Assessment Policy

Last updated: 2 years ago

Statement of Intent

Drivers of assessment	Intended impact on learning
Mission, Vision and High-Quality Learning definition of the FIS IB philosophy IB programme standards and practices Higher education requirements	Motivate and enable all members of the community to achieve their best according to their abilities and interests Be clear what is expected for further education routes and how learners align with these expectations Elevate learning experiences Support a culture of lifelong learning

This policy aims to communicate the purpose of assessment at the FIS to all stakeholders. Aligned with the FIS guiding statements (“Excellence in Global”), the philosophy (“Our Mission”), and the programme standards and practices of the IB (Programme Standards), as well as research-informed best practice, assessment at the FIS is designed to create environments that bring out the best in people, elevate learning experiences, and propel both individuals and groups forward into a lifetime of learning (Ritchhart 5-6). Assessment plays a crucial role in providing students with essential feedback on their learning and thinking, in accordance with the FIS definitions of high-quality learning and international-mindedness.

Learning at the FIS is characterized by encouragement within authentic contexts, a constructivist and inquiry-based approach, emphasis on creativity, and the fostering of critical thinking. Within this framework, our assessment practices are rooted in the core values of caring, curiosity, respect, integrity, and belonging. All assessment at the FIS is expected to be evidence-based, measurable and consistent.

Application of Policy: Rights and Responsibilities of Students, Parents, Teachers, Leadership

	Rights	Responsibilities
Students	Receive timely and meaningful feedback Are encouraged to participate in the design of assessment Will see their personal and cultural identities reflected in assessments Are assessed in accordance with programme requirements according to their learning and language needs Can appeal against teachers’ assessment and the school’s programme decisions	Plan their goals Engage in learning Stick to deadlines Actively seek feedback Reflect on progress Communicate respectfully at all times
Parents	Work with teachers when supporting students’ learning Seek clarification wherever needed Will be provided with progress updates of learning Can appeal against teachers’ assessment and the school’s programme decisions Are informed in a timely manner if students’ performance is deteriorating and are provided with advice and material to help students as appropriate	Monitor students’ independent work at home and check on progress Support learning goals on Toddle and Managebac by discussions at home Respond to teachers’ requests for further support at home Communicate respectfully at all times
Teachers	Have their work schedules respected by receiving timely submission of work Are provided with meaningful suggestions how students’ personal and cultural identities could be reflected Are treated with respect at all times	Continuously learn what students know and do Offer timely, specific and well-considered feedback Reflect on own practice and adjust teaching based on assessment data Work with parents when supporting students’ learning and provide them with timely suggestions where support is needed from home Provide clarification to parents when requested Communicate respectfully at all times
Leadership	Receive clear and timely reports about learning Are informed about difficulties and inconsistencies in mid-term and long-term assessment data trends Encourage opportunities for students to collaborate with teachers on the design of assessments	Use assessment as a tool to evaluate curriculum Use assessment to evaluate effectiveness of teaching Use assessment to evaluate appropriateness of resources and support Use assessment to prioritize professional development Ensure that conditions are in place to implement this policy successfully

All members of the school community play a key role in ongoing assessment practices, be it as learners or when providing feedback on learning. It is important to note that, as we consider ourselves a community of lifelong learners, all members of the community are constantly expected to be both learners and evaluators of learning. Effective assessment provides valuable information to understand what constitutes learning and how to support it, and is meaningful to all members of the learning community.

Students become effective, self-regulated learners when they are actively engaged in assessment and act on constructive feedback. This helps them reflect on their progress, set goals for their learning and engages them in making decisions about what they need to do to achieve these goals.
Teachers become more effective when they continually learn about what students know and can do. They reflect on their practice, adjust their teaching based on data, and offer timely, specific and well-considered feedback to better support learning.
Parents and legal guardians become more informed when they understand the learning goals their child is working towards, and the progress their child is making. They extend their child’s understanding and development of skills when they support learning. They contribute to their child’s joy of learning and growth as a successful learner through sharing insights with the learning community.
Schools become more impactful learning communities when they use assessment as a tool to evaluate the depth of their curriculum and the effectiveness of their teaching. They make decisions about targeting resources and support to the most pressing priorities and professional development needs. (Primary Years 67-8)

