Assessment Policy

Lt. Gen. William H. Harrison Preparatory School

International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme

Diploma Programme

 

Assessment Policy

 

Harrison Prep Mission Statement:

  • Students at HP will graduate as caring, curious, confident, and college-ready young people who have respect for multiple cultures and perspectives.
  • Teachers at HP will design standards-based challenging learning experiences enriched through technology, community partnerships, and personal projects.
  • Staff at HP will foster meaningful and personalized relationships preparing students for global citizenship.

Philosophy of Assessment:

We believe the purpose of assessment is to clearly communicate learning expectations to students through standards-based criteria and instruction and to show a measurement of student growth towards mastery of skills and content. Therefore, the assessment is a tool to maximize student learning. Ideally, assessments will help students find more value in the learning than they do in the grade associated with it.

Types of Assessment:

NOTE: All types of assessment can fit in more than one category; it depends on the purpose set by the teacher.

  • Summative: These are types of assessments given at the end of units to show students their levels of mastery of skills and content. These assessments are typically entered into the grade book, but teachers may choose to replace a grade if a student demonstrates a higher level of mastery later in the course. Summative assessments also show teachers how far on or off the mark students are in their understanding of the standards. Summative assessments compose 85% of the grade as reported in the Skyward system.
    • Types (but not limited to):
      • Exams
      • Essays
      • Performances
      • Speeches
  • Formative: These are types of assessments given during the course of a unit of study or even at the end of a unit that give feedback to students about their levels of mastery but may not be entered into the grade book. If entered in the gradebook, formative assessments compose 15% of the grade as reported in the Skyward system. These types of assessments might be viewed as “practices” for the summative assessments and should align clearly with final assessment criteria.
    • Types (but not limited to):
      • Journals
      • Sketches
      • Practices tests, quizzes
      • Drafts of essays, peer edits
      • Group work/presentations
      • Reflections
  • Formal: These types of summative or formative assessments are clearly communicated to students ahead of time and criteria for the grading process and these are formally introduced before the assessment is undertaken. Usually a formal rubric is introduced so that students have an opportunity to clearly understand the expectations. The results are entered into the grade book, but might be replaced by a higher grade later in the course.
    • Types (but not limited to):
      • Unit exams
      • Chapter tests
      • Essays
      • Labs
      • Presentations/Performances
  • Informal: These types of summative and formative assessments are usually not entered into the official grade book, but inform the teacher of where students are at that moment in their understanding of the concept or skill.
    • Types (but not limited to):
      • Entry slips
      • Exit slips
      • Impromptu quizzes
      • Group presentations
      • Notes
      • Process Reflections
      • Thinking Routines/products

Criteria:
Students will be assessed using a variety of criteria and assessment, which include, but are not limited to:

  • IB MYP or DP Assessment Criteria
  • Common formative assessments developed by departments and/or district
  • OSPI Developed Assessments for I&S, PE and Health, Arts
  • Standardized testing (MAP, MSP, HSPE, and SBAC)
  • Common rubrics developed for the Personal Project based on the Learner Profile
  • Common Core State Standards
  • Next Generation Science Standards
  • National Standards in Fine Arts, Language, Physical Education, and Career and Technical Education (CTE).

Frequency of Formative/Summative Assessment:

In general, assessment is on-going; it happens before, during and after instruction. Assessments must offer regular, descriptive feedback. Students also need to learn how to self-assess through reflection and meta-cognition. Having clear assessment expectations will help them to do this process consistently and effectively.

Specifically, it is up to the teacher’s professional judgment to design a unit that includes enough practice for students to achieve mastery of a skill or concept before the summative assessment. Generally speaking, there should be many more opportunities to practice a skill or concept

before demonstrating proficiency on the summative assessment. Of course, a teacher might judge that students need much more practice or even fewer opportunities depending on the level of complexity of the skill or concept and the prior knowledge of the students’ abilities.

In terms of formative assessments, the number also depends on how students are assessed by prior formative assessments. If students are demonstrating confusion or a lack of understanding, it is the teacher’s responsibility to design more opportunities.

Marking and Grading Systems:

In all courses, Harrison teachers will use the IB assessment criteria for summative assessment tasks as appropriate to the MYP and DP programs. The summative marks will be part of the students’ official end-of-course IB grade reported via the Managebac system. Each course will report a minimum of two marks per IB assessment criteria for the term grade. Managebac reports will be generated twice a year, once for an interim report at the end of first semester and a final report at the end of the second semester.

