DIS Assessment Policy

Revised June 2014

Philosophy

Assessment is designed to improve student learning.

Reflection is an essential process of assessment and indicates understanding over time.
Assessment is anchored on authentic tasks.
Timely, direct, specific and contextualized feedback is central to all learning and teaching.
Assessment provides students and teachers with feedback to revise performance and improve
teaching and learning.
Assessment allows the school to monitor effectiveness of programs and provides direction for
teachers, learners, parents, administration and overall school development.
Assessments should be sensitive to and reflect cultural, linguistic, racial, class, learning style,
physical and gender differences.

Assessment Practices
Formative Assessment
Pre-Assessment
All teachers assess students prior knowledge and skills before embarking on new learning
experiences.

Continuous Assessment
During the teaching and learning process, a variety of assessment strategies and tools are used
in the continuous and regular assessment which will provide information about the students
understanding, knowledge, skills, attitudes and learning styles. The teachers look for evidence
that meets the objectives and criteria and know about how learning is developing. Formative
assessment and teaching are directly linked and provide feedback that is responsive to student
needs and informs teaching practice.

Summative Assessment

Summative assessment happens at the end of a teaching and learning process or experience and
is planned for in advance. The assessment is designed so that students can demonstrate their
learning in authentic contexts and apply it in new ways.
Summative assessments may take a variety of formats (including authentic and performancebased assessment, paper and pencil tests, lab reports, essays, presentations, projects, etc.)

Attitudes/Approaches to Learning Assessment

Attitudes are explicitly taught and emphasized. Student reflections and teacher observations are
documented. These records show the development and demonstration of the targeted attitudes over time,
for both spontaneous and planned activities.

IB Learner Profile
The IB learner profile is transparent in the classroom, and evident in the general language of the school.
Teachers use informal observations to give feedback to students, but actual assessment is only done as
student self-assessment. The students reflect on their development at the end of each term on targeted or
selected aspects of the profile. This reflection will vary according to age groups and language abilities.
The PYP exhibition
In the final year of the PYP, students participate in a culminating project, the PYP exhibition. This requires
that each student demonstrates engagement with the five essential elements of the programme:
knowledge, concepts, skills, attitudes and action. It is a transdisciplinary inquiry conducted in the spirit of
personal and shared responsibility, as well as a summative assessment activity that is a celebration as
students move from the PYP into the middle years of schooling.
The exhibition represents a significant event in the life of a PYP school and student, synthesizing the
essential elements of the PYP, and sharing them with the whole school community. It is an opportunity for
students to exhibit the attributes of the learner profile that have been developing throughout their
engagement with the PYP.
In the students final year of the PYP, which occurs in some schools at 1011 years old and in others at
1112 years old, there are five units of inquiry and the exhibition. The exhibition unit takes place under any
transdisciplinary theme at the discretion of the school. Students are required to engage in a collaborative,
transdisciplinary inquiry process that involves them in identifying, investigating and offering solutions to
real-life issues or problems. The central idea selected must be of sufficient scope and significance to
warrant a detailed investigation by all students.
Assessment Strategies and Tools
Strategy
Observations
All students are observed regularly, with the
teachers taking notes on an individual student, a
group, and the whole class.

Performance Assessments
These are goal-directed tasks with established
criteria that provide authentic and significant
challenges and problems. These are usually
multimodal and require the use of many skills.

Tools

Photographs
Anecdotal Records
These are brief, written notes based on
observations of students.

Audio and Video Recording

Narrative records
Exemplars (students sample work)
Portfolio
A record of students involvement in learning
designed to demonstrate success, growth, high
order thinking, creativity, assessment strategies
and reflection. It provides a picture of progress
and development over a period of time both as
individual and group learners.

Process-focused assessments
Students are observed regularly. Observations are
recorded by noting the typical as well as the non-

Checklists
Inventories

typical behaviors, collecting multiple observations to

enhance reliability, and synthesizing evidence from
different contexts to increase validity.

Selected responses
These are described as single occasion, onedimensional exercises.
Open-ended tasks
Students are presented with a stimulus and asked to
communicate an original response. The work, with
the assessment criteria attached, could be included
in the portfolio.

Narrative records
Continuums
These show progression of achievement or
identity where a student is in a process.