Assessment at the FIS is considered an important part of our home-school partnership: Teachers provide feedback on students’ learning whenever provided with evidence. They are expected to communicate assessment information to students, parents and leadership in a timely manner, as necessary and appropriate. Students are aligning their work attitude to assessment routines and schedules. Not engaging with and submitting independent work in a timely manner might affect the timely provision of feedback and could result in grades below a level they might be capable of. Students have the right to appeal against assessment decisions by invoking the IB Complaints Procedure. Parents support their children when preparing for and understanding assessment. Parents should seek clarification from teachers when timelines or the focus of assessment is not clear or not clearly communicated; teachers are expected to respond to such requests in a timely manner. Parents support and remind their children of the timely completion of independent tasks and deadlines. Middle and senior leaders ensure that assessment data are used in a meaningful way when determining necessary steps for school development.

Increasingly, students should play a more active role in the design of assessment, to increase engagement and agency, to provide for more varied assessment addressing the learner variability in a class and to provide opportunities for students to see their personal and cultural identities reflected in their assessment.

Assessment capable learners demonstrate agency and responsibility for their own learning. As lifelong learners, we understand assessment as a tool to help us grow and develop. Assessment capable learners have the skills and mindset to monitor progress, reflect on learning, consider their current level of understanding, set goals and plan next steps to progress further.

As assessment capable practitioners, teachers aim to support students in becoming proactive, self-aware and actively involved in their own learning journey, confident in making adjustments and decisions based on their own assessment and reflection.

Figure 1 provides a definition of our understanding of what it means to develop assessment capable practitioners:

Figure 1. Assessment-capable teacher, Primary Years Programme: Learning and Teaching, IBO, p75.

The policy applies at all times and to all FIS stakeholders. There are no known restrictions, exclusions or special conditions to this policy unless stated either in the inclusion or the language policy.

Students with identified exceptionalities will participate in all assessments with inclusive arrangements pursuant to their Individualized Education Plan (IEP) or their Accommodations Certificate. Further adapted or modified access arrangements will be provided for students with identified EAL needs as per Language Policy and programme requirements. These accommodations are based on specific needs as determined by external professional assessments and serve to allow access to the rigorous curriculum while not providing unfair advantages. For further information, please refer to the Inclusion Policy.

Curricular areas will translate the principles of this policy into subject specific department handbooks where necessary and appropriate, which will be accessible to students and parents.

Holistic Assessment Approach

We align our understanding and practice of assessment with that of the International Baccalaureate Organization as shown in these quotes:

In education, assessment has often been divided into formative (assessment for learning) and summative (assessment of learning). Today, there is a strong movement for “assessment as learning. (Assessment Principles 39)
“Assessment“ can mean any of the different ways in which student achievement can be gathered and evaluated. Common types of assessments include tests, examinations, extended practical work, projects, portfolios and oral work. Sometimes, assessments are carried out over a prolonged period, and at other times they take place over a few hours. Assessments will sometimes be judged by the student’s teacher, while other times they are evaluated by an external examiner. (Assessment Principles 24)

In line with the FIS guiding statements and IB philosophy, meaningful assessment can be described with the following characteristics:

Authentic: It supports making local connections to the real world to promote student engagement.
Clear and Specific: This includes desired learning goals, success criteria and the process students use to learn.
Varied: It uses a wider range of tools and strategies that are fit for purpose to build a well-rounded picture of student learning.
Developmental: It focuses on an individual student’s progress rather than their performance in relation to others.
Collaborative: It engages both teachers and students in the assessment development and evaluation process.
Interactive: Assessment encompasses ongoing and iterative dialogues about learning.
Feedback to Feedforward: It provides feedback on current learning to inform what is needed to support future learning and raises students’ motivation. (Primary Years 72)

Assessment is closely connected to conceptual understanding through all unit designs. Other connections to approaches to teaching could and should include:

Collaboration: The application and quality of assessments should be reflected upon and should, wherever possible, be the product of collaboration within or between curricular areas depending on section. Wherever possible, students should be included in reflection on assessment as well as considerations for the meaningful and impactful design of assessments.
Differentiation: A variety of learning experiences promoting lifelong skills will help implement academic integrity to consolidate learning. Identified learning support and language needs of students must be planned for in all assessments. Differentiated assessment should be the mirror of differentiated instruction.
Local and global contexts: As an internationally minded community, we want to see our diversity and open-mindedness reflected in assessment. Assessments must be inclusive not only in the context of a variety of learning needs, but also with respect to the many personal and cultural identities of our community.