In DP courses, teachers will also use IB assessment criteria and formats for summative assessments in order to prepare students for the IB exams. These in-house summative assessments provide feedback to students regarding how they might fare on the actual IB exams and provide results that can be reported as course grades on a students’ transcript using the Clover Park School District’s required grading scale (A to F) rather than the IB’s grading scale (1 to 7). For reporting of IB DP Predicted Grades, refer to the IB Predicted Grades section.

Standardized assessments

Harrison also follows district and state policy and practice by administering standardized assessments that measure student achievement in individual subject areas. The Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) assessment in reading and math for 6-12 grades are and maybe used to measure the progress of students against state standards. The results are used by the school to identify students that may need additional instructional support in these areas. Results from the state required Smarter Balanced Assessment (SBA) given in grades 6-8 in English Language Arts, Mathematics, and Science is another indicator used to help identify students that are not meeting grade-level expectations. Harrison Prep is aligned to the Washington State and Clover Park School District graduation requirements.

In preparation for college, students in the Clover Park School District also take standardized tests required for college entrance including the PSAT, SAT, and ACT. The results of these tests are used for college planning purposes, including high school course selection planning with the Harrison Preparatory counseling office.

Grading policy

It is the policy of the Clover Park School District that its high school students receive grades and credits in a manner that is understandable, accurate, and consistent across the District. At the high school level, all schools use a uniform eleven-point weighted grading system from A to F including pluses and minuses.

A “D” mark is the lowest passing or proficiency grade; an “F” mark indicates failure. There is a Clover Park School District Grading Scale, which details the corresponding grade point.

The IB grading scale and the rules surrounding the award of the IB Diploma will be shared with students and families but will not be used as part of a student’s high school transcript.

IB Diploma Programme Predicted Grades

The Predicted Grade is the teacher’s prediction of the grade the candidate is expected to achieve in an IB subject, based on all of the evidence of the candidate’s work and the teacher’s knowledge of the IB standards. Predicted grades rarely influence a student’s final grade awarded by IB. Predicted grades may be used:

  • by the IBO in grade award meetings when considering a subject’s grade distributions and the performance of individual candidates.
  • by the IBO as a basis for review of student work if the awarded grade varies significantly from the predicted grade.
  • by international universities as an evaluation tool in determining the suitability of an applicant and as a basis for making conditional offers.
  • by the IBO in the grade-awarding in a non-examination route (i.e. M2020 and the Covid 19 Pandemic).

It is Harrison Preparatory policy that individual teachers are free to inform students of their predicted grades, but the IB coordinator will not directly release predicted grade’s to students or parents. Predicted grades are reported to the IB Coordinator by each DP course teacher in the spring of DP Year 2 (grade 12).

IB Grading Scales

IB Criterion for MYP subjects are scored on a 0-8 markband scale. Interim and final term grades for MYP grades are calculated to an overall score between 1-7; the scale below reflects the final marks.

7 Excellent performance

6 Very Good performance

5 Good performance

4 Satisfactory performance

3 Mediocre performance

2 Poor performance

1 Very Poor performance

Special educational needs

Assessment is part of instruction for all students at Harrison Preparatory. Clover Park School Board policy requires all schools to follow federal and state requirements for students that have special educational needs based on the Section 504 Administrative Guide of procedures of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Section 504 is a civil rights law that protects the rights of individuals with disabilities in programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance from the U.S. Department of Education.

It is also the policy of the Clover Park School Board to ensure that the parent or guardian of a special education student will be informed of actions proposed in regard to identification, evaluation and placement of the student. Such information will be provided in accordance with state and federal regulations as stipulated in Board Policy.

When working with students with special educational needs that are preparing for IB assessments, the school will follow the principles, procedures, guidelines and requirements outlined by the IB Organization. When a student with special education needs also has special assessment needs for the IB assessment components and standard assessment conditions could put the student at a disadvantage, special arrangements will be requested from the IB.

Policy Review and Communication: This policy will be available to the Harrison Prep community on the school website in the IB section and individual requests for the policy can be sent to the IB Coordinator. The Harrison Prep Assessment Policy will be reviewed regularly by HP staff, leadership, and other relevant stakeholders in accordance with the MYP and DP Self-study process every five years. Once reviewed, the policy will be submitted to the HP Site Council for approval. It is the responsibility of the IB Coordinator to coordinate the policy review as outlined.