Other Policies

Assessment Policy

Reading Time: 10 minutes

Status: New Version starting July 2024
Last revision: November 2024
Next Review: November 2026

Purpose and principles

Introduction

SBB is committed to providing high-quality educational programs that enable students to develop the necessary knowledge, skills, understandings and values to lead productive and fulfilling lives. Assessment and reporting are integral to the achievement of high-quality learning outcomes for our students and are essential components of the teaching and learning process at SBB.

At SBB, assessment is an integral part of teaching and learning that enables us to discover what students have learned and plan for the individual learning needs of students. Assessments provide feedback on student learning progress to students, parents, teachers and stakeholders.

Purpose of Assessment and Reporting policy

The main purposes of assessment are:

Provide students with feedback on their learning by explaining why certain grades have been achieved.
To improve teaching and learning by checking for understanding and reflection of achievement of learning goals
Evaluate the effectiveness of the curriculum
Provide data for tracking progression
Share learning and understanding with others, including parents
Demonstrate a range of knowledge, skills, ATL’s and learner profile attributes
Gain qualifications to continue to further education

In order to develop wider critical-thinking and self-assessment skills, students will be involved in evaluating their own progress and making connections to the IB learner profiles.

Procedures

SBB has formal procedures and criteria to ensure regular assessment of students’ work and approaches to teaching. The aim is to motivate students and faculty to develop the student as a whole including academic, creative, sportive, emotionally and socially.

At SBB we aim to have systems in place to track, analyze and report students’ performance. Students grades may ‘regress’ or ‘progress’ from one report to the next depending on objectives and level of assessments.
At SBB we will;

All teachers will share a common understanding to the school assessment philosophy
Assessment criteria are shared with students and parents
Assessment will be meaningful, challenging, age and year level appropriate
Inclusive of cultural, gender, linguistic, racial and religious differences.
Aligned with the learning targets (curriculum standards/outcomes/goals) of the teaching and learning in the classrooms
Varied – giving students multiple ways to show their learning, both formative and summative (tests, exams, homework, class work, written and oral, self-directed, peer directed, teacher led etc).
Assessments will lead to the identification of individual learning goals and action plans for improvement and lead to increased student self-confidence in their learning
Assessment information will be communicated regularly and accurately through
Our online learning platform and reports.

External assessment

From Year 1 till year 10 all students will participate in the Internal School Assessment (ISA). This assessment will give a good indication of students’ individual as well as school levels for English literacy and math skills.
In the MYP students will complete the Personal Project in year 10. This task is internally marked but externally moderated by the International Baccalaureate.
At the end of the DP Year 12 students take examinations in all subjects which are assessed by teams of external examiners. The dates for IB examinations are set by the IB Organization. IB exams are conducted in strict accordance with IBO regulations.
For Indonesian national students only;
ANBK assessment in year 5, 8 and 11

Internal assessment

All assessment is essentially of both a Formative and Summative nature.

SBB implements a balanced range of formative and summative assessment strategies that are based on the following:

Formative Assessment

Provides information that is used in order to plan the next stage for learning.
Is applied to individual pieces of work to inform students of their learning and can be recorded to give an overall picture of a student’s performance.
Is based on the program objectives and should be shared with the students, with
feedback taking place as soon as possible. In this way students can check their own performance and plan what they have to do to improve in future projects.

Summative Assessment

Is the judgment made by the teacher at the end of a unit/ stage of the programme.
Tasks should reflect the objectives and assessment criteria of the subject group.

Assessment Guidelines & expectations

The purpose of all assessments is to cover a variety of activities to provide clear evidence of student learning. Based on the different programs we cover across the school this could be; Anecdotal records/observations,Group assessments, Portfolios, Exhibitions, Performance, Essays, Presentations etc.
Grade levels and subject areas need to create assessment calendars to make sure the amount and type of assessment is spread out across the week. No more than 2 summative tasks should be scheduled during a day.
All assessments should be communicated with students and parents though the schools information system.
When informing students about their assessment tasks the assessment rubrics need to be included.
IB assessment is criterion based and directly linked to the subject groups.
In MYP/DP assessment should use the IB command terms

Criterium referencing – Determining achievement goals

Students are formally assessed by ‘criterion related’ assessments in each subject. This means that a student’s performance is judged against a set of expectations about the skills that a student ‘can do’. These are the standards by which we evaluate students. SBB students are marked on the same scale as used by the IB programs.
For year 6- till 12 these are numerical grades from 1 to 7 with 7 as the highest possible grade. The MYP criteria can be found in appendix 1.
The highest levels in each criterion should only be assigned if students have been given opportunity to think critically and at high levels
Achievement levels for each of the assessment criteria will reflect the best-fit judgment of a student’s summative performance at the end of the term.
Final assessment should be based on the criteria and should reflect the student’s performance from a variety of assessment techniques in each criterion.

