Assessment

                       Assessment – “Communicating Student Learning”

“Communicating Student Learning” is a vital part of a school’s mandate. Communication provides effective feedback for teachers, students and parents and occurs in a variety of formats. As a family of schools (Island Lakes Community School, J.H. Bruns, Niakwa Place & Shamrock) our goal is to provide the community with information about assessment and learning.

Our local schools will contribute their own information about assessment and learning on this assessment tab. Our family of schools recognizes the continuum of learning that exists from Kindergarten to Grade 12 and the importance of an established network of communication between our local schools. You will find useful terminology and “Frequently Asked Questions” on this page.

We hope that you will use this as a reference to the principles and practices of effective communication about student learning.

In order for communication to be clear, shared understanding of terms and language is required. (MECY, 2008)

Frequently Asked Questions

About Assessment

Assessment serves different purposes at different times; it may be used to find out what students already know and can do; it may be used to help students improve their learning; or it may be used to let students and their parents know how much they have learned within a prescribed period of time. – Damian Cooper, Talk About Assessment: Strategies and Tools to Improve Learning

What is formative assessment?

Formative assessment can best be thought of as a form of “coaching”. Teachers provide suggestions and corrective feedback (verbal or written) to students with the intention of improving their understanding or performance in a particular subject area. This occurs in the “practice phase” of learning and typically is not graded. Early drafts, first tries and practice assignments are examples of formative assessment. Another way to describe formative assessment is as “assessment for learning”.

Example: During English Language Arts class, the teacher conferences with students about their writing drafts, giving feedback to the students on strengths, weaknesses, and next steps to improve the current piece of writing.

What is summative assessment?

If formative assessment is thought of as the “practice phase” of learning, then summative assessment can be thought of as the “game day”. In summative assessment activities students are expected to demonstrate their level of achievement in a particular area that has been a focus of instruction. Summative assessments are graded by the teacher. The grading is done in a way students understand and expect, often using a rubric or grading guide to arrive at letter grades, scores or achievement levels. Another way to describe summative assessment is as “assessment of learning.”

Example: During English Language Arts class, the teacher grades writing pieces according to a rubric, and students receive feedback as to their achievement on this piece of writing.