ASSESSMENT POLICY
Philosophy
HIS believes that in order to achieve the mission it is imperative that students must be provided with opportunities and platforms for them to grow beyond their comfort zones. To the end of developing holistic learners, teachers at Harvest design and conduct authentic assessment that are student centric and rigorous.
Assessment at HIS is a part of the teaching cycle that provides data and evidence about students’ learning.
Objectives of Assessment
Assessment is conducted at HIS to acknowledge students’ learning.
| Assessments allow students to: Analyse their learning and understand what needs to be improved. Synthesize and apply their learning in addition to recalling facts. Promote reflection and be encouraged to be responsible for their learning. | Assessments allow teachers to: Reflect on their teaching and identify areas of enhancement and improvement. Determine needs for differentiation of instructions. Inform students of their progress and growth and identify areas of improvement. Plan instructional practices and strategies based on data analysis |
Roles and responsibilities
Students
Students must:
- Take responsibility of their learning and regular self assess.
- Reflect on their tasks and assessments.
- Produce quality work, complete tasks and assessments on time and ensure timely submissions.
- Adhere to academic integrity guidelines and requirements.
- Complete their formative assessments and seek feedback from teachers.
- Identify areas of improvement and plan action as per the feedback provided by teachers.
- Be aware of the criteria for assessment.
Teachers
Teachers must:
- Keep the assessment process transparent and informed
- Provide timely and meaningful feedback to students on their assignments and assessment tasks.
- Use variety of tools, strategies and methodologies to prepare authentic assessment.
- Use the IB assessment criteria and guidelines for
- Help students identify the areas of improvement.
- Ensure that the school academic integrity guidelines are adhere to
Involve parents in student success.
Families
Parents must:
- Attend school sessions/ orientation programs to understand the assessment and academic integrity requirements
- Read school handbooks as a family to understand requirements
- Share any relevant information about the child with the school, that may affect the child’s performance in any assessment
- Ensure regularity of the child to school
- Partner in the child’s academic progress by being in touch with the teachers
Assessment and Reporting in PYP
Assessment in PYP
The assessment of student implementation and learning is a key component of the PYP
and helps to inform continuing development, learning, and teaching.
Students are examined in a variety of settings and a wide range of evaluation methods
are put in place.
In the PYP section,the academic session comprises of 6 units of inquiry .A range of assessments are used in the classroom to illustrate student achievements.
• Pre-Assessment
• Formative assessment
• Summative assessment
• Evaluation of the Five Essential Elements of the PYP
Pre-Assessment
At the beginning of each Unit of Inquiry, teachers will assess children’s prior knowledge and experience before embarking on new learning experiences.
Formative Assessments
The formative evaluations is a part of the learning that takes
place throughout the unit. It is an instrument used by the teacher to consistently monitor student improvement in a nurturing environment that provides both
teachers and students with valuable knowledge about what students understand or
do not understand. At least three training tasks are engineered by teachers for each
research unit. Each assignment includes frequent concise feedback accompanied by a
review of the challenges faced by students, which provides an opportunity for students to reflect on their efficiency, provide guidance and improve their performance.
Summative Assessments
Summative assessments are intended to test the level of competence attained at the
conclusion of the investigative unit. It allows students to show their awareness,
comprehension in a variety of ways. It not only metrics children’s knowledge of the
central idea but also helps them develop the attributes, attitudes, and skills needed to
build a solid foundation in their educational process. Summative assessment can mean
many things, such as essays, periodicals, role plays ,models, questions and
answers.
Assessment of the Five Essential Elements of the PYP
The school also acknowledges that the five components of the PYP form an integral
part of the assessment. The PYP also calls for the creation of
transdisciplinary concepts that encompass the individual subject areas and teachers monitor students’ ability to make connections across subjects and to apply skills to construct new knowledge. Conceptual understandings focus on how concepts are recalled, explained, applied and transferred through a range of learning experiences. ATL Skills are monitored and documented for growth over time.Finally, students are expected to apply everything they have learned by taking action,not only in the school community but also in the broader world.
