Assessment Evaluation and Reporting Policy

EYCI Assessment Evaluation & Reporting Policy

(Based on TDSB/Ontario Curriculum Policy and Growing Success, Assessment, Evaluation and Reporting in Ontario Schools, Grade 1- 12, 2010)  (May change based on TDSB guidelines for COVID)

The purpose of assessment and evaluation is to improve student learning.

The fundamental principles of assessment, evaluation and reporting are:

· fairness, transparency, and equity for all students

· careful planning so that all teaching relates to curriculum expectations, learning goals, and as much as possible, the individual interests, learning styles, preferences, needs, and experiences of each student

· clear communication with students and parents at the beginning of the semester and at appropriate times throughout any course

· giving students multiple opportunities to demonstrate the full range of their learning through assessments that are  ongoing, diverse, and administered throughout the duration of a course

· providing ongoing descriptive feedback that is clear, specific, meaningful, and timely to support improved learning and achievement

· developing students’ self-assessment skills to enable them to assess their own learning, set specific goals, and plan next steps for their learning (Growing Success, 2010, p. 6)

Assessment and evaluation will be based upon curriculum expectations identified by the Ministry of Education for every subject and discipline.  Students can anticipate demonstrating the knowledge and skills they have developed during a course by submitting class work to their teacher, writing tests, or performing other various activities. This practice will ensure that teachers are consistent when judging the quality of a students’ learning, based upon clear performance standards on a body of evidence collected over time.  (Growing Success, 2010 p. 16)

The Ministry-mandated achievement chart identifies four categories of knowledge and skills that are common to all subject areas and disciplines, defined by clear criteria:

· Knowledge and Understanding -subject-specific content and comprehension of its meaning

· Thinking/Inquiry -using critical and creative thinking

· Communication -conveying meaning through various forms

· Application -using knowledge/skills to make connections within and between various contexts.  (Growing Success, 2010, p. 17)

 

Types of Assessment 

Regardless of format, assessment must serve to improve student learning.  This is best accomplished using a range and balance of assessment strategies and recording tools.  Students must be encouraged to engage in self and peer assessment, to assess their own progress and set specific goals.  They must understand how to plan next steps to ensure learning. Teachers are also

 encouraged to improve student learning by providing regular, on-going feedback, and frequent and varied assessment of the levels of students’ current knowledge and skill before embarking on new learning.

Assessment FOR Learning

· Teachers will work with students to determine what they already know; teachers use their information to provide feedback and adjust instruction accordingly.

Assessment AS Learning

· Students will work to develop their ability to be independent learners and reflect upon their achievements; this is done through peer and self-assessment.

Assessment OF Learning

· Teachers will collect and assess assignments, tests, essays, presentations etc. for the purpose of evaluating what the student has learned.  Assessment of learning will determine the grade that appears on the student’s report card.

When determining a report card grade, a teacher will use his or her professional judgment.  This professional judgement will ensure that a grade is indicative of a students’ most consistent level of achievement, giving particular consideration to a student’s most recent evidence of achievement.  Teachers and their principal will work together to ensure that all common and equitable grading practices follow the ministry policy and school board guidelines. (Growing Success, 2010, p. 39)

The Ministry-mandated achievement chart also identifies four levels of achievement:

LEVEL 1:  50 – 59%, D- to D+  (Achievement well below provincial standard)

LEVEL 2:  60 – 69%, C- to C+ (Achievement approaching provincial standard)

LEVEL 3:  70 – 79%, B- to B+ (Achievement indicative of provincial standard)

LEVEL 4:  80 – 100%, A- to A+ (Achievement surpasses provincial standard)

 (Growing Success, 2010, p. 18)


Assessment and Evaluation Rights and Responsibilities

(i) Students' rights around assessment and evaluation:

· To know how they are performing

· To receive timely marking/grading

· To have opportunities to improve their work

· To get feedback which is formative

· To understand how they are being evaluated prior to the evaluation

· To be fully prepared for all assessment and evaluation experiences

(ii) Students' responsibilities around assessment and evaluation:

· To complete all work to the best of their ability

· To submit work to teachers on time

· To be active partners in the learning process

· To take all opportunities to improve work after receiving feedback

· To assist other students

· To receive and complete missed work in the event of an absence.

