Introduction
This policy provides guidance for ensuring that examinations and assessments are conducted efficiently and in the best interest of students. It is the responsibility of everyone at ZES to read, understand and implement this policy.
Aims of this Policy
- To provide guidance to teachers on the interpretation of students’ work
- To prescribe the different ways that assessment at ZES can provide evidence of student performance against the expected outcomes of the curriculums
- To guide teachers on processes of assessment as a means for providing feedback to students as an additional strand of learning
- To describe the different forms of assessment we use at ZES, such as tests and examinations, projects, oral presentations, written work and practical work
Assessment: Principles and Practice
At ZES, all learning outcomes (which include knowledge and understanding of a subject as prescribed by the curriculum, as well as the schools’ learning outcomes relating to students’ cognitive, personal and academic skills) should be explicitly stated for each unit of a course being taught.
Principles
In light of assessment of the learning outcomes, in ZES the following principles underpin our assessments:
- Assessment (i) monitors the progress of student learning and (ii) stipulates achievement against set criteria
- Assessment produces easy-to-understand achievement data for students, parents, teachers and school/college management
- It generates information that can be used for evaluation of teaching and assessment practice
- It provides a source of feedback from teachers to students
- It supports learning
As a background to these principles we understand that students:
- Have differing learning styles which can impact their performance in assessments
- Have different learning needs
- Can perform differently in different learning contexts (i.e. scoring low in mathematics compared to other subjects)
- Need to know their achievements and areas for improvement
- Should receive feedback that is constructive and provides direction and stimulus for learning
In light of these statements, the following principles apply to all assessments at ZES:
Principle 1
Feedback after assessment is an opportunity to support students’ learning. Therefore, at ZES, assessment is used to guide students’ learning endeavours and provides a measure of each student’s attainment. It is essential therefore, that teachers ensure that well thought-out assessment and feedback is able to influence teaching and student learning.
Principle 2
Effective and efficient assessment and feedback is central to the effective implementation of each curriculum. Therefore, the development of assessment methods and structured feedback should be a core consideration of teachers’ during term planning and lesson planning.
Principle 3
Student assessments should be valid, reliable and consistent.
Valid assessments measure all or part of the stated outcomes of a course. All course outcomes should be assessed through the course of each academic session. Assessment is valid when the method of assessment used is appropriate for the learning outcome. For example, assessment does not assess memory (recall of facts) when it is supposed to be assessing problem-solving skills.
Assessment is reliable when it produces similar results with a student if they are re-tested.
Explicit performance criteria/ marking schemes should be produced to ensure validity and reliability of assessments. Such criteria or marking schemes add to the openness and accountability of assessment in Ziauddin Schools. These also negate any criticisms of teachers’ subjectivity/ bias in the assessment process.
Consistent assessment is an expectation across all Ziauddin Schools and Colleges in the ZES. Parents should expect that comparable assessment decisions would be made across all Ziauddin Schools and Colleges. Assessment consistency ensures that our assessment of students is accurate and dependable.
Principle 4
Regular opportunities for formative assessment should be included in all courses at all grade levels. Formative assessment should be used by teachers with students to close any gap between students’ actual and expected performance. Teacher’s feedback from formative assessment can be written, electronic or verbal. Formative assessment tasks can include (but should not be limited to) quizzes or short tests, or teachers may incorporate formative assessment into in-class learning activities.
Principle 5
High quality feedback is expected from all Ziauddin teachers. It should be timely, constructive and, in part and where appropriate, engage students in self-assessment and reflection on learning. This enables students to make their own judgements about their achievements and to self-correct. At ZES we want our students to learn the skills they need to assess their own work and therefore teachers should consider how to enable them to become more proficient in this area.
Feedback from teachers:
- Should specify a student’s current performance measured against the course learning outcomes
- Should suggest possible strategies for the student in relation to achieving the learning outcomes, especially in areas where assessment has identified weaknesses. Teachers should frame this as ‘forward-looking’ support for on-going student learning
- Should be timely and useful (including feedback from examinations) and is used to feed-forward into improvement of performance
Principle 6
Teachers should apply a range of assessment methods to the courses they teach, for both summative and formative assessments. By being exposed to a variety of assessment methods, students will be able to demonstrate their ability to apply their knowledge and understanding, and also demonstrate a range of abilities they have acquired (e.g. critical thinking and reasoning, problem-solving, analysis and evaluation etc.)
