PYP Assessment
Assessment is integral to all teaching and learning at every grade level. It is central to the goal of effectively guiding students through the understanding of concepts, the acquisition of knowledge, the mastery of skills, the development of attitudes and the decision to take action. Assessment is the gathering and analyzsing of information about student performance.
Formative Assessment
This is interwoven with daily learning and helps teachers and students discover what the students already know, in order to plan the next stage of learning. Formative assessment and teaching are directly linked; neither can function effectively or purposefully without the other.
Summative Assessment
This happens at the end of the teaching and learning process. It gives the students opportunities to demonstrate what they have learned.
Evaluation
This is the process of making a judgment about student progress or the effectiveness of a program based on sufficient assessment information. The PYP requires that individual portfolios of student achievement be kept, as an important mechanism for documenting progress. Students aged 10 to 12, in the final year of the program, are expected to participate in a culminating project, the PYP exhibition, which is designed to demonstrate their proficiencies in all areas of the program.
Purposes of Assessment
The purposes of assessment are to promote student learning, to provide information about students learning and to contribute to the evaluation of the effectiveness of the program.
In the Primary Section, we assess in 3 ways:
Assessment AS Learning
Assessment as learning occurs when students are their own assessors. Students monitor their own learning, ask questions and use a range of strategies to decide what they know and can do, and how to use assessment for new learning. It encourages students to take responsibility for their own learning and involves teachers and students in creating learning goals to encourage growth and development.
Assessment FOR Learning
Assessment for learning involves teachers using evidence about students’ knowledge, understanding, and skills to inform their teaching. Sometimes referred to as ‘formative assessment’, it usually occurs throughout the teaching and learning process to clarify student learning and understanding. Assessment for learning in the PYP provides effective feedback that motivates the students and can lead to improvement. It reflects a belief that all students can improve.
Assessment OF Learning
This happens at the end of the teaching and learning process. It gives the students opportunities to demonstrate what they have learned.