Assessment

MYP Assessments

BTW Assessment Policy (Updated February 2023)

The mission of Tulsa Public Schools “is to inspire and prepare every student to love learning, achieve ambitious goals and make positive contributions to our world” (Tulsa Public Schools Curriculum Resources).  At BTW, we strive to reflect this mission in the development of our IB MYP units and assessments.  

Vision for Learning:

“Tulsa Public Schools is a student-centered community of learners, contributors and designers who grapple joyfully and productively with complex ideas, texts and tasks that prepare us for the greatest success in college, career and life.  Every day, all students read, write and engage in academic discourse, grounded in meaningful questions and relevant problems” (Tulsa Public Schools Curriculum Resources).

District Grading Policy:

Definitions and interpretation of letter grades:

A - Superior quality of work

B - Good quality of work

C - Satisfactory quality of work

D - Below quality of work

F - Unsatisfactory work

I – Incomplete (Applicable only for secondary courses using a Non-Traditional Delivery Method of Instruction)

Letter grades (A,B,C,D,F,I) are used in the Tulsa Public Schools District to rate student progress. These letter grades and/or other performance indicators will be communicated to parents/guardians through the use of a specially-designed report card. It should be noted the report card is only one form of communicating student progress to parents/guardians. Because of the limited scope of the report card, it is difficult to provide a comprehensive profile of the student's capacity, individual needs, or growth. Thus, supplemental means of communicating student progress include the use of Canvas, PowerSchool, parent/teacher conferences, and student/counselor conferences.  

Grades will be based strictly on written, well-defined criteria, and teachers will maintain records (grade books, progress charts, etc.) containing sufficient documentation to verify or justify the grades given.  (TPS Grading Policy)

For the IB MYP:

Students are assessed on specific criteria in 8 subject areas, as well as on the personal project and interdisciplinary units. In each of these areas a standardized 8-point rubric, for both formative and summative tasks, is used to assess student work to determine student achievement.  Each subject area has 4 criteria or objectives (A, B, C, D), and each criterion has 2 to 5 more specific objective strands (i-v).  Over the course of the class, students are assessed at least twice on all criteria and strands. 

• Final scores for each criterion are calculated using the mode (or most frequent score earned in that criterion).

• Those scores are added together, (a score of 32 being the highest).  The linked scale is used to determine students' final level for the class.

Students' scores are recorded in the Canvas grade book so parents and students can easily view students' performance levels for each subject level. 

Personal Project and Interdisciplinary Units:

Students are assessed using the specified IB criteria or objectives (A, B, C).  Scores are posted on Canvas.

Standardization of MYP Assessments

Scoring assignments by rubric is often a subjective process.  What one teacher may consider high quality, another may only find as acceptable.  Therefore, teacher collaboration to standardize assessment is essential to the equity and validity of MYP scores.  Twice a year, by discipline, teachers collect samples of student papers that reflect the objective criteria for their subject area.  Each teacher evaluates the same assignment and scores it using MYP criteria.  They then discuss discrepancies in scores and come to a consensus on what score best reflects the level descriptor on their MYP rubric.  Collectively, teachers choose samples that represent:  1-2 limited, 3-4 acceptable, 5-6 high quality, and 7-8 expert/excellent.  This way teachers will have concrete examples of each score for reference points. 

Appeals Process

Except for failing grades, teachers will have the final authority to determine grades for students assigned to them. The final grade assigned by the teacher will prevail except in those instances where the principal finds evidence of unreasonable grading procedures, mechanical or mathematical error, or failure to follow school system policy governing the assignment of grades.

In such cases, the principal will make every effort to review the assigned grade with the teacher and make adjustments considered justified. The matter will be referred to the Superintendent or designee if a disagreement develops. Should the appellant wish to continue the process, an appeal may be made to the Board of Education and the decision will be final (TPS Grading Policy).

 The following table shows the objective criteria for each subject area; for more specific criteria for each subject click here.