· To communicate with teachers in a timely manner regarding difficulties being experienced.

· To ensure all work submitted is their own

· To not interfere with the assessment and evaluation progress of other students.

Students must make themselves aware of each due date and the ultimate deadline which is the last opportunity a student has for submitting an assignment for evaluation.  Students should complete and submit all assignments.  Students will be informed of the due date; teachers may assign an ultimate deadline for each assignment.  The following strategies will help students to complete assignments:

Students should

1. Attend class on a regular basis with completed homework and assignments

2. Record and check due dates for assignments in the school agenda

3. Seek extra help from the teacher if an assignment is not understood

4. Inform his/her teachers of any absence or foreseen absence

5. Attend the school homework club and/or access all extended learning opportunities offered in the school

In addition

1. The teacher may contact a parent/guardian to discuss academic progress/attendance etc.

 

Course Evaluation Plan 

At the beginning of each course, in addition to a Course Outline, students will receive an Evaluation Plan detailing how they will be evaluated.

· 70% of the final grade is comprised of on-going evaluation throughout a course.  This portion of the grade should represent the students’ most consistent level of achievement, giving particular consideration to a student’s most recent evidence of achievement.

· 30% of the final grade will be based upon a final evaluation administered at or towards the end of a course.  This evaluation will be based on evidence from one or a combination of final tasks, such as an examination, a performance, an essay, or any other evaluation method that is deemed appropriate for the content of the course.

A credit will be granted to any student who achieves a final grade of 50% or higher.   (Growing Success, 2010, p. 41)

 

Late or Missing Assignments 

Students are responsible for completing and submitting all work for evaluation on time.  Students must make themselves aware of each due date and the ultimate deadline, which is the last opportunity a student has for submitting an assignment for evaluation.  These deadlines will be communicated clearly to the students, and where appropriate, to parents as well.  Teachers, students and parents will work together and use a number of strategies to ensure that students complete their work and submit it on time.  Suggested strategies include:

1. Counselling the students and offering extra help

2. Helping students develop better time-management skills

3. Scheduling timely conferences with student and parent/guardians

4. Providing alternative forms of assignments

5. Setting up a student contract

Should the need occur, students must advise their teacher when a challenge will prevent the student from submitting work on time.  The teacher will use professional judgment and consider extenuating circumstances for individual students. Students must also understand that there are consequences for incomplete, missing and late assignments.

When a significant number of strategies have been tried unsuccessfully, marks may be deducted up to 10% from the value of the assignment. If     seeing a marked assignment would give another student an academic      advantage, then a late assignment may not be submitted after the marked work has been returned (the ultimate deadline) to the rest of the class.

Test, Presentations, and Labs Students must provide a note from parents with a legitimate reason to the subject teacher.  Students must be prepared to write the test, present, or complete the lab in the class following the absence. 

Group Presentations Students are responsible for their part of the work on the day of the presentation. If a student is not present, the group is still responsible for presenting. Students who are assigned a group presentation will not receive a ‘group mark’ for the product. Students will receive marks which represent their different contributions of the knowledge and skills represented in the product, and which are aligned with the curriculum expectations of the course. Individual effort in creating the product and contributions to the group will be reflected only on the Learning Skills side of the Report Card, unless the ability to work in a group is part of the subject curriculum          expectations. 

Go to TDSB website at www.tdsb.on.ca

Click on “high school” tab; Select and click on “Caring and Safe Schools”; Select and click on “Policies and Procedures”

Missed In-class Culminating Evaluations & Scheduled Exams

All students must take part in the in-class culminating course evaluations and scheduled examinations.  Leaving early for a family vacation or a summer job is not a legitimate excuse for missing these evaluations. 

When a student does not complete a test or assignment, a ‘0’ will be assigned.  The ‘0’ is used as a placeholder until the missed work is completed, or the student has demonstrated the curriculum expectations in another assignment.  Students with a documented ‘legitimate’ absence will be given an opportunity as soon as possible to complete missed evaluations to replace the ‘0’.

