To provide feedback to parents about their child’s progress, to identify areas of strength and weakness and to provide further instruction, AIS uses a wide variety of assessment methods.
Summative assessments are tasks given to students at the end of a unit of work to test their understanding of the concepts covered and how well they have learned the planned outcomes.
Formative assessments are tasks given to students throughout a unit of work to check progress and to help fine-tune the teaching approaches and learning arrangements for the students so that they remain on target. These not only inform the teacher of a student’s progress but also of the effectiveness of the teaching approach and curriculum design.
Assessment from Preschool to Year 10 is internal. Teachers set a range of assessment tasks for students at all year levels. Students are advised of the nature of the task, its relevance to their learning and the success criteria in advance. Consideration is given, when setting assignments, to students with learning support needs.
Individual student assessment results are tracked from year to year. These enable teachers to plan their teaching around the needs of the class and each student and to follow each child’s development over time. From Preschool to Year 10, student progress is measured against agreed benchmarks in line with the learning outcomes in the Australian curriculum.
In Year 3, 5, 7 and 9 students sit the Australian NAPLAN tests which provide assessment of student progress benchmarked back to student achievement levels in Australia. Each year all students sit Australian Council for Educational Research tests in Literacy and Numeracy enabling teachers to identify achievement levels of each student and to track progress over time.
In Years 11 and 12 students sit external assessment through the IB Diploma Program. This rigorous program guarantees assessment standards on an international basis.
Our learning program at AIS celebrates every student’s achievements. We believe that feedback is fundamental to effective learning, and to this end, our formal reporting process includes the following:
