Instruction and Assessment

Inquiry-based Based Learning

Teachers at NOVA are focused on using and learning content as a means to develop information processing and problem-solving skills. Their approach is student-centered, while the teacher has the role of a facilitator of learning. There is a great emphasis on how we learn in addition to what we learn. The resources that teachers use in their instruction are open-ended and authentic. In NOVA’s PYP environment, all questions that may arise are explored by the joint efforts of the teacher and the students. To monitor students’ learning and adapt instruction to the learners’ needs, teachers use assessments in all steps of the process.

Transdisciplinary Learning

Transdisciplinary learning allows students to build concepts and skills across subject areas, rather than studying subjects in isolation. Subjects are distinct, yet interconnected, allowing for a holistic learning experience in which students apply what they're learning in a variety of contexts. In real life, we never fully exercise our knowledge related to certain subject areas. Transdisciplinary learning means that students learn to combine the knowledge gained from different disciplines and have the skills to practically use it in different settings and contexts. For instance, when they learn about astronomy, they also learn related subject matters, and the history of the science and understand why it is important, and furthermore, they are enabled to make related mathematical connections. 

Assessment

The PYP assessment is a collaborative process between the teacher, the student, and the family. Teachers use multiple tools such as rubrics, checklists, continuums, task or subject-specific outcomes/standards, forms, benchmarks/exemplars, and narrative records.

PYP teachers also rely on standardized assessment tools, to identify students’ strengths and areas for growth, such as the DRA (Developmental Reading Assessment) and MAP (Measures of Academic Progress). They are not achievement tests and are not reflected in the report card.

Reflection, as a powerful assessment tool, allows students to gain agency over their learning is a powerful tool in assessment. Students are asked to self-reflect on their learning process at several stages throughout a unit of inquiry.  

The Elementary School uses AERO (American Education Reaches Out) Standards as a framework for assessment in Literacy, Numeracy, Science, Social Studies, Music, Visual Arts, and Macedonian Language. Course grades are determined by overall performance on Power Standards (key standards per subject/grade level). Teachers combine evidence of all formative and summative assessments and use their professional judgment to determine the overall attainment level. For more information on assessment, refer to our assessment policy.

STUDENT AGENCY     PARENT SUPPORT