Assessment, Grading & Reporting Agreements

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SECTION A: Assessment, Grading, & Reporting Vocabulary

General Academic Scale: This is the scale that we use to communicate a student’s proficiency level toward the measurement topics.

General Academic Scale

Proficiency Level: This is the overall proficiency (emerging, developing, exhibiting, exhibiting depth) attributed to the Measurement Topic being assessed.

Evidence of Learning: Any task that demonstrates a student’s understanding of a learning goal and/or corresponding measurement topic. 

Formative: Formative feedback is designed to give students feedback over time that will enable them to set goals and move forward with their learning as opposed to making a final judgment about a student’s ability.  In Schoology, formative tasks are not included in the body of evidence used to make a determination about a student’s proficiency level but may be used as a reference if the summative data is not clear and it supports a higher grade for the student. 

Summative: Summative feedback is designed to capture a student’s performance at one point in time after instruction and to make a judgment about the student’s ability according to a grade-level benchmark. Summative assessments evaluate student learning on the full General Academic Scale (in other words, all summative assessments must use all descriptors on the General Academic Scale).  These assessments are used to inform report card grades. 

Approaches to Learning: At HKIS we separate behaviours from academic achievement.  Approaches to learning behaviors are assessed as seldom, inconsistent, or consistent. 

  • Self-motivated learning
  • Collaboration
  • Respect and Responsibility

SECTION B: Common Course Guidelines

Common Assessment Expectations

We believe that students should have a shared learning experience within the same course.  This means that summatives and key formatives are common. Courses that are shared among teachers must use the same rubric for summative assessments. Teachers should also calibrate key formatives and summative assessments during the year to ensure consistency of expectations.  

Home Learning

Home learning is just one component of the learning process; it should not dominate a student’s time outside of the classroom. While teachers recognise the importance of this balance, it is also important that students recognise the need for this balance when selecting courses. We believe that home learning should:

  • contain relevant and meaningful tasks that give students a clear sense of progress.
  • be differentiated when appropriate, with some choice about tasks based on a student’s individual needs.
  • be developmentally appropriate.
  • align with the “Dragon Ratings” published in the High School Academic Handbook and time guidelines in the Middle School Student Handbook.
  • not be assigned over extended holidays (one week and longer) or during Interim/PEAK. The only exception when it is permissible to give work over an extended holiday would be if a student needs to make up missed work. In addition, no long-term assignments can be due, nor summative assessments are given, the first class meeting after an extended break.

SECTION C: Feedback and Reporting Student Learning

HKIS provides students and families with feedback on student learning throughout the year including during classroom instruction, via the Schoology Gradebook, and during Student-Involved Conferences in the fall and spring semesters.  

Required Evidence of Learning

  • Reporting Category: Teachers must have a minimum of three (3) pieces of evidence of learning per reporting category per semester in the Schoology gradebook.
  • Approaches to Learning: Teachers must have two to four (2-4) pieces of evidence per semester.

Cooperative Learning
HKIS does not give group proficiency levels of grades.  Any group activities must have an opportunity for students to individually show evidence of their learning. 

AP Grade Boundaries
Teachers who use grade boundaries for AP courses should ensure that these grade boundaries are transparent to students at the time of the assessment. The grade boundaries must be included on the assessment.

Returning Assignments
Teachers will provide written feedback and establish proficiency levels for summative assessments within one eight-day cycle following submission. In special circumstances of a longer assessment or need for conferencing, before a final proficiency level is established, two eight-day cycles is permitted.

Determining Proficiency Levels for Each Reporting Category
Schoology calculates a proficiency level for each measurement topic and reporting category.  Teachers ensure the proficiency levels at the measurement topic and reporting category level accurately reflect a student’s current level of proficiency at the quarter and at the semester.

Overall proficiency levels should be determined by one of the following methods:

  • Most Consistent: for discrete Measurement Topics
  • Most Recent and Consistent: for spiraling Measurement Topics

Report Cards
Report cards are issued at the end of each semester.  For full-year courses, the semester 1 report card is a progress update based on student work up to that point. For each course, report cards include a course overview, the student’s attendance for the semester, the overall proficiency level for each reporting category, and Approaches to Learning.  High school report cards also include a letter grade for each course which are determined using the HS Grade Translation Scale.  To understand what letter grades mean at HKIS, please refer to our Letter Grade Descriptors.

