Assessment Policy

1 Mission statement

We, Senja videregående skole, find it important to give a varied educational offer. A diverse body of students gives the opportunity to an exciting and developing learning environment for both students and teachers. We will, through good dialogue and a respectful positive attitude, create a good working environment.

We want to facilitate our students in obtaining the best results possible. We will continuously work in developing and practicing a range of teaching and learning methods that contribute to each student receiving an education that is suited to his or her aspirations, abilities and needs. Our students are important contributors in our planning and are given responsibilities and duties.

Dialogue and cooperation are important features of our teaching and learning environment. We place our students in the core of our thinking. Our students are active contributors, and our teachers are inspiring, monitoring, knowledgeable pedagogues who are well-respected.

Senja videregående skole’s pedagogical platform is based on our slogan “MMS”:

M
Mangfold
(Diversity)

M
Mestring
(Excellence)

S
Samhold
(Unity)

Diversity through an international school environment by respecting other people’s values and traditions. Diversity also means that each and every one of us is unique and that people with their differences can also be right.

Excellence through strong academic tradition; by maintaining high standards (highly qualified teaching staff as well as high academic achievement standards); by helping and aiding students to achieve their academic goals through focusing on approaches to teaching and approaches to learning.

Unity: Senja videregående skole wants to be a school with good relations between all groups in our organization. We interact with each other in a positive manner. We focus on bringing people together and creating good learning environments with emphasis on student democracy.

As learning community, we develop individuals and groups in the school environment as inquirers, knowledgeable, thinkers, communicators, principled, open-minded, caring, risk-takers, balanced, and reflected.

 

As learning community, we develop individuals and groups in the school environment as inquirers, knowledgeable, thinkers, communicators, principled, open-minded, caring, risk-takers, balanced, and reflected.

We know that our students come from a diverse background academically and that we therefore need to pay attention to the needs of each individual, especially concerning assessment.

All IB students are regularly assessed within each subject according to the IB criteria, and hence regularly informed of their progress in each subject. The assessment is both formal and summative, following the IB criteria, and formative, focusing on the academic development of each student. This is done through a wide range of measures:

1. The Internal Calendar:

The IB coordinator, in collaboration with all IB teachers, produces an Internal Calendar for the school year. The students may suggest alterations. The calendar contains deadlines for end of term evaluations and examinations, as well as internal assessments, mock examinations, externally assessed work/examinations. 

2. Term Plans – Written Curriculums- Unit plans:

Subject teachers produce a term plan, giving a broad outline of time allotted to each topic, tests, and lab reports. Based on the term plan, subject teachers produce a more detailed plan, which also may involve the students. This provides both teacher and student with a common understanding of the time limits, in addition to creating a stronger sense of responsibility in terms of deadlines for the students.

3. Methods of Teaching – Approaches to teaching – Approaches to learning:

Through diagnostic assessments during the first months of the academic year, and when we start with new subject units, we (teachers and students) get an overview of the student’s knowledge level. This provides a framework which helps us during planning and structuring our lessons and approaches to teaching.

Students are challenged to show their academic understanding through different methods such as oral and written tests, multi per choice, source criticism, use of technology, Socratic dialogue, presentations, role-play, discussions prepared by students or teacher, topic elaboration with no teacher involvement, creative writing, and formal writing, etc. Sometimes the teacher chooses the method based on the topic, other times students are asked to influence the choice. When confronted with an opportunity to influence the method, the students are afterwards also more conscious of the learning experience and are more likely to elaborate when self-assessing. 

4. Self-Assessment:

Through the course of the programme, the students are continuously involved in assessments, both prior to and after the product is finished. They are made aware of the criteria set by the IB and are through conversations with their respective subject teachers reminded of these during the process. After the final self-assessment is done, the teacher gives his/her assessment of the product, making sure that there is a common understanding between student and teacher what needs to be focused on in the future.

5. Peer Assessment: 

When introduced to the IB grade criteria, students are challenged to evaluate each other’s work, commenting on positive aspects, as well as giving constructive suggestions to areas of improvement. This will provide the student with a better understanding of the subject, the topic given, common courtesy, as well as the criteria.

