Key points about the curriculum rubrics:
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Rubrics are developed to define end-of-year achievement levels . Everything a student does in class and throughout the year counts as evidence of learning and will help to inform the achievement level assigned. End-of-year achievement reflects current learning, so if a student experienced challenges and now has mastered the skills and knowledge, those past performances will not change the achievement level (i.e., it is a statement of learning now, not an average).
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Rubrics will guide your evaluation, but there will be decision points that you have to make. They will help to bring consistency to grading across the province but they do not remove the need for professional judgments as learning in each strand is complex and cannot be captured by a few lines in a rubric. The rubric language provides the collective thinking of other professionals and will help direct the evidence teachers and students will gather over time.
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Consistent with formative assessment, educators and students will gather evidence of learning over time (observations, products and conversations). On the Final
Achievement Report, this evidence will be used to make professional judgments about which level best describes the student’s current capacity with the curriculum learning goals. The levels must be considered globally, not as a check list, though certain aspects may be highlighted as holding more weight. Many students will not neatly fall into a level, so your professional judgment may need more specific description in the comment section . For example, a student may be mostly
Meeting the learning expectations, but “Approaching” in one or two details, you may decide that the evidence suggests learning is solid enough to be valued at Meeting, but your comments could explain the one or two details as “Needs”. It is noteworthy, that unless it is part of a curriculum outcome, behaviours will be reported separately from achievement in the Learning Habits section.
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The “Meeting” column of the rubrics describes appropriate achievement based on curricular standards. “Exceeding” means that over time evidence of learning: demonstrates deeper and/or more insightful thinking; demonstrates the learner is recognizing connections and applying learning to a wider range of situations ; and/or demonstrates the learner is applying learning to more complex contexts .
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There are not separate rubrics for the Interim Achievement reports . Students are not expected to have met the curriculum expectations by mid-year, so teachers will use evidence of learning and professional judgement to determine if students are on target to be “Meeting” the curriculum expectations by end of year.
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As educators work with the rubrics, they should track challenges and note information that would augment the rubrics. This information will guide revisions and the development of other support tools.