Teacher-made worksheets
Tests and Quizzes

Students written responses

Drawing, diagrams, solution
Rubrics
An established set of criteria for rating students.
Rubrics can be developed by students and teachers

Assessment Reporting to Parents

Students progress and performance are reported to parents during scheduled conferences. Progress
report cards are given during these times.
The Progress Report
The Progress Report is a summative record of a students progress and development that indicates areas
of strengths and improvement.
Evaluation System for Grades 1 - 5
The performance of a student is indicated by the rating he/she receives in each area of learning
competence. This rating is a summative evaluation of his achievement during each term. The rating system
is as follows:

Rating

Description

The student at this level exceeds the core requirements in terms of knowledge, skills and
understanding, and can transfer them automatically and flexibly through authentic performance
tasks.

Advanced

4
Proficient

3
Approaching
Proficiency

2
Developing

1
Beginning

The student at this level has developed the fundamental knowledge, skills and core
understanding and can transfer them independently through authentic performance tasks.

The student at this level has developed the fundamental knowledge, skills and core
understanding and with little guidance from the teacher and/or with some assistance from peers,
can transfer these understanding through authentic performance tasks.
The student at this level possesses the minimum knowledge, skills and core understanding, but
need help throughout the performance of authentic tasks.
The student at this level struggles with his/her understanding; prerequisite and fundamental
knowledge and/or skills have not been acquired or developed adequately to aid understanding.

Evaluation System for Toddlers Kinder

A
Advanced

P
Proficient

AP
Approaching
Proficiency

D
Developing

B
Beginning

The student at this level exceeds the core requirements in terms of

knowledge/skills/understanding, and can transfer them automatically and flexibly through
authentic performance tasks.
The student at this level has developed the fundamental knowledge/skills/core understanding
and can transfer them independently through authentic performance tasks.
The student at this level has developed the fundamental knowledge/skills/core understanding
and with little guidance from the teacher and/or with some assistance from peers, can transfer
these understanding through authentic performance tasks.
The student at this level possesses the minimum knowledge/skills/core understanding, but
need help throughout the performance of authentic tasks.
The student at this level struggles with his/her understanding; prerequisite and fundamental
knowledge and/or skills have not been acquired or developed adequately to aid understanding.
Concept not yet taught or introduced.

Types of Reporting

Parent-Teacher Conference (PTC)

These are designed to give the parents information about the students progress,
development and needs, and about the schools program. This is an opportunity for teachers
to gather background information, to answer the parents questions, to address their
concerns, and to help define their role in the learning process.

Three-way Conference
This involves the student, parents and teacher. Students discuss their learning and
understanding with their parents and teacher, who are responsible for supporting the student
through the process. Students are responsible for reflecting upon work samples they have
chosen to share. The student, parents and the teacher collaborate to establish and identify
the students strengths and areas for improvement. This may lead to the setting of new
goals, with all determining how they can support the achievement of the goals.

Student- led Conference

This involves the student and the parent. The students are responsible for leading the
conference, and also take responsibility for their learning by sharing the process with their
parents. The conference will involve the students discussing and reflecting upon samples of
work that they have previously chosen to share with their parents. The student identifies
strengths and areas for improvement. It enables parents to gain a clear insight into the kind
of work their child is doing and offers an opportunity for them to discuss it with their child.
Schedule: After end of each term

Result of review conducted last January 2015:

Recommendations

The DIS assessment policy:

includes the schools philosophy of assessment which is
aligned to its mission statement

can be more explicit to include components of

the school community

includes purposes for assessment (what and why do we

assess) for all the components of the school community
(students, teachers, parents, administrators)
includes principles of assessment (what are the characteristics
of effective assessments)
includes assessment practices (how do we assess):

- how we structure assessment

- how often we assess

- what do we assess

explicitly indicate who will conduct some

assessment tasks/strategies

who is responsible for assessment and how

how should assessment information be recorded

there should be a section explaining how the

student is rated, examples can be helpful (i.e.
bi-monthly reports, etc)

how should assessment information be analysed and

reported

how will assessment information be reported to students and

parents

who will have access to information and where will it be

located

explicitly indicate in the next revision

how often will we review our assessment practices

explicitly indicate in the next revision

any mandatory requirements (i.e. government mandated)

that must be satisfied

explicitly state adoption of rating system in the

next revision