Student-Led Assessment and Student Agency in the IB PYP

Hello again! And welcome to the third part of our conversation of assessment in the IB PYP classroom.  If you’re just joining me, welcome to the end of this conversation about assessment and student agency. You can read parts 1 and 2 right here, if you want to keep it all in context.

Following on from part 2, which listed ten forms of inclusive assessment for an IB PYP classroom, I wanted to complete this 3 part conversation on assessment with ways to record the evidence gathered from assessment activities.

By gathering evidence about ongoing student achievement, the evidence can assist both teachers and students in making judgements about their progress and accomplishments of standards and outcomes. It also provides feedback about how each child can improve their skills and their learning. The following list of inclusive assessment activities can be used by teachers and students collaboratively to gather and monitor learning progress at all levels in the IB PYP.

If you haven’t yet read parts 1 and 2 of this 3 part series you can catch up by clicking here.
 

Inclusive Assessment – Recording the Evidence

Students and teachers should work towards collaboration with deciding  how to gather and record their evidence from assessment activities.  Evidence may include:

• teacher observations,
• peer observations and evaluation,
• self-evaluation,
• teacher-student conferences,
• questioning and feedback.

Recording evidence for assessment can take a variety of forms including grades, individual anecdotal notes, conversations with constructive criticism, audio/visual recordings, digital records. It should:

• be manageable for both students and teacher ( differentiated as necessary and clearly formatted/ organised)
• focus on particular strengths and areas for improvement
• focus on all areas of the learner and not only the academic
• focus on student’s progress in relation to standards/outcomes

Assessment activities can include: 

• gathering a range of student’s work across the course of the unit, throughout the year. ( beginning, middle and end ) The student’s working

  

  binder can be used to store this evidence throughout each unit and their portfolio can store it throughout the course of each year. This evidence can include written, oral, art and multimedia samples.

• provide the students with the opportunity to create their own contextual learning activities that can be observed and evaluated by peers and the teacher – these can be activities used for formative and summative assessments.
• provide authentic and contextual learning opportunities that can be observed by other students and the teacher
• create activities that integrate the students’ use of knowledge, skills and understanding ( rather than isolated subjects or skills)
• observing students during participation in collaborative group work through audio/visual recording devices
• and facilitating peer and teacher conferences for self-evaluation, peer evaluation and teacher feedback

  

   

  

• analysing student’s work ( written, oral, digital, ATL skills) against criteria including checklists, rubrics etc.
• analysing and comparing students’ reflections on their progress monitoring ( before, during, after) These can be written reflections, goal setting, graphing data etc.
• making constructive judgements about their learning
• comparing progress

Using the Evidence as Data

Once you’ve got the evidence, it can be used for in a number of ways by both the teacher and the student.

Teachers: 

• record the performance of individual students, groups of students and your class across a specific curricular area, skill or strategy
• evaluate student progress related to school/district standards and outcomes
• re-evaluate the effectiveness and direction of your teaching and planning based on the children’s progress
• collaborative planning based on the students understanding and lines of inquiry ( this can be team planning with colleagues or co-planning with the students. You can link to co-planning and student agency right here to learn more about this) 
• make decisions about what to assess next, using the current data as your basis for moving forward
• inform the children, their parents and other staff members involved of a student’s progress, their strengths and challenges to be addressed

Students:

• reflect on their own learning ( you can find journals for ALL age levels specifically for developing this skill of reflective thinking here.)
• make constructive judgements about their strengths and challenges
• set goals for their next steps
• discuss and co-plan with their teacher to set goals for their learning
• celebrate their growth and success with peers, parents and other teachers

SO, PUTTING ALL THREE PARTS OF ASSESSMENT AND STUDENT AGENCY TOGETHER, I AM HOPING THAT YOU MANAGED TO GET SOMETHING FROM IT ALL, NOT LEAST HOW STUDENT AGENCY CAN LOOK FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF ASSESSMENT.

The materials that you see in this article are being added to my Reflection Packet in my Teachers Pay Teachers store this week. If you already own this resource, you will be able to download it again and grab the additional assessment tools without further cost.  Subscribers got these materials for free in their inbox earlier. Perks! :))

Are You Ready to Step Into A More Inclusive Assessment Practice?

Guiding Reflection and Assessment:  I have also created a comprehensive assessment resource for you if you're looking to step into a more inclusive practice with reflection and assessment.  It is geared towards promoting the voice of the children and enabling their own hand with assessment of their learning. Step by step, day-by-day, encourage the children through guided reflection and self & peer assessment. 

Keep sharing your ideas with me too! I’m always keen to learn how others are implementing assessment and agency.

Enjoy!

P.S. You can find more ideas on my Instagram account @pypteaching. Pop on over and say "Hi".