IB Assessment Policy
Winston Churchill Middle School
An International Baccalaureate School
Assessment Policy
1. Introduction
a. Monitoring and Revision of the Policy 2
b. Mission Statement for Winston Churchill Middle School 2
2. Philosophy and Principles of Assessment at Winston Churchill Middle School
a. Assessment Philosophy 2
b. Goals of Assessment 2
3. Implementation of Assessment
a. Implementation of Formative Assessment 2
b. Implementation of Summative Assessment 3
4. Special Features of Assessment in the Middle Years Program
a. Common Practices in Using the MYP Assessment Criteria 3
b. Common Practices in Determining Achievement Levels
i. Determining Achievement Levels of Individual Tasks Using Subject Criteria 4
ii. Determining Interim MYP Grades (Quarters 1 - 3) 4
iii. Determining Final Achievement Levels (Final MYP Grade - Quarter 4) 4
5. Systems for Grading and Reporting 6
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1-Introduction
1a-Monitoring and Revision
The policy was first developed by the MYP coordinator and two Churchill Middle School teachers. The policy was developed using the Programme Standards and Practices, as well as the guide MYP: From Principles into Practice. The policy will be reviewed and updated annually by the Churchill MYP Education team using input from Churchill staff.
1b-Mission Statement
Valuing innovation, initiative, and community, the mission of Winston Churchill Middle School is to educate and empower each student to build a foundation for life-long learning, personal responsibility, and global citizenship by providing a rigorous and safe academic environment that develops critical thinking, collaborative skills and promotes persistence and resilience in our students while meeting their unique needs.
2-Philosophy and Principles of Assessment at Winston Churchill Middle School
2a-Assessment Philosophy
- Assessment is ongoing
- Assessment includes both formative and summative tasks
- Students are provided a variety of assessment tasks
- Assessment tasks are authentic whenever possible
- Teachers provide students and parents with feedback to strengthen and improve student achievement
- Criteria for assessment is shared or developed with the students prior to assessment where appropriate
- IB criteria are used in all subject areas to evaluate summative assessment tasks
- Each academic year, teachers report predictive MYP grades for the second and third quarters. At the end of the fourth quarter, teachers report MYP grades that represent students’ final achievement in each subject matter.
2b-Goals of Assessment
The goal of assessment at Churchill Middle School is to support and encourage student learning, as well as measure mastery of knowledge, skills, and understanding.
3-Implementation of Assessment
3a-Implementation of Formative Assessment
Formative assessment is assessment for learning. Teachers use a variety of formative assessments to gather, analyze, and plan the next steps in the learning process.
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Types of formative assessment can include, but are not limited to:
- Exit slips
- 3-2-1 summary
- Quizzes
- Group discussions
- Group work
- Think-pair-share
- Strategic questioning
- Classwork practice
- Homework practice
- Conferences
- Open-ended tasks
- Quick-writes
3b-Implementation of Summative Assessment
Summative assessments are used at the end of each MYP unit to measure mastery of the given MYP subject-specific objectives. All summative assessment tasks are evaluated using the MYP criteria.
Types of summative assessment can include, but are not limited to:
- Creations/Constructions
- Open-ended tasks
- Essays
- Presentations
- Investigations
- Performances
- Compositions--musical, artistic, and physical
- Exams
All assessment tasks are designed such that students have the opportunity to achieve the highest level on the MYP criterion rubric.
4-Special Features of Assessment in the Middle Years Program
4a-Common Practices in Using the MYP Assessment Criteria
Teachers design assessment tasks that are aligned with subject-group objectives and evaluated using the MYP criterion-related rubrics, which are found in the MYP subject group guides. Teachers will provide students with the assessment criteria prior to administering the assessment. Criterion-related rubrics will be modified with task-specific clarification where appropriate.
Teachers will include assessment tasks that evaluate each strand of each subject-group objective a minimum of two times per academic year.
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In subject groups where more than one teacher is teaching the subject, internal standardization will occur. Teachers will meet to ensure they have a common understanding of the descriptors of each criteria and how they are applied to student assessment tasks. Teachers will save examples of student work that demonstrate each level of the criteria in order to build this common understanding.
4b-Common Practices in Determining Achievement Levels
- Determining Achievement Levels of Individual Tasks Using Subject Criteria
When applying the assessment criteria to student performance in each task, teachers will use the individual objective descriptors to choose a “best-fit” achievement level. If the student work exceeds the expectations of the first descriptor, the teacher will continue to the second descriptor. This process continues until the teacher arrives at a descriptor that does not describe the student work; the work will then be described by the previous descriptor. Teachers must use their personal judgment in determining the descriptor that best fits the student’s performance.
- Determining Interim MYP Grades (Quarters 2 & 3)
In order to determine MYP grades for the second and third quarters of the academic year, teachers will use the recorded criteria grades for all assessment tasks that have been evaluated so far. This interim grade represents student achievement to date. For example, a student’s second quarter MYP grade is determined using achievement levels from both the first quarter and the second quarter - in a cumulative manner.
iii. Determining Final Achievement Levels (Final MYP Grade--Quarter 4)
Throughout the year teachers will record student achievement for each of the four objectives in their subject group using the criterion-related MYP rubrics. At the end of the year, teachers will determine final achievement levels for each objective. To do this, teachers will not simply average scores, but will pay attention to tasks that demonstrate the most accurate level of student performance. Using the final achievement scores for each of the four objectives, teachers will add them together to get a total score.
The final grade will be determined using the following grade boundaries taken from page 93 of MYP: From Principles into Practice:
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IB Grade |
Descriptor |
1 (1-5) |
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 (6-9) |
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 (10-14) |
Produces work of an acceptable quality. Communicates basic understanding of many 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 (15-18) |
Produces good-quality work. 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 (19-23) |
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 (24-27) |
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 (28-32) |
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. |
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5-Systems for Grading and Reporting
As mandated by the San Juan Unified School District, academic grades (letters A-F) are still reported for each subject; however these grades are not directly linked to the MYP grade. MYP grades are determined using only the MYP criterion-related rubrics. Academic grades may be determined using a variety of tasks and category weights as determined by each individual teacher. Academic grades do not determine MYP grades and MYP grades do not determine academic grades. Both academic and MYP grades are reported on a quarterly basis to students and parents using the district adopted online student database, “Q.” However, teachers regularly record student achievement on MYP criterion-based assessment tasks in “Q” so that both parents and students are informed about student progress toward the subject group objectives.
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