determined by the MYP 1-7 scale which provides general descriptors that represent a student’s achievement level. To arrive at this final level, teachers add together the student’s final achievement levels in all criteria for a specific subject and use the grade boundary table that follows to determine a final grade:
Arts Individuals & Societies Language and Literature (English) Language and Literature (Arabic) Maths Physical & Health Education Sciences Design (Technology)
FinalMark
1
1-5
1-5
1-5
1-5
1-5
1-5
1-5
1-5
2
6-9
6-9
6-9
6-9
6-9
6-9
6-9
6-9
3
10-14
10-14
10-14
10-14
10-14
10-14
10-14
10-14
4
15-18
15-18
15-18
15-18
15-18
15-18
15-18
15-18
5
19-23
19-23
19-23
19-23
19-23
19-23
19-23
19-23
6
24-27
24-27
24-27
24-27
24-27
24-27
24-27
24-27
7
28-32
28-32
28-32
28-32
28-32
28-32
28-32
28-32
Note: students need to have been assessed at least twice in every criterion in order to determine final levels.
Special considerations for students who do not meet this minimum of having been assessed at least twice for any criterion will be made in an individual basis by the MYP Coordinator.
Below are the IB general grade descriptors for the Final Mark grade. A mark on this 1-7 scale will appear in the Managebac report.
Final Mark
Descriptor 1
Produces work of very limited quality. Conveys many significant misunderstandings or lacks understanding of most concepts and contexts. Very rarely demonstrates critical or creative thinking. Very inflexible, rarely using knowledge or skills. 2
Produces work of limited quality. Expresses misunderstandings or significant gaps in understanding for many concepts and contexts. Infrequently demonstrates critical or creative thinking. Generally inflexible in the use of knowledge and skills, infrequently applying knowledge and skills. 3
Communicates basic understanding of some concepts and contexts, with occasionally significant misunderstandings or gaps. Begins to demonstrate some basic critical and creative thinking. Is often inflexible in the use of knowledge and skills, requiring support even in familiar classroom situations. 4
Communicates basic understanding of most concepts and contexts with few misunderstandings and minor gaps. Often demonstrates basic critical and creative thinking. Uses knowledge and skills with some flexibility in familiar classroom situations, but requires support in unfamiliar situations. 5
Produces generally high-quality work. Communicates secure understanding of concepts and contexts. Demonstrates critical and creative thinking, sometimes with sophistication. Uses knowledge and skills in familiar classroom and real-world situations and, with support, some unfamiliar real-world situations. 6
Produces high-quality, occasionally innovative work. Communicates extensive understanding of concepts and contexts. Demonstrates critical and creative thinking, frequently with sophistication. Uses knowledge and skills in familiar and unfamiliar classroom and real-world situations, often with independence. 7
Produces high-quality, frequently innovative work. Communicates comprehensive, nuanced understanding of concepts and contexts. Consistently demonstrates sophisticated critical and creative thinking. Frequently transfers knowledge and skills with independence and expertise in a variety of complex classroom and real-world situations.
Communicating assessment information:
Communicating assessment information is essential for students, parents and teachers alike. In MYP, teachers follow the following set of procedures to ensure students and parents have access to all necessary assessment information:
• Essential information on specific summative tasks, task cover sheets and task descriptions will be uploaded (or linked to) on ManageBac. This information should be posted with a two weeks’ notice of the given task’s submission date as a minimum.
• Within two academic weeks of an assessment, the gradebook on ManageBac should be updated to include either written feedback regarding the student’s performance or a comment specifying how the feedback was (will be) provided to the student.
• Assessment data and assessment results will be updated on ManageBac at least once by each half term for students and parents to view.
• Task Specific Clarifications (according to IB formats) should be provided when a task is issued to students (this can be done verbally or in written form).
Reporting achievement levels
The academic year in MYP is divided into two semesters; semester reports are generated in January and May. Students receive one judgement for each criterion in each subject at the time of reporting in January and two judgements for each criterion at the time of reporting in May. If a student arrives late in the year, individual considerations will determine the feasibility of determining final grades for each subject group.
Procedures for different situations Absences
If a student is not present for an exam, oral presentation or any other structured summative assessment taking place on a specific day/time, and no explanation is provided:
• Students must make contact with the subject teacher on his/her first day back at school (either personally or via email) to arrange submitting the task on the next Tuesday/Thursday. Non-contact from the part of the student or missing a scheduled time to present the missed assessment will result in his work considered not to be described by any of the descriptors below the starting level of 0 for any criteria assessed on that specific task and will be graded accordingly.
Upon missing a scheduled summative task, due to scheduled medical or approved absence of leave:
● The student must contact the subject teacher and complete the summative task on either the first Tuesday or Thursday back after their sickness/absence from school. Missing this date will result in his work considered not to be described by any of the descriptors below the starting level of 0 for any criteria assessed on that specific task and will be graded accordingly.
Note: if a nonattendance period of two weeks after a given assessment is reached, students’ work will be considered not to be described by any of the descriptors below the starting level of 0 for any criteria assessed on the given task and will be graded accordingly. Extenuating circumstances will be considered in a per case basis and these can result in student work not receiving a grade level.
