| ASSESSMENT, EVALUATION, and LATE POLICIES |
ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION OF STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
BASIC CONSIDERATIONS
The primary purpose of assessment and evaluation is to improve student learning. Information gathered through assessment helps teachers to determine students' strengths and weaknesses in their achievement of the curriculum expectations in each course. This information also serves to guide teachers in adapting instructional approaches to students' needs and in assessing the overall effectiveness of programs and classroom practices. In a Catholic context, this means that our practices recognize and affirm the dignity of all learners, encouraging and supporting them to reach their potential in order to optimize their achievement.
DEFINITIONS
Assessment is the process of gathering information from a variety of sources (including assignments, demonstrations, projects, performances, and tests) that accurately reflects how well a student is achieving the curriculum expectations in a course. As part of assessment, teachers provide students with descriptive feedback that guides their efforts towards improvement.
Diagnostic Assessment, also referred to as pre-assessment, is used prior to instruction to gather information about
students’ starting points at the beginning of a course, unit, and/or lesson.
Information from diagnostic assessments help students recognize their skills
and level of understanding and do not count towards the student’s grade.
Formative Assessment is used during instruction to monitor student progress and provide feedback. Feedback helps
students understand what they do well, where to improve, and what to do to improve. Information from formative assessments
1. may count, to a small extent, towards the student’s grade. (from Board Guidelines)
2. may count towards the student’s grade.
3. may inform the student’s final grade
4. may guide teachers’ professional judgement when assigning grades.
Evaluation refers to the process of judging the quality of student work on the basis of established criteria, and assigning a value to represent that quality. Information from evaluations is used to determine the student’s grade for reporting purposes
Assessment and evaluation will be based on the provincial curriculum expectations and the achievement levels outlined in Ministry Documents available at http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/secondary/
All curriculum expectations, overall and specific, 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. 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 observation) but not necessarily evaluated.
For specific information on the following, please access the links below:
ACHIEVEMENT LEVEL CHARTS
STUDENT ABSENCES, and MISSED TESTS and ASSIGNMENTS
LATE ASSIGNMENTS, MISSED PRESENTATIONS and PLAGIARISM
CULMINATING TASKS AND EXAMS