Assessment is a continuous process of gathering and interpreting evidence to make judgments about student learning. Assessment identifies what students know, understand and can do at different stages in the learning process. Assessment assists teachers to plan, guide and implement learning.

Principles of assessment

The International School of Hyderabad recognizes that teaching, learning and assessment are fundamentally interdependent. We are guided by the following principles:

Students:

have differing learning styles
have different cultural experiences, expectations and needs
perform differently according to the context of learning
need to know their achievements and areas for improvement in the learning process
should receive feedback that is positive and constructive
have an active role to play in self assessment and peer assessment

In the curriculum and instructional process, assessment:

forms an integral part of the planning/assessment/reporting cycle
monitors the progress of student learning and achievement
determines the effectiveness of teaching
informs curriculum and assessment review
utilises a variety of methods
should be in a context that is relevant and motivating to students

Late submission of assessment items

Clear guidelines are given to students at the beginning of the school year by all class teachers. Extensions to deadlines will be given at the individual teachers’ discretion.

Each assessment task contributes to the development of a student’s profile and thus to his/her grade. It is extremely important, in the interests of fairness and equity, that all students adhere to the following guidelines.

Assessment tasks must be submitted on the day due, unless illness or misadventure has occurred.

Work will not be accepted late unless:

the student is absent on the due date because of an unforeseen occurrence. In this case the work will be submitted on the student’s return to school and should be accompanied by a note from the parent / guardian with a medical certificate if appropriate,
a written request from the student (with a parent /guardian’s endorsement) with the reason clearly stated is received before the due date.

Reasons to apply for an extension could include:

illness during the time given for the assignment
an unexpected absence from school during the time set for the assignment.

Note: Failure of technology used to complete the assignment is not a valid excuse.

If work is submitted late without a satisfactory explanation, it will only be marked until work is returned to the other students in the class, however, the result will not be used to assess the final grade for that semester and the teacher will record the late submission.

If work is submitted after the task has been returned to other students, a zero will be given, however, the teacher will provide feedback in the form of a written comment.

When work is not submitted at all, a zero will be given.

Benchmark Testing

Each year around February, ISH administers the ‘International Schools’ Assessment’ (ISA) as the benchmark test for students in Grades 3-8. ISA is the world’s leading assessment agency. ISA also conducts the ‘Programme of International Student Assessment’ (PISA) in over 50 countries. The PISA is the standard means of comparing academic performance in different countries. There are four separate ISA scales: Reading Literacy, Mathematical Literacy, and Writing Narrative & Writing Argument. Each scale has a range of scores from 0 to 800 points, with 500 points being the average for a 15-year old student.

This calibration against PISA and other international school worldwide allows the ISA scores to be directly comparable with the data from more than 50 countries.

The ISA results indicate the following:

Academic standards at ISH
Increase in learning is from year to year

Each student receives a detailed written report of her/his performance with the ISH end of year report.