Growing Success

Published in 2010 by the Ontario Ministry of Education, Growing Success is a comprehensive guide to assessment, evaluation and reporting in Ontario schools from grades 1-12.  It outlines the most equitable approaches to grading and offers rationale for creating positive relationships with students and parents to improve student learning.

What basic truths are necessary to our understanding of assessment?

•       “Our challenge is that every student is unique and each must have opportunities to achieve success according to his or her own interests, abilities, and goals.”

•       “Successful implementation of policy depends on the professional judgement of educators at all levels, as well as on educators’ ability to work together and to build trust and confidence among parents and students.”

•       “Policies and procedures for assessment, evaluation, and reporting need to develop over time, as we learn more about how students learn.”

“The primary purpose of assessment and evaluation is to improve student learning”

(Growing Success, p. 38)

7 Fundamental Principles 

To ensure that assessment, evaluation, and reporting are valid and reliable, and that they lead to the improvement of learning for all students, teachers use practices and procedures that:

1. are fair, transparent, and equitable for all students;
2. support all students, including those with special education needs, those who are learning the language of instruction (English or French), and those who are First Nation, Métis, or Inuit;
3. 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;
4.  are communicated clearly to students and parents at the beginning of the school year or course and at other appropriate points throughout the school year or course;
5. 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;
6. provide ongoing descriptive feedback that is clear, specific, meaningful, and timely to support improved learning and achievement;
7. develop students’ self-assessment skills to enable them to assess their own learning, set specific goals, and plan next steps for their learning.