Ellis Elementary School
PYP Assessment Policy

IB Standards:

Culture 5.1: The school implements and reviews an assessment policy that makes the school's philosophy clear and is aligned with the IB philosophy concerning learning and assessment. (0301-05-0100)

Culture 5.2: The school identifies in its assessment policy all necessary local and IB requirements, and outlines how the school is adhering to these requirements. (0301-05-0200)

Culture 5.3: The school describes in its assessment policy the rights and responsibilities of all members of the school community and clearly states what constitutes good assessment practice. (0301-05-0300)

Culture 5.5: The school describes in its assessment policy the value of assessment for continuous learning and growth. (0301-05-0500)

Philosophy

Assessment is the gathering and analysis of information about student performance and continually informs practices in the classroom. Assessment identifies what students know, understand, can do and feel at different stages in the learning process. Students and teachers should be actively engaged in assessing the student's progress as part of the development of their wider critical-thinking and self-assessment skills. (Making the PYP Happen, 2007). Ellis Elementary School is committed to the IB PYP standards and practices and ensuring that the assessment policy is implemented, understood and supported by all staff members. Parents will be informed about the policy through parent meetings, team newsletters, the school website and at parent/teacher conferences.

Purpose of Assessment

Introduction

The purpose of assessment at Ellis Elementary is to continuously improve student learning, to provide information on student learning and to contribute to the efficacy of learning programmes. Assessment is the ongoing process of gathering evidence of learning. This evidence is used to feedback to the learners and all other stake holders. Assessment at Ellis Elementary reflects best practice that supports the learner and the teacher in the promotion of student achievement.

PYP
At Ellis Elementary we believe assessment is integral to all teaching and learning. It is central to the PYP goal of thoughtfully and effectively guiding students through the five essential elements of learning:

• the acquisition of knowledge
• the understanding of concepts
• the mastering of skills
• the development of attitudes
• the decisions to take action

   At Ellis Elementary, we recognize the importance of assessing the process of inquiry as well as the products of inquiry. The main aim of assessment in the PYP at Ellis Elementary is to provide feedback on the learning process and the development of the five essential elements to inform further learning. Students and teachers are actively engaged in assessing the students' progress as part of the development of their wider critical thinking and self-assessment skills.

  Types of Assessing

  The assessment of the 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. At Ellis Elementary the classroom employs a range of formative and summative assessments, which demonstrate student achievements as follows:

  Pre-Assessment: Occurs before embarking on new learning and as a way of establishing students' prior knowledge and experiences.

  Formative assessment: is woven into the daily learning process. It provides teachers and students with information about how the learning is developing. The information is used to plan the next stage in learning and helps teachers and students discover what the students already know and can do. Formative assessment and teaching are directly linked and function purposefully together.

  Formative assessment aims to promote learning by giving regular and frequent feedback throughout the learning process. This process helps learners to improve knowledge and understanding, to foster self-motivation and enthusiasm for learning, to engage in thoughtful reflection, to develop the capacity for self-assessment, and to recognize the criteria for success.

  Summative Assessment: aims to give teachers and students a clear insight into students' understanding. Summative assessment is the culmination of the teaching and learning process, and gives the students opportunities to demonstrate what has been learned. It can assess several elements simultaneously: it informs and leads to improvement in student learning and the teaching process; it measures understanding of the central idea, and prompts students towards action.

  Assessment in the classroom includes:

• collecting evidence of students' understanding and thinking
• 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 student work
• keeping records of test/task results

  Gathering Data:

  The Ellis Elementary community uses a range of methods and approaches to gather information about a student's learning. This information is recorded using a variety of tools. Assessment Strategies include:

• Observations: Students are observed with a focus varying from one on the whole class to one on one student or activity.
• Performance assessments: The assessment of goal-directed tasks with established criteria. They provide authentic and significant challenges and problems. In these tasks, there are numerous approaches to the problem and rarely only one correct response.
• Process-focused assessments: Students are observed, noting the typical as well as non-typical behaviors, collecting multiple observations to enhance reliability, and synthesizing evidence from different contexts to increase validity. Checklists, inventories and narrative descriptions (such as learning logs) are common methods of collecting observations.
• Selected Responses: One-dimensional exercises such as tests and quizzes.
• Open-ended Tasks: Situations in which students are presented with a stimulus and asked to communicate an original response. The answer might be a brief written answer, a drawing, a diagram or a solution.

