Assessment & Evaluation

Assessment

Educators must ensure that assessments offer opportunities for the collection of valid and reliable evidence of student learning. Using multiple sources of evidence increases the reliability and validity of the evaluation of student learning.

Validity: The assessment measures the curriculum expectations it is intended to measure. Assessment design and instructional activities align with the learning goals. 

Reliability: Repeated measures give the same result. The results are consistent and dependable.

When considering the evidence of learning that will inform instruction, educators could ask the following questions:

• Is there a variety of means for a broad range of students to demonstrate learning in the best way they can?

• Do the learning goals, instruction, and assessment tools align to promote student achievement?

• How do the lived and current living experiences of students inform how and what evidence is gathered for each student? 

• Is the data gathered balanced across the four categories (communication, application, knowledge, thinking/inquiry) in the achievement chart?

• How will data be gathered and tracked to determine how students are progressing with respect to the learning goals? 

• Do students and educators co-construct and share a common understanding of what is to be demonstrated? 

• Do students understand the learning goal and success criteria?

• How can social-emotional learning skills be promoted to ensure well-being and success?

• How can technology be used to gather, organize, and retrieve evidence? 

• How can conversations and observations be intentionally scheduled and structured into the instructional and assessment cycle? 

Strategies to Promote Triangulation of Assessment Data

• Design rich accessible tasks that lend themselves to multiple methods of collecting evidence across the four categories in the achievement chart.

• Engage in learning conversations, an ongoing method of gathering evidence, especially with students who most benefit from this form of assessment.

• Design tasks that are not limited to written products. Strive to allow students to represent their learning in actions, demonstrations, presentations, performances, and so on. 

• Engineer whole-class and small-group conversations that encourage students to articulate what they are thinking and further develop their thinking.

• Schedule time with a select number of students each day for conversations and/or demonstrations of their learning.

• Observe students as they perform tasks. 

• Plan regular conferences with students to monitor the achievement of learning goals and to provide descriptive feedback.

Educators then use the information gathered to adjust instruction and provide feedback.  (Growing Success, p. 34)

Evaluation

The primary purpose of assessment and evaluation is to improve student learning. Evaluation focuses on student achievement of overall expectations. As such, evaluations should give students the chance to demonstrate what they know and can do in a variety of ways to gather the most accurate evidence of achievement. Evidence of student achievement for evaluation is collected over time from three different sources - conversations, observations, and student products. 

Evaluations are to be: 

Consistent and Balanced

• Include a balance of all four achievement chart categories throughout the cycle of learning. 

• Provide opportunities for evidence of learning to be gathered via conversations, observations, and products while considering areas of strengths and needs. 

• Plan final assessments for evaluation that are consistent with the experiences students have had during instruction and learning.

Equitable

• Design tasks so that all students can be successful and aren't disadvantaged due to reasons out of their control.

• Ensure that the needs of students are met, consistent with the accommodations and/or modifications outlined in their Individual Education Plans (IEPs) or other clinical assessments.

• Provide accommodations or modifications for multilingual students as appropriate.

• Design tasks in a manner which values students' experiences and strengths and models culturally responsive practices. 

Fair and Transparent

• Use informed professional judgement in the selection of appropriate specific expectations to address overall expectations. Students do not need to demonstrate and be evaluated on all specific expectations.

• Include the assessment tool(s), with clear success criteria, for all components and make them available for students well before the evaluation.

• Assignments should be completed in the presence of the teacher to ensure academic integrity.

• Communicate with parents as appropriate so they can support their child in their ongoing learning.

Varied

• Design assessments for evaluation that provide students with a variety of ways to demonstrate their learning through conversations, observations, and products.

• Offer choices to students so that they can share what they know and can do in a meaningful manner while maintaining developmentally appropriate rigour. 

Relevant, Engaging, and Authentic

• Allow students to consolidate their knowledge and skills rather than simply duplicate previous assessment experiences.

• Where appropriate, embody the qualities of rich performance tasks which allow students to demonstrate their learning in real-life scenarios. 

Approved Assessment Tools at AKG Include:

UFLI weekly progress monitoring

Acadience - early reading screening tool following the provincial timeline guidelines

Quick Phonics Screener

Heggerty

MathUP Assessments