Page 25 - The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 9 and 10: The Arts, 2010

Assessment for Learning and as Learning
Assessment is the process of gathering information that accurately reflects how well a student is achieving the curriculum expectations in a course. The primary purpose of assessment is to improve student learning. Assessment for the purpose of improving student learning is seen as both “assessment for learning” and “assessment as learning”. As part of assessment for learning, teachers provide students with descriptive feedback and coaching for improvement. Teachers engage in assessment as learning by helping
all 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.
Evaluation
Evaluation refers to the process of judging the quality of student learning on the basis
of established performance standards and assigning a value to represent that quality. Evaluation accurately summarizes and communicates to parents, other teachers, employers, institutions of further education, and students themselves what students know and can do with respect to the overall curriculum expectations. Evaluation is based on assessment of learning that provides evidence of student achievement at strategic times throughout the course, often at the end of a period of learning.
All curriculum expectations must be accounted for in instruction and assessment, but evaluation focuses on students’ achievement of the overall expectations. A student’s achieve- ment of the overall expectations is evaluated on the basis of his or her achievement of related specific expectations. The overall expectations are broad in nature, and the specific expectations define the particular content or scope of the knowledge and skills referred to in the overall expectations. Teachers will use their professional judgement to deter- mine which specific expectations should be used to evaluate achievement of the overall expectations, and which ones will be accounted for in instruction and assessment but not necessarily evaluated.
Reporting Student Achievement
The Provincial Report Card, Grades 9–12, shows a student’s achievement at specific points in the school year or semester. The first report in both semestered and non-semestered schools reflects student achievement of the overall curriculum expectations, as well as development of the learning skills and work habits, during the first reporting period.
Although there are two formal reporting periods for a semestered course and three formal reporting periods for a non-semestered course, communication with parents and students about student achievement should be continuous throughout the course, by means such as parent-teacher or parent-student-teacher conferences, portfolios of student work, student-led conferences, interviews, phone calls, checklists, and informal reports. Communication about student achievement should be designed to provide detailed information that will encourage students to set goals for learning, help teachers to establish plans for teaching, and assist parents in supporting learning at home.
ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION OF STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
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