In an educational system focused on helping students learn, assessment and evaluation practices are fair and appropriate to the learning needs of the student.
Assessment should be broad based and ongoing
Students are instructed on a wide variety of curricular outcomes over the course of the entire year. Teachers use a variety of evaluation practices to determine student achievement, including performance assessments, projects, written work, demonstrations, portfolios, observations and examinations. Teachers use data from multiple assessments over a period of time to make judgments about student growth, development and learning. Broad-based standardized tests evaluating only a small portion of those outcomes and provide a narrow indication of what the student is able to recall on that particular day.
Standardized testing does not adapt for individual learning needs
While most students learn the same curriculum at the same point in time, some students are taught a different curriculum more suited to their individual needs. For example, English as a second language students and students with special needs are on a modified curriculum that provides the extra time they require for learning or that matches their individual learner needs. Good evaluation practices are appropriate for the student and match the curriculum they have been taught.
It is unfair and unethical for teachers to evaluate students on material they have not had the opportunity to learn. Students on IPPs based on a different grade level in modified programs should not be evaluated on the regular program of studies, nor should they be required to write the provincial achievement tests based on material they have not had the opportunity to learn.