Recording: How we choose to collect and analyze data
Teachers have a role to play in constantly carrying out evaluations. We assess how
children behave and how well the tools are used by students. They’re willing to
participate in how their style of teaching works in the classroom. They gather data in the classroom throughout the day to make assessments. Some forms of reporting that PYP uses to document its evaluation are:
Meetings Conferences-Three-way conferences
They are structured reporting sessions conducted by students with the help of teachersto discuss their learning with their family.
Student-Led Conferences
The Student-Led Conference is a conference in which the student introduces and
discusses their portfolio of parents through their overall learning process in the group.
The conferences allow students to actively participate while teachers are only present
as facilitators.
Meetings Parent-Teacher
PTM’s, as they are commonly called, are announced at the end of each unit to report on the student’s learning. PYP Interventions to learning are revealed through a continuum, while all other ingredients of the program are covered by written comments. Student data on success and advancement is conveyed to parents in many ways. The types of tests used throughout the school are diverse and provide a detailed view of the student’s progression.
School Events
All through the school year, many occurrences, such as the Science Exhibition, the Art
Exhibition, the Sports Day, the Annual Day and other events, demonstrate the student
voyage of PYP as well as the expertise they have inherited in all disciplines.
Portfolio
PYP students build a portfolio focused on a variety of knowledge and program areas. The portfolio is a compilation of research chosen by students and teachers and a record of student engagement in education. It is designed to demonstrate growth, thinking skills, creativity, assessment tactics, and reflection. Portfolios commemorate the learning of students through the PYP, showing the holistic development of children, both in and outside the Inquiry Curriculum in all disciplines. Portfolios allow students to reflect with their educators, parents, and peers in order to recognize their strengths as well as areas for improvement throughout the year.
The PYP Exhibition
The final year of the IB Primary Years Programme culminates in an exhibition that provides students an opportunity to explore, document, and share their understanding of a local or global issue of personal significance. It is the continuation of who our students are as learners and the demonstration of what they have accomplished in all areas of the Primary Years Programme. It takes place in the final year of the Primary Year (Grade 5 at Harvest International School) which aims to commemorate and share the learning of students with the entire community.
The exhibition aims to engage students in an in-depth, collaborative inquiry to showcase and reflect on their PYP education. It is a platform to explore multiple perspectives, demonstrate the attributes of the IB Learner profile and build up on their ATL Skills while they synthesize and apply their PYP learning in real life contexts.
The exhibition is also a celebration of their transition to the Middle Years Programme.
Written Report cards
The Primary Years Program Report Cards are optimized to be flexible and customized, reflecting the wide variety of assessment approaches in IB PYP schools.
Assessment and Reporting in MYP
Assessment in MYP
Formative Assessment : These are continuous assessment that may or may not be informed in advance and may or may not be based on the IB assessment criteria. These are conducted to provide students feedback on their current understanding and help them identify areas for improvements along with their development of ATL skills. With the feedback the students plan their course of action, prepare for summative assessment and
Summative Assessment: These are conducted at the end of every unit and are based on IB provided subject specific criteria. All strands of each criterion are assessed at least twice in a year. To keep the process transparent and authentic, the task specific clarifications for each level band are given to students in advance.
Feedback is provided to students by highlighting the achievement descriptors.
Differentiated assessment tasks may be given to students with special needs from MYP 1 to MYP3. Access arrangements will be applied with the IB for these students for their eassessment .
In case a student misses an assessment, another chance may be given at the discretion of the program coordinator based on the reason for the same. No chance is given in case of uninformed leave. Medical certificate must be produced by the parent in case of any medical situations.
End of Year Assessment: This is conducted at the end of every year from MYP 1 to 4 and covers concepts and content from all the units covered during the year. These are conducted for the Onscreen assessment subjects and assess students on all four criteria as per the subject guides.
For MYP 4, the assessments shall be conducted on Assessprep and shall follow the e Assessment guidelines and requirements.
For MYP 5, a set of Mock assessments shall be conducted before the eAssessment.
eAssessment ( External Standardized Assessment at the end of Year 5)
The IB introduced a new MYP assessment model in 2016 that includes mandatory moderation of the personal project, e Portfolios and On-screen examinations. eAssessment though not mandated by the IB, shall be a mandatory requirement for students at Harvest International School, with exceptions considered case wise.
