A Philosophy of Assessment

At Howell L. Watkins Middle School, we are committed to inspiring our students and faculty to develop a growth mindset that fosters academic inquiry. We believe all students learn differently therefore, we differentiate learning experiences and encourage higher order thinking skills through authentic assessment. Assessments should facilitate learning and provide students and families with feedback on growth and achievement.

Aims of Assessment:

• support and encourage student learning by providing feedback on the learning process
• inform, enhance and improve the teaching process - provide opportunity for students to exhibit transfer of skills across disciplines, such as in the Community Service Project and interdisciplinary unit assessments
• promote positive student attitudes towards learning
• promote a deep understanding of subject content by supporting students in their inquiries set in real-life contexts
• promote the development of critical- and creative- thinking skills
• reflect the international-mindedness of the program by allowing assessments to be set in a variety of cultural and linguistic contexts
• support the holistic nature of the program by including in its model principles that take account of the development of the whole student.

(MYP: From principles into practice, September 2014. © International Baccalaureate Organization)

Purpose of Assessment for Teachers:

• To enhance student learning
• To monitor progress of student growth
• To guide instructional practice
• To provide consistent, timely feedback and opportunity for reflection

Purpose of Assessment for Students:

• To identify strengths and weaknesses in components of the subject area
• To promote student responsibility for and ownership of learning
• To increase student self-advocacy

Purpose of Assessment for Parents:

• To communicate consistent, timely feedback and opportunity for conversation
• To allow parents and teachers to work together as advocates of student learning
• To provide transparency of curriculum

Teacher Collaboration:

Subject area and team teachers will meet biweekly during common planning time to discuss alternative ways to assess students’ knowledge, to measure task appropriateness, to analyze results, and to standardize units and assessments. We monitor data in biweekly Professional Learning Communities, or PLCs, and develop plans to improve student growth.

Integrating MYP with Local Requirements:

Howell L. Watkins grading policy correlates with that of Palm Beach County School District, our curriculum and our assessment practices strive for alignment with the aims and prescribed objectives of the IB Middle Years Programme. District-created pacing guides (Scope and Sequence) and Common Core State Standards are incorporated with the learning objectives and assessment criteria of the IB MYP Next Chapter subject guides. Selected Global Contexts, Key Concepts, and Related Concepts are highlighted in all units in order to deepen student understanding, strengthen connections between local and global issues, and to extend comprehension of unit content.

Practices in using the MYP Assessment Criteria and Achievement Levels:

Assessments at Howell L. Watkins are created to determine, record, and report the level of student progress towards a common learning goal. Students are assessed through diverse strategies that provide information about their current knowledge, experience, and levels of understanding in a particular concept. Teachers will only assess what was taught during a unit and must address all strands of all objectives and assess all strands of all criteria at least twice a school year. Assessments may be modified for students with exceptional needs as required by their Individualized Education Plans (IEPs).

Howell L. Watkins Middle School students are assessed in each of the eighth MYP subject areas with the appropriate criteria objectives provided by the MYP. Individual student work is not compared to other students’ work but is compared to the assessment criteria. While teachers have the autonomy to create and assess their subjects, teachers are responsible to formally assess and report each subject criterion twice a year.

Grading policies: Teachers have policies regarding their scoring and grading procedures. These policies and procedures are generally consistent with one another and with school and district guidelines regarding the issue. Teachers explain these policies and procedures to all their students in all their classes several times during the year. In addition, teachers also distribute these policies and procedures to their students in writing, which, in turn, are shared with parents at the beginning of the year, these policies and procedures are also posted in writing in all classrooms. Howell L. Watkins uses the grading scale below to represent student achievement required by Palm Beach County School District.

GRADING SCALE

Outstanding Progress ............................90-100 (A)
Above Average Progress .......................80-89 (B)
Average Progress ....................................70-79 (C)
Lowest Acceptable Progress .................60-69 (D)
Failing ........................................................50-59 (F)

In order to meet the IB MYP assessment guidelines, subject grades will correspond to the following scale.

Formative Assessment: A formative assessment is any assessment during the instruction of the unit that would provide teachers with knowledge of how students are progressing toward learning objectives in order to plan future lessons and next steps in a unit.
Examples: District-mandated benchmark assessment, quizzes, test, performance-based tasks, projects, speeches etc.

Summative Assessment: A summative assessment is given at the end of a unit to allow students to show what they have learned and to provide feedback to the teacher on how well objectives of the unit were reached. The summative assessment expectations should be known by the students before the unit of study begins.

Late Work:
Teachers have policies and procedures regarding the completion and submission of late work by students. These policies and procedures are generally consistent with one another and with school and district guidelines regarding the issue. Teachers explain these policies and procedures to all their students in all their classes several times during the year. In addition, teachers also distribute these policies and procedures to their students in writing, which, in turn, are shared with parents at the beginning of the year.

Reporting:

Teachers consistently report assessment to students, parents and administrators.

• Progress reports (quarterly)
• Report cards (quarterly)
• Parent-Teacher conferences (as needed)
• State-of-the-School (January)
• SIS (Student information System): An online grade book where teachers may record grades. These grades are accessible to parents and students 24 hours a day.
• Email (as needed)
• Phone calls (as needed)
• Digital Portfolios (quarterly, in some classrooms)
• IEP: Individual Educational Plan for Special Education Students

Policy review

This policy will be reviewed yearly by the coordinator and school personal. Staff, parents and students will be allowed
input when making adjustments to the policy, ensuring compliance with IBO.
Policy updated August 2022

Sources:

• MYP: From principles into practice, (2014), International Baccalaureate Organization, Geneva, Switzerland