Assessment and Evaluation

Assessment is the systematic gathering of information about what students know, are able to do, and are working toward. Assessment methods and tools include: observation, student self-assessments, daily practice assignments, quizzes, samples of student work, pencil-and-paper tests, holistic rating scales, projects, oral and written reports, performance reviews, and portfolio assessments.

Student performance is evaluated from the information collected through assessment activities. Teachers use their insight, knowledge about learning, and experience with students, along with the specific criteria they establish, to make judgments about student performance in relation to prescribed learning outcomes.

Students benefit most when evaluation is provided on a regular, ongoing basis. When evaluation is seen as an opportunity to promote learning rather than as a final judgment, it shows learners their strengths and suggests how they can develop further. Students can use this information to redirect efforts, make plans, and establish future learning goals. Evaluation may take different forms, depending on the purpose.

• Criterion-referenced evaluation should be used to evaluate student performance in classrooms. It is referenced to criteria based on learning outcomes described in the provincial curriculum. The criteria reflect a student's performance based on specific learning activities. When a student's program is substantially modified, evaluation may be referenced to individual goals. These modifications are recorded in an Individual Education Plan (IEP).
• Norm-referenced evaluation is used for large-scale system assessments; it is not to be used for classroom assessment. A classroom does not provide a large enough reference group for a norm-referenced evaluation system. Norm-referenced evaluation compares student achievement to that of others rather than comparing how well a student meets the criteria of a specified set of learning outcomes.

In criterion-referenced evaluation, a student's performance is compared to established criteria rather than to the performance of other students. Evaluation referenced to prescribed curriculum requires that criteria are established based on the learning outcomes listed under the curriculum organizers for English Language Arts 8 to 10.

Criteria are the basis of evaluating student progress; they identify the critical aspects of a performance or a product that describe in specific terms what is involved in meeting the learning outcomes. Criteria can be used to evaluate student performance in relation to learning outcomes. For example, weighting criteria, using rating scales, or performance rubrics (reference sets) are three ways that student performance can be evaluated using criteria.

Samples of student performance should reflect learning outcomes and identified criteria. The samples clarify and make explicit the link between evaluation and learning outcomes, criteria, and assessment. Where a student's performance is not a product, and therefore not reproducible, a description of the performance sample should be provided.

Criterion-referenced evaluation may be based on these steps:
Step 1		Identify the expected learning outcomes (as stated in this Integrated Resource Package).
Step 2		Identify the key objectives for instruction and learning.
Step 3		Establish and set criteria. Involve students, when appropriate, in establishing criteria.
Step 4		Plan learning activities that will help students gain the knowledge or skills outlined in the criteria.
Step 5		Prior to the learning activity, inform students of the criteria against which their work will be evaluated.
Step 6		Provide examples of the desired levels of performance.
Step 7		Implement the learning activities.
Step 8		Use various assessment methods based on the particular assignment and student.
Step 9		Review the assessment data and evaluate each student's level of performance or quality of work in relation to criteria.
Step 10		Where appropriate or necessary, assign a letter grade that indicates how well the criteria are met.
Step 11		Report the results of the evaluations to students and parents.

About the Reference Sets

The instructional and assessment strategies in this Integrated Resource Package often refer to reference sets. Reference sets are documents designed to give teachers and parents a common language to discuss student progress in basic skill areas. They are a useful addition to the teacher's repertoire of assessment, evaluation, and reporting practices.

A reference set includes descriptions of various stages on a learning continuum, samples of students' work at different levels, and possible strategies to promote further learning. These components create a context that helps teachers report to parents on student performance within broad stages of development and phases of growth that might be expected as a student progresses through school. They also help teachers set performance standards for individual students and help the student and teacher identify goals for future learning.

Key Reference Sets for English Language Arts

The reference sets for reading, writing, and group communication skills are key resources for assessing student development in English language arts. Each reference set is associated with a particular curriculum organizer:

• Evaluating Reading Across Curriculum: Comprehend and Respond Reading
• Evaluating Writing Across Curriculum: Communicate Ideas and Information
• Evaluating Group Communication Skills Across Curriculum: Self and Society

Charts of Description

Each reference set includes a "Chart of Descriptions" which models language that teachers and students can use to:

• talk about reading, writing, or group communication
• develop rating scales or other recording forms
• focus teacher observation and feedback
• prompt self-assessment
• report to parents

The reading reference set emphasizes the importance of context and includes categories for describing the difficulty of the text and the amount of support students received.

A chart of descriptions outlines six levels of development. The chart focusses on three aspects of reading that are central to this IRP:

• strategies and approaches
  • considers how readers go about dealing with the materials they read
  • particularly useful in assessing reading within the Strategies and Skills suborganizer
• accuracy and comprehension
  • considers the extent to which the reader's interpretation is consistent with the text
  • looks at understanding of both explicit and implicit ideas and information
  • particularly useful in assessing reading within the Comprehension suborganizer
• response
  • considers how readers make connections to interpret and extend what they read
  • useful in assessing reading in the Engagement and Personal Response, and Critical Analysis suborganizers

The writing reference set focusses on written communications and, unlike reading, does not consider the strategies and processes that writers use. It is likely to be most useful for helping to develop Knowledge of Language, to guide some activities relating to Improving Communications, and to assess written work students produce to demonstrate the prescribed learning outcomes in Presenting and Valuing.

A chart of descriptions details seven levels of development. For each level there is a "snapshot" overview, a brief statement about the impact writing at that level might have on someone reading it, and descriptions of the four elements of writing (meaning, style, form, surface features). This chart was used in the 1993 Communications Skills Assessment as a holistic scale to assess writing from Kindergarten to Grade 12.

Evaluating Group Communication Skills Across Curriculum

The group communications skills reference set has broad application across curriculum areas. For English language arts, it is particularly helpful in teaching and assessing outcomes associated with the Working Together suborganizer.

A chart of descriptions establishes five reference points for development. For each reference point, interactions are described in terms of these aspects of student behaviour:

• physical
  • voice, gesture, eye contact, and other non-verbal cues
• language
  • the words chosen and the way they are arranged
• social
  • how individuals and groups relate to each other and work together
• ideas
  • the exchange of experiences, information, or views
• awareness
  • student's awareness of the role each person has in the interaction and the connection between speaker and listener

Previous Page Next Page

  BC Ministry of Education Home Page