Session #5 - The Impact of Growing Success on My Beliefs about Assessment
Over the past few weeks, I gained a deeper and more comprehensive
understanding of what assessment is and how I, as a teacher, can effectively
use assessment to guide and support my students and to improve student learning.
The document Growing Success has been a valuable resource in
shaping my understanding and beliefs about assessment.
Assessment For, As, and Of Learning
Growing Success has helped me to
understand that assessment means so much more than assigning a grade or filling
out a report card. In order to improve student learning, I need to ensure that
there is continually assessment for learning
and assessment of learning taking
place. As a teacher, I need to gather information to determine what skills and
knowledge my students have in order to plan instruction that will effectively
meet their learning needs. I also need to consistently monitor my student’s
progress towards achieving the expectations so that I can provide my students
with descriptive feedback, scaffold their learning, and differentiate my
instruction in response to their needs. At the same time, I also need to
provide my students with the opportunities to assess their own learning and the
learning of their peers so that they can develop the skills to be effective
assessors who take initiative as they reflect on their learning and develop
strategies and goals for how to improve. When students are interested and
involved in their learning and when they believe that they have the necessary
knowledge, support, and ability to learn, they are much more likely to succeed.
Making Assessment Meaningful
Growing Success has also helped me to
develop a better understanding of the importance of making assessment meaningful
for both students and parents. Open and clear communication with students and
parents is critical for improving student learning. Rather than independently
develop learning goals and success criteria that involve complex or technical
words, I should involve my students so that together we can co-create learning
goals and success criteria which contain student-friendly language that is
meaningful to my students. If my students do not understand what is expected of
them or what the successful completion of a task looks like, how can I fairly
expect them to succeed? Similarly, when I provide my students with feedback, I
need to ensure that I am using language that they can understand so that they
can meaningfully reflect on it and use it as a stepping stone for growth and
improvement. The same logic applies when I am writing report card comments. In
my anecdotal comments, I need to ensure that I am using language that parents
will understand. The feedback I provide should be personalized, clear,
detailed, and meaningful as I describe the student’s strengths and identify
next steps for improvement. When the teacher, student, and parent all share a
common understanding of the child’s learning goals, strengths, and steps for
improvement, they can work together to improve student learning.
Supporting All Students
Another way in which Growing Success has impacted my beliefs about
assessment is with regards to how assessment is critical in supporting students
who have special needs or who are English Language Learners. The primary goal
of assessment remains the same for these students: to improve student learning.
For students with special needs, it is particularly important that teachers
assess the effectiveness of their instructional strategies in order to help
determine what the specific needs of the students are, what specific strategies
or interventions can be used to help the student achieve, and what accommodations,
modifications, or alternative learning programs may be needed to support the
student. As a teacher, I may need to make assessment modifications such as
providing visual supports or alternative methods for students to demonstrate
their knowledge, understanding, and skills. Similarly, I may need to make
accommodations or modifications for the ELLs in my class in order to support their
learning. For example, when I am assessing ELLs, I may need to give them extra
time, use simplified language and instruction, or use alternative assessment
strategies such as oral interviews when assessing their learning. Thus, Growing
Success has helped me to develop the belief that assessment is not something
that is fixed for all students. While every student needs ongoing, meaningful assessment
that draws evidence from a variety of sources and that improves student
learning, it is not realistic, fair, or valid for me to assess every single
student in my class in an identical manner. My classroom will be filled with
students who have different needs. As a teacher, I need to ensure that I am
willing to differentiate my assessment in order to support the diverse needs of
my students so that I can ensure that every student has the opportunity to demonstrate
their achievements and improve their learning.
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Session #1 - My Experiences and Beliefs about Assessment
Throughout my experiences as a student in elementary school and secondary school, I have had both positive and negative experiences with regards to assessment. These experiences have shaped my beliefs about assessment.
A Shared Understanding of Assessment
One key belief that I have with regards to assessment is that it is critical that the teacher and students have a clear, shared understanding of what the goals and criteria are for assessment. In my experiences as a student, I appreciated when the teacher took the time to discuss the learning goals or expectations with us as a class and provided us with the opportunity to ask questions in order to ensure that we had a solid understanding of our task and how we would be assessed. For assignments or projects where the teacher did not take the time to explain how we would be assessed, I often felt more nervous or overwhelmed by the work. I believe that when the teacher clearly communicates the goals and criteria of assessment, their students will feel more prepared and more confident in their ability to succeed.
