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Coconino High School

An IB World School

IB Assessment Policy

IB Assessment Policy

Philosophy Statement

The aim of assessment is to support instructional practices and student learning, as well as inform and support student achievement. To this end, various forms of assessment are integral to the instructional practices and learning processes at Coconino High School.

 

Assessments

The Feedback Loop: Start, Where am I going?, Where am I now?, Where to next?

Fig 1. Feedback Loop for learning from the Student Agency in Learning course. The teacher serves as the facilitator of instruction in this model. 

 

Formative Assessments

Formative assessment is a process used by teachers and students during the learning cycle in order to provide feedback and adjust ongoing teaching and learning. Formative assessment improves students' achievement on criterion-referenced intended instructional outcomes. Information is gathered from formative assessments to inform on-going teaching and learning. Some examples of formative assessments may include but are not limited to teacher observation, homework, quizzes, class discussions, performance tasks, presentations, peer feedback, and self-assessment.

 

Summative Assessments

Summative assessments provide teachers a means to measure student performance against the district, state, and Diploma Program assessment criteria. Summative assessments are assessments of learning and occur following the learning cycle. Some examples of summative assessments include, but are not limited to: presentations; projects; end of unit exams; end of course exams; IB internal and external assessments.

 

Internal Assessments

These are components of IB courses that are assessed by the local teacher and moderated by the IB. Examples include oral exams for language courses, research papers for mathematics courses, and laboratory experiments for experimental science courses and work samples from other IB courses. Marks for these assessments are recorded and sent to the IB by the teacher. To verify that teachers are grading internal assessments according to IB standards, teachers also send samples of internal assessments to the IB for evaluation; these samples are chosen by the IB, and all student marks may be adjusted according to their findings. There is a fee associated with IB exams which can be located in the fee schedule in the IB Student Handbook (Coming Soon). The fee will be waived for the following graduating year cohorts: 2022 & 2023.

 

External Assessments

These are components of IB courses that are assessed by external IB graders. Examples of external assessments include certain written assignments for Language A courses, recordings of group performances for music courses, and the end-of-course examinations that take place at the end of the course for most Diploma Program courses offered by Coconino High School. There is a fee associated with IB exams which can be located in the fee schedule in the IB Student Handbook (Coming Soon). The fee will be waived for the following graduating year cohorts: 2022 & 2023.

 

Assessment Practices in the Diploma Programme at Coconino High School

  • School Responsibilities:

    • Ensure collaboration and awareness on teachers’ part of student workloads in the DP including course homework, CAS, and the EE (create a collaborative calendar for teacher use)
    • Provide opportunities for students to learn time management and organization regarding homework and study
    • Ensure that teachers are trained in the common expectations of homework in the DP
    • Provide opportunities for parent, student, and teacher feedback on homework practices

    Teacher Responsibilities:

    • Regularly maintain a shared, planned calendar of student homework (including the Internal Assessment, CAS, and EE deadlines) to balance student workload, The purpose of this is to ensure students are not overloaded
    • Reinforce habits of time management and organization by explicitly teaching students how to become and stay organized in homework
    • Collaborate with students to assign relevant and meaningful homework
    • Provide meaningful, criterion-referenced feedback to students and parents about homework

    Student Responsibilities:

    • Plan and organize their time to ensure their ability to meet homework expectations
    • Communicate with their teachers and/or the Diploma Programme Coordinator when there are challenges and issues with completing homework or managing time
    • Collaborate with teachers and peers to shape homework expectations
    • Employ effective time management skills to meet deadlines
    • Work in teams to encourage peers and reinforce accountability in their efforts
  • School Responsibilities:

    • Ensure collaboration and awareness on teachers’ part of grading and feedback processes in other DP courses
    • Ensure that teachers set and use consistent expectations and consistent vocabulary of grading and feedback in the DP courses
    • Provide opportunities for parent, student, and teacher feedback on grading practices
    • Facilitate both physical and electronic methods for easy, flexible, communication between teachers, parents, and students

    Teacher Responsibilities:

    • Maintain transparent and consistent grading expectations for their respective courses
    • Reinforce habits of reflection and inquiry by providing students dedicated, structured opportunities for criterion-referenced peer feedback and self-assessment before assigning a grade
    • Assign grades to summative assessments and provide feedback to formative assessments. Both grades and feedback should be criterion-referenced
    • Allow students opportunities to reflect on and use teacher and peer feedback to make changes to their work
    • Allow students opportunities to re-assess for a grade (format can be changed at teacher discretion)
    • Maintain a regularly updated grade book per district guidelines

    Student Responsibilities:

    • Maintain consistent awareness of grades and progress in Canvas, StudentVUE, and ManageBac
    • Provide descriptive feedback to peers and teachers to support student and teacher learning
    • Communicate with teachers when there is a concern about their grades
    • Use any feedback provided to make adjustments to work
  • School Responsibilities:

    • Ensure that parents and students know that course transcript grades are different from examination grades for the IBO
    • Provide a platform for teachers to use to report grades
    • Follow district and state guidelines for reporting grades and credit on student transcripts

    Teacher Responsibilities:

    • Follow district expectations for reporting grades at progress periods
    • Maintain a regularly updated grade book per district guidelines

    Student Responsibilities:

    • Communicate any reporting inaccuracies to their teachers and the school office staff