From the Head of School

 

How to Assess

When I started teaching, I would typically start a report card with a comment like, “John scored 64% in the end of term exam, where the average was 58%.” Being new to the profession, I did what my colleagues did and I had experienced as a student.

The jargon phrase that describes this approach is “normative assessment,”  where the norm - or standard by which the student is measured - is the average of their peers, and the highest accolade is to be ‘top of the class’.  In such a system, parents were encouraged to ask children how they did in their subjects, and would get replies such as ‘Well, I came fourth in maths, but was a bit below average in English.’ 

At ISA, a report card comment referencing averages would stand out like a sore thumb, and we would much prefer parents to ask, ‘what did you learn?’ rather than ‘how did you do?’  Learning isn’t a competitive sport, it is a journey toward reaching one’s maximum potential.  

ISA’s jargon for assessment is called ‘standards based.’  In this system the criteria for effective performance are made explicit from the start.  For example, an essay has to have an introduction that defines terms and makes assumptions explicit, the main body has to present an argument and counter argument and represent different perspectives.  And so on. The student is assessed by the extent they reached these criteria.  Thus, it is quite possible for every student to ‘come top’.  How they did against an average of their peers is neither here nor there; what matters is the next step they will take to improve.  

Students are encouraged to focus on their own learning rather than their place in a hierarchy of results.  Nor does an end of term or midterm exam define their overall performance; it is one more piece of evidence.  Knowing how to reflect on their learning to figure out for themselves the way forward is more important than just scoring the grades.

Over the last month, parents have received interim reports and discussed their children’s progress at parent teacher conferences.  The children themselves should have been a big part of whatever discussions followed. Of course, it is important to celebrate significant progress and express concern about a lack, but it is better still for a child to know where they are at, why they are there, where they need to be, and how to get there.  

ISA does not just expect its students to learn and improve.  We expect it of ourselves as well.  Next week we will send out a survey to parents about how we give formal feedback.  We are not seeking to compare ourselves with other schools - to get a percentage score to pronounce ourselves the top school in Scotland or the world.  We want to focus on what we do and how we can do it better.