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Handbook for Students and Parents/Guardians
2004 - 2005
This complete Handbook in pdf format  1 mb
ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION OF STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
Assessment and Evaluation Strategies
The main purpose of assessment and evaluation is to improve
student learning. Information gathered helps teachers identify students'
strengths and those areas needing improvement.
Assessment is the process of gathering information from a
variety of sources, including assignments, demonstrations, projects,
performances and tests. This information should demonstrate how well students
are achieving curriculum expectations. As part of assessment, teachers, peers,
and individual students provide descriptive feedback that guides efforts for
improvement. Assessment is ongoing and supportive.
Evaluation is the process of judging the quality
of a student's work on the basis of established achievement criteria and
assigning a value to represent that quality. It reflects a student's level of
achievement of the provincial curriculum expectations at a given time.
In order to ensure that assessment and evaluation are valid
and reliable and that they lead to the improvement of student learning, teachers
will use a variety of assessment and evaluation strategies that:
-
address both what the students learn and how well they
learn;
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are based on the categories of knowledge and skills and
on the achievement-level descriptions given in the achievement chart that
appears in the curriculum policy documents for each discipline;
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are varied in nature, administered over a period of time,
and designed to provide opportunities for students to demonstrate the full
range of their learning;
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are appropriate for the learning activities used, the
purposes of instruction, and the needs and experiences of the students;
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are fair to all students;
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ensure that each student is given clear directions for
improvement;
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promote students' abilities to assess their own and
others' learning and to set specific goals;
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include the use of samples of students’ work that provide evidence of
their achievement;
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are communicated clearly to students and parents at the
beginning of the course and at other appropriate points throughout the
course.
Achievement Levels
Levels of achievement of the curriculum expectations are
presented in achievement charts in each of the Ministry of Education's policy
documents. These charts are organised into four broad categories of knowledge
and skills:
The names of the categories may vary slightly to reflect the
differences in the specific nature of each subject. The charts contain
descriptions of each level of achievement in each category; these are broad in
scope and general in nature, but they provide a framework for all assessment and
evaluation practices.
The achievement levels will enable teachers to make
consistent judgements about the quality of students' work and to give clear and
specific information about their achievement to their parents.
The achievement levels are associated with percentage grades
and defined as follows:
|
Percentage Grade Range |
Achievement Level |
Summary Description |
|
80 - 100% |
Level 4 |
A very high to outstanding level of achievement. Achievement is above
the provincial standard. |
|
70 - 79% |
Level 3 |
A high level of achievement. Achievement is at the
provincial standard. |
|
60 - 69% |
Level 2 |
A moderate level of achievement. Achievement is below,
but approaching, the provincial standard. |
|
50 - 59% |
Level 1 |
A passable level of achievement. Achievement is below the
provincial standard. |
|
Below 50% |
Insufficient achievement of curriculum expectations. A credit will not
be granted. |
Reporting Student Achievement
The school will communicate formally with parents by means
of:
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report cards issued mid-course and at the completion of
the course. For the end of semester final report, the school will adopt the
Ministry of Education's directive that “seventy per cent of the grade
will be based on assessments and evaluations conducted throughout the
course. Thirty per cent of the grade will be based on a final evaluation in
the form of an examination, performance, essay, and/or other method of
evaluation suitable to the course content and administered towards the end
of the course.”;
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on-going personal contact as the need arises.
The dates for examinations are included in the School Year
Calendar (see Appendix). Parents are asked not to plan trips or vacations around
these time frames. Students who miss examinations will receive a mark of zero,
and this will be used in the calculation of the final mark.
Information for Students Regarding Completion of Assignments
In order for teachers to evaluate the extent to which
students achieve curriculum expectations, a number of assessments and
evaluations must be provided and completed.
Deadlines are realistic for they reflect the normal working
life outside of the school setting. They are also set as a reasonable management
strategy for teachers, and as a way of bringing closure on one unit of work and
moving ahead to another.
It is the students’ responsibility to seek assistance from
the teacher when they feel unable to complete a task assignment due to
insufficient knowledge or skill. It is not acceptable for students to advise the
teacher of difficulty the day before or on the day a task/assignment is due.
It is never acceptable to submit work late without having
negotiated alternate deadlines.
Some deadlines can be negotiated, but most are absolute. If
students do not complete work on either a negotiated or an absolute deadline,
then, that work will not be assessed or evaluated. In such cases students will receive a designation of “incomplete”.
Chronic lateness in completing tasks, or submitting
assignments may prevent teachers from evaluating students’ work.
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