Havergal College Course Calendar, 2017-18 Academic Year

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16HAVERGAL COLLEGE | Course Calendar 2017–18
Academic Information
ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION
PRACTICES (OS 2.3)
Havergal’s Assessment and Evaluation practices are
aligned to the guidelines outlined in
The page numbers in this document refer
specifically to the Growing Success document.
1. Purpose of Assessment and Evaluation
The primary purpose of student assessment and
evaluation is to improve student learning (p 6) . The
assessment and evaluation process involves the continual
gathering and interpreting evidence of student learning
in a way that promotes a positive learning experience
and improves student learning. Teachers’ professional
judgements are at the heart of effective assessment,
evaluation and reporting of student achievement (p 8).
2. Fundamental Principles of Assessment and
Evaluation
The assessment and evaluation policy is based on
fundamental principles that guide the collection of
meaningful information that will help inform instructional
decisions, promote student engagement and improve
student learning (p 6). To ensure that assessment,
evaluation, and reporting are fair, valid and reliable, and
that they lead to the improvement of learning for all
students, teachers use practices and procedures that:
• are fair, transparent and equitable for all students
(p 6);
• support all students to show what they have learned
(p 6);
• are carefully planned to relate to the curriculum
expectations and learning goals and as much
as possible, to the interest, learning styles and
preferences, needs, and experiences of all students (p 6);
• are clearly communicated to students and parents
at the beginning of the school year or course and at
other appropriate times (p 6);
• are ongoing, varied in nature and administered over a
period of time to provide multiple opportunities and
a variety of ways for students to demonstrate the full
range of their learning (p 6);
• provide ongoing descriptive feedback that is clear,
specific, meaningful, and timely to support improved
learning and achievement; feedback tells students
what they are doing well, where improvements are
needed and how to improve (p 6);
• develop students’ self-assessment skills to enable
them to assess their own learning, set specific goals,
and plan next steps for their learning (p 6);
• include evaluations based on evidence of student
learning that are consistently graded with reference
to established criteria for four levels of achievement
(pp 2, 19).
3. Learning Skills and Work Habits
The development of learning skills and work habits are
an integral part of a student’s learning and are critical to
student success (pp 10, 12). Teachers work with students
to help them understand and develop learning skills and
work habits (p 13). Teachers assess, evaluate and report
on learning skills and work habits separately from their
assessing, evaluating and reporting on the achievement
of curriculum expectations. Unless learning skills are an
integral part of the Ministry Curriculum Expectations, their
assessment is not included in the final grade (pp 10, 45) .