The Halton District School Board Focus: Assessing for Learning

Abstract

T eachers have been asked to make significant changes i n their classroom assessment practices over the last few years . Prior to secondary school reform , most teachers' past experience s and learning focused on norm referenced evaluation that was communicated by a percentage grad e on the report card . Throughou t the course, students' efforts an d achievement in relationship to paper pencil tasks were recorded , averaged and calculated to determine the final grade .New education policies requir e classroom teachers to focus on assessment to help students learn . Learning opportunities and assessment tasks focus on ke y knowledge and skills (e .g ., knowledge/understanding, thinking/inquiry, communication, application) that students practice over tim e before they are asked to demonstrate what they know and can do . Evidence of students' learning is gathered and judged against clear criteria related to curriculum expectations . Separate feedback o n learning skills is provided on the right side of the report card whil e students' final percentage grades and comments related to strengths, areas for improvement and suggestions for improvement are o n the left side . ii) who needs the learning opportunities ?iii) how will the learning tak e place?The first step in developing system plans continually requires u s to determine what learning need s to be addressed . Recognizing pas t practices, present practices and the desired future state of classroo m practices is taken into consideration . Each spring, teacher feedback is gathered on classroo m practices related to the four ke y components of the assessmen t policy (curriculum expectations , achievement chart, 70%/30% spli t for the final grade and learning skills) . Teachers use profiles tha t identify and describe the expected classroom practices at various stages of implementatio n (awareness, preparation, practice, routine) . This helps them determine the degree to which the assessment practices have become part of their daily routine . The self-assessment tool reinforces the concept that "implementation is a process and not an event" and assists them in planning future professional growth .