top of page

Assessment Policy - PYP Assessment Policy (K through 5th)

Philosophy on Assessment

The ISA mission is to enable students to excel academically while maintaining the values of Islam and proficiency with the Arabic language. The Academy endeavors to provide a caring, challenging and supportive learning environment where our students achieve their highest potential while exhibiting civic responsibility and multicultural appreciation. ISA’s mission statement is in alignment with the IB mission. Our philosophy on assessment is that we follow IB PYP standards and practices at ISA to ensure that all students are engaged in a meaningful educational experience. The assessment cycle at ISA provides opportunities for students to develop and refine voice, choice, and ownership during their educational experiences. Although we are a private IB World School and we are not required to follow the state standards, our students at times may attend local schools therefore our curriculum is aligned with the Common Core state standards, Next Generation Science Standards, and the Virginia Standards of Learning. We believe in including students, teachers, and parents in the ongoing monitoring and evaluation of progress toward learning outcomes.

The Purpose of Assessment

The purpose of the assessment at the International Scholars Academy is to improve student learning, provide information on student learning, and respond to the needs of our students.  Assessment is the ongoing process of gathering evidence for and of learning.  This evidence will be used to give recognition and timely feedback to learners and all stakeholders.  Stakeholders will be informed about the assessment policy through our school website, information sessions, the school newsletter, the annual student handbook, and parent teacher conferences. Assessments will reflect best practices that support the learner and the teacher in the promotion of student achievement.

Objectives of Assessments

The aim of assessment is to provide a supportive and positive mechanism that helps students improve their learning; teachers improve their teaching and contribute to the efficacy of the program. It also provides information on student learning to parents, administrators, and stakeholders.

​

Assessment is planned at the start of the unit and demonstrates clear links between the assessment tasks and all components of the planner (central idea, lines of inquiry, key concepts), teacher and student questions, learning activities as well as alignment to PYP scope and sequence and standards.

​

Assessment is an integral part of all teaching and learning.  It is central to the PYP goal of thoughtfully and effectively guiding students through the five essential elements (the acquisition of knowledge, the understanding of concepts, the mastering of skills, the development attitudes, and the decision to act) along with the learner profile.

​

The International Scholars Academy’s approach recognizes the importance of assessing the process of inquiry as well as the products of inquiry.  Students and teachers are actively engaged in assessing the students’ progress as a part of the development of their wider critical thinking and self-assessment skills.

Effective assessments for students address:

  • The five essential elements of the PYP: Knowledge, Concepts, Approaches to Learning, Learner Profile, and Action.

  • Students as an active part of their learning, giving them voice, choice, and ownership

  • Students reflecting on their actions and self-regulating

  • Students apply their understanding of concepts at a higher level through the construction of their projects and at play

  • Students know in advance the criteria for producing a quality product or performance

  • Students engaged in various stages of learning including thinking, planning, modifying, and creating including the development of some of the assessment activities and tools (such as rubrics).

  • Students analyze and understand their learning and what needs to be improved.

  • Students initiate action by reflecting on their own learning and planning.

  • Students' active involvement in discussion, questioning, and being self-directed.

  • Students creating as opposed to passively receiving.

  • Students’ strengths and demonstrate mastery and expertise.

Effective assessments for teachers address:

  • The need for a written assessment policy practiced in school will be constantly evolving to reflect the assessment needs of the school and to understand and develop appropriate assessment criteria.

  • Ongoing assessments of every stage of the teaching and learning process

  • Students' performance and progress can be reviewed collaboratively.

  • The use of varied strategies and tools including pre and post assessment tasks, ongoing formative assessments leading to an action to determine what students know and understand.

  • Inclusion of peer and self-assessment where appropriate

  • The use of evidence provided by the teacher that can be effectively reported and understood by the whole school community.

  • Differentiation needs.

  • Child’s learning and development, while supporting the child’s learning needs.

