Assessment is integral to all teaching and learning

1. Assessment in planning

1.1. The prime objective of assessment in the PYP is to provide feedback on the learning process.

1.2. The instructor should plan for varied assessment to happen throughout the unit. MTPYPH lists different strategies and these should be considered when planning: observations, performance assessments, processed-focused assessments, selected responses, open-ended tasks.

1.3. The teacher should plan for summative and formative assessment. The assessment strategies and instruments—rubrics, anecdotal records, checklists, anchor papers, continuums, portfolios of work—proposed by the PYP are designed to accommodate a variety of intelligences.

1.4. There are different ways to assess students. Assessment in three categories: • Assessing—how we discover what the students know and have learned. •  Recording—how we choose to collect and analyse data. •  Reporting—how we choose to communicate information.

2. Assessment after teaching

2.1. Assessment after teaching should demonstrate what students have learned over the course of the unit

2.2. Students should have had the opportunity to demonstrate their abilities and the instructor should have as much information as possible when completing final assessments

2.3. Assessment should be comprehensive and varied

2.4. Assessment after teaching can also inform future teaching, especially when considering the unit for following years or different classes

2.5. Summative assessment is the culmination of the teaching and learning process, and gives the students opportunities to demonstrate what has been learned.

2.6. After any assessment is complete, it is important to ask further questions. MTPYPH suggested: "What changes should be made in the assessment procedure?" and "How should the teaching and learning process be modified as a result of the assessment?" among others. These are good questions to help the teacher reflect on student accomplishment and understanding.

3. Assessment while teaching

3.1. Assessment helps to inform continued development, learning and teaching.

3.2. Criteria and expectations must be clear in order for students to succeed. This can be done by using clear rubrics to detail expectations, or showing exemplars of student work.

3.3. Students should have a variety of ways to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding

3.4. There should be opportunities for students to complete self-evaluation and peer-evaluation to help them to track their progress

3.5. Assessment while teaching should inform the learners of their progress, it should also inform the instructor of the students' level of understanding

3.6. Observation is an important part of assessment. It serves a number of purposes, including: identify what and how the student is thinking and learning, assess the effectiveness of the environment on the student’s learning, and extend the student’s learning.

3.7. Formative assessment is interwoven with learning, and helps teachers and students to find out what the students already know and can do.