Assessment Policy
Purpose:
The purpose of this document is to clarify the expectations for assessment at Longfellow MS. This policy, as part of the MYP, applies throughout grades 6-8 and is to be communicated to and understood by all continuing and new teachers, students, parents, and administrators.
Philosophy:
Assessment in the MYP aims to support and encourage student learning by providing feedback on the learning process, generally through the use of formative and summative assessments.
The purpose of assessment is to improve classroom instruction.
Types of Assessments:
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Formative
Connected to instruction and learning to provide continuous feedback on the learning process. It is important to note this form of assessment informs the learning, but does not count in the student’s final summative assessment grade that is awarded, as there are no rubrics attached to this learning process.
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Summative
Allows the student to show what has been learned by the end of the unit. It also allows the teacher to determine the effectiveness of instruction and to report to parents using the MYP criteria.
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Mandatory Assessments
All teachers are required to administer per the district and state guidelines.
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-Anecdotal Notes
-Student reflection
-Classroom observation
-Peer review
-Portfolios
-Checklists
-Student teacher conferences
-Pre-tests
-Exit tickets
-Whiteboard checks
-Thumbs up/sideways/down
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-Exhibition
-Individual/group projects or presentations
-Essays (Analytical, Expository, Persuasive, Narrative, Research)
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-STAAR (State of Texas -Assessments of Academic Readiness)
-CBAs (Curriculum Based Assessment)
-Simulations
-TSI (Texas Success Initiative)
-Benchmark Assessments
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Purpose of Formative Assessments for Students:
- Measures what students know at various points in learning
- Identifies strengths and weaknesses in skill acquisition
- Promotes deep understanding of subject group knowledge
Purpose of Summative Assessment for Students:
- To know whether they have mastered the skills and knowledge that was taught during the unit
Purpose of Assessments for Parents:
- Review your child’s academic growth and development in terms of skills and knowledge
Purpose of Assessment for Teachers:
- To guide instructional practice
- To collaboratively reflect on student progress and needs
- To acquire data to be used to inform the school community of progress
Using MYP Criteria and Determining Achievement Levels for All Subject Areas (For the Summative Assessment Only):
To determine a student’s achievement level, teachers will use a criterion-related approach. Student performance is measured against pre-determined assessment criteria based on the aims and objectives of each subject area. Teachers must gather sufficient evidence from a range of summative assessment tasks, to enable them to make a professional and informed judgment guided by criteria that are public and transparent to determine a student’s achievement level. In order to do this, teachers analyze the recent scores on summative tasks and determine the most consistent pattern of scores.
Common Practices for Recording and Reporting Summative Assessments
- Student work on a summative assessment is assessed using the Middle Years Programme (MYP) subject group criteria. Teachers use MYP published criteria for summative assessment tasks during the year.
- Objectives from all eight required subject groups are assessed using MYP published criteria multiple times during the school year.
- Teachers use the Year 1, 3, or 5 of the published rubric appropriate to a students’ year in the programme. Sixth grade teachers use the Year 1 rubric consistently. Usually 7th grade teachers use Year 1 for the 1st semester and Year 3 for the 2nd semester. Eighth grade teachers use the Year 3 rubric consistently.
- MYP scores are awarded according to how well the student has demonstrated mastery of the published criteria.
- Rubrics MUST be provided to students at the start of each unit.
- All teachers and students must use the rubrics to inform their progress throughout the unit.
- The district has decided that percentage grades MUST be determined using the conversion chart on the following page
- Local percentage grades AND MYP criterion scores must both be reported back to students on summative assessment tasks.
Translating MYP Scores to SAISD Scores:
0-8 Scale
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| 8 |
100 |
| 7 |
95 |
| 6 |
90 |
| 5 |
85 |
| 4 |
75 |
| 3 |
70 |
| 2 |
65 |
| 1 |
60 |
| 0 |
50 |
*A student receiving a zero is a rare, case-specific situation. There is generally no evidence of anything completed during the unit time frame.
Reporting to Parents:
Parents, teachers, and students are partners in education. Students and parents are kept informed in the following ways:
- Parent night
- Frontline (online gradebook)
- Teacher and/or Counselor e-mails, phone calls, and meetings
- School newsletters
- Teacher progress reports
- Parent/Teacher conferences
- Quarterly report cards
- Individual Educational Plan (IEP) for special needs students
References:
International Baccalaureate Organization (May 2014). MYP: From principles into practice. Accessed May 5, 2016 from www.ibo.org