Marking Policy
This policy relates to routine classwork, homework and summative assessments, rather than work being formally assessed for external examination purposes.
Learners at International School Pune deserve rich feedback. It is the responsibility of each department to provide regular, high-quality feedback to learners, so they know where they are in regard to their learning and how to make progress.
The main focus of marking and feedback should be ‘how to improve’ and therefore referred to as feedforward (an explanation of what to do to meet future targets based on where they are now) as opposed to feedback (which is more of a comparison of where students are now compared with where they have been in the past).
Feedforward:
Marking and feedback have the key purpose of actively promoting learning and progression in each subject. Feedforward should inform students of the next steps they need to take to continue to make progress with their learning. Teachers must ensure that the feedforward they give is adding to learning at all opportunities.
Feedback Variety and Techniques:
Feedforward can take many forms, for example:
- Verbal feedback
- Peer feedback
- Self-assessment (when provided with a clear mark scheme and/or model answers by the teacher)
- Color-coded marking
- Marking codes (that are then transcribed by students)
- Practical feedback
- Whole class feedback
- Written feedback
Verbal feedback should feature in every lesson and is encouraged as part of good teacher practice. Students are expected to respond to that feedback, in a way that is appropriate to the department.
Student Response:
Students are encouraged to respond to marking and feedback. They should routinely use written feedback to reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of their work and identify way in which they can progress. This can be done in several ways, which are appropriate to the specific department and subject needs. Student responses can take the form of:
- Dedicated Improvement and Reflection Time (DIRT) in every lesson
- Completion of student tracking sheets
- Target setting
- Making suggested improvements in another color
- Asking students to identify one reaction, one area for clarification and identify the next step.
- The opportunity to re-draft sections of work in light of the feedforward given.
- Answering ‘challenge’ questions that promote a greater depth of understanding.
- Acting on the targets in subsequent pieces of work
Marking Process
- Each department will have their own marking policy, with their own marking annotations.
- Core Assessment tasks (pre-agreed by departments) must be standardized and moderated to ensure consistency of feedback and assessment across the departments.
- Modelling of appropriate presentation and completion of work should regularly be part of every lesson.
- Targets, whether verbal or written, should be given after each piece of assessed work.
- Late or copied work should be identified and addressed by the teacher.
- Marks should be recorded appropriately in mark books and/or placed on the Senior School Attainment Tracking sheet when appropriate.
- The format of tracking sheets, whether they be whole school or Departmental, mark books and the frequency in which they are completed should allow the progress of individual students to be monitored.
- Heads of Departments (HoDs) should keep centralized records, computerized where possible, of the Core Assessments, internal examinations and external examinations completed by each year group.
Quality And Impact Of Feedforward
Feedforward should:
- Be consistently high quality and constructive.
- Model high standards of literacy.
- Be specific about strengths so that the student knows what they have done well and how to build on these areas.
- Identify clear and specific areas for improvements so that the student knows what they have to do to progress.
- Be motivating for students and promote high aspirations.
- Challenge students to think deeper.
- Be realistic and manageable for students to act upon
Care should be given to the tone of feedback. The House Point system should be used where appropriate to show the efforts of the student is valued and recognized, but praise should not mask areas for improvement.
Feedforward is not effective unless it has a positive impact on students’ progress. Students exercise books should show evidence of progression in subjects to allow the students, teachers and parents to review their learning and set high standards.
Frequency Of Marking and Feedforward
There is an expectation that students have their books and other relevant materials marked every three to four weeks. Verbal feedback will be given throughout every lesson and will form the backbone of feedforward and encourage progression of students academically.
Quality Assurance
It is the responsibility of HODs to monitor the quality and impact of marking, feedback, and feedforward in their subject areas. SLT will also undertake book scrutiny of specific groups of students or year groups termly, in the addition to half termly Learning Walks.