Both formative and summative assessment are expected to be used to assess learning. All assessment is formative and closely connected to an assessment for learning approach (see the connection with developing assessment capable learners above). Summative assessment is designed for specific purposes aligned to IB programme requirements.

Figure 2. Two possible differences in how formative and summative assessments are used, Assessment Principles and Practices – Quality Assessments in a Digital Age, IBO, p26.

All summative assessments across the school must always be designed in such a way that it is possible for students to access the full range of criteria and grades available. Further information is provided in the reporting section below.

Especially feedback on students’ development of areas of IB philosophy, such as approaches to learning, the learner profile and international-mindedness, is only provided in the context of formative and on-going assessment. Summative assessment mainly refers to defined subject specific learning outcomes, criteria, rubrics and mark schemes. Further information on this is provided in the section below.

Recognition

The implementation of IB expectations and requirements for assessment are acknowledged by German authorities to apply for equivalence with certain German certification under certain conditions.

The recognition of assessments at the FIS extends beyond our institution:

Grades 1-9 status Ersatzschule, Grades 10-12 status Ergänzungsschule,
Meeting the set requirements by the KMK, the MYP Programme completion is recognized as the Mittlerer Schulabschluss in Bavaria.
DP Programme, recognized worldwide (“Find Countries/Territories”), including Germany in the form of the Hochschulreife (Kultusministerkonferenz)),
High School Diploma recognized with NEASC and CIS.

Whole school practices on feedback and reporting student achievement

Feedback is to be understood as an invitation to thinking and reflecting. It is an essential part of assessment to improve learning, teaching and assessment. For feedback to be effective, it must be ongoing, in various forms and frequently appropriate to the section. Feedback must provide supportive, clear, challenging, meaningful but achievable actions. Design of assessment should always include at least either a formative pre-assessment or suggestions how to improve before a summative assessment, recorded on the respective platform. Explicit teaching of approaches to learning and feedback on their progress are part of the on-going feedback during a unit.

Summative assessments are scheduled at the end of units, dates published on platforms well in advance. All summative assessment will be standardized and the methods of standardization, as well as grade boundaries, are determined in departmental handbooks. Where students or parents are not convinced that assessment has been organized in an honest, trustworthy, fair, respectful and responsible manner, they are encouraged to invoke the IB complaints procedure and record their concerns.

Summative assessment as well as report grades may be adapted or modified for students with identified and confirmed learning support or EAL needs, as appropriate and determined by IB assessment frameworks. In addition, an academic support programme is offered for students not meeting grade level expectations in Grades EY3 to Grade 8. Further information can be found in IB programme and curricular area handbooks.

Report grades are determined mainly by summative assessments, but also informed by formative assessments. Details are provided in the programme sections. Reports are published twice a year, at the end of semester 1 and at the end of semester 2. The semester 2 report also serves as the summative end of year report. Apart from subject specific grades, reports will also contain reflective comments on students’ development of approaches to learning and their development of the IB learner profile.

Students will be expected to comment on their development of specifically identified approaches to learning at the end of a unit and on the respective platform for their programme. Homeroom teachers and advisors will summarize these reflections in the report and qualify them with respect to students’ development of certain attributes of the IB learner profile.

PYP practices for homework, feedback and reporting on student achievement

In the PYP, Toddle is used to evidence student’s learning and communicate with families regarding their child’s progress.

Students and teachers will upload work samples to their portfolio on Toddle throughout the Unit of Inquiry to document learning journeys.

Teachers communicate students’ learning throughout the course of each Unit of Inquiry (UOI) in a variety of ways such as a portfolio post (which may include anecdotal records, notes, voice notes, photos and work samples from class lessons), or a workbook or learning experience. Teachers communicate one formative assessment per unit, clearly linked to defined learning outcomes; homeroom teachers do so for each of their curricular areas.

At the end of each Unit of Inquiry, teachers measure students’ learning against defined and published learning outcomes, using a standardized assessment tool. Students and teachers spend time together reflecting on assessment data and use the collected data to inform the next steps for students’ growth.

Home learning may occasionally include collaborating on tasks with parents which will support developing a love of learning in the classroom. Regular home learning is limited to home readers and mathematical routines. There may be transitional elements in Grade 5 to prepare students for more independent work routines in the MYP.

Students in Grade 5 will design an exhibition, which provides a milestone opportunity to share and celebrate the collective learning of their PYP journey with their families and the wider community through their personal inquiry into a problem of their choice.

Summative assessment criteria in the PYP are categorized as follows:

Working Towards: Not meeting defined grade level expectations, requires additional support and/or practice.
Meeting: Meeting defined grade level expectations; can work independently with some errors.
Exceeding: Exceeding defined grade level expectations; can work independently with hardly any errors and transfer learning across contexts.

Reports will include percentages or evaluation against rubrics. Information on where to find rubrics for each of the three criteria, either in the form of narrative descriptors or in the form of percentages of achievement are available in departmental handbooks.

MYP practices for homework, feedback and reporting on student achievement

FIS students, teachers, and leaders use ManageBac to evidence each student’s learning and communicate with families regarding their child’s progress – details for frequency and timeliness of feedback are provided in subject specific handbooks. Students are assessed by criterion-related rubrics that are also found in the MYP subject group guides. The rubrics describe eight levels of competency against the unit objectives. Judgments are made by consulting the levels of achievement and assigning the level that best describes the quality of work submitted. The aim is to find the level descriptor that most accurately matches the achievement seen in the work using the best-fit approach across the strands.

To determine the final achievement level in each criterion for each student in reporting, teachers must gather evidence from a range of assessment tasks to enable them to make a professional and informed judgment. Subject groups must assess all strands of all four assessment criteria at least twice in each year of the MYP. In practice, this equates to once per semester in order that students receive a full report card each semester. Levels awarded in reports should be awarded based on the teacher’s professional judgment of where the student is at that time based on the evidence provided in assessments. Teachers are, however, strongly encouraged to design assessments that contain multiple examples of student learning in a variety of criteria as well as assessments of student understanding of the unit’s Statement of Inquiry.

Grades must not be determined by averaging summative performance levels over the year. In Grade 6, teachers will use MYP1 criteria found in the subject guide. For Grades 7 and 8, teachers will use MYP criteria for ‘year 3’ found in the subject guide. For Grades 9 and 10, teachers will use criteria for ‘year 5’ found in the subject guide.

The final report card grade is based on the total of four criteria (a level from 0-8 per criterion, up to a total of 32). Details about grade boundaries and descriptors between 1 and 7 can be found in the MYP handbook.

Authentic assessment tasks in the MYP are generated by teachers and, where appropriate and possible, students. Objectives for each subject group are identified by the MYP subject group guides and are aligned with the assessment criteria. Assessment must support effective teaching and learning ensuring the student is offered an active role. Student feedback should be sought on all assessments.

MYP: External Assessments

All MYP students in Grade 10 must complete a Personal Project, Interdisciplinary Unit and complete the requirements for Service as Action.

MYP requirements are that MYP Certificate candidates must be registered for assessment in at least six subject groups.

On-Screen Assessments

Language and Literature
Language Acquisition (or an additional Language and Literature subject)
Individuals and Societies
Mathematics
Sciences

e-Portfolio

One subject from Arts, Physical and Health Education, or Design.

A student will be registered as an ‘MYP Certificate Candidate’ when, in addition to completing the assessment requirements of six subjects, a candidate must also successfully meet the requirements for:

Interdisciplinary teaching and learning
Personal Project
School Service as Action

The MYP ePortfolios are marked and moderated by classroom teachers. IB examiners assess sample ePortfolios for moderation.

Students, who are not registered in a Language and Literature class, are to be registered as a ‘MYP Course Candidate’. Course Candidates must also meet the requirements of Personal Project and Service as Action requirements.

High School Diploma (Grades 9 to 12)

The FIS High School Diploma is a school leaving certificate that recognizes a student’s cumulative academic achievement over the final four years of Secondary school. The FIS High School Diploma is aligned with and recognized as equivalent to the North American academic school leaving qualification awarded upon high school graduation. Recognition is provided by the school’s joint accreditation with CIS and NEASC. All students in Grades 9-12 are automatically enrolled by the school onto the FIS High School Diploma alongside the externally assessed MYP and DP programmes. In order to be awarded a FIS High School Diploma, students must earn a minimum of 24 credits.

A full credit is awarded, at the end of each academic year, for each class successfully completed. The criterion for success is a FIS grade of 3 or higher. The mid-year report grade is thus only an indicative grade, with the award of a full credit being made at the end of the academic year, determined by the end of year report grade. Half-credits may be awarded in the case of a mid-year course change, or mid-year admission to the school, but where at least a full semester has been completed, to the above standard.

