Assessment Policy
PHILOSOPHY
Assessment at Loomis Basin Charter School encompasses the processes of collecting, measuring, analyzing, and reporting data of what students know and can do. How, when, and what we evaluate directly informs planning, teaching, and learning. Effective assessment allows student progress to be monitored and instruction to be adjusted to improve achievement while placing the students at the center of their learning.
PRINCIPLES
PRACTICES
At LBCS, we are committed to utilizing a wide variety of methods and formats to assess students’ knowledge, growth, and ability to apply skills and concepts across the content areas. Teachers set aside time throughout units of study, at the end of each unit of study, and at the end of each semester for student self-reflection.
The aim of assessment is to provide timely feedback to students on their performance to ensure student growth, and to identify what students know, understand, can do, and feel at different stages in the learning process. Assessment is a continuous process that allows teachers, parents, and students to identify areas of strength and areas that need improvement. The two main forms of assessment utilized at LBCS are formative and summative assessment:
Formative Assessment seeks to identify students’ learning needs as they engage with subject content. Formative Assessment is integrated into lessons and units to ensure student growth. Formative assessments provide teachers with timely information to guide instruction and provides feedback for students to reflect on learning thus far. Formative assessments may be formal or informal.
Summative assessment serves to support student learning and contribute to the determination of an achievement level at the end of a learning period. It acts as the formal end of a lesson or unit, but does not necessarily represent the end of student learning in the area(s) being assessed.
The following types of assessments may be used:
Recording student learning
Teachers record findings about student progress and learning through a variety of assessment tools, including: rubrics, checklists, Aeries, continuums, task or subject-specific criterion rubrics, forms, benchmarks, anecdotal records, and portfolios.
Reporting student learning
Student progress is communicated to community members, including parents, students, and staff, throughout the learning process and at set times during the school year. Formal reporting periods include:
Primary Years Program
The focus of assessment in the IB PYP is to help students develop the five essential elements of learning: the understanding of concepts, the acquisition of knowledge, the mastering of skills, the development of attitudes, and the decision to take action. Students, parents, staff, and administration must have a clear understanding of what is being assessed, the criteria for success, and the method by which the assessment is made. Active involvement of both students and teachers results in meaningful and accurate assessment.
In the final year of the PYP, students, carry out an extended, in depth, collaborative project known as the PYP exhibition. This involves students working collaboratively to conduct an in-depth inquiry into real; life issues or problems. Students collectively synthesise all of the essential elements of the PYP in ways that can be shared with the whole school community. It also provides teachers with a powerful and authentic process for assessing student understanding (www.ibo.org)
Growth in the PYP is communicated through:
Middle Years Program
The aim of assessment in the MYP is to promote student learning and growth in the subject areas, in Approaches to Learning (ATL) skills, and as an internationally minded person. MYP assessment requires teachers to assess students on subject-group objectives using subject criterion throughout each year of the program.
The assessment criteria vary for each of the eight subject area groups, but are derived from the following four core components of the MYP: Knowledge (facts that the student should be able to recall to ensure competence in the subject); Understanding (how the student will be able to interpret, apply or predict aspects of the subject); Skills (shown through tasks that allow the student to apply what has been learned to a new situation); and Attitudes (the ways in which the student is changed by the learning experience).
Teachers actively engage in writing assessment tasks that are challenging, relevant, connected to concepts that reach beyond a specific subject, and require the use of ATL skills which encourage students to sharpen their research skills, become more organized, work more effectively within groups, and develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
In the third year of the MYP at LBCS, eighth grade students complete the community project. As a culminating project demonstrating the skills and attitudes students have grown in over the program, students engage in “a sustained, in-depth inquiry leading to service as action in the community.”
Growth in the MYP is communicated through:
Assessment at Loomis Basin Charter School encompasses the processes of collecting, measuring, analyzing, and reporting data of what students know and can do. How, when, and what we evaluate directly informs planning, teaching, and learning. Effective assessment allows student progress to be monitored and instruction to be adjusted to improve achievement while placing the students at the center of their learning.
PRINCIPLES
- Assessments are key to planning, teaching, and learning
- Assessment practices are clearly and concisely communicated to all members of the community (i.e., teachers, parents, and students)
- Assessments are paced and grade-level appropriate
- There is a balance between formative and summative assessment
- There are opportunities for both peer and self-assessment
- Students engage in self reflection to reflect on their own learning
- Teachers provide students with feedback to guide future learning
- Assessments are diverse and varied to address different learning styles
- Assessments are meaningful, relevant to the student, and drive instruction
- Assessments originate from the California Common Core Standards, Next Generation Science Standards, and in MYP, the Subject Criterion
- Assessments are connected in the essential elements of the IB Program
PRACTICES
At LBCS, we are committed to utilizing a wide variety of methods and formats to assess students’ knowledge, growth, and ability to apply skills and concepts across the content areas. Teachers set aside time throughout units of study, at the end of each unit of study, and at the end of each semester for student self-reflection.
