PTIS Assessment Policy

Assessment FOR, AS and OF learning

We are a community that challenges its members to act as compassionate, knowledgeable and principled global citizens: working together for a sustainable future and inspired by meaningful relationships, continuous learning and “good thinking”.

PTIS Mission Statement

1. Where is it found?2. When was it introduced?3. When was the first time your looked at it?4. When was the last time you looked at it?5. What are the major components of the current

assessment policy?6. How does the current assessment policy guide

your assessment practices?7. What is missing?

current assessment policy

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listgroup ideasdraft

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Drafting the philosophy statement

At PTIS, we believe that assessment is an integral part of all planning, teaching and learning. Assessment, in all its shapes and forms, serves three different purposes:

the new PTIS assessment policy

assessment for learning (assessments to

guide future teaching and learning and assist with planning)

assessment as learning (the processes of discovering how one learns, learning from assessing oneself and others)

assessment of learning (using assessment to measure how one meets set objectives)

three purposes

Assessment provides evidence of what is being, and has been, achieved. The provision and use of feedback based on this evidence is essential for effective learning. We believe accurate, specific, accessible and prompt feedback is key to the learner’s success. To achieve these ends, it is vital that we design assessment tasks to provide valid evidence of the targeted objective(s). 

assessment feedback

Assessment at PTIS primarily involves students, teachers and parents. It is an expectation that students are actively involved with, and responsible for, their own learning. Therefore, students must take purposeful roles in assessment for, as and of learning.

assessment participants

We understand that students have many different needs, abilities, interests and learning styles; and therefore, students are provided with opportunities to demonstrate their learning in a variety of ways. Assessment tasks are designed to be rich, open-ended and varied, thus making the assessment task a learning experience in itself.

assessment variety

The PTIS Assessment Policy focuses  on three distinct but inter-related purposes for classroom assessment: assessment for learning, assessment as learning, assessment of learning.

These ideas were adapted from: Earl, Lorna M., and M. Steven Katz. Rethinking classroom assessment with purpose in mind assessment for learning, assessment as learning, assessment of learning. Winnipeg: Manitoba Education, Citizenship & Youth, 2006.(Pages 13 and 14)

For, As and Of

1. Assessment for learning is designed to give teachers

information to modify and differentiate teaching and learning activities. It acknowledges that individual students learn in idiosyncratic ways, but it also recognizes that there are predictable patterns and pathways that many students follow. It requires careful design on the part of teachers so that they use the resulting information to determine not only what students know, but also to gain insights into how, when, and whether students apply what they know. Teachers can also use this information to streamline and target instruction and resources, and to provide feedback to students to help them advance their learning.

for

2. Assessment as learning is a process of developing and

supporting metacognition for students. Assessment as learning focuses on the role of the student as the critical connector between assessment and learning. When students are active, engaged, and critical assessors, they make sense of information, relate it to prior knowledge, and use it for new learning. This is the regulatory process in metacognition. It occurs when students monitor their own learning and use the feedback from this monitoring to make adjustments, adaptations, and even major changes in what they understand. It requires that teachers help students develop, practise, and become comfortable with reflection, and with a critical analysis of their own learning.

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3. Assessment of learning is summative in nature and is

used to confirm what students know and can do, to demonstrate whether they have achieved the curriculum outcomes, and, occasionally, to show how they are placed in relation to others. Teachers concentrate on ensuring that they have used assessment to provide accurate and sound statements of students’ proficiency, so that the recipients of the information can use the information to make reasonable and defensible decisions. As with assessment for learning, teachers can also use formative assessment to provide feedback to students to help them advance their learning.

of

Which of the three purposes of assessment do

you feel most comfortable with? Least comfortable with? How do these three purposes help us meet

the our school mission?

Reflection

1. As a group discuss the balance of the three

assessment purposes in the four IB programmes at PTIS. Try to think about what is happening now.

2. On the paper provided complete a circle graph for each programme to graphically illustrate the weighting (time spend, relative importance) that each assessment purpose has in each programme.

3. Annotate the graphs with your thoughts and observations.

for, as, of and the 4 programmes

for

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purposes and strategies