Student Assessment

What are some of the strategies and tools which IB schools use to assess student learning? Why should we use these strategies and tools to assess student learning? 

            IB schools use a wide range of strategies and tools to assess student learning. The IB program is embedded with the Learner Profile, concepts, and attitudes all which are hung in the classrooms and presented in all the student material; positive mindsets and behaviors which students strive to achieve in various everyday life ways and then evaluated on such as being a thinker, reflective, and balanced.  

            The students are assessed through formative and summative assessments. The summative assessment is large expectation and unit goal for the students. It is important to make sure that students are aware of the initial expectation and goal of the summative assessment from the very beginning of the unit so that their prior knowledge can be determined to see how the criteria and rubric will be created formatted on grade and curriculum level. In one of my 6^th grade English units, the summative assessment was for students to explain the differences between refugees and migrants through a power point presentation. Formative assessments included checking the students step by step throughout the completion process. Examples include having class discussions, mid unit reflections or small quizzes, mini dramas, and other ways to test what the students understand or are curious to learn more about. 

            These strategies and tools are important because it helps the students to process their learning; so they can conceive what they have learned and personalize it to move beyond the classroom. Additionally, it is important to strategize the assessments to match different learning styles and then always evaluate the students individually and not as a group.