Purpose & Philosophy of Assessment
The purpose of assessment is to inform teaching and learning. It involves the gathering and analysis of information about student learning in order to inform teaching practice and support differentiated learning. It identifies what students currently know, understand and can apply at different stages of their learning process.
Effective assessment that achieves this purpose provides valuable information to understand what constitutes learning and how to support it, and is meaningful to all members of the learning community.
Students become effective and self-sufficient learners through self-management, communication, critical and creative thinking, research, and social and emotional development. This leads to students taking action and ownership of their own learning.
Teachers become more effective when they continually acquire knowledge of students’ skills and proficiency. They reflect on their practices, adjust their teaching and set instructional outcomes based on data. They also offer timely, specific and evidence-based feedback to better support learning.
Parents and legal guardians become more informed when they understand the philosophy of the IB curriculum framework. They extend their child’s understanding, development of skills and joy of learning when they support their learning.
Schools become more proficient when they use assessment as a tool to evaluate the appropriateness of their curriculum and the effectiveness of teaching and learning within the community. They make decisions about allocating resources and support towards priorities and professional development needs.
Principles of Assessment:
At Cedar International School, we recognise that assessment in all three programmes must be designed to support effective teaching and learning experiences. We believe that highly effective assessments share the following key characteristics (adapted from PYP: Learning and Teaching, 2018):
- Authentic: developed in local and global contexts to support making connections to the real world
- Clear and specific: this includes desired learning goals, success criteria and the process students use to learn
- Varied: use a wide range of tools and strategies in order to build a well-rounded picture of student learning
- Developmental: focuses on an individual student’s progress rather than their performance in relation to others
- Collaborative: engages both teachers and students in the assessment development and evaluation process
- Interactive: assessment encompasses ongoing and iterative dialogues about learning
- Feedback to feedforward: provides feedback on current learning to inform what is needed to support future learning and raises students’ motivation
Assessment can be used for a variety of purposes. The intended purpose of a given assessment will have a major impact on how it is designed. Traditionally, assessment has been divided into two broad categories: formative (assessment for/as learning) and summative (assessment of learning).
Regardless of the type of assessment, we believe that all learners should have an equitable opportunity to demonstrate their understanding as stipulated in our Inclusion and Language policies.
Download the full policy document here.
Revised November 2022