KOLEJ TUNKU KURSHIAH(TKC)INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE ASSESMENT POLICY

Background
Currently, the school is using two types of assessments, one for the
lower secondary classes, Form One to Three, and the other for the upper
secondary classes, Form 4 and 5. There are the localised assessments in
the form of school-based assessment for learning and assessment of
learning for the lower forms, school term examinations for the upper
forms and external examinations prepared and conducted by the
Malaysian Examination Syndicate# All the students sit for the summative
school based assessment at the end of each school year. At the end of
Form 3, students sit for a summative assessment called PT3 (Penilaian
Tingkatan 3) on certain subjects or Form 3 Assessment set by the
Malaysian Examination Syndicate. The Form 5 students sit for the SPM
examination (Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia/Malaysian School Certificate) at
the end of their fifth year.
The grading policy for the lower form and upper form classes follow
the rules and guidelines stipulated by the Ministry of Education. For the
lower form classes, the school- based evaluation system entails formative
assessments to be carried out during the lesson to assess the standard
each student has attained and thus enables the teacher to plan
subsequent lessons based on the needs and abilities of the students, and
summative assessment, to assess students' overall learning. This is called
PBS (Penilaian Berasaskan Sekolah) or School Based Assessment
System. PBS is a holistic assessment of the levels of achievement and
intellectual development of the students based on four components:

School Assessment (Pentaksiran Sekolah); Assessment of Physical, Sport

and

Co-

curricular

activities

(PAJSK);

Psychometric

Assessment

(Pentaksiran Psikometrik) , and the Common or Standardised Assessment

(Pentaksiran Pusat) carried out by the Malaysian Examination Syndicate.
In School Assessment (Pentaksiran Sekolah), teaching and learning
achievement

are

assessed

through

the

Assessment

for

Learning

(formative) and Assessment of Learning (summative) activities. The

students' formative achievements are recorded based on a Band criterionBand 1 to Band 6, in which Band 6 constitutes the most advanced, and
Band 1, the weakest. As IB candidate school, Kolej Tunku Kurshiah will not
implement the Malaysian School Assessment (Pentaksiran Sekolah) for the
Form One, Two and Three, instead it will adhere to IB Assessment
requirement. Nonetheless, the Assessment of Physical, Sport and Cocurricular

activities

(PAJSK);

Psychometric

Assessment

(Pentaksiran

Psikometrik) , and the Common or Standardised Assessment (Pentaksiran

Pusat) carried out by the Malaysian Examination Syndicate will be
implemented as required by the Nation's Education Policy.
As an extra requirement, students are given summative tests similar
to Pentaksiran Tingkatan 3 (PT3) twice a year. The rationale is to give
students ample opportunities to be exposed to the nature of PT3
questions and the accepted methods of answering them.
Apart from the main streams examinations and assessments, we
also

have

DELF(diplme

d'tudes

en

langue

franaise)

and

Japanese Language Proficiency Test(JLPT) for students who enroll

themselves in the respective foreign language classes. The certificates
are internationally recognized and will be an advantage to TKC students.

Assessment of the Physical, Sport and Co-curricular activities

(Pentaksiran Aktiviti jasmani, Sukan dan Kokurikulum - PAJSK) is carried
out

to

measure

and

assess

the

performance,

involvement

and

participation of students in physical, health, sport and co- curricular

activities.

Their

performances

are

recorded

and

certificate

of

achievement is awarded to each student at the end of Form Three.

Psychometric assessment, on the other hand, aims to assess the
students' instinctive potentials, thinking skills, problem solving abilities,
interests,

tendencies,

attitudes

and

personalities/characters.

