Assessment #1

Hey folks,

In my following page, I will provide to you a summary of the resources I have collected in class regarding assessment and what I have learned based on my experience from the past and my experience today.  In the Growing Success document, we used a jigsaw method and were divided into 6 groups where we covered the chapters from 1-6 in the document. Well, first off, I learned that we are constantly always assessing students no matter what, and thinking back to my days, I would never imagine that when a teacher did not hold a clipboard and checking off boxes when evaluating me, was actually still evaluating whether with a clipboard or without.  The document also provided personal reflection on which given ways to help me improve on my own personal practice while also learning to implement them into my classroom.

Learning Skills and Work Habits (Chapter 2)

Growing Success lists six learning skills and work habits that are an integral part of a student's learning (page 11). They are as follows:

•    Responsibility

•    Organization

•    Independent Work

•    Collaboration

•    Initiative 

•    Self-Regulation

My professional learning goal is to incorporate the learning goals and work habits as often as possible into lessons.  I plan on achieving this goal by setting up a success criteria chart at the beginning of the year. I will keep this success chart posted and visible throughout the year and would refer back to this chart when necessary for lessons and also as a tool to guide the students in their own learning. This will be a criteria that students need to meet especially when students are assessing and evaluating themselves. 

Performance Standards: The Achievement Chart (Chapter 3)

The Ministry of Education provides achievement charts as a way of standardizing the assessment of the curriculum expectations. The Growing Success documents offers teachers several examples of what a ministry-approved achievement chart looks like on page 20.

4 Types of Knowledge (page 17):

•    Knowledge / Understanding: subject-specific content acquired in each grade/course (knowledge), and the comprehension of its meaning and significance (understanding)

•    Thinking: the use of critical and creative thinking skills and/or processes

•    Communication: the conveying of meaning through various forms

•    Application: the use of knowledge and skills to make connections within and between various contexts 

Levels of Achievement:

•    Level 1:achievement that falls much below the provincial standard. The student demonstrates the specified knowledge and skills with limited effectiveness. Students must work at significantly improving learning in specific areas, as necessary, if they are to be successful in the next grade/course.

•    Level 2: achievement that approaches the provincial standard. The student demonstrates the specified knowledge and skills with some effectiveness. Students performing at this level need to work on identified learning gaps to ensure future success.

•    Level 3: the provincial standard for achievement. The student demonstrates the specified knowledge and skills with considerable effectiveness. Parents of students achieving at level 3 can be confident that their children will be prepared for work in subsequent grades/courses.

•    Level 4: achievement that surpasses the provincial standard. The student demonstrates the specified knowledge and skills with a high degree of effectiveness. However, achievement at a level 4 does not mean the student has achieved expectations beyond those specified for the grade/course.

My professional learning goal will be to ensure that I develop lesson plans that allow students to succeed and reach a level 4 on the achievement chart.  To do so, I would have to set clear instruction and clarify with any students questions before an assignment. I will also provide constant feedback and guidance from my colleagues in regards to my lesson plans, while also sharing success criteria once again with the students.  

Assessment for Learning, and Assessment as Learning (Chapter 4)

In chapter 4, it is stated "assessment is the process of gathering information that accurately reflects how well a student is achieving the curriculum expectations in a subject or course" (page 28). According to the Growth Success document, there are two types of assessments as follows:

•    Assessment for learning: teachers provide students with descriptive feedback and coaching for improvement.

•    Assessment as learning: teachers help students develop their capacity to be independent, autonomous learners who are able to set individual goals, monitor their own progress, determine next steps, and reflect on their thinking and learning.

 My professional learning goals will be to incorporate as much assessment for and as learning as possible into my daily routine by using a day planner or journal to jot down notes throughout the day on students work/behaviors.  I will also provide students with a journal book or an "interactive notebook" where the students reflect weekly on what they have learned and how they think they are doing in the class.

