Many learning improvement efforts are stifled by narrow approaches to assessement recording and reporting we decided that we needed a richer, broader approach. To acheive this we formed a partnership with Jay McTighe, a global expert in this field, the result was The Balanced Assessment System (BAS), which maps out the purposes, principles, policies and practices for a schoolwide assessment framework.
A BALANCED ASSESSMENT SYSTEM FRAMEWORK
THE BALANCED ASSESSMENT SYSTEM : WEBINAR SERIES
The Balanced Assessment System (BAS) emphasizes on-going formative assessments that provide feedback to teachers and learners, as a counterbalance to standardized, accountability tests and evaluative assessments. This work is complex, so to bring clarity to complexity we have framed our work around five Assessment Principles, so that we can already see the ‘shape’ of the work:
PART ONE: THE PURPOSE PRINCIPLE The purpose of assessment is to serve learning.
PART TWO: THE VALUE PRINCIPLE Since we value what we assess, we should assess what we value.
PART THREE: THE ALIGNMENT PRINCIPLE Our assessments should be aligned with our goals.
PART FOUR: THE RELIABILITY PRINCIPLE We need multiple sources of information to reach reliable conclusions.
PART FIVE: THE EQUITY PRINCIPLE Assessment should be fair to all learners.
THE PURPOSE PRINCIPLE
The purpose of assessment is to serve learning.
EXPLORE THE CURRICULUM COMPONENTS
This Matrix embeds our Learning Modules into a complete overview of the school's learning program.
This simple approach transforms the idea of "school and afterschool activities" into intentional Pathways to the Portrait, both curricular and co-curricular.
This element in the system intentionally treats learning itself as curriculum and provides learners and teachers with practical toolkits designed to provide learners with agency.
We believe in the importance of the curricular disciplines and also in the power of well-designed interdisciplinary learning experiences.