Tohoku International School (TIS)
Secondary Assessment
Philosophy and Policies
Assessment Philosophy at TIS
At TIS, we believe that well-designed assessment benefits all parties involved in learning andteaching. It is a key method of feedback and confirms student achievement, which allows for students toreflect and identify areas of strength and weakness. After reflection, students can further take initiative andresponsibility towards becoming lifelong learners. The assessment itself, and the promise of achievement,
can also serve as a short-term motivation for students to encourage active participation in the learning
process.
Assessment informs the teaching process. Teachers use data from assessments to guide the learning
process. It also helps to define goals for learning and, when well defined and applied consistently, can help
to maintain consistency across curricula and over the years.
Assessment provides parents with information on their child’s learning, allowing them to encourage
further growth both inside and outside of school. It also provides meaningful information to outside parties
about students, allowing those parties to open opportunities for further growth and development to deservingstudents.
Well-designed assessment is, to the greatest extent possible, inclusive, reliable, and valid. Inclusivemeans that the assessment avoids bias that would put certain students at a disadvantage. Reliable means thatthe assessment will provide results that are consistent. Valid means that the assessment assesses theappropriate knowledge or skills related to the learning goals.

Homework Policies at TIS
At TIS, “Homework” refers to assignments meant to be done at home for practice, especiallyrepetitive practice, not simply tasks like reading, finishing projects etc that normally do not fit in the schoolday.
For students in Grades 7-10, homework is assigned in order to reinforce learning and allow students
to develop confidence in mastering concepts and skills that will connect to future topics. It is due between
9:00 AM and 9:00 PM, in order to avoid encouraging students to be up late at night and allow “digitalcurfews” at the discretion of the student and parent.
For students in the Diploma Programme (DP) (Grades 11-12), homework is optional, and should be
mainly offered to support the acquisition of skills and content by students.

Internal and External DP Assessment
All best practices and procedures for DP internal and external assessment must be followed as
described in the most recent publication of the DP Assessment Procedures. ​(Principles and practices: pg 78 162)

Formal Assessment
Formal assessment, both formative and summative, is designed by the secondary teaching team. It is
integrated into the curriculum, and it is the final responsibility of the Secondary and DP Coordinator. Eachformal assessment at TIS should be valid for the purposes for which it is intended; that is, it should be abalanced combination of relevance, reliability, fairness (that is, free from bias), and comparability. It shouldhave a positive “backwash effect,” meaning its design and usage must encourage good quality teaching andlearning.
Formal assessment should be appropriate to the widest possible range of students, allowing them thechance to demonstrate their personal level of achievement. It should be planned in coordination with theteaching and curriculum team, with attention paid to alignment with the TIS Stars, Philosophy ofAssessment, and the IB (DP) Programme and Mission. Particular focus should be on how formal assessment
is used to foster the underlying principles of IB assessment: inquiry, fundamental cognitive skills(knowledge, understanding, application), higher-order thinking (synthesis, reflection, evaluation, criticalthinking), communication, and international-mindedness ​(p 77 Principles and Practice…)​.
A range of formal assessments should be employed, including (but not limited to) standardized tests,projects, essays, experiments, and presentations.
Descriptions of assessments are made available to all relevant parties (teachers, students, andparents) on each course syllabus. The syllabus should also clarify how the final grade is formulated for agiven course. Rubrics and other assessment frameworks should be clear to students at the start of a project orunit. The results of summative assessments, when applicable, should be recorded in our database, Alma,​ ​andshared with parents.
The opportunity should be provided for the student to be involved in the assessment of his/her work.
The student is encouraged to reflect on each formal assessment. When deemed appropriate by the teachingand curriculum team, class time should be dedicated specifically for preparation for assessments including
the Internal Assessments and External Assessments for the DP. Please see the ​Course Guides for each DPcourse​ and the all school ​Assessment Calendar​.
Late Work Policy● 20% for any work turned in late. Work is not accepted after 7 days from the due date at which
point students will receive a 0% on the assignment. This policy applies to summative
assessments as well.
● Students who are forced to miss a deadline due to an absence will be given a chance toreschedule (especially important for quizzes, tests, and presentations). If the student isproactive about rescheduling, then the assignment will not be counted late.
● Students who do not complete and turn in a summative assessment by the cutoff date will
receive an incomplete and must appeal to the head of secondary. The head of secondary willmeet with the student to decide the consequences of the incomplete assessment.
● Revisions - Teachers will, whenever possible, plan in drafts (formative assessment). Drafting
is considered to be part of the revision process. When drafting is not practical before thegrade, students can earn 50% of the points the student missed for revisions handed in within aweek of the graded assessment being returned.
● In the case of special considerations like educational trips that happen during school, orserious health-related problems (e.g. the flu, hospitalization)- the head of secondary will workwith the teachers to set realistic deadlines that are fair to both the student and the teacher.

The following documents were reviewed by all secondary teachers when drafting
this assessment policy:Principles and Practices in a Digital Age.pdfp. 12, and p 36-77.
Guidelines for developing a school assessment p...
Review of this Policy:
This document was reviewed in September 2020 by:
Winnie Chan, Brian Scadden, and Joshua Bengtson