Module 5

5 min

1. Where Are We Now?

Module 4 takeaway: Assessment evidence should be visible enough that students, teachers and families can understand where learning is now and what comes next.

Now we move from classroom assessment to whole-school coherence.

Quick discussion

If a student moves from one grade to the next, can the next teacher clearly see what that student already knows, understands and can do?

If assessment evidence stays only inside one classroom or one unit, progression becomes difficult to see. Coherent assessment helps us understand what comes before, what is happening now, and what should come next.

8 min

2. Student Ownership of Assessment

10 Steps to Nurture Student Ownership of Assessment

Discuss: Where are our students currently on this assessment continuum?

What is already visible?
Feedback, reflection, goal-setting, conferencing, peer/self-assessment?

What is less visible?
Where are students still dependent on the teacher?

Does it change by age?
What should ownership look like in K–1, 2–3 and 4–5?

Student Assessment Compass — Concept Summary

This visual summary is based on Trevor MacKenzie's four assessment directions. Use the link below to view his original sketchnote.

Accuracy
Can I judge my learning realistically?

Clarity
Do I understand the expectations?

Fulfilment
Does the learning feel meaningful?

Authenticity
Does this evidence represent my real learning?

View Trevor MacKenzie's Assessment Compass

20 min

3. Alignment Discussion Groups

Work with your assigned team. Read the scenario, make a decision, then reveal the PYP-aligned thinking.

K–1

Grade 1 teachers collect observations, photographs and student conversations. A Grade 2 teacher says, “We need more worksheets so we have proper evidence before they reach us.”

Needs Rethinking. Visible evidence does not have to mean written worksheets. Observation, dialogue, documentation and student-created evidence can all show learning when they are purposeful and connected to criteria.

Grades 2–3

Grade 2 and Grade 3 both assess persuasive writing, but their rubrics were created independently. Grade 2's highest expectation looks almost identical to Grade 3's expected standard.

Alignment issue. The question is not whether both grades assess persuasive writing, but whether progression is visible from one year group to the next.

Grades 4–5

Grade 4 assesses research skills through a UOI. Grade 5 teaches the same research skills from the beginning because teachers do not know what evidence was gathered in Grade 4.

Needs stronger progression. Assessment should help the next year group see what students can already do and where greater independence, complexity or transfer is expected.

Mandarin & Malay

A Grade 3 UOI explores communication. Language classes are also assessing oral communication, but the tasks and criteria are completely separate.

Possible connection. Transdisciplinary assessment should be purposeful, not forced. Where an authentic conceptual or skill connection exists, assessment can make it visible. Strong standalone disciplinary assessment is still appropriate when the connection is weak.

PSPE

Students complete a standalone swimming or sports-skills assessment focused on technical performance. The teacher also notices how students communicate, support one another and collaborate during partner and team activities. Should collaboration be included?

It can — if collaboration has been intentionally taught and assessed. The swimming or sports-skill criteria should remain clear and disciplinary. Collaboration can be included as a separate criterion or ATL-related piece of evidence when students have had opportunities to learn, practise and demonstrate it. We should not add collaboration simply because students happen to work together.

Drama

Students create and perform a short dramatic scene connected to a UOI concept. The assessment mainly rewards costumes, confidence and entertainment value.

Needs Rethinking. The performance is the vehicle for evidence. Criteria might focus on dramatic techniques, interpretation, communication, collaboration and conceptual understanding rather than how entertaining or polished the final performance appears.

Music

Students perform a piece connected to a transdisciplinary inquiry. Some students produce a polished performance because they already have private music training, while others show significant growth in rhythm, listening and ensemble skills.

Look carefully at the evidence. Assessment should be connected to the learning taught in class and the agreed criteria. Prior expertise should not automatically determine the highest result, and growth alone should not replace achievement evidence. Teachers can make both achievement and learning progress visible.

Horizontal and vertical alignment question:
What should a student be able to do when they ENTER your grade or subject stage, and what should they be able to do when they LEAVE?

12 min

4. Grit, Perseverance and Effort

Watch Angela Duckworth's short talk on grit. You can also take her official validated Grit Scale using the link below.

Watch: Grit Take the Official Grit Scale

Important: The check-in below is an original reflection activity created for this module. It is not Angela Duckworth's validated Grit Scale and should not be used to evaluate staff or students.

Grit Reflection Check-In

Rate yourself from 1–5, where 1 means “rarely true for me” and 5 means “very often true for me”.

Discuss the result, not the number

Would you be comfortable if this score — or your official Grit Scale score — was used to determine your professional effort rating?

A self-report score is not the same as observed evidence of effort. This leads to our assessment question: What behaviours and evidence are we actually using when we evaluate a student's level of effort?

Achievement≠Compliance≠Participation≠Personality≠Effort≠Grit

Student A

A student regularly persists when learning is difficult, asks for feedback, revises work and keeps working towards goals. They are quiet and rarely volunteer in whole-class discussion.

Quiet participation should not automatically lower an effort judgement. Look for evidence such as persistence, initiative, response to feedback, task engagement and willingness to improve.

Student B

A highly capable student completes work quickly and consistently meets expectations. They rarely revise, avoid challenge and usually choose the easiest option.

Achievement and effort may tell different stories. Strong achievement does not automatically mean strong effort.

10 min

5. Team Assessment Map

	Entering	Current	Leaving
Knowledge	What should already be evident?	What are we teaching?	What should be evident next?
Conceptual understanding
Skills / ATL
Assessment evidence
Student ownership

Final question:
If the next teacher looked at our assessment evidence, could they clearly understand what this student knows, understands, can do and needs to work on next?

6. Module 5 Takeaway

Visible Evidence→Feedback→Reflection→Self-Assessment→Conferencing→Student Voice→Ownership

Coherent assessment is not about making every grade or subject identical.
It is about making progression, evidence and expectations visible enough that learning connects meaningfully across the programme.