For all missed examinations scheduled in the formal Exam Period, all illnesses must be supported with a medical note from a physician.  Until documentation is provided, the student will receive ‘0’ for the missed end-of-course evaluation or examination and the ‘0’ will be included in the calculation of the final grade.

Note: Students and/or their parents/guardians must inform the school ahead of the due date if a request for accommodation of religious beliefs, practices and observances requires a rescheduled submission of student work.  The Principal shall make the final decision in situations deemed exceptional.

Summative Activities/Examinations – 30% of the Final Grade Summative activities and/or examinations are scheduled near the end of each course and determine the remaining 30% of the student's final grade in the course. At East York, summative evaluations occur in the last 6 to 8 weeks of the course.  A summative can be a test, assignment, research project, presentation, a summative studio project, formal examination or a combination of these alternatives.  Students are expected to be in school to write all aspects of the summative evaluation.

Missed End-of-Course Evaluations 

All students must take part in the summative course evaluations. Students will receive a mark of “0” for any missed end-of-course evaluations, and the grade of “0” will be included in the calculation of the final grade for the course. Leaving early for a family vacation or summer job will not be considered a legitimate excuse for missing these evaluations.  Should a student be too sick to complete an end-of-course examination, the student must provide documentation of the illness. A note from a physician verifying that the student was too ill to participate in the examination for a specified medical reason must be submitted to the office within one school day of the missed examination.  Until this documentation is provided, the student will receive ‘0’ for the missed end-of-course examination and the ‘0’ will be included in the calculation of the final grade. When the documentation is submitted as outlined above, the Vice-Principal may arrange for the student to complete the end-of-course examination at the earliest opportunity, if time permits.

 

Rules for Writing Examinations

1. Students must arrive at the exam location 10 minutes before the exam begins. A student may be permitted to write an exam, if late, up to an hour after the exam has begun. No extra time will be allotted.

2. Students are permitted to leave their personal belongings at the front of the classroom during exams. No food or drinks are permitted. Students are not permitted to go to their lockers when the exam is in session; they must exit the building or go to the cafeteria or library for quiet study.

3. Absolutely no talking, signaling, exchange of information or use of electronic devices; personal communication devices, programmable calculators, electronic dictionaries will be allowed during the examinations. All written work and exam materials must be handed in with the examination. Any breach of these rules will be interpreted as cheating and may result in the student’s exam being cancelled. The student may face further disciplinary action from the school administration.

4. Students writing exams may leave after 1 hour and thereafter on the half hour. No students are to leave the exam in the last 15 minutes.

5. Any student who misses an exam must bring in a medical note and a parent/guardian must contact the school office within 24 hours of the missed exam. The medical note must state that the doctor was aware that the student was unable to write an exam due to illness. 

 

Examinations - Extreme Inclement Weather Policy

In the event that the TDSB closes all schools on a day in which examinations are scheduled: Students/parents must monitor the radio releases when severe weather is predicted. It is not necessary to phone the school. Please refer to www.eyci.ca for information re: school closing.  Examinations scheduled for a day on which the school has been closed will be postponed until the day following the previously scheduled examination days.

In the event that severe weather causes transportation to be delayed, but schools are not closed: Every effort will be made to start all examinations at the scheduled time. Students/parents must make arrangements to adjust their departure time to ensure arrival at school on time.

Moratorium Policy

During the moratorium period prior to the scheduled exam days, there shall be no excursions, assemblies, major evaluations (except on “In Class Dates”, projects or assignments due, or conferences or meetings that remove teachers from their schools.

Suspensions and Evaluation:  A student under suspension must request work and assignments through the designated administrator and must meet appropriate deadlines.  Students under suspension will be provided with the opportunity to write a supplemental test/assignment or alternatively to have adjustments made to the weighting of marks.

Academic Honesty

All students in the Toronto District School Board are expected to submit their own work for evaluation. Cheating and plagiarism will not be condoned.

