PYP Column
by Ibu Ratna Putri
Assessment Time flies. It is the end of the school year (again!). The end of the academic year is always identical to assessing students' learning and reporting to parents. Assessment is, in fact, far beyond those two activities. This edition of the PYP Column will see what assessment means in SPH.
What is assessment? The IB defines assessment as an ongoing process of gathering, analyzing, reflecting, and acting on evidence of student learning to inform teaching. Notice here the two keywords: learning and teaching. The first word, "learning", means that assessment focuses on the students. The students' learning outcomes (results of learning) and the learning process (how to reach the results) are assessed.
When to assess? The definition of assessment includes the word "ongoing process". It implies that assessment does not happen in the summative weeks towards the end of the unit, the end of the school term, or the end of the academic year only. Instead, assessment happens all the time. It is an ongoing process. As a matter of fact, assessment is interwoven into the learning and teaching process. The word “teaching” clarifies further that the assessment results inform teachers to modify their teaching. Students' assessment results tell teachers if the students have grasped, are grasping, or have not grasped the concepts being taught. Students' work, answers, questions, and body language form the data for teachers to analyze and judge. The data helps teachers make an informed judgment if the class should continue with the next learning step or if teachers must reteach the topic using a different approach.
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