The aim of assessment is to provide timely feedback to students on their performance to ensure student growth, and to identify what students know, understand, can do, and feel at different stages in the learning process. Assessment is a continuous process that allows teachers, parents, and students to identify areas of strength and areas that need improvement. The two main forms of assessment utilized at LBCS are formative and summative assessment:
Formative Assessment seeks to identify students’ learning needs as they engage with subject content. Formative Assessment is integrated into lessons and units to ensure student growth. Formative assessments provide teachers with timely information to guide instruction and provides feedback for students to reflect on learning thus far. Formative assessments may be formal or informal.
Summative assessment serves to support student learning and contribute to the determination of an achievement level at the end of a learning period. It acts as the formal end of a lesson or unit, but does not necessarily represent the end of student learning in the area(s) being assessed.
The following types of assessments may be used:
- pre- and post-tests
- self-assessments
- written responses and reflections
- essays and reports
- class discussions
- student projects
- Renaissance Learning
- CAASPP Science Test - (Science only – grade 5th & 8th)
- Smarter Balance Assessment - CAASPP (3rd - 8th grades)
- teacher-made tests, quizzes and projects
- presentations
- collaborative group work
- 5th Grade Exhibition
- 8th Grade Community Project
Recording student learning
Teachers record findings about student progress and learning through a variety of assessment tools, including: rubrics, checklists, Aeries, continuums, task or subject-specific criterion rubrics, forms, benchmarks, anecdotal records, and portfolios.
Reporting student learning
Student progress is communicated to community members, including parents, students, and staff, throughout the learning process and at set times during the school year. Formal reporting periods include:
- Student–led conferences (after 1st semester progress monitoring. )
- Progress reports during the semesters
- Report cards at the end of each of the semesters
- Parent-Teacher and Teacher-Student-Parent conferences
- Communication with parents via e-mails, phone calls, websites, and face to face meeting
Primary Years Program
The focus of assessment in the IB PYP is to help students develop the five essential elements of learning: the understanding of concepts, the acquisition of knowledge, the mastering of skills, the development of attitudes, and the decision to take action. Students, parents, staff, and administration must have a clear understanding of what is being assessed, the criteria for success, and the method by which the assessment is made. Active involvement of both students and teachers results in meaningful and accurate assessment.
In the final year of the PYP, students, carry out an extended, in depth, collaborative project known as the PYP exhibition. This involves students working collaboratively to conduct an in-depth inquiry into real; life issues or problems. Students collectively synthesise all of the essential elements of the PYP in ways that can be shared with the whole school community. It also provides teachers with a powerful and authentic process for assessing student understanding (www.ibo.org)
Growth in the PYP is communicated through:
- Semester Report Cards
- approaches to learning skills
- learner behaviors
- achievement in subject areas
- IB learner profile reflection form
- End of Unit of Inquiry progress reports after each unit of inquiry
- Portfolios are available throughout the year in classrooms and presented at end of year Open House
Middle Years Program
The aim of assessment in the MYP is to promote student learning and growth in the subject areas, in Approaches to Learning (ATL) skills, and as an internationally minded person. MYP assessment requires teachers to assess students on subject-group objectives using subject criterion throughout each year of the program.
The assessment criteria vary for each of the eight subject area groups, but are derived from the following four core components of the MYP: Knowledge (facts that the student should be able to recall to ensure competence in the subject); Understanding (how the student will be able to interpret, apply or predict aspects of the subject); Skills (shown through tasks that allow the student to apply what has been learned to a new situation); and Attitudes (the ways in which the student is changed by the learning experience).
Teachers actively engage in writing assessment tasks that are challenging, relevant, connected to concepts that reach beyond a specific subject, and require the use of ATL skills which encourage students to sharpen their research skills, become more organized, work more effectively within groups, and develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
In the third year of the MYP at LBCS, eighth grade students complete the community project. As a culminating project demonstrating the skills and attitudes students have grown in over the program, students engage in “a sustained, in-depth inquiry leading to service as action in the community.”
Growth in the MYP is communicated through:
- Report Card 2 times a year
- Subject criterion
- Learner Attitudes
- Academic achievement
- ATL Skill Hierarchy