The students are registered for these assessments by the school as per the IB guidelines ( in the month of October, for the May session, as chosen by the school). The registration fee for the e assessment is borne by the parents and informed to them at the beginning of the academic year.
How does eAssessment work?
Once a school registers for eAssessment in the MYP, the IB will be able to assess students’ work in two ways:
- ePortfolios of coursework, including a compulsory Portfolio for the Personal Project. The following subject groups will be assessed at HIS via ePortfolios: Arts, Design, PHE, Personal Project. A typical ePortfolio The eportfolio will be internally assessed by the teacher, standardized by other teachers within Harvest and then externally moderated.
on-screen examinations
The following subject groups will be assessed at HIS via on screen examinations: English Language and Literature, Mathematics, Sciences, Interdisciplinary, Individuals and Societies and Language Acquisition. Each on-screen exam comprised of two or three tasks. One task is connected with, inspired by or derived from the Global Context released by IB. This will be the same for all types of subject groups for a given session.
Reporting in MYP
The parents are involved as informed about their child’s performance and progress during the academic year through report cards ( shared on the LMS) and regular coffee mornings, three way conferences, student led conferences.
The feedback for formative assessments is usually given on the task sheets/ managebac or verbally.
The Summative assessments are marked on IB criteria and each criteria is marked out of 8. These criteria must be assessed at least twice during an academic year. In case of assessment more than twice, the teachers use the best-fit approach to arrive at a final achievement level for each criterion. A total achievement level out of 32 is calculated by adding the achievement levels in each of the four criteria. A final grade out of 7 is awarded to the student for his/her achievement in each term for each subject based on the conversion of this achievement level as per the grade boundaries provided by the IB.
*Refer to MYP Parent Handbook
Summative Assessment performance report is IB achievement level based and is reported to the parents four times during an academic year. End of year assessment is reported on a separate report card.
ATL Reports: BE, ME, AE, EE are used to display the level of ATLs and competencies acquired and written comments accompany the markings to assist the parents in understanding how their child is performing.
BE- Below Expectations
ME- Meeting Expectations
AE – Above Expectations
EE – Exceeding Expectations
Promotion Policy
The school aims at ensuring continuous improvement of the academic performance of all the students. In this light, the school provides necessary tools and opportunities for students to improve in their assessments and performance, however a student is not held back in a class. In case of performance below expected levels, the records and evidence is shared with the teaching team for the next consecutive year and a differential l learning plan is prepared for the child in question. Attendance in an important criteria where students are expected to have at least 85% present days of the total working days. In any other case, the promotion to next grade level is discussed with principal, program coordinator and parents and the final decision for promotion is at the discretion of the school.
In case of performance below expected levels in MYP 4, The decision to move to eassessment grade year ( Year 5 MYP) is made based on a mutual discussion with school and parents, where the child may be given an option to appear for eAssessment for selected subject groups only with an understanding that the child will not be awarded the MYP certificate.
Assessment Policy Revision
This MYP assessment policy draft was first developed in May 2022 with the collaboration of HIS Head of School, School Principal and MYP Coordinator. It reflects current practice in the school year 2022-2023. Therefore, this memorandum is still in advancement.
Second draft was made in August 2022 based on the suggestions recommended subsequently during consultancy meetings. The current document is third draft prepared in November 2022. The next review of the policy will take place in August 2023.We acknowledge the fact that we are in Candidacy phase for MYP. Hence this policy will be subjected to review at least once a year or as per the need based on further review and feedback from MYP Consultant. (Review committee incudes Pedagogical Leadership Team and the facilitators.)
Bibliography:
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/sept12/vol70/num01/Seven-Keys-to Effective-Feedback.aspx www.ibo.org (PRC Materials)
https://www.ibo.org/programmes/middle-years
programme/assessment-and-exams/onscreen- examinations/
Last Review : November 2023
Members : Ms.Survathy AN ( Head of School), Ms.Ruchira Banka ( MYPC), Ms.Radhika Muraleedharan ( PYPC)