Effective assessments for stakeholders’ address:

  • The standards of the IBO

  • The standards set by the Common Core, Next Generation Science Standards, and Virginia Standards of Learning

  • The use of assessment as a measure to determine the effectiveness of curriculum delivery

  • Building a community of teachers and learners striving for excellence

The assessment components in the school’s curriculum can itself be divided into three closely related areas:

  • Assessing how we discover what the students know and have learned.

  • Recording how we choose to collect and analyze data.

  • Reporting how we choose to communicate information.

  • Assessing: How we discover what the students know and have learned

 

The assessment of students’ development and learning is an essential component of the curriculum, and helps to inform continued development, learning and teaching.  Students are observed in a variety of situations, and a wide range of assessment strategies are implemented through on-going formative and summative assessments.

​

At the International Scholars Academy our students are assessed through many different types of formative assessments throughout the unit or learning process.  Formative assessments are interwoven with daily learning.  These assessments provide information that is used in order to plan the next stage of learning.  It helps teachers and students find out what the students already know and can do.

Formative Assessments

Formative assessments aim to promote learning by giving regular and frequent feedback throughout the learning process.  The process helps learners to improve knowledge and understanding, to foster self-motivation and enthusiasm for learning, to engage in thoughtful reflection, to develop a capacity for self-assessment, and to recognize criteria for success.  There is strong evidence that increased use of formative assessment particularly helps those students who are low achievers make significant improvements in their understanding.

Summative Assessments

Summative Assessments aim to give teachers and students a clear insight into students’ understanding.  Summative assessment is the culmination of the teaching and learning process, giving the students opportunities to demonstrate what they have learned. When students are given the opportunity throughout the unit to be actively engaged in the various stages of learning through formative assessment and are given the freedom to overcome challenges through trial and error or experimentation, then summative assessment can provide a real measure of mastery. It can assess several elements simultaneously, therefore informing and leading to improvement in student learning and the teaching process.

​

Recording: How we choose to collect and analyze data

Assessments in the classroom include:

  • collecting evidence of students’ understanding and thinking through checklists, inventories, and narrative descriptions.

  • documenting learning processes of groups and individuals

  • engaging students in reflecting on their learning

  • students assessing work produced by themselves and by others

  • developing clear rubrics

  • identifying exemplary work

  • keeping a record of tests/task results

  • performance/project assessment which include role-play, presentation, demonstration, problem solving, response to challenges, action or service to others

  • written test performance

  • oral test performance

  • quiz response

  • behavior over time (i.e., multiple observations)

  • approaches to learning (social, research, thinking, communication, and self- management skills)

  • open-ended tasks

Assessment Tools

Rubrics

Rubric is an established set of criteria for rating students in all areas.  The descriptors tell the assessor what characteristics or signs to look for in students’ work and then how to rate that work on a predetermined scale.  Rubrics at times are developed by students.  The rubrics are used in all formative and summative assessments.

​

Exemplars

Exemplars are samples of students’ work that serve as concrete standards against which other samples are judged.  Generally, there is a benchmark for each achievement level in a scoring rubric.  Teachers are encouraged to set benchmarks that are appropriate and usable within the unit context.

 

Checklists

These are lists of information, data, attributes, or elements that are presented.

​

Anecdotal Records

Anecdotal records are brief notes based on the observations of students.  “Learning stories” are focused, extended observations that can be analyzed later.

​

Continuums

These are visual representations of developmental stages of learning.  They show the progression of achievement or identify the student’s current developmental stage in the learning process.

​

Reporting: How do we communicate information?

Reporting on assessment at ISA includes communicating what students know, understand, and can do.  Reporting involves parents, students, and teachers as partners, and is honest, comprehensive, and understandable to all stakeholders.

ISA reports to parents throughout the year: two report cards, two written reports (one for each semester), and two conferences.  The first conference held in November, is a three-way or parent teacher conference used to establish goals to for the students and the second one that is held in February is a student-led conference to highlight student development through their professional growth portfolio.

