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Assessment And Evaluation Overview

The Ontario curriculum has two main components: the Curriculum Expectations and the Achievement Chart.

The Curriculum Expectations (Overall and Specific) set out the knowledge and skills which students are expected to achieve at each grade level. The Overall Expectations reflect the three broad goals of science education:

• to understand the basic concepts of science;
• to develop the skills, strategies, and habits of mind required for scientific inquiry; and
• to relate science to technology, society and the environment.

The specific expectations set out the details of what students are expected to know and be able to do by the end of a particular grade.

The Achievement Chart provides brief descriptions of four different degrees of student achievement at a given grade level. Level 4 is the highest level described; Level 3 is defined as the provincial standard. While Level 1 is the lowest level described on the chart, some students may perform below this level.

Teachers use the Achievement Chart to evaluate students' overall performance at the end of a term or other reporting period. The Achievement Chart also provides the basis for designing assessment tools, such as rubrics and checklists, which are used to assess and evaluate student performance during the term. The curriculum policy requires that students demonstrate and be evaluated on their:

• understanding of basic concepts;
• inquiry skills;
• ability to communicate knowledge; and
• ability to make connections between science, technology, society and the environment.

Teachers gather evidence of student achievement through a variety of means, including:

• observing students as they demonstrate their skills (e.g., during investigations);
• listening to and talking with students (e.g., oral questions, conferencing, debates, oral presentations, role-plays)
• administering paper and pencil assessment (e.g., written assignments, quizzes, reports, tests).

Assessment involves gathering information about student learning and using it to guide students to improve their performance. Not all work that is assessed will be judged against the Achievement Chart.

Evaluation involves making a judgement about the quality of student achievement, based on evidence of student learning. When teachers assign a mark to a piece of work or performance, they are informing students and parents about the quality of the work, judged against the Achievement Chart.

Grading (on the report card) is a summary of the judgements made during evaluation. The report card grade reflects the student's most consistent level of achievement over a reporting period, as measured against the Achievement Chart. A percentage grade (for grades 7-OAC) is used to represent this level of achievement on the report card in order to communicate with parents and other stakeholders.