Swigert International School Assessment Policy
Revised September 2023
Vision:
Swigert International School strives to create innovative, intellectually curious students who share a sense of agency for creating a better and more peaceful world.
Mission:
Swigert International School aims to develop knowledgeable, inquisitive, and caring young people through the collaboration of students, teachers, parents and community.
Knowledgeable: SIS provides a challenging, and engaging and internationally-minded instructional program to encourage each child to reach his or her full potential.
Inquisitive: SIS inspires creativity, curiosity, and critical thinking through highly effective instructional practices, including the use of technology, the environment and community resources.
Caring: SIS develops respectful, service oriented students who care for themselves, their communities and the world around them.
PYP Perspective on Assessment
“Assessment is integral to all teaching and learning. It is central to the PYP goal of thoughtfully and effectively guiding students through the five essential elements of learning: the acquisition of knowledge, the understanding of concepts, the mastering of skills, the development of attitudes and the decision to take action. The prime objective of assessment in the PYP is to provide feedback on the learning process. All PYP schools are expected to develop assessment procedures and methods of reporting that reflect the philosophy and objectives of the programme.
Assessment involves the gathering and analysis of information about student performance and is designed to inform practice. It identifies what students know, understand, can do, and feel at different stages in the learning process. Students and teachers should be actively engaged in assessing the students’ progress and part of the development of their wider critical-thinking and self-assessment skills.” Making the PYP happen: A curriculum framework for international primary education 2009
Swigert International School Philosophy on Assessment:
Assessments are purposeful, authentic, timely, ongoing, and developmentally appropriate. Assessment information is foundational to informing our instructional practice and to demonstrate student learning. Assessments should be equitable and accessible by all students. Therefore, it is important that assessments are differentiated to measure achievement in a variety of ways. When feasible, students are offered a choice in the way they demonstrate understanding. Assessments focus on enduring understandings, provide opportunities for students to reflect about their thinking, and show growth over time. Assessments align with state standards, central ideas, and/or lines of inquiry.
Students are an essential part of the assessment process and are active participants in assessments. Success criteria should be collaboratively established and co-constructed.
Within a Unit of Inquiry, all five essential elements of the PYP are addressed and/or assessed.
Rationale:
The purpose of this document is to clarify teachers’ understanding of the assessment process within our school setting. Swigert’s philosophy is that regular assessment is critical to guide our planning and instruction and to support and enhance student learning.
Purpose:
Assessment in the classroom will include:
Collecting evidence of students’ understanding and thinking
Assessment Types:
Formative assessment: Connected to instruction and learning to provide continuous feedback on the learning process.
Summative assessments: To show what students have learned at the culmination of a cycle. Allows the teacher to reflect on the effectiveness of the instruction.
Mandatory Assessments: Mandated by state or local entities to compare students to an identified standard.
Effective Assessments:
Allow students to:
Allow teachers to:
Allow parents to:
End of Unit Reflections:
Assessments given for each unit of inquiry will be reflected upon by participating staff members at the reflection meeting for that unit. Any changes to be made to the assessment the next time it is taught or successes to remember will be documented on the planner.
Agreements on Unit Reflections:
Description of Assessment Policy implementation at Swigert:
Our school uses multiple levels of assessment to create an instructional plan to best serve all students. At the beginning of the school year, we take two half days for assessment of all of our students and gather baseline data on their reading ability using the DRA, Core Phonics, writing and math assessments.
Because of the value we place on assessment and data-driven instruction. We have dedicated one hour weekly for grade level data teams (PLCs). This time is focused on examining student work/data, setting goals for students and classrooms and monitoring progress. There is also time for discussion, study and sharing of effective strategies to address specific areas of identified need.
Throughout the school year during our data team meetings and our professional development days we monitor multiple data sets, including DRA, district provided benchmarks and state level assessments.
We continue to strive to incorporate ways to assess students in academic areas, development in the learner profile attributes as well as their thinking/cognitive approaches to the themes we study. Writing, reading and mathematics assessments as well as projects, presentations, oral interviews and written reflections encompass our approach to assessing multiple areas throughout the year.
Conferences:
Conferences are an important opportunity to share information between teachers, students, and parents/guardians. We believe all stakeholders should be involved in conferences. Our school has the following expectations for fall and spring conferences.
Fall Conferences
Spring Conferences
Portfolios:
Introducing this year:
| Sharing the Planet |
| Who We Are |
| How We Express Ourselves |
| How the World Works |
| How We Organize Ourselves |
| Where We Are in Place and Time |
Written by: Shelby Dennis, Caroline Dane, & Amber Holthus-Pera, Fall 2023