Jason's Article

The Secret of Success Criteria

This article is an explanation of using criteria, descriptive feedback and multiple assessment tools to help students with their planning, learning, inquiry, socializing, reflecting and delivery. In the past, students would sit at desks and teachers were the source of information. Times have changed and now students can find out any information they desire by using technology. Teachers have no longer become the source of information but the facilitator of the information. With the abilities of many of our students, and the training of our educators, we need to be able to simplify the process for students so they can experience the highest amount of success possible.

The Growing Success document uses 3 principles that will help us in our Case Study:

·         Support all students, including those with special education needs, those who are learning our language of instruction (English or French), and those who are First Nation, Metis, or Inuit.

·         Provide ongoing descriptive feedback that is clear, specific, meaningful, and timely to support improved learning and achievement

·         Develop students’ self-assessment skills to enable them to assess their own learning, set specific goals, and plan next steps for their learning

The beginning of the article uses these principles to explain the roles of the teachers in this process:

 So basically, the Ministry of Education sets out curriculum that is to be followed by the teachers in Ontario. 

·         Along with those curriculum documents, the Ministry explains in the Growing Success documents how the curriculum is to be utilized to assess and evaluate students based on learning skills and work habits.

·         Based on the Growing Success documents, teachers must give descriptive feedback to the students based on their work....but how can this be done?

 Teachers can develop descriptive feedback for their students based on the success criteria that are provided. The success criteria are based on the understanding of the curriculum documents that is interpreted by the teachers. Once teachers understand the criteria that students need to meet, then teachers are to co-construct criteria with the students so that the students know exactly what is expected of them (Greenan, 2011). “When golfers swing their golf clubs, they know where to aim-towards the flag marking the next hole. Pilots file flight plans before getting permission to leave the ground... (Davies et al., 2012). Clearly students will produce better work if they know what is expected of them not only working in class, but specifically what is required to create the best product to hand in to teachers. Not only that, but IF students are also building the criteria with teachers then they should know exactly what is required for the specific skill and topic they are working on (Greenan, 2011).

After success criteria is formed by teacher or teacher/student, then it is important for the students to learn to assess themselves and the work of others. “It is imperative for success in the 21^st century that students become reflective and meta-cognitive thinkers who are able to independently determine the next steps for their own learning and work” (Greenan, 2011). 

In my experience, we have studied this extensively in the PD sessions we have had this year. We have even had a seminar in which every Halton Secondary School was linked in watching the seminar and able to be interactive by asking questions that would be shown on a separate feed. Discussions could occur and teachers could clarify as the speakers continued dialogue. They would break frequently and the teachers in our school would then have time to discuss what was being said. As for the actual process, I have been working with some online courses that have the criteria and the assessment tools available to show the student exactly what is expected of them. I have had students reflect and evaluate themselves based on their work habits but not really their school work. I have also had students peer assess but descriptive feedback needs to be taught to students as well. It is important for the involvement of students in their own assessment and criteria building to keep students interested and more willing to complete their work.

Bibliography:

Davies, A., Herbst, S., and Reynolds, B. 2012. Leading the Way to Assessment for Learning: A Practical Guide. Courtenay, British Columbia, Canada. Connections Publishing.

Greenan, M. 2011. The Secret of Success Criteria. Retireved from http://www.cpco.on.ca/News/PrincipalConnections/PastIssues/Vol14/Issue3/SuccessCriteria.pdf

Ministry of Education. 2010. Growing Success: Assessment, Evaluation and Reporting in Ontario Schools. Retrieved from http://www.cpco.on.ca/News/PrincipalConnections/PastIssues/Vol14/Issue3/SuccessCriteria.pdf