What is IB Evaluation?
What is IB Evaluation?
This page offers tools for a school to undertake the self-study and to collect evidence of implementation against the IB standards and practices.
Every five years after a school is authorized to be an IB World School they are asked to carry out an evaluation of their IB programme(s). At the heart of this process is the self-study in which a school evaluates the extent to which it is meeting the programme standards and practices, and collects evidence to substantiate its judgments.
“The aim of school evaluation is for the IB to ensure that the standards and practices of each programme are being maintained, to acknowledge accomplishments and to provide guidance for school improvement. The IB is aware that for each school the implementation of an IB programme is a journey, and that the school will meet these standards and practices to varying degrees along the way. A continuum programme evaluation is also an opportunity to consider the development and impact of the IB programmes across the whole school.” (IB, Report on continuum programme evaluation)
Important note:
The Standards and Practices tht underpin IB authorization came into place in 2010.
The revised Programme Standards and Practices, which are used to underpin IB evaluation, came into effect in September 2020.
The IB have produced a helpful 'walk through' the IB evaluation process, which can be found HERE.
What does it mean to evaluate?
The Learning Community
“All members of the learning community are open to new ideas and committed to seeking a broad range of views and opinions, encouraging open discussion and practising transparent decision-making processes. They demonstrate agency through collective ownership, responsibility and accountability for learning and teaching, and transform schools into dynamic learning communities. “ (PYP: from principles into practice - The Learning Community )
Word Study
This activator encourages you to think about the meaning of 'evaluation' from different perspectives.
Think about the last time they underwent any type of significant evaluation prior to writing their thoughts to this question in a forum.
- What does it mean to evaluate something? (include feels like/sounds like/looks like)
- To what extent is it important to consider culture and context?
Discuss with colleagues:
● By discussing how has your own thinking about evaluation been further developed?
When speaking with IB programme and evaluation leaders they explain the meaning of an IB evaluation in the following ways:
“IB evaluation is all about programme development. It is a formative experience. It is not about being judged or assessed in a negative way, but a way of identifying strengths as well as areas for development. It is a form of health check.”
“We are not inspectors. However, it is understandable how some schools become anxious, especially when they exist in a context of local inspections. It is helpful to focus on the roots of the word: from evaluation we get the word ‘value’, and we identify areas of strength in the current implementation of the IB programme(s).
"IB evaluation is an authentic experience of self-reflection. It asks the school to identify what it is doing really well as well as areas for further development. As an evaluation team we come in as appreciative inquirers, very much standing alongside the school in its development of the programmes.”
Why is the 5 year evaluation important?
Key concepts
The following three concepts are central to evaluating the IB programmes:
Integrity | Fidelity | Sustainability
"Across a wide range of educational research there is growing recognition that teachers do not implement educational programs as originally intended (Century et al, A framework for measuring fidelity of implementation, American Journal of Evaluation, 31(2), 2010). Instead teachers implement programs in different ways (Lamont et al, Innovative methods in evaluation, American Journal of Evaluation, 39(3),2018), adopting different 'implementation styles' depending on the priority they place on concepts like the program's compatibility with their prior professional experiences (compatibility), the complexity of the program requirements (complexity), and the relative advantage they see the new requirements as having over what they currently do (relative advantage)." ‘Supporting successful programme evaluation at the IB’, Mason, S., Calnin, G., & Mehoke, S, page 34, 2019.)
The aim of the 5 year evaluation is for the IB to ensure that standards and practices are being maintained. It is a process of formal reflection involving all stakeholders: a chance to identify major achievements and practices that need further development. It is one aspect of the continuous improvement that starts during the process of becoming authorized as an IB World School. It results in a clear action plan for taking the next steps in developing the programme in your school.
The formal process of carrying out a self study can take up to a whole year. It is a significant piece of work which should involve all stakeholders within the school community. It is a great opportunity to make the Diploma Programme a key focus for whole school discussions, gain commitment from all stakeholders to the programme, and as such can allow a school to take significant steps forward in developing the programme. When done well it can lead to an improvement in teaching and learning.
