Module 1: Grading, reporting and professional judgment in elementary classrooms

Allison Carveiro Grade 1​ - teacher that works with young students and they go through their
work from the beginning of the year and pick what they feel they learned the most about. Once
they have made a pile of things that they like, they then go through a second time and pick out
two pieces that they like the most related to a specific topic; graphs, patterns, counting etc. They
then use this to show their parents at the parent teacher interview. This will demonstrate their
learning to their parents and is their best work that they can be proud of to share.

Cresta McIntosh Grade 6​ - portfolio/progress file that shows evidence of where they’re at but
also involves them as learners to set goals and see where they’re at and how to move forward.
1. Talked about the portfolio, why it’s important, who it's for and what it will contain in the
future.
2. Each quarter they ‘pick’ evidence that demonstrates a certain area for goals and action
plans. Options can be tests, observations, self assessments, 1st draft etc.
3. Teacher makes it clear to them what they are expected to do and what the standards are
for the quarter. Target setting. What is the Goal? What is the evidence?
4. Peer sharing for what they worked on and got feedback from them as well.
5. Students are able to understand their work and what targets they reached so that they can
share that with their parents and feel comfortable with the knowledge.

“Stop & Say Something” Idea.

Around report card writing teachers can:
● Reflect on a students performance after they are aware of what is expected of them
● Using their best work and after they have co-constructed the criteria
● Use a wide range of evidence to inform the teachers remarks/comments.
● Not a focus on effort, attitude, attendance and punctuality.
● Report cards should include: the structure of each subject, support a students learning,
fulfils the legal responsibilities of the teachers role and is easily communicated.
What comes ​before​ you teach:
I. Determine the learning destination. Could be the summative assessment portion at the
end of the unit.
II. Research the expected quality levels (what criteria will you be evaluating)
III. Plan to collect valid and representative evidence. What would that look like?
IV. Collect valid evidence of the students learning.

What comes ​during t​ he teaching:

I. Describe what the outcomes are and how to get there.
II. Allow students the time to ask questions and structure the lesson
III. Provide the individualized opportunities for the variety of learning styles.
IV. Collect reliable and valid evidence of learning.

What happens at the ​end of learning:

I. Finalize the collection of evidence
II. Make professional judgements about the work collected.
III. Report and document the evidence for each student.
IV. Involve students in the reporting process.

Module 1: Preparing for Teaching and Learning

How do you begin with the end in mind?

Standards and outcomes first, curricular standards, processes, skills etc.

Look at samples of student work, talk with one another.
What they want students to know and understand and what does that look like?
What is the best evidence? Can’t only be on paper.
In what ways can I pull the learner in to build their own agency and self monitor.
Four steps.
 1. Analyze the documents. Standards and outcomes, requirements.
2. Sort out the evidence that matches those standards.
3. Meet with colleagues to share the info from an opinion you value
4. Prepare to share with students. If they don’t know where they’re going then it will be
harder to structure.
***What will students be able to know, to do, to understand and say at the end?***

Clarity is important for teachers, students and parents so that there is consistency across the
board.

Celeste Krochak Grade 1 ​- Criteria for Classroom Behaviors

Careful Commuter Criteria - students know what is expected of them before they leave to go to
the gym, library, bathroom etc.

Creating targets and expectations for students before each exercise/activity.

Chelsea Ruiz Grade 1-​ Recording Keeping

Celebration of Learning:​ Creating a binder for students to show their learning and growth (each
month drawing a picture of themselves, having a rubric parent friendly & student friendly)
Organized into subjects and is something that they can take home with them at the end of the
year.

Chrissie Baker Grade 8-​ Social Studies

Final exam as a group activity. Broke it down as a group. Started with criteria and outcomes and
let the students put that into their own language. Ie. how to represent a historical period. What
does that mean to you? Symbols, descriptive words to give an impression, what chronology is.
Instruct using outcomes. What are the skill outcomes and what is the content knowledge? They
then understand what the skills are, what they have to demonstrate and also involve through self
assessment and reflection and responsible to communicate the evidence that they’ve created that
demonstrates they’ve met those skills.
1. Exposing them to the outcomes and criteria are.
2. Given them an opportunity for criteria setting.
3. Consistent self reflection for self and feedback for others based on criteria
4. Self assessment; did they meet the outcome
5. What is the evidence that shows that?

What is the real world application? This can be learned from using collaboration, evidence and
interest in the classrooms.

