Assessment, Recording and Reporting
Assessment, recording and reporting
Assessment is integral to all teaching and learning at Sha Tin Junior School (SJS). It is the means by which we analyse student learning and the effectiveness of our teaching and acts as a foundation on which to base our future planning, teaching and learning.
At SJS we make use of a diverse but interconnected range of assessment, recording and reporting strategies in order to identify, share and celebrate what students know, understand, can do and feel at different stages in the learning process. Assessment is central to our goal of thoughtfully and effectively guiding children through the process of understanding concepts, acquiring knowledge, mastering skills, developing attitudes and making decisions to take responsible action.
At SJS we believe that everyone involved in the learning process, including children, teachers and parents, should be actively engaged in assessing student progress as part of the development of their wider critical thinking and self-evaluation skills.
Guiding Principles of Assessment
Reliable
At SJS we believe that assessment needs to take place in real and meaningful contexts in order to provide valid and reliable evidence of a pupil’s progress. Assessment should reveal the true and accurate picture of a pupil’s developing understanding based upon reliable evidence in order to help plan the next learning steps.
Educative: Assessment of learning, for learning and as learning
Assessment should provide information to measure past performance and set targets
through analysis of statistical evidence at individual pupil, class, cohort and whole-school levels. However, In addition to providing quantitative summative data about individual achievements and overall school performance, assessment systems at the school are also designed to be central to the learning process and the children should learn from and during the assessment experience. Assessment should identify needs, motivate learners and celebrate achievement. Children should receive prompt constructive feedback from assessment information so that they can focus on their next steps for improvement. Assessment should address student progress in relation to their subject-specific knowledge, transdisciplinary skills and conceptual understanding within the context of structured inquiry in addition to the attributes of the PYP learner profile.
Explicit
Students should know, understand and have access to the assessment information that is gathered about their learning, and should be aware of the criteria against which they are being assessed. Assessment should have a clear purpose and pupils should be aware of this. Assessment should openly and actively involve all learners and should habitually engage children in discussion of their learning progress.
Fair
Assessment strategies should enable each student to fully demonstrate their progress and abilities. Assessment should be flexibly designed to provide students with the opportunity to present their learning in a variety of contexts. Teachers should employ techniques for assessing children’s work that take into account the diverse, complicated and sophisticated ways that individual children use to understand experience. Assessment should show awareness of learning style, cultural, gender, linguistic, and racial differences amongst pupils.
Comprehensive
A range of assessment information should be collected in different contexts and over time. Assessment should take place both during the process of inquiry and instruction and on the quality of the products of that learning. It should draw upon information from a range of strategies, such as focussed observations, student products and conversations. Assessment should draw upon a variety of tools, including rubrics, benchmarks, checklists, continuums and anecdotal records. Assessment information should include peer- and self-assessment and reflection in addition to teacher assessment.
Conferences
What are conferences?
Parent conferences provide an opportunity for parents to engage in discussion and dialogue about their child’s learning. At SJS they currently take two forms.
1.)Two-Way Conferences (Teacher/Parent)
During Term One a formal appointment is made between the child’s class teacher and the parents of the child. The purpose of this meeting is for the parent and teacher to meet one another, develop a rapport and to share information, pastoral or academic, that either party considers important for the success of the child’s learning. Confidential information may be shared at this time.
2.)Student – Led Conferences (Child/Parent/Teacher)
In Term Two and Term Three each child will lead his/her parents and teachers through a discussion and dialogue about their learning. The child will draw upon their work as evidence of reflection upon their learning and be pro-active in explaining what they have learned, how and why it was important to learn it and what they need to learn next. N.B. In Year 6 ‘The Exhibition’ will take the place of a Student – Led Conference for Term Three.
Why do we have conferences?
There is significant research evidence which indicates that when parents are involved in talking about learning with children, the children achieve more. We believe that SJS parents play an essential role, in partnership with teachers and children, in ensuring that our pupils achieve their full potential.
We believe it is vital that children are directly involved in discussions about their learning because it is through these discussions that they gain significant insights about themselves as learners. In addition, for parents, listening to children discuss their learning first hand, in a supportive environment, can reveal a much richer and more realistic picture of the child’s progress as well as the challenges they face. Each conferencing opportunity offers a chance for parents to see school through the eyes of their child and fosters a more realistic mutual partnership between the parent, teacher and child.
The Exhibition
What is an 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 a 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, synthesising 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.
Why do we have an exhibition?
· For students to engage in an in-depth, collaborative inquiry
· To provide students with an opportunity to demonstrate independence and responsibility for their own learning
· To provide students with an opportunity to explore multiple perspectives
· For students to synthesize and apply their learning from previous years, and to reflect on their journey through the PYP
· To provide an authentic process for assessing student understanding
· To demonstrate how students can take action as a result of their learning
· To unite students, teachers, parents and other members of the school community in a collaborative experience that incorporates the essential elements of the PYP
· To celebrate the transition of learners from primary to secondary education
Tracking, Monitoring and Record keeping
What is tracking, monitoring and record keeping?
Tracking and monitoring provides a formal record of ongoing assessment of pupil progress in key skills in English and Maths.
Why do we track and monitor students and keep records?
Tracking and monitoring informs planning for teaching and learning and supports formative assessment strategies. It provides data about pupil progress to ESF, school management, curriculum leaders, school council and parents. It provides information about the progress of individual children, classes and cohorts. It provides evaluative information about the delivery and content of the curriculum.
Portfolios
What are portfolios?
The portfolio is a collection of a variety of student work samples which show a learner’s growth and development over a period of time across a range of subjects. It contains evidence of each child’s knowledge, skills and understandings which can be taken from trans-disciplinary studies, units of inquiry as well or from subject specific studies.
Why do we construct portfolios?
To show evidence of, and track the learning progress of, each child’s learning across a range of curriculum disciplines and to show evidence of the developing I.B. learner profile.
N.B. The portfolio is not designed or supposed to be a store of the child’s best work. It should evidence of progress in learning, over time.
Standardised testing
What is standarised testing?
A standardised test is one which is administered and scored in a consistent manner. The tests are designed in such a way that the questions, conditions for administering, scoring procedures, and interpretations are consistent and they are administered and scored in a predetermined, standard manner.
At Sha Tin Junior School a range of standardised tests are used and administered in accordance with the schools annual assessment calendar.
Why do we use standardised tests?
Standardised tests give information about individuals and also about cohorts of children and allow results to be compared and analysed between individuals, classes and schools. This is useful in helping to establish the effectiveness of our curriculum programme and identifying those areas which need further work or development.
The English Schools Foundation require that standardised tests are administered to children in Year 1,3 and 6 across all Primary Schools.
How often do we employ strandarised tests?
The school has an annual assessment calendar which sets out specific dates and times for the administration and analysis of the test results.
The written report
What is a written report?
The written report is a formal means of giving feedback from assessment. It describes the progress of children’s learning and identifies areas for growth in the context of subject-specific knowledge, transdisciplinary skills, conceptual understanding and the attributes of the PYP learner profile.
How often do we produce formal written reports?
At present written reports are delivered at the end of each academic year. The school is in the process of reviewing the nature and frequency of written reports.
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