“The greatest value of the evaluation visits is not so much the team visit itself, it is in the self-study which each school undertakes in the year or so before the visit. This provides a great opportunity for self-reflection, awareness of weaknesses as well as strengths, and planning to address the perceived weaknesses. In many schools, the entire community is involved in some aspect of the self-study, not always in the area of personal expertise. The self-study is typically completed several months before the team visit - and one frequently finds that, come the visit, those plans are already being worked on, some issues may already be resolved. The visit takes place to validate the self-study and the school's conclusions, perhaps to find (with the eyes of the outside observer) weak areas that the school has not appreciated and sometimes to suggest strengths which again the school has not fully appreciated.” (John Royce, Workshop Leader AEM region)
Key information
The key document that explains the evaluation process is Guide to programme evaluation (2015) which can be accessed from the IB Portal. This contains (a) a description of the evaluation (and self-study) process, (b) a description of roles within the school and the IB, and (c) a list of information needed to complete the self-study and documentation that needs to be uploaded to My School.
Programme standards and practices (2014) describes the practices common to all four IB programmes (PYP, MYP, DP and CP). It is the 'rule book' against which an IB school can measure their success in implementing the DP programme. This document forms the basis of verification (authorization) and five year evaluation processes. Click here to access it.
Date for your evaluation
The date for your programme evaluation can be found on your My School page. Your IB regional office will contact you in advance of the date of submission of your self-study providing any additional details.
You may request from the IB regional office a change in date if you wish to align evaluations of multiple IB programmes in your school, or synchronize the evaluation process with, for example, CIS visits.
What is the evaluation process?
“As a team we agree to provide appreciative, constructive, contextual feedback and individually create positive interactions to contribute to an effective evaluation experience for the school. As peers in this process, we respect and consider the school’s journey, their readiness and agency.” (IBEN educator)
Upon receipt of an authorization/evaluation report, the school begins working on the five-year evaluation cycle. All IB World Schools running the Diploma programme participate in an IB evaluation every five years.The IB recognizes that each school is on a journey in its implementation of the Diploma Programme, and a school will meet IB expectations to varying degrees depending on their context. The evaluation process allows the IB to work alongside the school in its on-going implementation of the programme.
IB schools are evaluated by carrying out a self-study in which they assess the extent to which they are implementing the IB standards and practices as they relate to the Diploma Programme. The IB standards and practices form the basis of the self-study. The self-study should be evidence based and draw on existing school documentation and actual practice in the day to day life of the school. The IB organization then evaluate the evidence in the self study and provide feedback to the school.
The IB will contact the school 10-12 months before documentation needs to be submitted to inform them that they have to complete their self-study. Although the Head of School bears ultimate responsibility for the self-study process it is the DP Coordinator who organizes and leads the process. It is important that the process is collaborative: it should involve all key stakeholders within the school community: governors, administrators, pedagogical leaders, staff - teachers, librarians, assistants - parents, students, alumni and wider community members (where appropriate). Schools often form mixed stakeholder groups to evaluate and provide evidence against each of the practices in Stand A (Philosophy) and Standard B (Organization). Involving all stakeholders provides the school with a great opportunity to develop ownership of the Diploma Programme. Standard C (Curriculum) is completed by the collaborative involvement of all IB staff and pedagogical leaders. These stakeholder groups need to decide how they are going to gather evidence to support the implementation of the IB requirements as laid out in the standards and practices. Quantitative and qualitative evidence can be gathered through interviews, questionnaires, focus groups and documentation.
The IB may contact the school to arrange a visit (at the school's expense) once they have received the self-study documentation.The purpose of the visit is to verify the school's self-assessment. Around three months after the submission of documentation (and the visit) the IB send a report to the school. As with the authorization report the evaluation report contains recommendations, commendations and (where necessary) matters to be addressed.