  Assessment tools include the use of:

• Rubrics: Established sets of criteria used for scoring student tests, portfolios, or performances. The rubric descriptors tell the student and teacher what to look for in a successful effort.
• Anecdotal Records: Brief written notes based on observation
• Checklists: Lists of information, data, attributes, or elements that should be present
• Continuums: Visual representation of developmental stages of learning that shows a progression of achievement or identity
• Exemplars/Benchmarks:Samples of student work that are concrete standards against which other samples are judged
• Teachers collect and compile records of conversations, comments, explanations, and hypotheses
• Under the Every Student Succeeds Act, teachers are required to administer State assessments, as follows:

   

• Grade 3: Fall Growth Assessment
• Grade 3: Virginia Standards of Learning in Language Arts, Mathematics
• Grade 4: Fall Growth Assessment
• Grade 4: Virginia Standards of Learning in Language Arts, Mathematics, and Virginia Studies
• Grade 5: Fall Growth Assessment
• Grade 5: Virginia Standards of Learning in Language Arts, Mathematics, and Science

   

• Teachers in grades 2-5 also administer locally mandated Common Formative Assessment (CFA) tests in Mathematics, Science and Social Studies.
• Teachers in Grade 1 and 2 administer the AMC test for math
• Kindergarten Teachers administer the Virginia Kindergarten Readiness Program test

   Reporting

  Reporting on assessment at Ellis Elementary 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 parties. Reporting to parents, students and teachers occurs in several ways including:

   Back to School Night

  Parents gain information about the school from the classroom teachers regarding the curriculum and classroom routines via this important evening that is held at the beginning of the school year.

  Conferences

  Conferences are held in November and may occur more frequently as needed. These conference days are built into the school schedule and occur at the end of the first nine weeks and at the end of the second nine weeks, as needed. Conferences can be requested by teacher or parent at any time.

  The Exhibition

  Students in the final year of the PYP carry out an extended, collaborative inquiry - the PYP Exhibition. At Ellis Elementary this takes place towards 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 an opportunity to explore 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 student understanding
• To demonstrate how students can take action as a result 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 celebrate the transition of learners from PYP to MYP education

  Reporting at Ellis Elementary

  The following table gives parents a guide to Reporting at Ellis Elementary over the period of the school year.

  	Semester 1	Semester 2
  Preschool	Parent Teacher Conferences IEP Progress Reports PWCS Preschool Progress Report (Four times a year) VA Foundation Blocks for Early Learning: Comprehensive Standards for 4-year Olds Virginia's Early Learning and Developmental Standards High Scope Key Developmental Indicators Early Screening Inventory (ESI's) COR assessment - Head Start Outcomes PALS PreK VKRP Anecdotal Records	Parent Teacher Conferences IEP Progress Reports PWCS Preschool Progress Report (Four Times a Year VA Foundation Blocks for Early Learning: Comprehensive Standards for 4-year Olds
  Kindergarten	Conferences PALS Pass/Fail Letter DRA-II (Developmental Reading Assessment) Letter Identification and Sound Assessment End of Unit Math Assessments Report Cards Learner Profile Report Card Beginning of the year writing prompt Virginia Kindergarten Readiness Program	Parent Teacher Conferences (as needed) End of Unit Math Assessments Report Cards Student Led Conferences and Portfolios Learner Profile Report Card Learner Profile Student Self-Assessment End of year writing prompt
  1st Grade	Conferences Weekly Progress Reports Word Study Assessment PALS Pass/Fail Letter (new and selected students) AMC Math Pre-Assessment Quarterly Interims and Report Cards IB Summative Assessments Beginning of Year Writing Prompt DRA Progress Monitoring	Parent Teacher Conferences (as needed) Weekly Progress Reports DRA-II (Developmental Reading Assessment) Word Study Assessment PALS Pass/Fail Letter (all students) AMC Mid-Year and Post- Assessment Quarterly Interims and Report Cards IB Summative Assessments Mid & End of Year Writing Prompts DRA Progress Monitoring Student Led Conferences and Portfolios
  2nd Grade	Conferences Word Study Assessment PALS Pass/Fail Letter (new and selected students) Report Cards Math CFA Reports Project Based Assessments - Sci & S.S. IB Summative Assessments Beginning of the Year Writing Prompt DRA Progress Monitoring Portfolios Learner Profile Report Card NNAT Monthly spiral reviews in all content	Parent Teacher Conferences (as needed) Weekly Progress Reports Mid-Year MAPS Reading DRA-II (Developmental Reading Assessment) Word Study Assessment PALS Pass/Fail Letter (all students) Quarterly Interims and Report Cards Math CFA Reports Project Based Assessments - Sci & S.S. IB Summative Assessments End of Year Writing Prompt DRA Progress Monitoring Monthly spiral reviews in all content
  3rd Grade	Conferences Word Study Assessment PALS Pass/Fail Letter (all students) CFA Tests-Math and Reading Project Based Assessments - Sci & S.S. IB Summative Assessments Beginning of Year Writing Prompts DRA/QRI Progress Monitoring Portfolios CogAT and NNAT Reports Fall Growth Assessment Tests	Parent Teacher Conferences (as needed) DRA-II (Developmental Reading Assessment) Word Study Assessment PALS Pass/Fail Letter (all students) CFA Tests-Math and Reading Project Based Assessments - Sci & S.S. IB Summative Assessments End of Year Writing Prompts DRA/QRI Progress Monitoring SOL Simulation Test VA SOL Test Reports
  4th Grade	Student-led Parent Teacher Conference Quarterly Report Cards CFA Reports IB Summative Assessments Beginning of Year Writing Prompts DRA Progress Monitoring Fall Growth Assessment Tests	Student-led Parent Teacher Conferences (as needed) DRA-II (Developmental Reading Assessment) Quarterly Report Cards CFA Reports IB Summative Assessments DRA Progress Monitoring VA SOL Test Reports
  5th Grade	Student led Conferences Portfolios HMH (textbook) reading assessment for reading levels /DRA/QRI Progress Monitoring Quarterly Report Cards CFA Reports - Math & Science- Quarterly Writing Prompts Fall Growth Assessment Tests	Portfolios Exhibition Research Parent Teacher Conferences (as needed) DRA-II (Developmental Reading Assessment)/HMH Assessment Quarterly Report Cards CFA Reports - Math & Science-Would this be our unit tests? Exhibition Action and Presentation Quarterly Writing Prompts SOL Simulation Tests VA SOL Test Reports