Cresta MacIntosh​ - Portfolio Structure

Progress Portfolio - assessment tool from quarter to quarter to see how they’ve progressed. They
can self assess and journal.
Three way conference with Students, Parents and Teacher. The portfolio will show their learning
in order to meet the standards and work towards them, self directed.
Meeting STructure: Parent Teacher and Student conference. During the school year so the school
ends at the half day. 20 mins each.
Feedback form: What did you enjoy about the conference? Stars and a Wish with the students
portfolio and what they noticed and compliments on. (be realistic in your wish)
Portfolio Sharing Party and celebrating their learning
Baseline Reading Reflection within the first day of class. Why do they like reading? What do
they want to improve on? What is reading like? What do I do well?

Reading Portfolio: Benchmark and Specific Evidence (in a folder that is three hold punched)
Goals at the front of their folder or on their desk.
2 Categories. Reading Response and Literature Journal:
My goal is . . . . Because . . . . I will strive to achieve this goal by . . . . I’ll know I have
accomplished this goal by/when . . .

Alice Kimura​ - Portfolio Interview

If you know where you’re going, you’re more likely to get there.

1. Determining the Learning Destination:

 2. Researching the Expected Quality Levels:

3. Planning to Collect Reliable and Valid Evidence of Learning

4. Collecting Baseline Evidence of Learning:

Math -> Area and Perimeter -> Tasks, Activities, Assignments -> Creates Evidence -> How do
you collect the necessary observations, products and conversations.

One thing I really agree with is . . .

I would like to learn more about . . .
One thing I wonder about is . . .

Module 2: Activating and Engaging Learners through In-Formative Assessment

7 Actions of Assessment for Learning:

1. Understand the learning destination

2. Analyze Samples and Models
3. Co-construct Criteria
4. Receive and give feedback for learning through self-assessment and peer assessment as
well as teacher feedback.
5. Set goals for learning
6. Collect evidence of learning
7. Communicate evidence of learning to others
Black and William​ 1998, Assessment Paper

Sue Smith Grade 2​ - Setting Criteria

Instead of using “Criteria” other ways to brainstorm ideas such as “What counts in writing” is a
way to get students engaged. Being involved in the process and giving them the option through a
Web.
“What will make this a strong piece of writing” i.e. neat printing, skip lines etc. Group them into
categories. Led to three categories, Neatness; Content; Behaviour
The more that this gets done, the quiet students who don’t share much will feel more interested
in sharing their ideas as they hear that other students talk about it and that they have the answers
and their ideas on the chart. They are put in charge of their learning, to be independent, to
support them and not out to trick them. Students can then focus on one piece of criteria, or two
pieces of criteria next time.
Judy MacConnell Grade 4​ - Pause and Think Notebook
Day begins with Daily Assessment. 4 questions are put on board and students have a chance to
review the skills. They talk through the problem and their answer. Others can help if they get
stuck. Can be used as ​Self Assessment​ & ​Who Needs Help
Pause and Think: Take a page out of the book and write about what they did in class and any
questions that they might have. Write out ideas that they discover, conveys needs and
understanding.

Assessment:
1. Students with ownership of their learning are more likely to learn.
2. It communicates learning to students as once they know what the criteria are they can
self-monitor, collect evidence and explain to others.
3. This should happen ​during t​ he learning so that it is formative and related to their learning
goals.
4. Assessment also helps students with learning, engagement and motivation.
5. This is essentially a research format (think of it as a science experiment as you need to
collect data, evidence and report on it)

Ways to facilitate and structure assessment:

1. Provide choice and help students take responsibility for their learning.
2. Ask students what the purpose of their learning is and provide feedback.
3. Have students judge their work by how much they learned and their progress.
 4. Help students understand the criteria clearly.
5. Help students understand the goals and provide feedback on their goals.
6. Help students understand where they are in relation to those goals
7. Give feedback that allows the students to know what the next steps are in achieving those
goals.
8. Encourage students to value effort and achievement.
9. Encourage collaboration and support for one another’s achievements.

Module 3: Evaluating and Reporting to Others

Student Led Conference: students go through their portfolio and pick pieces of evidence to
present to their parents. It’s organized in categories that are divided by subject content i.e.
fractions, probability, algebra etc.
They are then given a piece of paper that has a description of what they’re looking for. With their
partner, they should check to see if they used the standards to show what they’ve learned.

For Math assessment, students can use Proof Cards with Headers such as “​My best math
response . . . “, “Proof that I can solve complex problems . . . “, “I used mathematical
vocabulary here . . . “, a​ nd​ “I made a connection between math and another subject area when I
. . . “​.
Adapted from Ministry of Education-Ontario (2010)
Growing Success: Assessment, Evaluation, and Reporting in Ontario Schools.