Sample timescale
| Read documents | August | DP Coordinator |
| Plan the outline of the project | August | DP Coordinator |
| Project communication | August | DP Coordinator |
| Schedule time to answer questions under each section | September | DP Coordinator |
| Organize stakeholder groups per section | September | DP Coordinator |
| Stakeholder groups meet | February | Stakeholder Groups |
| Development of action plans | May | DP Coordinator |
| Write final conclusions | May | Head of School |
| Upload documents to IB docs | June | DP Coordinator |
Documents to be submitted to the IB
The IB requires that the following documentation is submitted ahead of the every evaluation cycle:
For ALL programmes
- School mission and vision statements
- School brochure and promotional literature concerning the implementation of the programme
- School organization chart showing the pedagogical leadership team (including the coordinator) and reporting lines
- Job description for programme coordinator
- Budget
- Collaborative planning description/schedule
- Language policy (all programmes)
- Assessment policy (all programmes)
- Special educational needs/Inclusive education policy (MYP/DP/CP only)
- Academic honesty policy (MYP/DP/CP only)
- Admissions policy or description of selection process (DP and CP only)
- Sample schedules for each grade/year of the programme
- Examples of school reports to parents from different grade levels
Programme documents
PYP
- Programme of inquiry
- Three completed unit planners or equivalent from each grade level per year
MYP
- Approaches to learning chart
- Curriculum and assessment documentation
- A description of how standardization of assessment in subjects takes place
- A description of how the personal and/or community project is organized and managed.
DP
- Calendar of school deadlines for student submission of internal and external assessment components
- A description of the supervision of extended essays
- CAS handbook and samples of CAS experiences
CP 1
- CRS accreditation/certification documentation
- Sample schedule for each CRS offered as part of the CP
- Career-related study (CRS) outline for each career-related course of study the school offers
- Outlines: Personal and professional skills (PPS) course, language development, service learning, reflective project.
Note: these requirements are changing with effect September 2020. They will then include:
For all programmes
- School mission and vision statements
- School strategy or strategic plan
- School brochure and promotional literature concerning the implementation of the programme
- School organization chart showing the pedagogical leadership team (including the coordinator) and reporting lines
- Job description for head of school (or leader with authority over the programme) and programme coordinator
- Budget
- Collaborative planning description/schedule
- Internal complaints procedures
- Policies (Access or admissions, inclusion, language, academic integrity, assessment)
- Sample schedules for each grade/year of the programme
- Examples of school reports to parents from different grade levels
Programme documents
PYP
- Programme of inquiry
- Three completed unit planners or equivalent from each grade level per year
MYP
- Approaches to learning chart
- Curriculum and assessment documentation
- A description of how standardization of assessment in subjects takes place
- A description of how the personal and/or community project is organized and managed.
DP
- Calendar of school deadlines for student submission of internal and external assessment components
- Subject outlines showing how the courses meet IB requirements, including how TOK and CAS are addressed.
- A description of the supervision of extended essays
- CAS handbook and samples of CAS experiences
CP 1
- CRS accreditation/certification documentation
- Sample schedule for each CRS offered as part of the CP
- Career-related study (CRS) outline for each career-related course of study the school offers
- Outlines: Personal and professional skills (PPS) course, language development, service learning, reflective project.
CP 2
- CRS accreditation/certification documentation
- Sample schedule for each CRS offered as part of the CP
- Career-related study (CRS) outline for each career-related course of study the school offers
- Outlines: Personal and professional skills (PPS) course, language development, service learning, reflective project.
- Subject outlines showing how the courses meet IB requirements, including how TOK and CAS are addressed.
The Evaluation Schedule
From September 2020 a new evaluation schedule came into play. The documentation required is contained on this checklist:
What characterizes a good self-study
Brainstorming: Use the above text to brainstorm a list of characteristics that a self-study should process.
Checklist of issues addressed during an Evaluation Visit
Example from a school
A useful guide from the point of view of an established IB Coordinator is given on the website IB Coordinator Resources. HOWEVER, please note that they refer to the 2014 and not the 2020 programme standards and practices. I still include it here because it is a good reference point.
Click HERE - and use the menu bar to scroll down for differerent pages on: overview of the process | steps of the process | self-study action plan and timeline | self-study indicators | leading section A and B of the self-study | leading sections C1-C4 of the self-study | self-study evidence folders | evidence, comments and grade form | meetings and minutes | units of work | charts | previous recommendations | parent questionnaires | policies | assessment date calendar | self-study questionnaire | sample student schedules | self-study process overview | unit plans.