 

Reporting to parents, students, and teachers occurs through:

  • Parent Information Sessions

  • Newsletters and emails

  • PowerSchool (on-line grading system)

  • On-line ongoing reporting to parents (see below)

  • Report Cards

  • Three Way Conferences (formal meeting sessions led by students with the support from teachers to share their learning with their parents).

  • Student-Led Conferences (a meeting in which the student displays and explains their portfolio taking the parent through the entire learning process in the unit).

  • Parent-Teacher Meetings (meetings between parents and teachers to report on the learning of the student.  PYP Approaches to learning are reported through a continuum, while all the other components may be covered through written comments or communicated through other ways.

  • Class Assemblies

  • School Events -Throughout the school year many events like the Science Exhibition, Art Exhibition, Field Day, National Spelling Bee, Arabic Poetry Competition, Quran Competition, and other events demonstrate a student’s journey through the PYP and depict the knowledge they have acquired in all disciplines.

  • Portfolios -A portfolio is a collection of work selected by students and teachers and is a record of student involvement in learning.  It is designed to demonstrate growth, thinking skills, creativity, assessment strategies, and reflection. Portfolios celebrate students’ learning through the PYP showing the holistic development of the child, both within and outside the Program of Inquiry in all disciplines. Portfolios enable students to reflect with teachers, parents, and peers to identify their strengths and weaknesses as areas of improvement throughout the year.

  • MAP Growth Report-computer adaptive test and or standardized testing that is used to determine what the student knows and is ready to learn next.

  • The PYP Exhibition (see below)

 

Online Ongoing Reporting:

  • Learning objectives should be planned at the start of each unit and should demonstrate clear links between the assessment tasks and all the components of the planner including the central idea and lines of inquiry, key concepts, teacher and student questions, learning activities

  • Teacher comments should be written to inform and direct future learning

  • Where possible teacher comments should include learner profile and PYP “Approaches to Learning”

  • Parents need to be informed when new assessment criteria are posted or go live. This can be communicated through email, newsletter, or through notifications on PowerSchool.

  • Collaborative grade level teams discuss and decide when learning objectives and comments should be posted for each unit.

​

The PYP Exhibition

Students in the final year of PYP carry out an extended, collaborative inquiry approach-the PYP Exhibition. This will take place at the end of the school year. One of the purposes of the PYP Exhibition is to provide a forum for student-driven reporting. Other key purposes include the following:

  • For students to engage and report on an in depth, collaborative inquiry

  • To provide students with an opportunity to demonstrate independence and responsibility for their learning

  • To provide students with multiple perspectives of their topics

  • For students to synthesize and apply their learning of previous years, and to reflect on their journey through the PYP.

  • To provide an authentic process of assessing students understanding

  • To demonstrate how students can act because of their learning

  • To unite the students, teachers, parents, and other members of the school community in a collaborative experience that incorporates the essential elements of the PYP to MYP education.