High School Transcripts
High School transcripts are available upon request at the end of each academic year and formally issued from HKIS. Transcripts include a student’s yearly GPA, which is calculated according to the GPA Chart.

SECTION D: Scheduling of Summative Assessments

Calendaring of Summative Assessments: Students will be informed of the expected learning goals, success criteria, and methods of assessment at the beginning of a unit of study. Teachers will communicate and publish to Schoology a date for summative assessments at least three class periods in advance. 

Maximum Number of Summatives in a Day: Students are expected to complete no more than two summative “in class” assessments, in two different courses, in a day. A summative is defined as an assessment that occurs in class and takes more than ½ the class to complete. Projects that are completed over a series of lessons are not included in this agreement. A student may inform a teacher of the last published summative assessment to request that the third or fourth assessment they are expected to complete on a given day be rescheduled. Any student request must be made at least 1 class in advance. 

Assessments after an Extended Holiday: Home learning will not be assigned over extended holidays (one week and longer) or during Interim/PEAK. The only exception when it is permissible to give work over an extended holiday would be if a student needs to make up missed work. In addition, no long-term assignments can be due, nor summative assessments are given, the first class meeting after an extended break (the first two days of school).

 

SECTION E: Late and Incomplete Assignments

Students are expected to show responsibility for their learning and submit all assignments on time. Missing assignments will be reflected in the gradebook as an IE (insufficient evidence) until complete. Consistently submitting learning past the due dates will be reflected in the student’s Approaches to Learning grade. 

Teachers will not accept assignments that are submitted more than one eight-day cycle after the due date excluding extenuating circumstances that must be discussed with the teacher in advance.  If a student does not submit the assignment within an eight-day cycle, the teacher will involve the student's counselor and the Assistant Principal for Academics for follow-up. 
Note: In high school, if a student has not completed sufficient evidence of learning, it is possible that the student may not receive credit for the course at the end of the year because the teacher has too few assignments to determine the student's final proficiency for the course. These cases must involve prior conversations with the counselors, the Associate Principal for Academics and the parents.

SECTION F: Reassessment

We believe that students learn at different rates and, therefore, reassessment opportunities will be provided to students to support their learning. Teachers will use formative assessments, summative assessments, and reassessments to provide students with opportunities to meet the standards. Intervention and reassessment will occur when the teacher determines that students are not exhibiting the learning goals.

  1. In the High School, all students have an opportunity to reassess summative assessments. Reassessment decisions are linked to the type of learning goals.
  • Discrete Learning Goals: Discrete learning goals require a discrete reassessment opportunity.
  • Spiraling Learning Goals: When content and/or skills will be assessed in a later unit of study, reassessment may occur on a later assessment. Teachers may decide to give a reassessment at any time, even if the learning goal spirals, if they deem it necessary for student learning. 
  1. Reassessments may range from an individual student to the entire class.
  2. Only one formal reassessment opportunity will be allowed per summative. However, exceptions may be made within the teaching team. 
  3. When reassessment is possible, students must meet the following requirements:
    1. All agreed-upon formative learning has been completed prior to the summative assessment.
    2. Complete the original task or assessment on the date it was scheduled (unless there is an extenuating circumstance).
    3. Complete relearning activities as determined by the teacher and show evidence of improved performance.
    4. The reassessment proficiency will be documented. In cases where a student’s proficiency is lower after reassessment the original proficiency stands and a comment is made with the reassessment grade. 
  4. When tasks/assignments are reassessed, they may be reassessed partially, entirely, or in a different format, as determined by the teacher. 
  5. Teachers should notify parents/guardians if a teacher is requiring a student to reassess.
  6. Reassessment should typically occur within one eight-day cycle of the return of the assessment. Teaching teams may use discretion to determine, if, in extenuating circumstances, a second eight-day cycle is required.
  7. Following reassessment, students’ performance replaces the original grade in Schoology.  The original grade should be documented in Schoology comments.  If the reassessment grade is lower than the initial grade, the original grade will stand, and the reassessment score will be reported in the comments.

Long-term projects where feedback has been given over the course of the project and final measures of learning such as end-of-course/semester exams and culminating projects/performances may not be reassessed.

 

SECTION G: Letter Grade Translation Scale

HKIS uses this scale to convert proficiencies to a letter grade in High School.

 

Last Reviewed 3 May 2023