ICAS

In our rapidly changing world, it is becoming more and more important for our young people to develop strong skills as they progress through their education. While our curriculum-based assessments test a student's ability to recall what they have learned in a variety of subject areas, we think it's important to set students up in the secondary years for the bigger challenges of tertiary study and their future careers.

Therefore, BBHS will be implementing ICAS, a comprehensive skills-based assessment program that assesses the higher order thinking and problem-solving skills of students. We believe ICAS will give us deep insight into our students' true capabilities and help us plan more effectively for their futures.

HOW ICAS IS DIFFERENT FROM THE OTHER ASSESSMENTS YOUR CHILD WILL TAKE:

1. ICAS can tell us whether students really understand what they are being taught, or whether they have just been rote-learning curriculum content.
    
2. ICAS can help us discover student talents and student weaknesses that don't always get picked up by the curriculum testing framework.
    
3. ICAS will not add extra workload to any student's study or homework regime because ICAS is an assessment they can't study for. It evaluates thinking and problem-solving ability, not memory.

1. ICAS's diagnostic reports will give all of us (teachers and parents) far more insight into your child's strengths and weaknesses. At school, we can act on that by tailoring our teaching and learning programs; at home, you will know where to direct more encouragement.
    
2. ICAS will also give us an external benchmark we can rely on to ensure our school is keeping pace with national and international standards¾ICAS is the most comprehensive international assessment program, with schools in over 20 countries participating in ICAS every year.