IB Middle Years Programme

Middle Years Programme Around the World

 

Middle Years Programme at ISM

Grades 6 through 8 make up the Middle Years Programme (MYP). In the MYP, state standards are incorporated into concept-based units where individual subject teachers make interdisciplinary connections throughout the curriculum. Additionally, six Global Contexts serve as the framework for the MYP curriculum: Personal and Cultural Expression, Fairness and Development, Globalization and Sustainability, Identities and Relationships, Scientific and Technical Innovation, and Orientation in Space and Time. Units of inquiry in the MYP are regularly reflected upon by teachers and students, and adjustments are continually made to strengthen and enhance the learning experience for all students

Criterion-related assessment

Assessment is an important part of MYP, as it informs teaching and learning by informing teachers about students' content knowledge and skills and what they need practice to develop and work toward mastery.  The goals of assessment are to: 

• inform, enhance and improve the teaching process

• provide opportunity for students to exhibit transfer of skills across disciplines, such as in the personal project and interdisciplinary unit assessments

• promote positive student attitudes towards learning

• promote a deep understanding of subject content by supporting students in their inquiries set in real-world contexts

• promote the development of critical- and creative-thinking skills

• reflect the international-mindedness of the programme by allowing assessments to be set in a variety of cultural and linguistic contexts

(from MYP From Principles to Practice)

 

Teachers assess students both formatively (practice work, homework, etc) and summatively (tests, papers, quizzes, labs, performances, etc.) to evaluate students' growth in terms of the subject's objectives. Each subject has four criteria with multiple objectives. Students are assessed on these criterion at least two times per year to monitor their growth. 

Each criterion evaluates students' achievement level on a 1-8 scale. This scale is not meant to be a percentage grade, but rather demonstrate the student's development of that skill or mastery of content knowledge. 

• 1-2 = learning - students are learning about the content or skill and limited in their ability to use it independently

• 3-4 = practicing - students are practicing the content or skill and can demonstrate the skill when they have support

• 5-6 = using - students are using the content or skill adequately and can demonstrate the skill independently

• 8-7 = teaching - students are able to teach others the content or skill and evaluate how effective themselves and others are using it.

Each year of the program, the achievement levels for each criterion are aligned to students' developmental level. The following documents are the criteria for each subject and reference different years of the program. The following are which year's criteria are used for each grade. 

• 6th grade = year 1

• 7th grade = year 1 first semester, year 3 second semester

• 8th grade = year 3

Year 5 is for grades 9 and 10. These years of the MYP are not offered at ISM. 

• 9th grade = year 3 first semester, year 5 second semester

• 10th grade  = year 5

Source: Adapted from Royal Oaks Schools website [http://romyp.weebly.com/myp-assessment-criterion.html]

 

Course Syllabi
 

Subject Group	Grade 6	Grade 7	Grade 8
Arts	6th Arts	7th Arts	8th Arts
Design	6th Design	7th Design	8th Design
English Language Arts	6th English Language Arts	7th English Language Arts	8th English Language Arts
Humanities	6th Humanities	7th Humanities	8th Humanities
Mathematics	6th Math	Math 7  ~  Algebra	Math 8  ~  Geometry
Physical Education	6th PE	7th PE	8th PE
Science	6th Science	7th Science	8th Science
Spanish	6th Spanish	7th Spanish	8th Spanish