Inappropriate Grading practises

The following grading practices are inappropriate and are counter to DP assessment principles;

Determining grades using a proportion of scores for classwork, homework and tests
Determining grades by averaging summative performance scores over the year
Using single pieces of work to determine final grades

Design of assessment rubrics/assessment guide

All formative tasks which are recorded to determine the final level of achievement are to have a written rubric/ assessment guide.
The design of rubrics and assessment guides is to be based on the set objectives and descriptors of the subject but made specific to the topic. These are to be written in such a way as to provide a clear explanation of the task and how it will be assessed according to the criteria. Topic specific statements within each criterion should be written so as to allow feedback to a student on their performance (i.e. using a descriptor type comments).
Assessment guides are given to students to guide them in undertaking the assessment tasks and to give feedback on their performance within a task.
The assessment guides will also guide the teacher in what to teach to ensure the student has been given all the necessary knowledge and skills to undertake the task.

Internal Standardization and moderation

Internal Assessment standardization must occur to ensure consistency of understanding and practices. Where several teachers are involved in the assessment within the same subject they need to meet at least once per month to share assessment tasks in order to check that their assessment judgments and standards are similar. This is called standardization. This may be done by teachers exchanging, grading and comparing results on tasks from class to class or by the teachers assigning a common task for their classes. These processes are to be undertaken by teachers to check that their grading standards and practices are similar.
In order for standardization to occur (subject leaders need to ensure this happens), departments may choose to hold copies of assessment samples. Originals should be returned to students as soon as possible to provide timely feedback on their performance.

Students of concern and inclusion

Students who score lower than a 4 in at least two subject areas or for DP students who are not fulfilling the Diploma criteria are flagged as ‘Students of Concern’ and will be placed in academic support. For these students we will draw up an action plan that will identify strategies to address the challenges a student might face.
Students with additional needs may receive accommodations based on IB inclusion policy, such as (long-term learning support requirements, medical conditions, and additional language learning). (IB Access and Inclusion policy, 2023)
Students at SBB can receive accommodations from the IB by following the IB guidelines for inclusion. Once a student has formally received notice from IB on their assigned accommodation, this will apply to both internal and external IB exams. For more details, please access the SBB inclusion policy.

Homework

At SBB homework is assigned to students throughout middle and high school for the purpose of reinforcing or reviewing the lesson taught that day. Homework is used for class discussion purposes. Either way, the teachers use the homework as a way to monitor student progress.

Predicted Grades

Predicted Grades are issued:

For use by students and parents to help make appropriate university application
choices
To inform universities as required. PG may change over time according to student progress and may both rise or fall.

The grades will be created based on the following:

Student’s academic achievement from summative tests as tracked on our school management system and from teacher records over year 11 and 12.
Internal ‘mid and end of year’ exam results
Mock examination results
Standardized marking post submission of IA, TOK and EE components
Teacher’s professional recommendation of potential progress and final grade

Predicted Grades will be issued on request through the university counselor in line with specific country and university requirements.

Reporting

Student’s academic progress is reported regularly, through the school’s online management system.

PYP & MYP Reports will be sent home on the last day of Terms 2 and 4.
DP Reports are sent home in week 9 of each term.
Reports consist of achievement grades 1 – 7 in the MYP & DP and a progress indicator for IB projects such as the Personal Project in year 10 and the Extended Essay, CAS and TOK in year 11 and 12.
Student Parent Teacher Conferences will be held to review progress and identify targets for improvement. These are regarded as opportunities for reporting.

New Student Reporting

If a student enrolls at SBB five weeks after the beginning of either Term 2 (Semester 1 reporting) or Term 4 (Semester 2 reporting) of the school year, the report card will be produced by the previous school.

Attendance Reporting

Attendance will be calculated from the number of days students were present at SBB.

Appendix 1: MYP Assessment Criteria

Appendix 2: MYP / DP Grade Boundaries and Descriptors

OLA

MYP General Grade Descriptors

7.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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..

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.

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

Appendix 3: Extended Essay Grade descriptors

Grade A

Demonstrates: effective research skills resulting in a well-focused and appropriate research question that can be explored within the scope of the chosen topic; effective engagement with relevant research areas, methods and sources; excellent knowledge and understanding of the topic in the wider context of the relevant discipline; the effective application of source material and correct use of subject-specific terminology and/or concepts further supporting this; consistent and relevant conclusions that are proficiently analysed; sustained reasoned argumentation supported effectively by evidence; critically evaluated research; excellent presentation of the essay, whereby coherence and consistency further support the reading of the essay; present and correctly applied structural and layout elements.

