Page 34 - THE ONTARIO CURRICULUM, GRADES 9 AND 10 | Canadian and World Studies

THE ONTARIO CURRICULUM, GRADES 9 AND 10 | Canadian and World Studies
body of evidence collected over time. It also provides teachers with a foundation for developing clear and specific feedback for students and parents.
The purposes of the achievement chart are to:
• provide a common framework that encompasses all curriculum expectations for all subjects/courses across the grades;
• guide the development of high-quality assessment tasks and tools (including rubrics);
• help teachers plan instruction for learning;
• provide a basis for consistent and meaningful feedback to students in relation to provincial content and performance standards;
• establish categories and criteria with which to assess and evaluate students’ learning.
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.
As essential steps in assessment for learning and as learning, teachers need to:
• plan assessment concurrently and integrate it seamlessly with instruction;
• share learning goals and success criteria with students at the outset of learning to ensure that students and teachers have a common and shared understanding of these goals and criteria as learning progresses;
• gather information about student learning before, during, and at or near the end of a period of instruction, using a variety of assessment strategies and tools;
• use assessment to inform instruction, guide next steps, and help students monitor their progress towards achieving their learning goals;
• analyse and interpret evidence of learning;
• give and receive specific and timely descriptive feedback about student learning;
• help students to develop skills of peer assessment and self-assessment.
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.
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