· Cheating is usually defined as the act of practicing deceit or breaking the rules.  In the context of assessment and evaluation, cheating would be defined as the deviation from the behavior expected in an evaluation situation. Examples include but are not limited to: using another student’s work on a test or any other evaluation, unauthorized use of electronic media to obtain answers during an evaluation, Exchanging information or materials during an evaluation and/or enabling the academic dishonesty of another student in an evaluation.

· Plagiarism is defined as the use of close imitation of the language and thoughts of another without attribution, in order to represent them as one’s own original work.  (Growing Success, 2010, p. 151).  It can take many forms, including the following:

· Submitting an essay/assignment written by someone else, e.g., buying an essay online, downloading an essay from a website, having someone else complete one’s assignment, or copying or using work done by another student;

· Piecing together material from one or several sources and adding only linking sentences; 

· Quoting, paraphrasing, copying and pasting material without citing the source of that material

· Omitting quotation marks for direct quotations even if the sources have been cited.

Ultimately, you are accountable for every word, every sentence, every idea and every statistic in work you submit. Think carefully and prepare thoroughly to avoid charges of plagiarism.

To ensure a full understanding of academic honesty students are expected to:

1. Seek clarification from teachers about actions that constitute plagiarism

2. Seek assistance when their research skills need improvement

3. Understand the penalties for academic dishonesty and plagiarism

4. Ensure that all of their work is original and that they cite sources accurately and consistently.

East York uses a plagiarism detection service offered through Turnitin to confirm the originality of the work assignments submitted by students in the classroom.

Consequences of Academic Dishonesty -  When plagiarism/cheating is detected, it will be investigated.  If plagiarism/cheating is confirmed by the teacher, he/she will inform the principal/vice principal, the student, and the parent/guardian (when the student is under the age of 18) of the specific details regarding the plagiarized assignment or the allegation of cheating and the resulting consequences.

Consequences for Cheating/ Plagiarism:

· A mark of zero may be awarded for the assignment in question, as there has been no evidence that the  student has demonstrated research skills required to demonstrate achievement of the course/curriculum expectations;

· Or in the professional judgment of the teacher/P/VP, he/she may provide an opportunity at another time for the student to demonstrate evidence of proper research skills;

· A repeated pattern of academic dishonesty may result in an escalating severity of consequences

Appeal - All students who face the consequences of plagiarism or cheating have the right to appeal the teacher’s decision to the principal/vice-principal.  Students may appeal their case to the principal/vice-principal only after they have first discussed the matter with their teacher.


CONTINUING EDUCATION COURSES POLICY

Admission during regular school year (Night School)

If any course is offered and can be accommodated in the student's day school timetable, the student is NOT eligible to attend night school or any other day school program for that course.

Falsifying Information

· Any East York student who has falsified information to gain entry to summer school or to night school will be withdrawn from the course.  A letter will be sent home to the parents and placed in the OSR indicating that this step has been taken. Students must consult a counsellor to complete a night school, or summer school  application form.

· Any student who earns a credit for continuing education courses that she/he took without receiving the required permission from East York and/or falsified information to gain entry into the course will not have the credit added to his/her record. East York will not forward this credit to any post secondary institution on behalf of the student.

Falsifying Information Includes, but not limited to, the following: 

· The student indicates on the Adult and Continuing Education application form that she/he does not attend day school.

· The student indicates that they have the prerequisite for the Continuing Education course, but does not. The prerequisites are those stated by the Ministry of Education and the Toronto District School Board.

Admission to Full Credit/Acceleration Courses (Summer):

· Students are cautioned against taking a course such as English or Math during the summer, where 20 days of instruction may not provide adequate time to proceed confidently to the following year's work.

· Any student wishing to use a Summer School course as their final credit for admission to university or college must ensure the university/college receives a copy of it and should inform the institution well in advance of their plans to take a course.

Admission to Remedial Summer School

Students will be admitted to remedial summer school when they have failed a core subject with a mark greater than or equal to 35 but less than or equal to 49%.  Registration for remedial summer school occurs from May to June.