Engagement with the process is conceptual and personal, key decision-making during the research process is documented, and personal reflections are evidenced, including those that are forward-thinking.

Grade B

Demonstrates: appropriate research skills resulting in a research question that can be explored within the scope of the chosen topic; reasonably effective engagement with relevant research areas, methods and sources; good knowledge and understanding of the topic in the wider context of the relevant discipline; a reasonably effective application of source material and use of subject-specific terminology and/or concepts; consistent conclusions that are accurately analysed; reasoned argumentation often supported by evidence; research that at times evidences critical evaluation; a clear presentation of all structural and layout elements, which further supports the reading of the essay.

Engagement with the process is generally evidenced by the reflections and key decision-making during the research process is documented.

Grade C

Demonstrates: evidence of research undertaken, which has led to a research question that is not necessarily expressed in a way that can be explored within the scope of the chosen topic; partially effective engagement with mostly appropriate research areas, methods and sources—however, there are some discrepancies in those processes, although these do not interfere with the planning and approach; some knowledge and understanding of the topic in the wider context of the discipline, which is mostly relevant; the attempted application of source material and appropriate terminology and/or concepts; an attempted synthesis of research results with partially relevant analysis; conclusions partly supported by the evidence; discussion that is descriptive rather than analytical; attempted evaluation; satisfactory presentation of the essay, with weaknesses that do not hinder the reading of the essay; some structural and layout elements that are missing or are incorrectly applied.

Engagement with the process is evidenced but shows mostly factual information, with personal reflection mostly limited to procedural issues.

Grade D

Demonstrates: a lack of research, resulting in unsatisfactory focus and a research question that is not answerable within the scope of the chosen topic; “at times engagement with appropriate research, methods and sources, but discrepancies in those processes that occasionally interfere with the planning and

approach; some relevant knowledge and understanding of the topic in the wider context of the discipline, which are at times irrelevant; an attempted application of source material, but with inaccuracies in the use of, or underuse of, terminology and/or concepts; irrelevant analysis and inconsistent conclusions as a result of a descriptive discussion; a lack of evaluation; presentation of the essay that at times is illogical and hinders the reading; structural and layout elements that are missing.

Engagement with the process is evidenced but is superficial, with personal reflections that are solely narrative and concerned with procedural elements.

Grade E

Demonstrates: an unclear nature of the essay; a generally unsystematic approach and resulting unfocused research question; limited engagement with limited research and sources; generally limited and only partially accurate knowledge and understanding of the topic in the wider context of the relevant discipline; ineffective connections in the application of source material and inaccuracies in the terminology and/or concepts used; a summarizing of results of research with inconsistent analysis; an attempted outline of an argument, but one that is generally descriptive in nature; a layout that generally lacks or incorrectly applies several layout and structural elements.

Engagement with the process is limited, with limited factual or decision-making information and no personal reflection on the process.

Appendix 4: National Assessment Score

MYP Assessment Descriptors and Conversion to National Score.

Score (MYP)
OLA (MYP)

National Score
(Critical minimum = 76)
Description.

28-32
7 (maximum score)
96-100
Exceeding expectation

24-27
6
86-95
Beyond expectation

19-23
5
81-85
Meeting expectation

15-18
4
76-80
Meeting expectation

10-14
3
61-75
Developing towards expectation

6-9
2
51-60
Developing towards expectation

1-5
1
0-50
Beginning Progress

Bibliography

Garodia International Centre for Learning, Mumbai (2023) Reporting Policy

IBO ‘Diploma Programme Grade Descriptors’ (Sept, 2021) accessed; https://resources.ibo.org/data/g_0_dpyyy_grd_1712_2_e.pdf on 9 Nov. 2023.

IBO ‘MYP from Principles into practises’ (Oct. 2023) accessed on: 9 Nov. 2023

https://resources.ibo.org/data/m_0_mypxx_guu_1405_10_e.pdf

IBO ‘Assement Principles and Practises – Quality Assesment in a digital Age’ (Nov. 2023) accessed: 9 Nov. 2023 https://resources.ibo.org/data/assessment-principles-and-practices-quality-assessments-in-a_bc11f975-b95e-46f8-9537-af018c1f0912/assessment-principles-and-practices-quality-assessments-in-a-en_57a3acb8-66c6-49ba-b651-b329ccce995d.pdf

Ib organization. “Learner Profile for IB Students.” International Baccalaureate, www.ibo.org/benefits/learner-profile/. Accessed 7 Nov. 2023.