Page 25 - The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 9 and 10: Science, 2008 (revised)

• accommodate students with special education needs, consistent with the strategies outlined in their Individual Education Plan;
• accommodate the needs of students who are learning the language of instruction;
• ensure that each student is given clear directions for improvement;
• promote students’ ability to assess their own learning and to set specific goals;
• include the use of samples of students’ work that provide evidence of their achievement;
• are communicated clearly to students and parents at the beginning of the school year and at other appropriate points throughout the school year.
Evaluation of Achievement of Overall Expectations
All curriculum expectations must be accounted for in instruction, but evaluation focuses on students’ achievement of the overall expectations. A student’s achievement 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 over- all expectations. Teachers will use their professional judgement to determine which specific expectations should be used to evaluate achievement of the overall expectations, and which ones will be covered in instruction and assessment (e.g., through direct obser- vation) but not necessarily evaluated.
Levels of Achievement
The characteristics given in the achievement chart (pages 26–27) for level 3 represent the “provincial standard” for achievement of the expectations. A complete picture of achieve- ment at level 3 in a science course can be constructed by reading from top to bottom in the shaded column of the achievement chart, headed “70–79% (Level 3)”. Parents of students achieving at level 3 can be confident that their children will be prepared for work in subsequent courses.
Level 1 identifies achievement that falls much below the provincial standard, while still re- flecting a passing grade. Level 2 identifies achievement that approaches the standard. Level 4 identifies achievement that surpasses the standard. It should be noted that achievement at level 4 does not mean that the student has achieved expectations beyond those specified for a particular course. It indicates that the student has achieved all or almost all of the expecta- tions for that course, and that he or she demonstrates the ability to use the knowledge and skills specified for that course in more sophisticated ways than a student achieving at level 3.
THE ACHIEVEMENT CHART FOR SCIENCE
The achievement chart that follows identifies four categories of knowledge and skills in science. The achievement chart is a standard province-wide guide to be used by teachers. It enables teachers to make judgements about student work that are based on clear per- formance standards and on a body of evidence collected over time.
The purpose of the achievement chart is to:
• provide a common framework that encompasses all curriculum expectations for all courses outlined in this document;
ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION OF STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT