SENIOR SCHOOL STUDENT - PARENT HANDBOOK

• be carried out using shared criteria, methods and standards.
• use a variety of assessment strategies (make use of multiple forms of
evidence);
• indicate clear performance targets for students, and the purposes of
each assessment should be explicit (transparency);
• provide timely feedback in an accessible and easily understandable
form;
• incorporate authentic assessment tasks, which reflect “real world”
tasks and achievements;
• include self-assessment;
• accommodate different learning styles, aptitudes, linguistic and
educational backgrounds;
• be based on what is being taught and the expected outcomes;
• include both formative and summative aspects;
• incorporate procedures for ensuring consistent results independent of
the assessor and the time of the assessment (reliability);
• measure what it claims to measure (validity);
• be monitored, evaluated and revised regularly;
• address the intellectual, social, and physical development of the
student;
We distinguish clearly between “assessment” and “evaluation”:
Assessment is the collection and analysis of data about student learning. It
identifies what students know, understand, value, and what they can do at
various stages of the learning process.
Evaluation is a judgment based on the results of assessment and is
represented by a number grade (1-7).
Assessment is broadly categorized as:
• Formative assessment: refers to evidence used to adapt teaching to
meet student needs and to help students understand their progress
and how they could improve e.g. observations, quizzes, homework,
initial drafts, teaching questions. Formative assessment takes place
during the learning process and teachers give feedback to the
students in a variety of forms to help them to improve their learning. It
is designed to answer the question “is learning taking place?” The
results of formative assessments are used to guide learning and
are not used for grading (evaluation).
• Summative assessment: refers to the periodic (end of unit, semester or
year) assessment of pupils’ overall achievement, and is designed to
provide a comprehensive, summary description of performance and
progress in pupils’ learning e.g. final versions of written work, tests,
exams, projects, performances. It is designed to answer the question
“did learning occur?” and the results are expressed as numbers.
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