The Assessment Loop in Action

Assessment is the process of gathering and interpreting information to reflect how a child is achieving the Ontario Curriculum expectations in a particular course of subject (Growing Success, 2010). The role of assessment is to improve outcomes for students by driving program forward (assessment for learning, assessment as learning) or to evaluate the student's achievement towards goals (assessment of learning). Further details of these three types of assessment can be found here.

Assessment for Learning

Assessment for learning assists educators and students in making instructional decisions. Typically detailed, specific and descriptive information is gathered in order to support teachers in making instructional decisions. Assessment for learning is not used to determine grades.

Identify Learning Targets

Begin by consider why expectations from the Ontario Curriculum you intend to cover. Clearly defined targets are essential for proper assessment. This is an essential first step. When reading the curriculum, consider what your grade level curriculum expects. You may wish to consider the previous grade's curriculum as well, to better understand student entry points.

Diagnostic Assessment

Typically, at the beginning of a unit or course of study, educators will begin by collecting assessment for learning through diagnostic assessments. These assessment tools outline the entry point for students.

In the Durham District School Board, the following diagnostic assessments tools support our assessment for learning:

Benchmark Assessment System (BAS) for English Language reading
Analyzing BAS Data for English Language Reading
Introduction to Levelled Literacy Intervention (LLI) for English Language Reading
GB+ for French Immersion reading
Class Act for French Immersion phonological awareness screening
Early Numeracy Observation Tool (ENOT) for Kindergarten mathematics
PRIME for mathematics (French Immersion & English)
Nelson Pre-Assessment for Mathematics

Although each system is complex, the videos linked above are intended to provide a brief introduction to each. Should you require further training or support, on one or more tools, please reach out to the NTIP Facilitator. Educators in other content areas may choose other diagnostic tools to gather baseline information on student entry points.

*** NOTE: You will be required to sign into your DDSB Google account in order to access the videos. ***

Identify Learning Goals & Determine Success Criteria

"Learning goals clearly identify what students are expected to know and be able to do in language that students can readily understand. Teachers develop learning goals based on the curriculum expectations and share them with students at or near the beginning of a cycle of learning. Teachers and students come to a common understanding of the learning goals through discussion and clarification during instruction" (Growing Success, 2010, p.33).

"Success criteria describe in specific terms what successful attainment of the learning goals looks like. When planning assessment and instruction, teachers, guided by the achievement chart for the particular subject or discipline, identify the criteria they will use to assess students’ learning, as well as what evidence of learning students will provide to demonstrate their knowledge and skills" (Growing Success, 2010, p.33).

Gathering Information

As students are learning, educators continue to collect assessment for learning. This helps to drive daily program planning, plan for interventions, and guide conversations. A combination of conversations, observations, and products supports process.

Effective feedback not only related directly to identified learning goals and/or success criteria but points out strengths in the work and give specific information on how to improve. Descriptive feedback increases student motivation and performance (Hattie & Timperley, 2007).

Formative assessment tools that can support assessment for learning could include the seating plan tool to collect anecdotal data connected to conversations and/or observations, the single-point rubric for providing descriptive feedback connected to success criteria, and/or exit tickets.

Assessment as Learning

Assessment as learning allows students to use their metacognitive skills in order to reflect upon and make adjustments to their learning. This can include both self and peer-assessment. Research indicates that students self-assessment can increase both engagement in learning and overall achievement (Rajeev, Jain, Gupta, Garb, Batta, and Dhir, 2016).

Assessment of Learning

When teachers gather information about a student's learning at the culmination of a learning cycle, this evaluation is our assessment of learning. "Evaluation refers to the process of judging the quality of student learning on the basis of established performance standards and assigning a value to represent that quality" (Growing Success, 2010), p. 38). Evaluation can take many forms and includes a combination of conversations, observations, and products.