Hoover Meredith Assessment Policy

Hoover High School – Meredith Middle School
International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme
Assessment Policy

Assessment Philosophy
• Our assessment practices hold the learning community accountable for excellence in and out of the classroom
• Our assessment practices provide learners with an opportunity to demonstrate new knowledge, skills and social responsibility.
• Our assessment practices are continuous and reflective to allow learners multiple opportunities to demonstrate excellence.

Purpose of Assessment
• To optimize learning so that learning happens through the process and not just prior to assessment
• To inform and guide teaching practices
• To evaluate our program of studies and expectations for rigor
• To provide learners, parents and educators with meaningful, valid feedback about a student’s progress and levels of achievement

Assessment Practices
• We assess formatively in order to gain information to guide teaching and improve student performance.
o Ongoing assessment during a unit of study that provides feedback on student work to help them improve it. Teachers and peers may give quick, detailed feedback that allows students time to make self-adjustments.
o Examples of formative assessments may include quizzes, written reflections, entrance or exit activities, writing samples, MAP data, ALEKS data, performances, lab reports, process journals, etc.
• We assess summatively in order to validate each learner’s progress toward defined standards of achievement and to hold our learners to the highest levels of application and transfer of their learning.
o These assessments are used to determine each student’s level of achievement in the MYP subject-area objectives and Des Moines Public Schools Standards Referenced Grading scales based on the Iowa Core standards. Authentic summative assessments promptstudents to action and communicate learning to parents/guardians, students, and teachers.
o Examples of summative assessment may include essays, examinations, investigations, research, performances, presentations, and creation of solutions in response to problems.

IB Assessment Criteria
• The MYP offers a criterion-related model of assessment. With criterion-related assessment, all learners have the same target. Criterion-related assessment focuses on students as individuals, and tells learners what they are supposed to know, understand and do. Since not every student is able to master all aspects of a topic, success is defined at given levels measured against set objectives (levels 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, etc.).
• An MYP score is similar to a growth chart at a doctor’s office. It is a tool to measure each individual student’s progress against the subject area objectives. It is not intended to compare learners. When a criterion score is assigned, the teachers will report on the highest, most frequent level of achievement, not an average of scores.
• Teachers structure varied and valid assessment tasks that allow learners to demonstrate achievement according to the required MYP objectives within each subject group. The MYP criteria are assessed in Year 5 (10th grade) with Years 1-4 (6th – 9th grades) using the interim objectives provided by IB for each subject group.
• Each subject criteria is assessed a minimum of two times each year. The subject criteria are listed below.

DMPS Assessment Guiding Practices: Des Moines Public Schools follows a Standards Referenced Grading (SRG) system. The following practices are implemented district wide to
serve as a common framework:
• A consistent 4-point grading scale will be used.
• Letter grades will be based solely on achievement of course/grade level standards. Participation, work completion, and ability to work with others will be reported
separately using the “DMPS Citizenship and Employability Skills” rubric.
• Scores will be based on a body of evidence.
• Achievement will be organized and reported by learning topic, which will be converted to a grade at semester’s end.
• Students will have multiple opportunities to demonstrate proficiency.
• Accommodations and modifications will be provided for exceptional learners.

Review of Assessment Practices
• Review is conducted annually
• IB Leadership teams will review and submit their revisions to the IB Coordinators.
• The assessment policy will be reviewed by the Parent Advisory team and distributed electronically for feedback.

Reporting to Parents
• Report cards and Infinite Campus
• Parent – Student – Teacher Conferences
• Presentation and exhibition events
• Personal Project at grade 10
• Process Journals (Arts & Design)

District Mandatory Assessment Requirements
• Iowa Assessments
• District Assessments: MAP, etc.
• I-ELPA 21