Language (2023)

Growing Success: Assessment, Evaluation, and Reporting in Ontario Schools, First Edition, Covering Grades 1 to 12, 2010 sets out the Ministry of Education’s assessment, evaluation, and reporting policy. The policy aims to maintain high standards, improve student learning, and benefit all students, parents, and teachers in elementary and secondary schools across the province. Successful implementation of this policy depends on the professional judgement of teachers at all levels as well as their high expectations of all students, and on their ability to work together and to build trust and confidence among parents and students.

Major aspects of assessment, evaluation, and reporting policy are summarized in the general “Assessment and Evaluation” section that applies to all curricula. The key tool for assessment and evaluation in language – the achievement chart – is provided below.

The Achievement Chart for Grade 1–8 Language

The achievement chart identifies four categories of knowledge and skills and four levels of achievement in Language. (For important background, see “Content Standards and Performance Standards” in the general "Assessment and Evaluation" section that applies to all curricula.)

Requirements for Strand A

Learning and assessment related to the expectations in Strand A occurs within the context of learning related to strands B through D. Student achievement of the expectations in Strand A is to be assessed and evaluated throughout the year and may be included in the comment section of the report card.

Criteria and Descriptors for Grade 1–8 Language

To guide teachers in their assessment and evaluation of student learning, the achievement chart provides “criteria” and “descriptors” within each of the four categories of knowledge and skills.

A set of criteria is identified for each category in the achievement chart. The criteria are subsets of the knowledge and skills that define the category. The criteria identify the aspects of student performance that are assessed and/or evaluated, and they serve as a guide to what teachers look for. In the language curriculum, the criteria for each category are as follows:

Knowledge and Understanding 

• knowledge of content (e.g., morphology; syntax; text features; text forms and genres; strategies used when understanding and responding to texts and when expressing ideas and creating texts) 
• understanding of content (e.g., concepts; opinions; facts; perspectives; relationships among facts, ideas, concepts, themes) 

Thinking 

• use of planning skills (e.g., identifying the purpose for reading; identifying the topic, purpose, audience, form, and medium for writing; generating ideas; gathering information; researching; organizing information and ideas)
• use of processing skills (e.g., making inferences, interpreting, analyzing, identifying bias, synthesizing, evaluating, forming conclusions)
• use of critical/creative thinking processes (e.g., researching; comparing and evaluating strategies and tools used by various creators; creating; considering and appreciating diverse perspectives; reflecting on their learning)

Communication 

• expression and organization of ideas and information (e.g., clarity, logic, coherence) in oral, non-verbal, visual, and/or written forms, including digital and media forms
• communication for different audiences and purposes (e.g., use of style, voice, images, gestures, prosody) in oral, non-verbal, visual, and/or written forms, including digital and media forms
• use of conventions (e.g., grammar, spelling, punctuation), vocabulary, and terminology of the discipline in oral, non-verbal, visual, and/or written forms, including digital and media forms

Application 

• application of knowledge and skills (e.g., concepts, strategies, processes) in familiar contexts
• transfer of knowledge and skills (e.g., concepts, strategies, processes) to new contexts
• making connections within and between various contexts (e.g., between the text and their own knowledge and lived experiences, other texts, the world around them, and First Nations, Métis, and Inuit perspectives and ways of knowing; between disciplines)

“Descriptors” indicate the characteristics of the student’s performance, with respect to a particular criterion, on which assessment or evaluation is focused. Effectiveness is the descriptor used for each of the criteria in the Thinking, Communication, and Application categories. What constitutes effectiveness in any given performance task will vary with the particular criterion being considered. Assessment of effectiveness may therefore focus on a quality such as appropriateness, clarity, accuracy, precision, logic, relevance, significance, fluency, flexibility, depth, or breadth, as appropriate for the particular criterion.