The International Baccalaureate (IB) has approved the Assessment Lead Programme from Evidence Based Education as a course of high quality professional learning for IB educators.
The course will build capacity in IB World schools to use assessment more purposefully and reliably as a tool for teaching and learning.
The agreement, signed July 2018, sees the Assessment Lead Programme recognised as category 3 IB professional development. Completion of the online programme will count towards an IB World School’s evaluation requirements to show an ongoing commitment to professional development.
Evidence Based Education’s Director of Education, Stuart Kime, said:
“We’re delighted to be broadening our relationship with the International Baccalaureate community. Assessment is inextricable from teaching, and the quality of latter is – in many ways – dependent on the quality of information derived from the former. However, assessment is a complex specialism. The Assessment Lead Programme will support IB educators to further their knowledge, skill and confidence to design effective questions and assessments, and demonstrably improve the quality of information generated by assessment. Better assessment gives us better information and better information leads to better decisions about teaching and learning.”
Since the Assessment Lead Programme launched in October 2017, over 200 educators from all over the world have enrolled on the first three cohorts. International Baccalaureate educators were some of the very first to join the programme:
“The course taught us about the importance of formative assessment, various techniques for assessing students and how to use the assessments to improve teaching and learning.”
Sue Mann, La Escuela de Lancaster
“Crucially, the training has led me to focus upon learning outcomes for pupils, and to link curriculum, assessment and pedagogy, to a greater extent that I have previously in my career.”
Alex Hartley, Bryanston School
The agreement with the IB builds upon existing partnerships Evidence Based Education has formed with the International School of Geneva and Dulwich College International to deliver the Assessment Lead Programme to educators across their schools.
Paula Wilcock, Chief Assessment Officer for the IB, said:
“It is fundamental to the IB learner’s journey that the way we assess in the IB is a meaningful experience. As we celebrate our 50th anniversary year, this partnership will provide a vital service to teachers and strengthen the links between teaching, learning and assessment. The Assessment Lead Programme will give teachers the skills to facilitate the assessment experience as confident practitioners and users of assessment data. Ultimately enhancing the assessment experience and delivering fair, reliable, recognised results for students.”
The next cohort of the Assessment Lead Programme will begin in September 2018 and IB World Schools can book their place here, ensuring to use the code ‘IB/ALP’ when completing the registration form.
Details of the partnership can be found on the IB website.
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About International Baccalaureate
In 2018, the International Baccalaureate (IB) celebrates its 50th anniversary. Pioneering a movement of international education in 1968, the non-profit foundation now offers high quality and challenging educational programmes to students aged 3-19 years old. Through a unique curriculum with high academic standards, we champion critical thinking and flexibility for learning by crossing disciplinary, cultural and national boundaries. Currently, more than 1,7 million IB students attend 4,896 schools in 153 countries. To learn more, please visit www.ibo.org.
About the Assessment Lead Programme
The Assessment Lead Programme is an online course of professional learning providing a grounding in the principles of assessment and how it can be used effectively and efficiently to improve teaching and learning. It provides a framework for improving a school’s in-house assessment approach, both formative and summative.
The Assessment Lead Programme was developed for teachers, middle and senior leaders working in Early Years, Primary, Secondary and FE settings. The programme was developed by EBE under the guidance of Professor Rob Coe at Durham University, England. The programme is designed to align with the best available evidence on teacher CPD (Cordingley, Higgins, Greany, & Coe, 2015; Timperley, Wilson, Barrar, & Fung, 2007) and includes structured and sequenced school-based practice. It is made up of four modules totalling 50 hours of active professional learning sustained over three terms, supported with resources, tools (such as the guide to designing assessment and the assessment reliability calculator) and expert support. The four modules are:
- Understanding Assessment;
- Designing Assessment;
- Analysing Assessment; and
- Leading Assessment.
