Elements of Planning and Assessment

Instructional Planning: Backwards Design                                       Grade Group:
ELEMENTS	GROWING SUCCESS MESSAGE	TEACHER CANDIDATE FRIENDLY LANGUAGE
Achievement Chart Categories	A standard, province- wide guide to be used  by teachers to make judgements about student work based on clear performance standards.	The achievement chart categories include: Knowledge and Understanding, Communication, Application and Thinking. Each category expands across 4 levels. Level 4 being the highest and level 1 being the lowest. Teachers use the achievement chart categories for every subject, and every assignment and every test. Every rubric created uses the achievement chart to assess students work. There are general definitions under each and they expand as you go across the levels to what is expected from each student.
Learning Skills and Work Habits	The skills and habits that can be demonstrated by a student across all subjects, courses and grades and in other behaviour at school. These learning skills and work habits promote student achievement of the curriculum expectations. The six skills and habits are: responsibility, organization, independent work, collaboration, initiative, and self-regulation.	The six learning skills and work habits: responsibility, independent work, organization, independent work, collaboration, initiative and self-regulation are skills and habits that should be seen in all aspects of student learning and school life. Students receive feedback such as: Excellent, Good, Satisfactory and Needs Improvement in each course, grade and aspect of school life from their teachers. Students are encouraged to improve upon these skills and habits until the very end of the year in order to be the best overall student that they can be for themselves and their school community.
Learning Goals	Brief statements that describe for a student what he/she should know and be able to do by the end of a period of instruction	The goals a student should have by the end of an instructional lesson.
Purpose and Nature of Assessment	Assessment for learning-diagnostic assessment is used by teachers to determine what students already know; formative assessment is used by teachers to monitor students’ progress towards achieving the overall and specific expectations Assessment as learning-formative assessment is used by students to provide feedback to other students Assessment of learning- summative assessment is used by the teacher to summarize learning at a given point in time	Assessment for learning- diagnostic assessment is used by teachers to determine what students already know; formative assessment is used by teachers to monitor students’ progress in achieving curriculum expectations Assessment as learning- formative assessment is used by students to provide feedback to their peers Assessment of learning- summative assessment is used by the teacher to summarize learning at any point in time
Success Criteria	Standards or specific descriptions of successful attainment of learning goals developed by teachers on the basis of criteria in the achievement chart, and discussed and agreed upon in collaboration with students that are used to determine to what degree a learning goal has been achieved. Criteria describe what success “looks like”, and allow the teacher and student to gather information about the quality of student learning.	A list of learning goals that is to be met in order to be successful developed by the teachers. It is a way for students to see what they must do in order to achieve the necessary criteria.
Assessment Strategies	The process of gathering, from a variety of sources, information that accurately reflects how well a student is achieving the curriculum expectations in a subject or course. Teachers use a variety of educational assessment strategies and tools, which may include (but are not limited to) direct observation, portfolios, journals, rubrics, tests, projects, and self- and peer assessment. Oral interviews, learning logs, or portfolio	The ways that teachers can assess students to determine their knowledge of the material. It can be delivered through means like oral interviews, portfolios, journals, tests, and many more. They can be changed in order to meet a student’s specific needs.
Assessment Tools	Teachers use a variety of educational assessment strategies and tools, which may include (but are not limited to) direct observation, portfolios, journals, rubrics, tests, projects, and self- and peer assessment. Data from assessments, along with information from parents and others who have worked with the student, provide a detailed picture of the student’s learning needs.	Ways in which teachers can evaluate students’ progress and work.
Differentiated Instruction	An approach to instruction designed to maximize growth by considering the needs of each student at his or her current stage of development and offering that student a learning experience that responds to his or her individual needs. Differentiated instruction recognizes that equity of opportunity is not achieved through equal treatment and takes into account factors such as the student’s readiness, interest, and learning preferences	Ensuring that instruction is manageable for all students in the class regardless of individual differences and/or barriers and providing different avenues of learning for these differences.

Introducing Assessment and Evaluation

Assessment and evaluations have been connected to education since the implementation of schools, though how we assess and evaluate changes, the basic core remains.  Assessments are also apart of schools that students loath the most, but why is this?

If we reflect on our own experiences as a student, I'm sure we can think of a number of times when we've been entirely anxiety filled over a test.  For myself, this is most apparent when reflecting back on my four year undergrad at York University.  From class to class, we would have exams worth up to 60% at times and compiled from information and resources over the course of 8 months.  Students would pile up inside the Rexall Center, which holds thousands, and in rows you would have 2 hours to complete an examination.  The stress level of these situations is enough to even increase suicide levels (which is why universities were granted an extra reading week).  So, why do we still test like this?

Moving from a university atmosphere towards the current college atmosphere, I'm sure we can all agree that the two are vastly different.  One major difference being no tests!  But, what I've found to be even more interesting is that within these two months, I've learned more long term information about teaching practices that I have retained more not through testing, but rather through active engagement and collaboration from class to class.  This form of ongoing evaluation is a more effective form of assessment in my opinion.  This is not to all evaluations should be done in this manner, however, differentiation of assessment I think is imperative for effective results.

In my elementary days, I remember the anxiety filled task of public speeches.  Public speeches were a core component of students oral communication assessments.  I however, had a very difficult time with any and all oral presentations. For me, I was always a hard worker, I loved school and would work tirelessly on my speech.  However, when the day would come to present my entire body would fill up with anxiety.  In all five years I would stand in front of the classroom and just stare blankly.  My teachers would all get very frustrated and just repeat themselves to simply “read what I had written.”  In my head I would be thinking “I know that, but the words are just not coming out.”

Instead, what I view now as an alternative/improvement would be to gain those oral communication marks in other ways.  Maybe if I had a partner or a group up in front of the class presenting it wouldn't be so scary.  Or maybe if the class was divided into groups and each student presented in front of only 5 students opposed to 30, this may have been easier for myself and other students who struggled with public speaking.  Similar to throwing a child into the deep end of a pool and seeing if they will sink or swim- yes some might have a natural ability, but most are probably going to sink.  These baby steps to get comfortable with public speaking I think would be more effective than fully immersing shy students into it and potentially creating a lasting fear, instead, those teachers probably made my fear of oral communication prolonged.