Page 20 - Math 9-10 (2009)

ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION OF STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT 19
Thinking. The use of critical and creative thinking skills and/or processes,3 as follows:
• planningskills(e.g.,understandingtheproblem,makingaplanforsolvingtheproblem) • processingskills(e.g.,carryingoutaplan,lookingbackatthesolution)
• critical/creativethinkingprocesses(e.g.,inquiry,problemsolving)
Communication. The conveying of meaning through various oral, written, and visual forms (e.g., providing explanations of reasoning or justification of results orally or in writing; com- municating mathematical ideas and solutions in writing, using numbers and algebraic symbols, and visually, using pictures, diagrams, charts, tables, graphs, and concrete materials).
Application. The use of knowledge and skills to make connections within and between various contexts.
Teachers will ensure that student work is assessed and/or evaluated in a balanced manner with respect to the four categories, and that achievement of particular expectations is considered within the appropriate categories.
Criteria. Within each category in the achievement chart, criteria are provided, which 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 stu- dent 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 achieve- ment 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 there- fore focus on a quality such as appropriateness, clarity, accuracy, precision, logic, relevance, significance, fluency, flexibility, depth, or breadth, as appropriate for the particular 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 performance 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.
3. See the footnote on page 20, pertaining to the mathematical processes.