ASSESSMENT

 

The M-PESA Foundation Academy recognizes the important role played by assessment in the process of teaching and learning. We view assessment as a crucial opportunity for all stakeholders in the process of teaching and learning to determine whether learning is taking place or not, thus providing the platform for an informed futuristic planning.

With this in mind, the Academy has adopted a two-pronged approach to assessment:

Assessment for Learning (AFL)

Assessment for Learning is the process of seeking and interpreting evidence for use by learners and their teachers to decide where the learners are in their learning, where they need to go and how best to get there.

Assessment of Learning (AOL)

Assessment OF learning involves looking at assessment information at the end of the teaching and learning process to rank students’ achievement levels against a standard.

The use of formative assessment (Assessment for Learning) as well as summative assessment (Assessment of Learning) is evident across the Academy. In particular, all summative assessments are designed such that they can be used formatively.

In summative assessment, students are given a range of opportunities to demonstrate their learning. Such opportunities include but are not limited to:
1. end of unit summative assessment tasks or projects which focus on different assessment criteria for students taking the IB programmes,
2. unit specific assignment briefs which students taking BTEC courses complete in every unit they study,
3. CATs, practicals and end of years exams for students taking the national curriculum,
4. As well as pre-mock and mock exams which are done for students in their final year of KCSE and IBCP.
External summative assessment is offered in the DP subjects done by IBCP students, e-Assessment (on-screen exams, e-portfolio and personal project) for MYP students as well as KCSE for students in the national curriculum.

 

AFL tasks are built into every scheme of work. These are in the form of tests, home learning tasks, research projects and practical activities, all issued through an online learning management system (LMS). These tasks require the learner to demonstrate what they know, understand and can do and are therefore marked with detailed corrective feedback. This feedback follows the format of ‘What Went Well’ (WWW) and ‘Even Better If’ (EBI) whilst providing the learner with opportunities to make their own comment in the format of ‘Next Time I’ll’ (NTI).