Credits must include:

4 – English
3 – Mathematics
3 – Humanities
3 – Science
2 – Design or Performing Arts or Visual Arts
2 – Physical and Health Education (PHE)
3 – ‘Language and Literature’ or ‘Language Acquisition’ (excluding English)
4 – Further credits from any disciplinary area

Additionally, students must demonstrate:

continuous participation in the Service as Action (Grades 9 and 10) and CAS programs (Grades 11 and 12), meeting all stated learning objectives;
continuous participation in Physical Education is required for graduation;
continuous participation in Global Perspectives (Grades 9 and 10) is required for graduation;
an overall minimum 85% attendance level (including excused and unexcused absences and determined for each of the four years).

Further considerations (e.g. credit conversion and transfer) will apply to students joining the school after the beginning of Grade 9.

In order for students to continue to accrue credit for their High School Diploma in Grades 11 and 12, the following assessments will all be included in the determination of the Semester 1 and End of Year report grades at the appropriate points during the DP:

DP1 End of Year exams
TOK Exhibition
TOK Essay
January Mock Exams
All subjects’ IAs & EAs for the Group 6 subjects

At the exceptional discretion of the head of school, students who have not completed the graduation requirements by the end of Grade 12 but have demonstrated valid academic achievement in other ways may be awarded a FIS High School Diploma. In such a case, the Diploma will be supported by an explanatory letter, issued to the student.

All courses offered in Grades 9 to 12 are designed to meet the assessment objectives of either the IB Middle Years Programme subject groups (Grades 9 and 10) or IB Diploma Programme subjects (Grades 11 and 12).

As such, students have a choice between the following pathways when designing their programme for Grades 11 and 12:

FIS High School Diploma only
FIS High School Diploma + IB Diploma
FIS High School Diploma + IB Course Certificates

HS Diploma courses not resulting in IB certificates

To provide consistency of expectations and practices for students who opt not to pursue an external course certificate with the IB for their classes, the following parameters are intended to support teachers in modifying courses fairly and consistently. Modifications can be made to either or both of:

Assessment components (e.g. criteria, tests, IAs)
Assessment objectives & content

Modification of assessment components is at the discretion of the teacher, pending approval from HoD. Modifying assessment components is the most commonly employed approach to modifying DP courses for credit candidates. It can entail modifications to the defined assessment criteria, test expectations or the mark bands used. For criterion-related assessments, it is recommended that descriptor bands are modified as follows: Descriptor sets are shifted ‘up’ by one band, requiring a newly defined lowest descriptor band and replacing the highest level descriptors by the descriptors that formerly described the next highest band of achievement. For summative assessment, teachers may eliminate the most challenging questions or tasks, ensuring that the resulting assessment is approximately 80% in scope of the comparable DP SL assessment. For Internal Assessment (IA) or External Assessment (EA) coursework components of DP SL courses, departments are encouraged to develop alternative assessments geared towards the individual student’s interests, in the context of the course, wherever possible.

When modifying assessment objects and content, a teacher has the discretion to choose whether this is an appropriate course modification to make, pending approval from the HoD. If this approach is pursued, students are expected to cover approximately 80% of the same assessment objectives and/or content as DP students.

Feedback practices align fully with the programme-specific guidelines in the respective sections of this policy. Students who take a modified DP SL course for HS diploma credit are expected to complete an internal final exam each year. In grade 12, they will also sit a mid-year exam (timing aligned with DP mock exams).

DP practices for homework, feedback and reporting on student achievement

FIS students, teachers, and leaders use ManageBac to evidence each student’s learning and communicate with families regarding their child’s progress – details for frequency and timeliness of feedback are provided in subject specific handbooks. Individual DP subjects are assessed on a 1-7 scale, with 7 being the highest. DP formal assessment consists of final examinations and internal and external assessments, which are created in school and also at home, during the two-year course period. These formal assessments contribute to an individual student’s final DP qualification. Internally organized summative assessments contribute to the FIS high school diploma grades as recorded on reports.

