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

Case Study

Part of the process of this assignment was to create a case study that might occur in any school. We developed a case study based on our personal knowledge and experience in order to present the need for our guidance. Here is our fictional case study:

Jane is an LRT for a small rural high school. The school offers many Special Education programs, that she oversees, but are all run by classroom teachers. During the course of a regular Team Meeting, one of these classroom teachers, Alex, approaches the subject of the Growing Success document for his mixed-exceptionalities alternative education class. The class is a full day program that offers grade nine and ten students with exceptionalities a self-contained classroom where they can earn credits at their own pace. Often the lessons are connected, so that every student can work together and share their ideas, even though they may be earning different level credits. The goal of the program is to teach coping skills and learning strategies and to reintegrate these students back into the mainstream school.

The class is composed of nine mixed-exceptionality students who are struggling in the regular credit courses, but are capable of earning credits and therefore not eligible for a K-credit class.

Alex teaches three students with severe behavioural exceptionalities (ODD) caused by FAS, two students who are deaf and hard of hearing; one student requires an ASL interpreter, the other an FM transmitter. There are also four students who have various learning disabilities and difficulty coping in the regular classroom. Aside from Alex and the interpreter, they have one full time Education Assistant, making the adult to student ratio 1: 3.

His program goal is to integrate all of these students back into the mainstream population. He was concerned that because of the group of students that he teaches, he would have trouble putting together Growing Success activities where the eclectic group would strive in the "as," "of," and "for" learning assessment model, as well as be constructive with self and peer reflection. Because of the nature of the student’s exceptionalities, he was looking for support from the LRT to create a model where these students could be familiar with the Growing Success policy when they are eventually integrated back into the mainstream school.

Jane understands the importance of familiarizing the students with the Growing Success policy for the reintegration of the students, but also the difficulty of engaging such a class in the policy.

Jane is asked to create a working document outlining strategies connecting IEP modifications and accommodations while using the Growing Success policy in this classroom