Assessment Policy 

Bright Academy 

Assessment Policy

The goal of Bright Academy’s comprehensive assessment plan is to provide a balance between multiple ongoing pre-assessments, formatives, summatives, self assessments and reflection opportunities. As such, a variety of learning opportunities are provided across learning environments to ensure evidence of conceptual understanding. 

Due to the transdisciplinary nature of the Bright Academy instruction and curriculum development, grades may be applied to more than one subject based area in the report card. 

Classroom Assessments

• Pre-Assessment - to inform teaching and promote learning. Pre-assessments can be conducted throughout the learning process and are on-going and interactive. Pre-assessment may take many forms, including provocation activities, concept planners, oral discussion, participation and/or graphic organizers. Pre-assessments allow teachers to determine each individual’s current level of understanding and guide how to adjust instruction to teach foundational elements that might be missing. Adjustments could include an extension of knowledge or building more in-depth background knowledge.

• Formative assessment – to measure student learning throughout the Transdisciplinary Themes. This informal assessment method includes classroom observations, anecdotal records, checklists and/or rubrics, graphic organizers, and student-teacher conferences and conferring. Formative assessment happens through learner reflection, both oral and written. Formative assessments are developed by collaborative teams to monitor the acquisition of learning for both curriculum-based content as well as connections to the lines of inquiry. 

• Summative assessment – Summative assessments are a reflection of student learning throughout the unit of inquiry. Students’ understanding of the central idea, lines of inquiry, and key concepts are measured using a rubric throughout and at intermittent times within the summative task. Knowledge and skills from multiple content areas are applied throughout the unit. 

• Self-Assessment, Reflection and Goal Setting – Opportunities for self-assessment and reflection vary across grade levels and units of inquiry. Evidence of assessment and reflection will differ in format and may become part of the student’s portfolio. Students in all grades, K-5, participate in goal setting aligned to academic improvements as well as growth in the areas of  social, emotional and behavioral progress aligned to the learner profile attributes. 

• Portfolio and Evidence of Student Learning- Digital portfolios, K-5, will include evidence of continued learning, including but not limited to pre-assessments, formative assessments, summative assessments, self reflections, evidence of students taking action and overall conceptual learning understandings. Campus level essential agreements guide consistent evidence of practices across grade levels. 

• Reporting, Conferencing, and Access of Student Learning - reporting through the format of regular communication between school and home, parent teacher conferences, open invitation to additional requests for parent/teacher meetings, invitation to school based events which align to conceptual learning, class to class and/or vertical showcase of learning, progress reports, report cards, parental access to digital learning and portfolios, communication regarding progress towards the acquisition of IB learner profile attributes and/or conduct, invitation for community outreach and connections. 

Formal Assessment

As a Texas public school, Bright Academy participates in state and local assessment. This includes, but is not limited to, the following:

• The TELPAS (Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System) provides information on students who qualify as Limited English Proficient (LEP) learners through an initial screening done upon enrollment. This test determines the student’s acquisition of English through an identified level. 

• STAAR (State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness) exams are administered to students in grades 3-12. Students in grades 3-5 take assessments in reading and math. In addition, fourth grade students are tested in writing, with a writing prompt and an exam to determine skills in grammar and spelling. Students in fifth grade also take an assessment in science. Results determine grade level mastery.

• DRA (Developmental Reading Assessment) is an individualized reading assessment that allows teachers to assess and monitor individual growth in student reading performanceover time. The assessment measures oral reading, fluency and comprehension and is administered 2-3 times per school year. 

• PAPI (Phonemic Awareness and Phonics Inventory) provides teachers with information regarding a student’s phonemic awareness and processing abilities. 

• QPS (Quick Phonics Screener) provides teachers with an individualized phonics assessment to provide strengths and needs in the areas of phonics and decoding. 

• Benchmarks are both campus and district created to cover essentials standards and concepts based on the TEK and given at incremental times during the year. This information guides instruction, planning, and adjustments to pacing. 

• CogAT is a cognitive abilities test intended to estimate a students’ learned reasoning and problem solving abilities through a battery of verbal, quantitative, and nonverbal tests.

FISD Elementary Grading Guidelines and Philosophy

Statement on IB Policy Review:  IB policies will be reviewed by IB staff on an annual basis prior to the start of each school year to ensure that policies reflect current IB, Frisco ISD, and campus philosophies and practices.