Assessment in the Mathematics Classroom

Assessment in schools can be a confusing thing for parents to understand.  Your child's classroom teacher should be obtaining an understanding of where every child is at the beginning of a unit of study so that they know where the teaching needs to begin.  Over the course of the unit students should be provided with many opportunities to solve problems and receive feedback from the teacher and peers using success criteria they have created together for the task to allow them to move forward with their learning.  Finally, at the end of a unit of study students may complete a rich task or written assessment to determine if they have met the provincial expectations from the curriculum documents.

Assessment of student work in mathematics and all other curricular areas is governed by the curriculum documents and a document called Growing Success.  In the curriculum documents there is an achievement chart that outlines four areas to measure students with, these include Knowledge & Understanding, Thinking, Communication and Application.

These charts show what students must be able to do in all four areas and the levels that may be obtained depending on the student's demonstration of learning.  Teachers will conference with students and do a lot of observing during independent and group work situations to see where students are in their learning and these observations often inform the teacher more than any written assessment where they fall on the continuum.  Written assessments are necessary, but there are many other ways students may demonstrate their understanding, so don't be surprised if many teachers don't send home marks on written assessment task, they may communicate the same information in other ways.

Ask your classroom teacher about the achievement chart and EXPECT them to be using this as the basis for assessment and evaluation.  We don't measure students with other students in the class, we use the provincial curriculum so a level 4 at one school in Ontario is the same as any other.

EQAO Approaching

Parents and students have no fear!

EQAO is not that scary monster that you think may hide under your bed, it is a way to determine if students and schools across Ontario are meeting the standard set by the Ministry of Education.

Parents if you would like to familiarize yourself with the assessment go to the PARENTS SECTION of the EQAO site.  Here you will find general information about the assessment and there are links that may be helpful if you wish to have your child try some sample questions so they know what to expect.  Your child is likely already using some of these resources in their class as teachers will often use old questions to prepare students and ensure they understand how to answer certain types of questions, such as multiple choice, long answer, and short answer.

Remember that the assessment assesses a students knowledge from K-3 for the Grade 3 assessment, and K-6 for the Grade 6 assessment.  The assessments in Grade 3 and 6 have no impact on your child's report card and nobody will ask them what they scored in the future, so PLEASE do not make this a stressful time for your child and support them as needed.  Ask the classroom teacher what they suggest you supporting them with.

First thoughts on connecting with parents about math in Ontario schools

I grew up learning math by memorizing facts, formulas, and procedures for solving problems like many of the parents of students that I teach today.  I was good at it and therefore excelled academically throughout my school career in mathematics.  With this success, I decided that I wanted to be a mechanical engineer and ended up going to college and received my Mechanical Engineering Technology diploma.

I worked for many years in the public sector as an estimator for a sheet metal fabricating company, pass designer for and engineering company, machine designer for some automotive design and build companies, but eventually returned to my original dream of being a school teacher that I had since 9th grade.

Once I returned to university to get my degree, attended teacher's college and graduated I was on my way.  I was very fortunate to move right into a position immediately upon graduation with the Toronto District School Board teaching grades 5/6.

My first year of teaching Math was one of my biggest challenges.  As I found out, I was lacking a great deal of understanding behind how to teach math.   I got up in front of my students and proceeded to teach the way I had learned.  It worked for me, so why wouldn't it work for the kids in front of me.  Well......?

I attended some mandatory Professional Development as a Grade 6 teacher that year around improving EQAO scores.  Right from the beginning of the session all I could think about was how bad a Math teacher I was.  From there I have taken every opportunity to learn about math instruction and best practice.

Through my own learning, the learning of my students and the many conversations that I have had with Parents, Educators and my own children about math, I hope to be able to assist you in navigating your desire for your child to be successful and supporting the math programming in Ontario schools.

I look forward to reading your comments and helping any way that I can.