Academics

Assessment is the gathering and analyzing of information about student progress and performance and program effectiveness. Effective assessment guides students through the essential elements of learning- knowledge acquisition, understanding concepts, mastering skills, development of attitudes, and decisions to take action.

At AISL, effective assessment:

• improves and encourages student learning by providing effective feedback on the learning process and outcomes;
• informs planning and teaching;
• is a tool to collect evidence of student understanding, knowledge and skills;
• is a continuous, on-going process;
• is directly related to learning outcomes/curriculum standards;
• has clear criteria that are known and understood in advance;
• involves frequent opportunities for students to be assessed in authentic contexts;
• is rigorous and relevant;
• engages students in the reflection of their learning;
• is differentiated by learning needs, for example level of English, cultural background and learning style;
• provides opportunity for peer feedback and self-reflection.
   

AISL is committed to the process of assessment in order to

• enhance the learning of the students;
• monitor the progress of individual student learning and achievement;
• determine the effectiveness of teaching;
• inform curriculum review;
• help evaluate suitability of programs and courses;
• monitor teacher performance (one of many inputs);
• inform others of student progress and performance, including students, teachers, parents, other schools, and colleges/universities.
  ​

Reporting on Student Progress and Performance
AISL provides regular and substantive reporting on Academic Achievement and Effort. The reporting system is designed to provide

• a teacher’s judgment of each student’s performance based upon the collection and evaluation of sound evidence of learning and understanding;
• an understanding of a student’s areas of strength and areas to improve;
• opportunities for parents to conference with teachers about their child’s progress and performance.

AISL views information technology as a powerful tool to support and enrich teaching and learning. We believe technology should be woven seamlessly into a student's education, enhancing curriculum across disciplines and grade levels.

The future demands that:.
- learners understand that technology brings about rapid change, including moral and ethical considerations;
- learners are flexible, adaptable, and effective in using tools that generate and respond to change;
- efficient use of technology to gather, process, evaluate, and present information is an essential skill for all;
- students are well prepared for the technology related demands found in higher education and in the workplace.

​AISL believes that the key to successfully teaching and learning information technology skills is the total integration into relevant and meaningful curricular contexts. AISL teachers do not supplant the teaching of other academic areas to "do technology" but instead use technology to better teach the other academic areas. 

AISL has long been an Apple School and has developed a world class IT infrastructure. We have a solid network built on a fiber optic backbone, with campus-wide WiFi access. Our classrooms are all equipped with an Apple TV and multimedia setup. We have an IT Lab, laptop trolley as well as a fully fledged 1:2 iPad program KG-G1, 1:1 iPad program from G2-G9 and MacBook Air for all G10-12 students. The School equips all teachers with a MacBook.

AISL’s IT staff is deeply committed to developing and improving the infrastructure to support technology integration and learning. Talented integration specialists and techers help students and teachers to further integrate technology into their daily lives to support and enhance learning. 
​
Digital learning is upon us; consequently, the teaching and learning landscape has changed. AISL is committed to being at the forefront of digital learning in the sub-Saharan African region.

​1 to 1 programs have been around since the 1980’s and are now commonplace in many International Schools around the world. Despite this, AISL is very proud to be one of the first schools on the African continent to have a fully fledged 1 to 1 initiative. By providing our students ubiquitous access to technology we can ensure that they will be able to create, communicate, collaborate and share information more efficiently than ever before. 
​
We feel that all the work we have done over the past few years has been in order to prepare ourselves for this paradigm shift. Change is not always welcomed, especially since we often use our educational experiences as benchmarks for our children's education, but the proliferation of portable devices into every facet of society is evidence that mobile computing is here to stay. Many of us cannot do our jobs effectively without our smart-phones, laptops and in some cases PDAs, we in education are tasked with ultimately preparing children to go into the world equipped with the knowledge and wisdom to pursue a livelihood, doing this with a 1 to 1 initiative makes our job as teachers more relevant to students' futures and makes students' learning more engaging and meaningful.

The American International School of Lusaka (AISL) US Ambassador’s Merit-Based Scholarship Programme is designed to provide highly capable and motivated Zambian students, who have significant financial need, with an opportunity to attend the High School at AISL and earn an American High School Diploma, as well as pursue the prestigious International Baccalaureate Middle Years and Diploma Programmes.

Scholarship students will be expected to perform at a very high level academically and to participate in a comprehensive extra-curricular programme. 

AISL will provide scholarship students with full AISL tuition fees, school supplies including an iPad (and then in later years a laptop) and home Internet bundle, all examination and university application fees, university and scholarship guidance, a local transport and school lunch provision, and funded opportunities to participate in school-sponsored trips in Zambia and overseas.

Find out about our scholarship program