Assessment Page

What I know: 
EQAO happens in Grades 3, 6 and 9 and covers Math and Language. There are many important components to evaluation that need to be considered by the Ministry of Education. EQAO is a process of standardized testing that allows the board and province to see where the students are having troubles in and where as a province and country Canada sits in terms of standardized testing. It helps to tell what level students are at. EQAO is also good to see sometimes if a teacher is successful at teaching and how well the students are learning. 

Curriculum of Ontario is revised every couple of years. As of right now the focuses are Math and Literacy as well as Science. 

Students can have differentiated instruction if they are in need of it- if they require specialized help. There are also IEPs if students have any exceptionalities. 

What I want to know: 

I want to learn how to create my own rubric. I think it is important to know how to assess a student properly and make sure that I am grading them according to the Ministry Standards. 

• I think it crucial to know how to evaluate fairly and make sure there is no bias in my grading and not just bias, but that I do not categorize a student.
• How to prepare students on EQAO while teaching them creatively
• How to teach and encourage students to get better at learning

What I learned about assessment that will help me to improve student learning? 

I learned that it is very important to be able to identify the difference of learning goals and success criteria for your students. It is important to show them these two in student-friendly language so they know what it is that is expected of them and what they need to do to achieve the best they can do. It is there to help them understand what they are learning instead of just listening to a teacher speak in front of the class. It is crucial to help the students understand  what it is that they need to know and what is being expected of them. 

It is important for students be given feedback that they can understand as well and to be given feedback in student-friendly language in order to help them to improve their learning. It is also crucial and beneficial to make students self-assess and peer assess for different perspectives. I also learned however that should be part of the early stages before the teacher provides feedback so that the teacher can make sure the peer editing and assessing is not incorrect. 

There are many tools to consider when providing feedback. Students need to know their learning targets. Feedback is not praise or evaluation, rather it is there to help students know what track they are on and if they are heading towards their goals. 

Speaking of tools, there are many, MANY guides that can be referenced and followed when working with IEPs, Exceptionalities, ESLs, and Differentiated Instruction. 

I learned in my PLCs that it is important to be creative when it comes to what kinds of assessments you are giving your students. I learned that students prefer and like to learn more creatively. Students do not enjoy writing with a paper and a pencil and being assigned tasks. I learned that students do not like the stress of being assessed and instead should be encouraged to do their best and not focus on the result but the understanding of the assignment.