6. Formative and Summative Assessment:

The IB grade system is used in formal assessment, after the students are introduced to and familiarized with the IB criteria. Each student is given minimum one tutorial per term in each subject. Students are encouraged to set goals, define problem areas and ways to overcome them, and suggest methods that will ensure academic progress. In the conversation with the subject teacher, we use a form called PACT. PACT is an acronym that we have developed, which stands for Presence, Academic progress, Class environment and Time management, created to make the students more conscious of these important aspects.

When working on various assessment components both in the subjects and core components, reflection and feedback upon the work and process in relation to the ATL skills plays an important role. Teachers and students then use the reflection documents, such as for example the EE reflection document by the IB, to structure and organize the reflection. 

Parents are informed about the IB Diploma assessment procedures when students start the IB programme. In addition, the parents and students are invited to parents’ meeting during the course of the programme for further awareness of the assessment criteria.

Assessment grades and comments on assessments are readily available to all students on our digital LMS. Students are given predicted summative grades based on progress every term via Visma InSchool.

Every teacher uses both formative and summative assessment in their subjects. Both methods of assessment are reflected in the term plans – unit planners – course plans of each subject. Each subject teacher creates these course plans at the beginning of each course, hence during DP year 1. The summative assessments, such as the internal assessments and the external assessments, are included in these course plans and all the formative assessment situations are based on the internal and external assessments in the DP program. Hence, the students work with authentic exercises that resemble their summative assessment situations from the beginning. However, these authentic exercises are adjusted to the level of the knowledge of the student to strengthen their learning. For example, one early formative assessment situation may focus on writing only the introduction of the essay, while another formative assessment situation at a later stage in the course may ask the student to write both the introduction and two body paragraphs. Each formative assessment situation is comprised of a preparation class where the expectations and demands (such as the evaluation criteria) are discussed and presented to the students, and where the students get to practice the exercise that they will meet during their formative assessment. Feedback that includes the evaluation criteria is then given to them prior to the formative assessment situation either by using self-assessment, peer-review or teacher feedback (expressed as “feedforward”). Homework is used as a part of the preparation for the formative assessment, such as when the students are asked to give feedback to each other until the next class.

Moreover, the evaluation criteria are based on the script identifiers created by the IB examiners. Yet, the criteria may be adjusted according to the differentiated formative assessment situations. Updates to the criteria are oftentimes done collaboratively by the two subject teachers who share the same subject to ensure reliable results. At the same time, some subject teachers, such as our two ToK teachers, are collaborating extensively by creating a course plan – unit planners – term plans that both of them will follow; this commitment includes using the same formative assessment situations and evaluation criteria.

7. Head teacher meetings:

The head teacher has weekly meetings with the students and is also the formal link between each student and all subject teachers. Both students and teachers can present topics for discussion or closer investigation. In addition, the head teacher will introduce topics like “communication skills” to the students through the IB Learner Lessons (IBLL) - following students through CAS, EE and TOK (core subjects) – creating awareness among the learners the importance of being in the centre and taking responsibility for their learning skills. However, the assessments are not done in the IBLL, the results of improvements will be recognized in the individual subject.

8. Coordinator and presence team:

All students have signed student contracts, and they are expected to fulfil these obligations. The DP coordinator, in collaboration with the head teacher, study term grades and arrange advisory meetings with students who do not fulfil realistic goals or with students who have special educational needs (see access and inclusion policy). Students with emotional and/or social problems are offered meetings with the “presence team”, in order to assess progress and future objectives based on the state of the student.

9. Student/ teacher collaboration:

Through regular subject specific meetings with subject teachers, and contact teacher meetings, students have the opportunity to evaluate different aspects of the learning situation. This is done to create a better teaching and learning environment based on the feedback from our students. This also includes assessment practice, approaches to learning and time management. In addition, there is a general student survey at a national level conducted every year where the overall school satisfaction and school results are measured. This provides the school (school council), the school owner, the educational authorities and the students with valuable statistics which can be used for school improvement. This information is also used in parent teacher meetings.

10. Mock Exams:

Mocks are arranged during the first dependent on the subject, when students are asked to assess the need for mocks this early in the course, creating a consciousness in relation to the subject’s syllabus and assessment criteria. During the second year, subject specific mocks are arranged on subject days, as well as a mock week during the final term.