Where new methods of assessment are introduced, it is essential that students have practice assessments to ensure the actual assessment is measuring their subject knowledge rather than their competency with the new assessment method.
Principle 7
Schools/Colleges will provide the appropriate environment and resources teachers and students need for assessment, especially for examinations.
Principle 8
The school/college Principal should monitor and evaluate assessment and feedback.
Practice
Given the principles outlined above, assessment in Ziauddin Schools and Colleges is characterised by:
- being varied across curriculum components
- high levels of feedback which motivates students
- accurately reflecting students’ achievements (i.e. it is valid, reliable and consistent)
- measuring students’ understanding rather than just recall
- formative (to assist students’ developing understanding and knowledge) and summative (assessing students’ acquired understanding, skills and knowledge) approaches
- incorporating students’ reflection on how they have learned (e. developing metacognition)
- supporting students setting their own learning targets
- Assessment must foster students’ motivation and self-confidence
- Assessment is an ongoing part of students’ learning
The following processes define the assessment of students as ZES:
- The purpose of assessment is made explicit to students
- Assessment must be valid, reliable, consistent, authentic and timely
- Assessment results are to be communicated clearly and accurately
- Assessment should be used formatively to identify areas where students need extra support
Assessment Guidelines
- Teachers are responsible for monitoring and managing the workload of students in conjunction with the ZES annual academic calendar
- Assessments must be moderated (i.e. cross-checked) to ensure quality and accuracy
- Timely notifying of parents of students’ under-performing (i.e. not to be left to the end of the term)
- Each teacher is required to keep evidence of assessments as well as accurate records
Guidance for Examinations
ZES has regulations for the conduct of examinations, outlined in the numbered paragraphs below. For examinations, the following principles apply:
- Examination regulations must be displayed in the school/college and explained to all students
- Students must be informed of the full details of an examination including time, location and duration.
- Rooms used for examinations are fit for purpose and properly prepared
Written Examinations
– Proper procedures must be taken to ensure the security of the examination papers and answer scripts to and from the examination venue
– Procedures must be in place to ensure the appropriate invigilation of examinations
– Schools/ Colleges must follow the policy that is in place to deal with unauthorised materials in examinations. (See ZES Academic Honesty Policy)
– All assessment materials are to be kept secure at all times
Non-written Examinations (oral)
– In some circumstances (e.g. language courses) there may be non-written examination of students. In such cases, teachers must have some recorded evidence of assessment which can be verified (e.g. audio recording, videotaping or third-party written record)
– There should be at least two teachers present during an oral assessment
Proctored Examinations
There are circumstances where Ziauddin Schools and Colleges use a ‘proctored examinations’ approach. ZES uses proctors to monitor students during an examination when that examination is happening off school/college premises (for example, when students have been studying remotely and continue to be unable to attend an examination in person at an examination venue).
Before taking an exam, the school must follow these protocols:
- Each student must verify his/her identity. This can be confirmed by the proctor who is usually a teacher or by taking a face photo where the proctor is not from the school/college so that the photo ID can be checked.
- A video scan of the desk and the room where the exam is to be taken. This must be undertaken BEFORE EACH examination.
Proctored examination environment rules:
- The student must take the exam in the same room that was scanned prior to the exam starting.
- No other person is allowed to enter the room while the student is taking the proctored exam.
- The lighting in the room must be bright enough to be considered “daylight” quality.
- The desk or walls around the room must not have any writing.
- The room must be as quiet as possible – sounds such as music or television are not permitted.
- The following items must not be on the desk/table or used during the proctored exam, unless it is an open-book examination or otherwise permitted:
- Books
- Paper
- Textbooks
- Notebooks
- Phones
- Dissemination of Examination Results
The following key principles apply to the dissemination of examination results:
- The results of examinations are recorded and records maintained
- Students must get their examination results in a timely manner and only through official channels
- ZES teachers are required to review examination papers to identify areas of further study, reinforcement or extension required by students
- Students’ results must never be placed on notice boards/ soft boards
- Students’ results should never be given over the phone
- Students’ results must never be given to any third party, unless written authorisation by the students’ parent(s) or guardian is provided