Summative assessments are designed to collect reliable information about what students know and can do under particular conditions/requirements. From the beginning of Grade 11, summative assessments will be based on appropriate subject content, assessment criteria and weightings for particular subject areas and as close to authentic IB assessment components as is possible at that point in the course. Teachers will share task details in advance as well as inform students which assessment criteria or assessment objectives will be assessed in a summative assessment. Teachers will provide written feedback on all summative tasks, based on the assessment criteria or assessment objectives. This will include individualized comments for all students, so that students know how to improve. Resulting grades will contribute to students’ Semester 1 and End of Year grades.

For formal DP assessments, especially where more extensive standardization is required, grades may be published several weeks after the submission date and written feedback may be minimal as students have completed the assessment and no longer require advice on how their work may be improved.

From the outset of Grade 11, teachers will design summative assessments that allow students to access the full range of grades (1 – 7) in order to align with the FIS High School Diploma (HSD) provision, allowing students to earn credits for their HSD. This may require scaffolding and other forms of support and modification with respect to DP defined assessment outcomes and criteria. These supports will naturally be reduced as progress is made through the respective DP courses. Summative assessments in Grade 11 may be adjusted when compared to DP assessment criteria. For example, they may be based on fewer assessment criteria than final IB assessment components. (For example, an English Language and Literature Paper 1 may not assess Criterion C as a scaffold has been provided.)

If students miss regular scheduled summative assessment for medical reasons, they may be requested for evidence such as a doctor’s note. Exams scheduled at the end of Grade 11 and January mock exams in Grade 12 are mandatory and any absences must be excused or accompanied by medical evidence, otherwise the student will receive 0 marks for that assessment.

Formative assessment in the DP aligns with general whole school expectations for formative assessment. In addition, formative assessment should provide clear and transparent feedback with respect to grades students can expect, both in summative assessments and DP exams.

A record of all summative assessments and the student’s grades for them will be available on ManageBac. If the teacher has marked work by hand, scans of this work will be uploaded.

Predicted grades for the purposes of university applications are provided in the Grade 11 End of Year report. To protect the academic integrity of the school and to support our students in making realistic Higher Education choices, these predicted grades are not negotiable. FIS grades for IAs and EAs (except for the EE) will be published. These grades may change when externally assessed by the IB, and a statement to that effect will be included with each grade publication. The final predicted grades submitted to the IB may differ from the predicted grades determined in the Grade 11 End of Year report and are not published to students and parents.

DP: External Assessments

Formal assessments ‘are defined as assessments directly contributing to the final qualification, [and represent] the final summative assessment practice in the IB continuum of education’ (Guidelines for Developing 2). Students are required to submit a feedback draft for all DP internally produced, externally moderated (IA), and internally produced, externally marked (EA) components. This is required by the IB, as an essential part of the academic integrity process, and helps teachers to confidently authenticate the students’ work. (Language B Individual Orals are an exception.). Students are permitted to only receive one round of verbal or written feedback on one draft piece of work. For additional clarifications, teachers will consult their subject-specific guides. Assessment of final IAs and EAs will follow the stipulated requirements set out in each DP subject guide.

Standardization is required for all summative assessments in the DP. Standardization will take place, even where there is only one teacher per subject and level. For example, teachers of the same subject but at a different level can help the usual class teacher to standardize the marking of assessments (e.g. German B SL teacher may listen to German B HL Individual Orals to provide their assessment advice). Details for standardization procedures are provided in subject specific handbooks.

An examination session specific assessment calendar for the two years of the DP will be communicated to parents and students by the end of semester 1 of Grade 11, with the exception of the Extended Essay (EE) timeline, already published in November of Grade 11, at the time of the EE launch. FIS internal summative dates for a year are published at the beginning of each school year and hosted on the ManageBac calendar. They must be adhered to and, once published, any changes in the course of the semester must be authorized by the Deputy Head of Curriculum/DP.

If a student fails to submit a final IA or EA for the school determined deadline, the school reserves the right to take one of the following courses of action:

Mark, standardize and submit the mark of the draft IA or EA. The draft IA will also be uploaded to IBIS, if required for moderation.
If no draft IA or EA was submitted, to consider the submission as a blank file, awarding 0 marks. This means that the student can still receive a grade in this subject, from the other assessment components, such as the exams. If required, an empty file will also be uploaded to IBIS.
Submit an N for non-submission on IBIS. This means that the students cannot be awarded a grade in that subject.

The first two courses of action mean that the student still has the possibility of achieving the full IB Diploma, if they perform well enough in their other assessment components.

