Common Policy sections

• Statutory obligations; • Student entitlement; • Planning for assessment; • Assessment process; • Portfolios of levelled work; • Background documentation; • Review.

Introduction

It is important that it shows the school’s context and climate for people who might read it such as new staff, parents, governors and inspectors. Readers should understand that the policy is linked to other policies such as that of record keeping, marking and reporting. The assessment policy needs to make explicit that it reflects the views and opinions of the whole staff and that it will complement the other policies in line with the school’s mission.

Purpose of Assessment

It is important to state that assessment will set a starting point of learning for a student and that it is a significant part of your planning process. In addition, assessment in teaching and learning will be either:

• Formative – assessment that informs planning for content and method or; • Summative – assessment that indicates where a student is at a particular stage of development.

Statutory Obligations

In the United Kingdom, teachers are required at the end of key stages 1 and 2 “to make assessments about the levels achieved by pupils in the three core subjects” (Harrison & Wintle, 1999, p. 178).

Entitlement

Children are entitled to know where they are in relation to the school’s and nation’s expectations. In Australia, the National Assessment Program – ICTL can provide data in these areas. Students are also entitled to a teacher’s best efforts and therefore, teachers need to know how to help achieve this through assessment.

Planning

As discussed earlier, this policy should ensure that the school meets its obligations in its long-term, medium and short-term planning. So point out that in the long-term plans the national targets will be addressed; in the medium-term plans that you will “identify the Programmes of Study and it will be stipulated that children will be assessed in all three core subjects” (Harrison & Wintle, 1999, p. 178). This section should also refer to the school’s mission.

Process

Here you will simply state what the teachers agreed to do and when they decided to do it. It may also contain the notes from staff meetings or decisions from working groups as well.

In Australia, assessment policies at times contains the following sections:

• Rationale; • Definition of assessment and reporting; • Purpose of assessment;