One key belief that I have with regards to assessment is that it is critical that the teacher and students have a clear, shared understanding of what the goals and criteria are for assessment. In my experiences as a student, I appreciated when the teacher took the time to discuss the learning goals or expectations with us as a class and provided us with the opportunity to ask questions in order to ensure that we had a solid understanding of our task and how we would be assessed. For assignments or projects where the teacher did not take the time to explain how we would be assessed, I often felt more nervous or overwhelmed by the work. I believe that when the teacher clearly communicates the goals and criteria of assessment, their students will feel more prepared and more confident in their ability to succeed.
Descriptive, Constructive Feedback
From my experiences as a student, I have also learned the importance of ensuring that the feedback I provide my students is specific and constructive. Throughout elementary school and secondary school, I was a high-achieving student who usually received positive assessments. I found it frustrating, however, when the only feedback I received from a teacher was a vague comment such as "Great job!" or "Excellent work!" As a student, I wanted to know which aspects of the assignment were done well, which areas could have used improvement, and ideas for how I could improve in future tasks. How can a student improve their learning or develop new knowledge and skills if they do not receive detailed, constructive feedback? I believe that unclear feedback fosters a sense of helplessness or frustration in students as they do not receive any direction with regards to how they can improve. Detailed, constructive feedback, on the other hand, empowers students to take what they have learned and improve their knowledge and skills with the support and guidance of their teacher.
Assessment as a Means of Improving Learning
My experiences as a student have also taught me the importance of embracing assessment as a valuable tool for improving learning. As a perfectionist, I often found it difficult to hear the feedback or assessment of my teachers and peers. My natural tendency was to become angry and defensive. As a high-achieving student, I was very fixated on the percentage or letter grade I received and I felt disappointed in myself when I received a mark that was below my high expectations. Sometimes I became so swept up in the disappointing grade I received that I lost sight of the tremendous opportunity to improve my learning. As a teacher, I want my students to understand the importance of learning from their experiences and the feedback they receive. I want my students to understand that the ultimate goal of assessment is to improve their learning and that sometimes making mistakes or receiving disappointing grades is a natural part of the learning process. Rather than becoming fixated on a poor assessment, I want my students to ask themselves how they can learn from the feedback they have received and determine some next steps for how to improve in the future. As a teacher, I also need to reflect on the assessments I am giving in order to determine how I can better support my students and help them achieve their learning goals. Thus, I strongly believe that assessment is an integral part of the learning process as it can lead to tremendous growth and development for both the students and the teacher.
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EDBE
8Y01 Digital Portfolio: AER Strategy Form Name: Belinda Olij
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GROWING
SUCCESS POLICIES
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My
Professional Learning Goals
1 goal for each
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Strategies
For Meeting
My
Goals
1 strategy for each
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Curated
Resources
minimum of 2 sources for each
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POLICY
Fundamental Principles
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I am learning to provide descriptive feedback
that is clear and meaningful in order to improve student learning.
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I can use student-friendly language and avoid
technical jargon when giving feedback to ensure that my students are able to
understand what I mean.
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POLICY
Learning Skills & Work Habits
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I am learning to intentionally connect the
learning skills and work habits to a curriculum task.
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I can create curriculum tasks that encourage
students to set goals and develop a plan of how to reach those goals in order
to promote the learning skills and work habits of organization, independent
work, and self-regulation.
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1) Edugain’s Learning Skills and Work
Habits
2) York Region District School Board’s Learning Skills and Work
Habits: New Reporting Policies for Ontario
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POLICY
Performance Standards: The Achievement Chart
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I am learning to ensure that my assessment is
criterion-referenced rather than norm-referenced.
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I can develop a rubric based on the four levels
of achievement in order to ensure that my students will be assessed by these
criteria.
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1)AER Gain’s Performance Standards:
Criterion-Referencing
2) Edugain’s eModule Performance Standards: The
Achievement Chart
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POLICY
Assessment FOR Learning & AS Learning
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I am learning to plan learning opportunities for
student self-assessment and peer-assessment.
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I can co-create a rubric with my students to
define what success in the task will look like. The students will use this
rubric to assess their own work.
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1) ReadWriteThink’s Strategy Guide: Promoting
Student Self-Assessment
2) Ontario Ministry of Education’s Capacity Building Series:
Student Self-Assessment
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POLICY
Evaluation
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I am learning to use multiple sources of evidence
(i.e. triangulation of data) when evaluating my students.
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For the observation part of the triangulation of
data, I can keep a binder that has a separate tab for each student that
contains my observations of each student’s behavior, skills, and attitudes as
they relate to the curriculum expectations and the learning skills and work
habits. At the front of my binder, I can have a class list where I place a
checkmark beside the student’s name each time I record anecdotal notes in
order to keep track of how frequently I am recording my observations for each
student.