- Class visits:
During the evaluation visit IB visitors will visit a number of lessons. This provides them with an opportunity of observing the schools’ approach to teaching and learning. The DP document ‘Approaches to teaching and learning in the Diploma Programme’ provides a good lens through which to observe classes. For example, to what extent do classroom observations demonstrate:
Inquiry based learning
Focused on conceptual understanding
Local and global contexts
Effective teamwork and collaboration
Differentiation to meet needs of all students
Formative and summative assessment
What opportunities are there for students to demonstrate their:
Thinking skills
Communication skills
Social skills
Self-management skills
Research skills
I would suggest that you work collaboratively with teachers to ‘flesh out’ what these ATL look like when they are being demonstrated in class. In this way staff can gain confidence and collective responsibility for developing an IB approach to teaching and learning. Visiting teams will be looking for evidence of approaches for teaching and learning in practice - how does a teacher facilitate student learning? An obvious thing visitors look for is how a teacher engages with students to facilitate their learning? How do they engage students? How do they use space in the classroom to do so?
- Embedding the IB: What has your journey been during last five years – what’s changed, developed, grown? What have been your challenges in embedding the IB and what are your current challenges?
- Access to IB: How do all students – whether they are part of an IB programme or not – benefit from being part of an IB World School? If appropriate, how do you prepare students to access the Diploma Programme (e.g. study skills, access to language of instruction etc.).
- Professional Development: Check that all staff have received appropriate professional development taking into account requirements of being trained when subject reviews have taken place – certificates of attendance will be checked against subject review dates as contained in IB Coordinator’s notes.
IB Coordination: What’s the journey of the last five years been like – opportunities + challenges + plans for development (e.g. staffing changes, team building and their professional development; embedding the IB philosophy and DP Core).
IB Global network: How have you developed your IB network – links with other IB schools, online professional communities, joint project working e.g. Group 4 Project. What have been the benefits?
Facilities: A tour of the school is always including in the agenda for the evaluation visit. Ths is to ensure that the standards and practices in Standard B are being met. The evaluation team will certainly refer to any recommendations made in your last visit (verification or evaluation) to see if actions have been taken where necessary.
Handbooks and Guides: Because the IB evolves and courses are reviewed it is important that school handbooks reflect the changes. This is especially tricky when changes will affect one cohort but not both cohorts (e.g. the new Extended Essay has specific changes which affect students to be examined in 2018 but these changes do not apply to students being examined in 2017).
Parents: The visiting team will have a meeting with parents selected by the school. This will often be a very general conversation exploring their understanding and involvement in the IB DP. For example, the team may ask open questions such as: "If we were perspective parents how would you market the school - what's the single best thing about the school / the IB Diploma Programme? What would you say is currently the schools' biggest challenge in terms of the Diploma Programme?"
Educational support: The visiting team will ask to see educational support staff. It is for each school to decide which members of staff should be present at this meeting. Issues normally discussed will include arrangement for access, counseling and SEN support.
Meeting with students: will often focus on how the learner profile, TOK and CAS are embedded, exploring what students are learning. It is also an opportunity to explore approaches to teaching and learning.The visiting team will explore how students choose subjects, whether the curriculum meets their needs and requirements, and how they are supported in their learning. It is an opportunity to triangulate what is in the self-study, what has been seen in class visits and heard in the various subject meetings. Students may also be asked to talk about their choice of Extended Essay subjects and how they are supported in the writing of them.
TOK Coordinator: Questions around the design of the TOK course, how subject teachers are embedding TOK in their lessons. How do they teach this and make the links with constructivist view of knowledge and meaning making?
The Exit Meeting
At the end of the visit the visiting team will attend an exit meeting, normally with the Head of School and the IB Diploma Coordinator in order to feed back their findings. This meeting is essentially an information giving session. Whilst the visiting team is willing to receive questions which seek to clarify the findings it is not a time to re-open discussions and enter into debate.
The IB visiting team leader will read through the key findings and the responses to these findings, but will not indicate whether these responses are commendations, recommendations or matters to be addressed. This is because the report needs to be submitted on line to the IB where it is moderated. It is the IB Director General who will send the school the report which will indicate commendations, recommendations and matters to be addressed, The report is normally received in school within four to six weeks of the visit.