Additional Information
Assessment and Evaluation Strategies
Every student attending Christian Virtual School is unique. We believe each student must have the opportunities to achieve success according to their own interests, abilities, and goals. Like the Ministry of Education, we have defined high expectations and standards for graduation, while introducing a range of options that allow students to learn in ways that suit them best and enable them to earn their diplomas. Christian Virtual School’s Assessment, Evaluation, and Reporting Policy is based on seven fundamental principles, as outlined in the Growing Success: Assessment, Evaluation, and Reporting in Ontario Schools document.
When these seven principles are fully understood and observed by all teachers, they guide the collection of meaningful information that helps inform instructional decisions, promote student engagement, and improve student learning. At Christian Virtual School, teachers use practices and procedures that:
- are fair, transparent, and equitable for all students;
- support all students, including those with special education needs, those who are learning English, and those who are First Nation, Métis, or Inuit;
- are carefully planned to relate to the curriculum expectations and learning goals and, as much as possible, to the interests, learning styles and preferences, needs, and experiences of all students;
- are communicated clearly to students and parents or guardians at the beginning of the school year or course and at other appropriate points throughout the school year or course;
- are ongoing, varied in nature, and administered over a period of time to provide multiple opportunities for students to demonstrate the full range of their learning;
- provide ongoing descriptive feedback that is clear, specific, meaningful, and timely to support improved learning and achievement; and
- develop students’ self-assessment skills to enable them to access their own learning, set specific goals, and plan next steps for their learning.
For more information on Christian Virtual School’s general assessment and evaluation strategies, you can refer to our Assessment, Evaluation, and Reporting Policy.
To ensure that we are meeting the principles of Growing Success, we carefully plan all the assessments within our courses.
First and foremost, they are designed as opportunities for students to improve their learning. Assessment for the purpose of improving student learning is seen as both “assessment for learning (AfL)” and “assessment as learning (AaL)” according to Growing Success. As part of assessment for learning, teachers provide students with descriptive feedback and coaching for improvement. Teachers engage in assessment as learning by helping all students develop their capacity to be independent, autonomous learners who can set individual goals, monitor their own progress, determine next steps, and reflect on their thinking and learning. Examples of these types of assessments in this course include:
| Assessment for Learning | Assessment as Learning |
|---|---|
| Discussion activities | Goal setting activities |
| Graphic organizers | Reflection activities |
| Draft opportunities | Success checklists |
Second, we focus on a balance between assessing students’ acquisition of knowledge as well as their skills of thinking, communication, and application of subject-specific material. In this course, you can expect assessment to be divided into the following balance:
| Percentage | Skill |
|---|---|
| 25 | Knowledge and Understanding: Subject-specific content acquired and the comprehension of its meaning and significance |
| 25 | Thinking/Inquiry: The use of critical and creative thinking skills and/or processes |
| 25 | Communication: The conveying of meaning through various forms |
| 25 | Application: The use of knowledge and skills to make connections within and between various contexts |
Lastly, the assessments are designed so that teachers have an opportunity to gain an understanding of a student’s learning through direct observation of students, one-on-one conversations with students, and evaluating products that students submit. Examples of these methods in this course include:
| Observation | Conversation | Product |
|---|---|---|
| Peer-to-peer discussions | Multi-part assignments that involve communication with the teacher and implementing feedback | Unit tests |
| Graphic organizers | Teacher-student discussions | Portfolio assessment |
| Note taking activities | Personal Budget assessment |
For more information on Christian Virtual School’s assessment and evaluation strategies, you can refer to our Assessment, Evaluation, and Reporting Policy.
Program Planning Considerations
Each of our courses have been designed by a team of educators to create a environment infused with creativity, flexibility, choice, and variety, with the goal to help every student succeed. We also take into consideration a number of topics that span disciplines and ensure we incorporate these into each of our courses. The details of our Program Planning Considerations are available below, or as a downloadable PDF.