School Plan for Reporting Assessment Cycle

Kindergarten

  • Semester 1 Report

    • Report Card

    • Online gradebook

    • Report on UOI/PYP Elements

    • Learner Profile

    • Portfolios

    • Three Way Conferences

    • DRA

  • ​Semester 2 Report

    • Report Card

    • On-line gradebook

    • DRA

    • Portfolios

    • Student-Led Conferences

    • Report on UOI/PYP Elements

    • Learner Profile

​

First Grade

  • Semester 1 Report

    • Report Card

    • On-line gradebook

    • Report on UOI/PYP Elements

    • Learner Profile

    • Portfolios

    • Three Way Conferences

    • DRA

  • ​Semester 2 Report

    • Report Card

    • On-line gradebook

    • DRA

    • Portfolios

    • Student-Led Conferences

    • Report on UOI/PYP Elements

    • Learner Profile

    • Standardized tests or MAP growth

​

Second Grade

  • Semester 1 Report

    • Report Card

    • On-line gradebook

    • Report on UOI/PYP

    • Elements/Learner Profile

    • Portfolios

    • Three Way Conferences

    • DRA

    • MAP Growth or standardized tests

  • ​Semester 2 Report

    • Report Card

    • On-line gradebook

    • Portfolios

    • Student-Led Conferences

    • Report on UOI/PYP Elements

    • Learner Profile

    • DRA

    • MAP Growth or standardized tests

​

Third Grade

  • Semester 1 Report

    • Report Card

    • on-line gradebook

    • Report on UOI/PYP

    • Elements/Learner Profile

    • Portfolios

    • Three Way Conferences

    • DRA

    • MAP Growth or standardized tests

  • ​Semester 2 Report

    • Report Card

    • on-line gradebook

    • Portfolios

    • Student-Led Conferences

    • Report on UOI/PYP Elements

    • Learner Profile

    • DRA

    • MAP Growth or standardized tests

​

Fourth Grade

  • Semester 1 Report

    • Report Card

    • On-line gradebook

    • Report on UOI/PYP

    • Elements/Learner Profile

    • Portfolios

    • Three Way Conferences

    • DRA

    • MAP Growth or standardized tests

  • ​Semester 2 Report

    • Report Card

    • On-line gradebook

    • Portfolios

    • Student-Led Conferences

    • Report on UOI/PYP Elements

    • Learner Profile

    • DRA

    • MAP Growth or standardized tests

​

Fifth Grade

  • Semester 1 Report

    • Report Card

    • On-line gradebook

    • Report on UOI/PYP Elements

    • Learner Profile

    • Portfolios

    • Three Way Conferences

    • DRA

    • MAP Growth or standardized tests

  • ​Semester 2 Report

    • Report Card

    • On-line gradebook

    • Portfolios

    • Student-Led Conferences

    • Report on UOI/PYP Elements

    • Learner Profile

    • PYP Exhibition

    • DRA

    • MAP Growth or standardized tests

Grading Scale

Elementary School Division K-5th Grade

  • 4: Demonstrates understanding beyond grade level standards consistently and independently. Students can teach others with confidence and competence; or provide demonstration-quality work products.

  • 3: Demonstrates understanding of grade level standards consistently and independently.  Student products demonstrate understanding of the concepts or perform skills without coaching, mentoring or other supervision.

  • 2: Demonstrates partial understanding of grade level standards with or without support.  Student products demonstrate understanding of the concepts or perform skills only with support or mentoring.

  • 1: Demonstrates minimal (or no) understanding and does not meet grade level standards even with support.  Students participate but demonstrate no understanding; or ability or willingness to perform skills.

  • NT: Not taught

  • NA: Introduced but not assessed

Revision and Re-Submit Policy

Students and parents can request the opportunity to redo an assignment or test within 5 school days of receiving notification of the grade.

Learning Support Needs

Learning Support Needs are identified with the various assessments in collaboration with the homeroom teachers and special education department. The inclusion model is used at the Academy, so the learning support staff works in collaboration with the homeroom teacher to differentiate instruction and provide support. External referrals may be made when necessary.

​

The Special Education Department at ISA operates on ethical principles, practice standards, and professional policies in ways that respect the diverse needs and characteristics of our student body and school community.

​

Our aim is to provide tailored, individualized, and culturally responsive learning environments. We use culturally and linguistically appropriate assessments and procedures which accurately measure students’ aptitudes and abilities to maximize the outcomes of individuals with learning difficulties and special needs. We use periodic assessments and strategic interventions to monitor our students' progress on a quarterly basis identifying tangible, evidence-based goals.

​

The Special Education Department works in close cooperation with parents, informing them of their educational rights and safeguards as well as advising them of available resources. Special Education at ISA actively seeks parent/guardian knowledge about their children when planning and evaluating special education services empowering families as partners in the educational process.

PYP Academic Integrity

Academic integrity means that students engage in the inquiry process as principled learners and critical thinkers who respect the ideas of others. Students should take the initiative in being academically honest and pride in their own accomplishments as they apply their understanding, knowledge, skills, and approaches to learning into an action or project. Please refer to the Academic Integrity Policy section of this handbook.

bottom of page