Exam results analysis takes place every year, in the autumn. Teachers are provided with subject results from the preceding summer’s exam session in order to collaborate and reflect on teaching and learning practices in their subject areas, identifying areas of strength and areas for development. This analysis may include, but is not limited to, consideration of past results, averages and predictions in conjunction with an analysis of current comparisons to world averages, accuracy of predicted grades and relative performance in each subject assessment component. Core points through the Extended Essay and Theory of Knowledge performance are also included in this analysis.

For all concerns regarding academic integrity, at any point in the DP course, refer to the FIS Academic Integrity Policy.

Process

This policy was first developed during the 2010/2011 school year.

This current version (July 2024) is the result of an inclusive review process, led by the head of curriculum and deputy heads of curriculum with participation from students, parents, teachers and curricular leaders through the school years 2022/23 and 2023/24. It was aligned with expectations from the 2020 IB standards and practices.

Publication Information

Policy approved: July 12, 2024

Effective: August 1, 2024

Supersedes: Assessment Policy 2023

Review date: June 01, 2026 (2 year review cycle)

Works Cited

Assessment Principles and Practices—Quality Assessments in a Digital Age. International Baccalaureate Organization, Nov. 2023. IBO, resources.ibo.org/data/assessment-principles-and-practices-quality-assessments-in-a_bc11f975-b95e-46f8-9537-af018c1f0912/assessment-principles-and-practices-quality-assessments-in-a-en_57a3acb8-66c6-49ba-b651-b329ccce995d.pdf. Accessed 19 June 2024.

“Excellence in Global Education.” The FIS, Franconian International School, 2022, the-fis.de/. Accessed 26 Aug. 2024.

“Find Countries/Territories and Universities That Recognize IB Programmes.” IBO, International Baccalaureate Organization, recognition.ibo.org/en-US/?utm_source=ib+public+website&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=recognition+statements+referral. Accessed 26 Aug. 2024.

“FIS Academic Integrity Policy.” The FIS, Franconian International School, 2022, the-fis.de/policies/fis-academic-integrity-policy/. Accessed 26 Aug. 2024.

Guidelines for Developing a School Assessment Policy in the Diploma Programme. International Baccalaureate Organization, 2010. IBO, resources.ibo.org/data/d_0_dpyyy_ass_1101_1_e.pdf. Accessed 26 Aug. 2024.

“IB Complaints Procedures.” The FIS, Franconian International School, 2022, the-fis.de/policies/ib-complaints-procedures/. Accessed 26 Aug. 2024.

“Inclusion Policy.” The FIS, Franconian International School, 2022, the-fis.de/policies/inclusion-policy/. Accessed 26 Aug. 2024.

Kultusministerkonferenz. “Vereinbarung über die Anerkennung des „International Baccalaureate Diploma/ Diplôme du Baccalauréat International.’” The-Fis.de, Franconian International School, 15 June 2023, the-fis.de/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/kmk-ib-agreement-june-2023-DE.pdf. Accessed 26 Aug. 2024.

“Language Policy.” The FIS, Franconian International School, 2022, the-fis.de/policies/language-policy/. Accessed 26 Aug. 2024.

“Our Mission.” IBO, International Baccalaureate Organization, 6 June 2023, www.ibo.org/about-the-ib/mission/. Accessed 27 Aug. 2024.

Primary Years Programme: Learning and Teaching. International Baccalaureate Organization, Mar. 2024. IBO, resources.ibo.org/data/learning-and-teaching_899fc563-3f16-4ad6-89c7-f60983c9d6d3/learning-and-teaching-en_bffd8f20-78b3-4d6e-83dc-7255d1bf1c29.pdf. Accessed 19 June 2024.

Programme Standards and Practices. International Baccalaureate Organization, Apr. 2020. IBO, www.ibo.org/globalassets/new-structure/become-an-ib-school/pdfs/programme-standards-and-practices-2020-en.pdf. Accessed 19 June 2024.

Ritchhart, Ron. Creating Cultures of Thinking: The 8 Forces We Must Master to Truly Transform Our Schools. John Wiley and Sons, 2015.

Works Consulted

Hattie, John. Visible Learning for Teachers : Maximizing Impact on Learning. London, Routledge, 2012.

Vygotsky, L. S. Mind in Society: Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Harvard UP, 1978. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvjf9vz4. Accessed 19 June 2024.

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