The

assessment is carried out at the end of Form Three and a certificate

containing achievement grades are also awarded to each student.
At the end of Form Three, every student is required to sit for a
common assessment which is centrally prepared by the Malaysian
Examination Syndicate , but administered, checked and awarded scores or
marks by teachers in the school based on the guidelines provided by
Examination board.
At the upper form levels, students are given periodic formative
assessments after each topic/unit to evaluate their understanding. This
can be done in the form of written or oral exercises. As each term comes
to an end, all student are assessed on their understanding of the topics
that they have studied through a summative form of testing similar to
SPM, and towards the end of the Form 5, students sit for two mock SPM
examinations (SBP and JPN) to evaluate their readiness for the coming
SPM examination at the end of the year. This examination is a culmination

of all the preparations and examinations conducted in the school and it

serves as an entry point to pre-university courses offered by the public or
private institutions of higher learning in Malaysia and overseas.
As education jurisdiction is the sole authorization of the Ministry of
Education, Malaysia, the school's assessment policy is tailored to meet
both the requirements set by the Malaysian Examination Syndicate and
the Curriculum Development Division or known locally as Bahagian
Perkembangan Kurikulum (BPK,) a division in the Mininstry of Education,
Malaysia, as well as the needs and requirement of the International
Baccalaureate Organisation.
As an International Baccalaureate candidate school, the School
Assessment Policy now includes the assessment needs as demanded by
the International Baccalaureate Organisation. Teachers will need to look at
all the MYP objectives, (and related criteria and level descriptors) in their
subjects and relate these to their vertical subject topic overview. Then
they have to decide which aspects of the total MYP curriculum and
required content CAN be assessed by tests and examinations and which
bits require different activities such as essays, oral presentations,
developmental workbooks, open- ended investigations, group projects etc.
IB Assessment procedures will be expanded to the next Form the following
year. For instance, only the Form One classes implement MYPIB
assessment, teaching and learning approaches in 2014. Subsequently,
this will be expanded to the Form One and Two in 2015, and successively,
Form One, Two and Three in 2016. All the Forms will honour the IB
Assessment needs and requirements by 2018.

Teachers are expected to meet the expectations of both the

Malaysian Ministry of Education and the MYP, by carefully mapping each
subject curriculum and avoiding duplication by using activities that can
trippi both sets of expectations for both purposes.
Kolej Tunku Kurshiah Assessment Policy
Definition of Assessment.
Educational assessment is the process of gathering, analysing and
interpreting students' progress and achievement in order to improve
teaching and learning. It comes in the form of Assessment as Learning,
Assessment for Learning and Assessment of Learning.
Our Assessment Philosophy
In general, assessment in this school is conducted in the form
of

diagnostic,

formative

(Assessment

for

Learning),summative

(Assessment of Learning) and assessment as learning.

Teachers and students must work in partnership to enable students

to demonstrate what they have learned, and for teachers to carry
out fair and valid assessments.

Teaching, learning and assessment are interrelated and have logical

connections.

Assessment methods must be clearly stated and understood by all

parties concerned.

Our assessments are guided by the following beliefs:

Our students:
have varied learning styles and abilities
view self-assessment and peer assessment as an integral part of
learning

are required to know their achievements and areas for

improvement in the learning process

will receive periodic meaningful and timely feedback.

Our students' learning are:

influenced by their preceding/prior knowledge

affected by the socio-economic, cultural and linguistic factors

determined in part by effective instructional methodologies

used by teachers

enhanced by meaningful student engagement enriched by

real life experience and captivating situations.

Our assessment is:

criterion-referenced using guiding principles established by

the

International

Baccalaureate

Organisation

and

the

Malaysian Ministry of Education and made clear to students by

teachers before assessment begins.

aimed at evaluating a broad range of concepts, knowledge,

attitudes and skills suitable to an increasingly complex world
constructed

by

teachers

to

integrate

variety

of

methodsbased on the learning objectives in each subject area

prescribed by the MYP
based on the attributes and desired outcomes of the IB Learners

Profile, Malaysian School Based Assessment (PBS) and other

requirements set by the Ministry of Education Malaysia.
Types of Assessment
1.

Diagnostic Assessment

This assessment is normally carried out to obtain a clearer picture of

students' strengths and weakness, for instance, their language proficiency
level and their literacy level, in order to identify students who might need
remedial program.
2.

Assessment as learning

In the early stage, teachers help students to reflect on their work on

a regular basis, either through self or peer assessment. Teachers guide
students in developing internal feedback or self-monitoring mechanisms
to validate and question their own thinking. They monitor students'
metacognitive processes as well as their learning, and provide descriptive
feedback. They create an environment where it is safe for students to take

chances and where support is readily available.

Through this process students are able to learn about themselves as
learners and become aware of how they learn. Assessment as learning
helps students to take more responsibility for their own learning.