Ongoing assessments
If a student fails to turn in an ongoing assessment (i.e. essay, long-term project, written report, video or any other summative assessment which is not developed in a specific day/time) by the given deadline:
● The teacher will notify the student and parents/guardians on the day of the deadline for the assessment task via phone call and/or email, and a 24-hour deadline for submission will be set for the student.
● If the 24-hour deadline is not met by the student, this will result in his work considered not to be described by any of the descriptors below the starting level of 0 for any criteria assessed on that specific task and will be graded accordingly.
● Special circumstances and arrangements regarding the non-submission of an assessment task will be discussed and decided on by the programme coordinator.
Inappropriate behaviour during a summative assessment
If a student behaves inappropriately during a summative assessment:
● The student will be requested to hand in the assessment, which will be marked as is.
● Additional considerations may apply as per the school’s Behaviour Code.
Summative tasks involving group work
When introducing group work-based summative tasks to students, teachers should inform the procedures for groups missing a group member at the time of assessment.
In the case of a group missing one of its members, the remaining members of the group can be asked to present/perform as per the discretion of the teacher. If a group presents/performs without a specific group member, the teacher will treat this as an absence from a summative task, and the missing student must present/perform on his return to school on a Tuesday or Thursday.
Teachers need to document carefully the input of individuals working in a group situation so that the achievement levels for individual students can be determined. Achievement levels in group tasks should be individually determined and not group determined.
Malpractice during an assessment
If a student commits any form of malpractice during an assessment:
● The student will be requested to hand in the assessment, which will be marked as is.
● Additional considerations may apply as per the school’s academic honesty policy.
Alternative assessment opportunities
Assessment tasks are carefully designed by teachers in order to serve both as a learning experience as well as to gauge an understanding of their level of competence in their skills associated with learning. A range of assessment opportunities are designed throughout the school year, with each subject specific criterion being assessed at least twice.
Students who perform poorly on the subject criteria addressed by a specific assessment task will either have had prior opportunities to perform on these criteria or will have the same future opportunities of performing against these criteria as their classmates. Alternative assessment opportunities in the form of extra-credit activities or remedial tasks will not be given to students who perform poorly on a summative assessment task.
Special considerations
Special considerations and arrangements regarding assessment tasks, time provided, allowed resources and others can be contemplated through the Learning Support department, the school’s inclusion policy, language policy and/or a student’s IEP.
APPROACHES TO LEARNING SKILLS FEEDBACK
The Approaches to Learning (ATL) skills are not awarded grades in the IB subject areas. However, subject-area teachers, and homeroom teachers, provide various forms of feedback on students’ development of these skills. The ATL skills also serve as a platform for student self-reflection during student-led conferences and individual student-teacher conferences throughout the year.
STUDENT CONFERENCE PORTFOLIOS
In preparation for conferences, students are provided with an opportunity to reflect on their progress across the subject areas. Students compile work and complete a reflection that demonstrates their level of understanding within each subject area, placing this information in their conference folders. STUDENT-LED CONFERENCES
Conferences are held once a year providing families with an opportunity to formally discuss their children’s progress. These conferences are led by students as they share their conference portfolios with their families. During the conferences, students reflect on the learning process, their current level of achievement in each subject area, and the ATL skills and Learner Profile traits that have assisted them.
GRADE BOOK ACCESS
Our gradebook system offers parent portal, so families can check on their children’s progress with
more independence and frequency.
RESPONSIBILITIES WITHIN THE KSA LEARNING COMMUNITY
The education of students is a collaborative effort, in which all stakeholders play an important role.
A. STUDENTS
Students are expected to:
-Take responsibility for their learning
-Regularly reflect and self-assess
-Complete formative work in preparation for the summative assessment
-Know and use the assessment criteria while completing assessment tasks
-Produce quality work and use the assessment as a way to demonstrate their understanding and grow in their learning
-Submit work that is their own and represents their own efforts and abilities (see Academic Honesty Policy for more information)
-Turn in their summative assessment tasks on time
-Advocate for themselves in the event of needing an extension
B. FAMILIES
Families are expected to:
-Stay informed about their children’s academic progress by regularly communicating with their children and the teachers
-Share important information about their children that may impact their academic performance
-Contact KSA teachers, staff, and/or administrative team with any concerns
-Attend conferences
-Provide feedback regarding their children’s educational experience through completion of the family
survey
C. TEACHERS
Teachers are expected to:
-Provide multiple and varied opportunities for students to demonstrate their learning
-Differentiate assessments to meet student learning needs
-Design assessments that fulfill the requirements of KAS Assessment Policy and KAS Grading Policy
-Use a variety of assessment strategies, tasks, and tools
-Inform students of the summative assessment task and expectations, prior to giving the summative task
-Give adequate time for the completion of assessment tasks
-Provide timely and meaningful feedback to students on assessment tasks
-Inform families if a student’s letter grade is below expectations
REVIEW PROCESS
The Assessment policy is reviewed by a committee of teachers, the MYP coordinator and the Head of School every other year. The purpose of the committee will be to study the current document to ensure its accuracy toward meeting IB MYP standards.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
International Baccalaureate Organization. MYP: From Principles into Practice. International Baccalaureate Organization, September 2014/January 2015.
International Baccalaureate Organization. Programme Standards and Practices. International Baccalaureate Organization, 2014.