Evaluation (Chapter 5)

Evaluation is "the process of judging the quality of student learning on the basis of established performance standards and assigning a value to represent that quality" (page 38). The evidence of achievement is collected from three different sources: observations, conversations, and student products.  Grades 1-6 student's will be reported using letters, while grades  7-12 will use a percentage mark.

My professional learning goal for evaluating is to NOT be bias when evaluating students and always mark them fairly not matter what their situation is. I will do this by keeping a detailed record book of student marks. 

Reporting Student Achievement (Chapter 6)

Student achievement is recorded in a series of report cards which reflects a student's general progress through the curriculum as well as their development of learning skills and work habits. The elementary progress report card indicates a student's progress towards achievement of the curriculum. while the elementary provincial report card indicates a student's development of the learning skills and work. This is issued twice in the school year. 

The report cards have many different codes representing different items reflective of student learning. Some additional resources useful when considering report cards and reporting student achievement are the EduGains document Reporting Student Learning which outlines guidelines for effective parent-teacher communication. There is also Reporting Student Progress: Policy and Practice which is a British Columbia provincial document. While most of us are familiar with our school board's policies, it is always interesting and beneficial to do some research into other school board's policies to help enhance our own board's policies. Finally, the Pan Canadian Assessment Program assesses students in their math to help students reach their full potential by taking their findings back to the government to see if there is a need to change the current curriculum. 

My professional learning goal is to provide student's with meaningful feedback that can encourage and motivate them to work harder in a subject that they might have found to be challenging. In order to provide student's with a personal and meaningful report card, I will  have to achieve a detailed, notebook with comments about student's achievements or room for growth. 

Students with Special Needs (Chapter 7)

"Every school board in Ontario must have procedures in place to identify the level of development, learning abilities, and needs of every child who is enrolled in the school, and to ensure that educational programs are designed to accommodate those needs and to facilitate the child's growth and development" (page 70). This quote, taken directly out of the Growing Success document, outlines Ontario's policy for inclusion of student's with special needs.

Many students with special needs are placed on IEPs, or Individual Education Plans. They specify whether a student requires accommodations only, modified learning expectations, with the possibility of accommodations, or an alternative program, not derived from the curriculum expectations for a subject/grade or a course.

Students will be evaluated based on their expectations as listed in their IEPs, not the curriculum requirements for the grade level they are currently enrolled in. 

There are many documents containing more information on assisting students with special needs. Learning for All is a document that outlines many different support systems for students, especially the exceptional learners. The Ontario Teacher's Federation offers resources for Teaching Strategies for Students With Special Needs. Teacher Vision offers a similar article discussing ways in which teachers can best teacher their student with special needs. 

English Language Learners (Chapter 8)

On the student report cards, there is a specific ESL/ELD box that should be checked off to indicate that these students are receiving modified curriculum expectations. The box, however, should not be checked to indicate that these students are participating in ESL or ELD courses or programs or that accommodations have been provided to enable the student to demonstrate his or her learning (page 76). 

There are three different types of accommodations that can be made for ELL students. Accommodations to:

•    instructional strategies (i.e. extensive use of visual clues)

•    learning resources (i.e. use of dual-language materials)

•    assessment strategies (i.e. allowance of extra time)

Modifications vary and are reflective of each students circumstance based on how extensive their knowledge of English is and the amount of schooling the student has received. 

There are many helpful resources online for ELL/ESL/ELD students. The first is a government document called Supporting English Language Learners. This artifact deals with supporting ELL students best. Another artifact I found particularly helpful was the Learn Alberta website. While this is an out of province source, the work examples and ideas for modifying curriculum can be applied just as easily in an Ontario school setting. Another interesting document I have located is the ELL Guide for Classroom Teachers from the British Columbia provincial government. Once again, this is an out of province document, but it has many ideas and strategies for the classroom teachers planning. This document will be useful when developing lesson plans that can include ELL students.

Well everyone,

Hope you learned a lot from my blog post.

Stay tuned for my digital portfolio blog post !