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1) TeachingStrategies’ The Power of Assessment:
Instructor’s Manuel
2) Learn Alberta’s Assessment Strategies and
Tools: Anecdotal Notes
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POLICY
Reporting Student Achievement
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I am learning to provide personalized, meaningful
comments on each student’s report card.
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I can give specific examples in my comments to
clarify and provide evidence for my comments on the child’s strengths,
weaknesses, and next steps.
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1) Nova Scotia’s Tri-County Regional School Board’s Creating Strong Report Card
Comments
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POLICY
Students With Special Education Needs
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I am learning to use assessment and evaluation
strategies to specify and verify the needs of students with special education
needs.
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I can develop a student profile which provides
detailed, in-depth information about the strengths and needs of the
individual student.
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1) Ontario Ministry of Education’s Learning for All: A Guide to
Effective Assessment and Instruction for All Students, KG to Grade 12
2) Special Education Guide’s The Importance of the
Assessment Process
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POLICY
English Language Learners
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I am learning to make a variety of accommodations
to support the ELL students in my classroom.
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I can use assessment strategies and tools that
involve oral and visual communication as ELL learners tend to do better with
these forms of communication in comparison to written communication.
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1) Ministry of Education’s Supporting English Language
Learners: A practical guide for Ontario educators, Grades 1-8
2) EduGain’s Supporting English Language
Learners
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NAME: Belinda Olij
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Grade: 5
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Subject: Mathematics
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Strand(s): Patterning and Algebra
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Overall Expectation:
- determine, through
investigation using a table of values, relationships in growing and shrinking
patterns, and investigate repeating patterns involving translations
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Specific Expectations:
- build a model to represent a
number pattern presented in a table of values that shows the term number and
the term
- make predictions related to
growing and shrinking geometric and numeric patterns
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Achievement Chart Categories:
Knowledge & Understanding
- identify the parts of a table
of value
- identify whether the pattern
shrinks or grows and describe how
- use knowledge and
understanding to build a model of the pattern
Thinking
- use planning skills to understand
the problem and develop a plan for how to solve it
- use processing skills to
build the model and predict what future stages will look like
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Learning Skills and Work Habits
Responsibility – complete the task according to the agreed upon
timeline; demonstrate care and responsibility when working with the tile
patterns
Independent Work – monitor, assess, and revise their plan to
complete the task; use class time appropriately to complete the task; follow
task instructions with minimal supervision
Organization – create and follow a plan to complete the task;
manage time wisely; gather, evaluate, and use information and resources to
complete the task
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Learning Goals
We are learning to investigate
growing and shrinking patterns by using a table of values.
We are learning to plan and
build a model that shows a number pattern found in a table of values.
We are learning to predict what
different stages in a pattern would look like.
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Assessment Task / Strategy
Task: Each student will be given a table of values which states the term
number and the term (# of tiles) of four consecutive stages in a pattern of
figures. Students will work independently to plan and build a model using
colour tiles to represent the different stages given in the table of values. They
will use one tile colour to show what remains constant in each stage of the
pattern and another tile colour to show how the pattern grows in each stage. They
will then predict what the 5th and 10th stage in the
series would look like, recording this information in their table of values
and adding these stages to their model.
Product – examine the model the student has created and the table of
values they have filled in
Conversation – hold conferences with students where students will describe
their pattern, how their model is connected to the table of values, and their
reasoning for their predictions
Observation – observe the degree of difficulty the student experiences
while working on the task
PUPOSE: Assessment FOR Learning
NATURE: Formative
(The information gathered by
the teacher will be used to monitor the student’s progress in achieving the
overall and specific expectations so that the teacher can provide students
with timely and specific feedback, scaffold the next steps, and differentiate
their instruction and assessment in order to meet students’ needs.)
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Success Criteria
Investigating:
- I can read a table of values
and identify its different parts.
- I can look at a table of
values and state whether the pattern is growing or shrinking.
- I can look at a table of
values and describe how the pattern is growing or shrinking.
Building:
- I can create a plan of how I
will build the model and revise my plan when needed.
- I can build a model using pattern
tiles that shows how the pattern shrinks or grows.
- I can describe how the
information in my table of values is connected to the model I have built.
Predicting:
- I can predict what a future
stage in my pattern would look like.
- I can give reasons why I made
these predictions.
- I can record my predictions
in a table of values.
- I can add my predictions to
the model I have built of the pattern.
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ASSESSMENT TOOL:
Rating Scale – the teacher will
fill out the rating scale and provide comments based on their observations of
the student during the task, their conversations with the student during the
task, and the product the student has created (model and table of values)
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