The assessment of student progress, the evaluation of student achievement, and the percentage grade on the report card are based on:
- Ministry of Education curriculum expectations
- The Provincial Achievement Chart.
- The categories of the Achievement Chart
Curriculum expectations and the achievement chart are found in the Ministry guidelines for each subject (www.edu.gov.on.ca) and are consistent throughout the province. The primary purpose of assessment and evaluation is to improve student learning and achievement.
Definitions
Assessment occurs throughout each course as teachers collect and analyse evidence of student progress.
- Teachers use Diagnostic Assessment at the beginning of a unit to plan instruction based on identified student needs. It does not count toward a final mark.
- Teachers use Formative Assessment to determine how well the student has understood new material and developed targeted skills. A teacher may give a short quiz, or listen to/observe/ read a student’s work as it is being developed for the purpose of giving feedback on areas that need additional work before the student is evaluated. Formative assessment helps students learn how to monitor their own progress. It also helps teachers improve their instruction.
Evaluation determines a grade. Teachers measure and judge a student’s demonstration of knowledge and skills as required by the curriculum expectations for the course.
- Measures achievement, not progress
- Occurs at the end of a unit of learning and end of the course
- Occurs only after students have had opportunities to show what they know and can do
- Guides teachers’ decisions about grading, promotion, student placement and certification
- Provides achievement data; communicates information for accountability and certification purposes
- Represented by a number (%) on the Provincial Report Cards to indicate a student’s grade either at the end of the term/semester, or end of the course.
How Assessment and Evaluation Works
In order to earn a credit in any course, students are responsible for demonstrating evidence of achievement of the knowledge and skills described by the course overall curriculum expectations. Student achievement in Learning Skills (independent work, teamwork, organizational skills, initiative and work habits) is evaluated and reported separately on the Provincial Report Card.
At the beginning of the semester, students are provided with a written course outline describing the expectations, content and evaluation for each course. Students are informed of the types of assignments and tests that they should expect and are told how their final grade is calculated.
Reasonable efforts will be made to limit the number of tests for any student to two on one day, and to limit major assignments to one due on any given day.
Assessment and Evaluation Practices
Course Work
Evaluation of the achievement of the overall curriculum expectations is based on the achievement chart for the subject, and marks are weighted according to the achievement chart categories (Knowledge/Understanding, Thinking, Communication, and Application) for each subject.
The grade for course work (70% of the final grade) reflects a student’s most consistent, more recent level of achievement throughout the course.
Due Dates
When assigning a project, test or other work to be submitted for evaluation, the teacher provides a due date which students are expected to meet. For major projects, the teacher monitors student progress to support student success in completing work by the due date. Students do not have an automatic right to submit work late. They must discuss an extension to the due date with the teacher before the due date, at which point the teacher makes the decision about a possible revised due date.
Depending on the reason for lateness, the teacher may choose, as a last resort, to deduct up to a maximum of 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 to the rest of the class.
Examples of situations where a late assignment is likely to result in loss of marks:
- Other strategies to encourage on-time submissions have been tried and documented.
- There has been a pattern of late submissions by the student in the course.
- The student has not initiated a discussion to arrange for a revised due date.
Note: Students and/or their parents/guardians/caregivers 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.
Homework
Students will be given homework in accordance with the TDSB Homework policy. Students are encouraged to do homework, as it helps students
- remember what has been taught in class.
- develop self-discipline and good work habits.
- work on independently.
- develop research skills.
- let parents know what is being done in class.
- complete unfinished work.
Missed Assignments, Tests, and Examinations
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 expectation in another assignment.
Students with a documented “legitimate” absence will be given an opportunity as soon as possible to complete missed evaluations and to replace the “0”.
If several evaluations are missing, and there is no evidence that the student has achieved a number of curriculum expectations, the missing or incomplete evaluations will affect the 70% grade and could lead to a failing grade. If, however, the student demonstrates achievement of the curriculum expectation(s) in another assignment, the zero will not count in the final grade.
For students under 18, the parent/guardian will be informed of missing assignments.
Academic Honesty
Students are expected to demonstrate academic honesty on all assignments, presentations, tests and examinations. Cases of academic dishonesty will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis, and will involve an investigation, communication with the student and the parent/guardian, and a mark of zero for the plagiarized work.
Students will be taught that plagiarism or cheating is:
- copying, reproducing or paraphrasing significant portions of someone else’s published or unpublished material, and
- representing these as one’s own thinking by not acknowledging the appropriate source, or by failing to use appropriate quotation marks.
This applies to all assignments including lab reports, diagrams, essays, and computer projects. Different forms of writing require different types of acknowledgment and/or documentation.
Whether the student has an opportunity to demonstrate his/her learning in another assignment will be at the discretion of the teacher and/or Principal.
Group Work
Students who are assigned a group task 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.
Culminating Activities/ Examinations
Culminating 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.
Missed End-of-Course Evaluations
All students must take part in the culminating course evaluations. 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 evaluation, the student must provide approved medical documentation of the illness, completed and signed by a physician, verifying that the student was too ill to participate in the evaluation for a specified medical reason. The form must be submitted to the office within one school day of the missed evaluation.
Until this documentation is provided, the student will receive “0” for the missed end-of-course evaluation and the “0” will be included in the calculation of the final grade.
When the documentation is submitted as outlined above, the Vice-Principal will arrange for the student to complete the end-of-course evaluation at the earliest opportunity, if time permits.
Determining the Student's Final Grade
70% of the final grade based on term work.
Teachers will base this grade on the most consistent level of achievement, giving consideration to more recent achievement.
30% of the final mark based on end-of-course evaluations
The final summative evaluations will comprise 30% of the final grade. Summative evaluation that is often a formal exam, but can be any combination of a written assignment, project, performance or oral presentation sometimes in combination with an exam. Exams cannot be re-scheduled for students who miss them. A medical certificate is required to be exempted. Otherwise students will receive a mark of zero.
70% + 30% = final grade out of 100%
Parents Should Expect Teachers
- provide students with a course outline that identifies the main components and major expectations of the program, and how student performance will be evaluated according to the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Education
- make evaluation decisions based on the categories of knowledge and skills on the achievement-level descriptions given in the achievement chart that appears in the curriculum policy documents for each subject discipline
- use evaluation methods that are varied in nature, administered on numerous occasions, and designed to provide opportunities for students to demonstrate the full extent of their achievement of course expectations
- accommodate the needs of exceptional students, consistent with the strategies outlined in their Individual Education Plans (IEPs)
- accommodate the needs of students who are learning the language of instruction and need support for English as a Second Language (ESL) or English Literacy Development (ELD)
- ensure that each student is given clear directions for improvement
- make final evaluation decisions for reporting purposes based on students’ most consistent level of performance