   

  *Selected Students (all grades): IEP Progress Reports, WIDA (Access Test) Reports, and Gifted Education Progress Reports

  Access to Policy and Complaint Procedures

  This policy is accessible to the school community by a physical copy of the policy being posted in the front office of Ellis Elementary School, and it is posted on the Ellis Elementary School Website under the International Baccalaureate tab on the site. This policy is available in English and Spanish in the front office and on the website.

  The complaint procedures are also available to the school community by a physical copy of the document being posted in the front office of the school and on the school website. This documentation is also available in English and Spanish.

  Appendix A

  Ellis Elementary Assessment Essential Agreements

  Parent/Teacher Communication

  All teachers are responsible for informing parents about the PYP and their program of inquiry units for the year using the following forms of communication:

• Parent Information Nights at the beginning of the year
• Class Newsletters and emails
• The School website
• Class Canvas Pages
• Parent-Teacher Conferences

  The PYP coordinator will provide regular information about the PYP using a range of communication strategies, such as newsletter articles, parent workshops etc.

  Assessment

• Assessment and Learning Objectives should be planned at the start of the unit and should demonstrate clear links between the assessment tasks and all components of the planner, i.e. central idea and lines of inquiry, key concepts, teacher and student questions, learning activities.
• Assessment strategies and tools should be varied and can include pre- and post-assessment tasks and formative and summative assessments.
• Assessments should include peer and self-assessment where appropriate.
• Students should be involved in the development of some of the assessment activities and tools (i.e. rubrics). When students are not involved in the development of assessment activities they need to be informed of assessment criteria.
• Assessment will inform and direct future learning.
• Assessment at Ellis addresses all five of the essential elements (knowledge, concepts, skills, attitudes and action) and the learner profile.
• Teachers will be familiar with and implement the assessment policy of the school.

  Reporting

• Learning objectives are planned at the start of the unit and should demonstrate clear links between the assessment tasks and all components of the planner, i.e. central idea and lines of inquiry, key concepts, teacher and student questions and learning engagements.
• Teacher comments are written to inform and direct future learning.
• Teacher comments address learner profile and PYP attitudes.

  Conferences

  Preparation

• Have evidence/work samples to share with parents - portfolios and additional work samples.
• In your teams collaboratively discuss information that will be shared and how action will be recorded.
• Teacher conferences with student prior to student-led conference

  During the Conference

• Always begin and end with a positive comment about the child.
• Ask how parents and students are feeling about how the child is progressing.
• Give parents a strategy to take away to deal with a specific issue or problem (if there is an issue).
• Refer parents to webpages for resources/strategies/communication.
• Take notes on schoolwide conference reflection sheet.

  Follow-up

• Record information/action for follow up during the conference.
• Reiterate with parents at the end of the conference those actions that you will be following up on and the action the parent will now need to take.
• If a conference is going to take longer than the allocated time, offer to meet again to continue the conference at another time in the near future.
• Where possible students should report to parents addressing all five of the essential elements (knowledge, approaches to learning, concepts, attitudes and action).

Revised 2022