Page 28 - The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 11 and 12: Mathematics, 2007

THE ONTARIO CURRICULUM, GRADES 11 AND 12 | Mathematics
Criteria
Within each category in the achievement chart, criteria are provided that are subsets of the knowledge and skills that define each category. For example, in Knowledge and Understanding, the criteria are “knowledge of content (e.g., facts, terms, procedural skills, use of tools)” and “understanding of mathematical concepts”. The criteria identify the aspects of student performance that are assessed and/or evaluated, and serve as guides
to what to look for.
Descriptors
A “descriptor” indicates the characteristic of the student’s performance, with respect to a particular criterion, on which assessment or evaluation is focused. In the achievement chart, effectiveness is the descriptor used for each criterion in the Thinking, Communica- tion, and Application categories. What constitutes effectiveness in any given performance task will vary with the particular criterion being considered. Assessment of effectiveness may therefore focus on a quality such as appropriateness, clarity, accuracy, precision, logic, relevance, significance, fluency, flexibility, depth, or breadth, as appropriate for the parti- cular criterion. For example, in the Thinking category, assessment of effectiveness might focus on the degree of relevance or depth apparent in an analysis; in the Communication category, on clarity of expression or logical organization of information and ideas; or in the Application category, on appropriateness or breadth in the making of connections. Similarly, in the Knowledge and Understanding category, assessment of knowledge might focus on accuracy, and assessment of understanding might focus on the depth of an explanation. Descriptors help teachers to focus their assessment and evaluation on specific knowledge and skills for each category and criterion, and help students to better understand exactly what is being assessed and evaluated.
Qualifiers
A specific “qualifier” is used to define each of the four levels of achievement – that is, limited for level 1, some for level 2, considerable for level 3, and a high degree or thorough for level 4. A qualifier is used along with a descriptor to produce a description of perform- ance at a particular level. For example, the description of a student’s performance at level 3 with respect to the first criterion in the Thinking category would be: “the student uses planning skills with considerable effectiveness”.
The descriptions of the levels of achievement given in the chart should be used to identify the level at which the student has achieved the expectations. In all of their courses, students should be provided with numerous and varied opportunities to demonstrate the full extent of their achievement of the curriculum expectations, across all four categories of knowledge and skills.
EVALUATION AND REPORTING OF STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
Student achievement must be communicated formally to students and parents by means of the Provincial Report Card, Grades 9–12. The report card provides a record of the student’s achievement of the curriculum expectations in every course, at particular points in the school year or semester, in the form of a percentage grade. The percentage grade represents the quality of the student’s overall achievement of the expectations for the
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