Assessment Policy
Kinzie School Mission Statement:
Kinzie Elementary School’s rigorous curriculum and diverse environment empowers all students to become critical thinkers, lifelong learners, global citizens and visionary leaders of the future.
CPS Assessment Philosophy:
CPS believes that a balanced assessment system is a core component of a well-rounded instructional program that serves all students. A balanced assessment system effectively measures the depth and breadth of student learning and monitors student progress towards college and career readiness. It also produces actionable data that informs planning for instruction, academic supports, and resource allocation at all levels. To meet these goals, a balanced assessment system must include multiple measures and be responsive to the needs of all students, including diverse learners and English-learners (ELs).
A balanced system of assessments plays an important role within the overall instructional core:
A balanced system of assessments plays an important role within the overall instructional core:
Kinzie Assessment Philosophy:
Kinzie Elementary recognizes that assessment is an integral part of a student's educational experience meant to foster academic achievement and promote lifelong learning. Assessment drives instruction and includes teachers, students and parents. Assessments vary to include diverse learners and English language learners. The primary purpose of assessment in the MYP is to monitor and analyze summative and formative data about student performance and inform stakeholders about student achievement. The information gathered from assessment is valuable in designing curriculum and educational opportunities and can be used to evaluate the student’s progress towards the desired objective or learning goal.
Principles of Assessment:
Assessment practices at Kinzie Elementary are guided by the following principles:
Assessments need to...
Assessments need to...
- be valid, consistent and reliable
- provide students with meaningful feedback in a timely manner
- be authentic and rigorous and tied directly to the program and learning outcome
- be equitable and inclusive of all learning styles and learning needs based on accommodations
- be relevant and applicable to global experiences
- reinforce skills that apply across curriculum
- have a balance between formative, summative and self-reflection
- show transparency and provide students with explicit directions and expectations
Purpose of Assessment for Students:
- promote positive student attitudes towards learning
- provide feedback and opportunity for reflection
- identify strengths and weaknesses in subject area components
- promote responsibility and ownership of learning
Purpose of Assessment for Teachers:
- support student learning by providing meaningful feedback
- Inform and improve the teaching process through reflection
- provide opportunity for students to demonstrate transfer of skills across subject areas
- promote a deep understanding of subject content by providing opportunities for students to engage in authentic inquiry.
- promote the development of higher order thinking skills
Purpose of Assessment for Parents:
- provide information to inform parents about their child’s academic, social-emotional and personal development
- provide point of discussion for conversations with their child about their learning and growth
- share information about instructional program
Purpose of Assessment for Administrators:
- Inform about progress toward student achievement of learning targets and growth across content areas
- Inform about teacher progress, achievement and growth, as well as areas for further professional learning
- Engage in reflection about program development and areas for additional resources/support
Assessment Criteria and Determining Achievement Levels:
Reporting and Recording Student Achievement:
All teachers will communicate their grading and assessment policy and curriculum information to parents at the start of the school year.
Each MYP subject will identify objectives aligned with subject group guides and assessment criteria. Assessments are measured by criterion-related rubrics found in the MYP subject guides and may be modified with task-specific clarification where appropriate. Judgements are made according to the levels of achievement that best describes the quality of work.
Ways in which parents, students and teachers will communicate about assessment are:
Each MYP subject will identify objectives aligned with subject group guides and assessment criteria. Assessments are measured by criterion-related rubrics found in the MYP subject guides and may be modified with task-specific clarification where appropriate. Judgements are made according to the levels of achievement that best describes the quality of work.
Ways in which parents, students and teachers will communicate about assessment are:
- Parent Open House
- Communication through Parent Portal
- Teacher emails, phone calls and meetings
- Parent/Teacher Conferences (November, April)
- Progress Reports
- MYP Reports
- Kinzie Website (http://kinzie.cps.edu/)
Formative Assessment:
- Shows continual progress toward unit objectives and course content
- Provides feedback for students and teachers so students can improve before a summative assessment
- Allows for teachers to modify the instruction to better meet student needs
- Reveals student misconceptions
- Focused on a particular learning target
- Examples: written reflection, verbal response, presentation, quiz, demonstration, graphic organizer, video/audio recording, and drafts of writing, etc.
Summative Assessment:
- Shows mastery of unit objectives & course content
- A way for students to show that they have mastered all learning targets for the unit
- An end of unit assessment
- Integrates all unit learning targets into one product
- Examples: classroom test, timed writing, essays, performance tasks/projects, investigations, practical work, and/or oral examination, etc.
State and Local Assessment Requirement:
State of Illinois Assessments:
- IAR: Illinois Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers Administered to students in Grades 3-8 (English Language Arts/Literacy and Mathematics) statewide each Spring
- ACCESS: Assessing Comprehension and Communication in English State-to-State for English Grades K-12: Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing (English Language learners only)
- Model K (Kindergarten) and WIDA Screener (Grades 1-12): Placement Tests for students in K-12: Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing (English Language learners only upon entry into a WIDA school)
- ISA: Illinois Science Assessment Students in fifth and eighth grade will take the Illinois Science Assessment in the Spring. This assessment is aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) in physical science, life science, earth/space science, and engineering. Students are given scenarios that are followed by open-ended and multiple choice questions.
District Assessments:
- NWEA: Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) It is a Chicago Public Schools district computerized adaptive assessment given to students in grades kindergarten through eighth two-three times a year. Students take reading and math assessments.
- REACH Performance Task: Grades Pre-K-8: These assessment tasks are given for every content area in the beginning of the year and at the end of year to measure student growth in state/national standards.
Communication of Policy:
The Kinzie community believes that all of its stakeholders should take an active role in shaping and implementing school policies. All policies will be reviewed and updated at the beginning of each school year. The policy will be made available to all stakeholders in multiple languages as well as on the school website. https://kinzie.cps.edu
Review Process:
The policy was originally drafted January, 2018.
Kinzie stakeholders will review this policy annually.
Kinzie stakeholders will review this policy annually.