International Schools Assessment (ISA) standardized testing
Dear BIS Community,
Our students in Grades 3, 5, 7, 9 & 10 will be participating in the International Schools’ Assessment (ISA)next week. These exams will cover math, reading and writing for all grades and science in the Secondary School. The tests will be administered during the regular school day, over several days. More information regarding the logistics will be forthcoming from the Principals/class teachers.
The school will receive feedback regarding the students’ results in May/June. We will use the data, in conjunction with in-school assessments, to drive the educational programme forward. The data will help us in determining individual students’ learning strengths and needs as well as strengths and needs at grade level, vertically across the school and in the transition between the PYP and the MYP.
Standardized testing is only one indicator of overall student achievement and may not necessarily reflect how a student performs in the classroom on a day-to-day basis.
We will continue to annually participate in the set of mathematics, reading and writing tests with the intention of viewing the results as one measure of student performance both at BIS and on a global scale when compared with students from other international schools. We will, starting this year, be able to track students’ progress over time as well as take a ‘snap shot’ of their learning at this moment.
Students cannot study for the ISA and it should be noted that a student’s ISA result is not used as part of the official reporting framework; it is a completely independent report. The reports will be sent home with your child when they become available.
Parents with students in grades 3, 5, 7, 9 & 10, should review the privacy information from Acer (testing service) : ISA Privacy Information for Parents 2016-17. If you have any further questions about the test, please contact the school or visit the ACER website at: https://www.acer.edu.au/isa
Best,
Denise Walsh
Head of School