ASSESSMENT STANDARDS

    REFLECTING IMPORTANT MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE

    Quality assessment focuses on and establishes clear expectations concerning the mathematics and science that are most important for students to learn.

    The Pacific Standards for Excellence in Mathematics and Pacific Standards for Excellence in Science describe the knowledge, capabilities and values that are essential for literacy. Quality assessment reflects these and other standards and focuses on the big ideas of the respective disciplines rather than on bits and pieces of information. The quality assessment of complex outcomes, such as habits of mind, connection making, and the ability to communicate learning requires time and a variety of assessment tools.

    Quality assessment is clear about what to assess, and students know what is expected of them. Clear learning expectations lead to assessments that provide useful insights into students' growth toward mathematical and scientific literacy. The assessment process is a learning and communication process in which the assessors­teachers, students, parents, administrators or others­learn about what students know and can do, and students learn about what the assessors value. Students also learn about their own progress and about themselves as learners.

    Quality assessment reflects important mathematics and science in:

    • the plans for assessment and instruction,
    • the assessment tasks and activities,
    • the interpretation of students' responses,
    • the intended uses of the assessment results,
    • the criteria used to describe and/or score students' responses.

    The assessment of each student's mathematics/science learning will be valued by the student, parents, teachers, and the public, if it presents a comprehensive view of important concepts and processes. These assessments involve thinking and problem solving, investigating and applying students' capabilities to complex mathematical, scientific and human issues, and provide valid insights into student learning. Plans for assessment focus on gathering evidence of progress as well as attainment of levels of performance. They include the assessment of all aspects of being knowledgeable, capable, and caring.

    The use of a variety of assessment tools provides a more complete picture of the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of students. While paper and pencil tests may reflect students' knowledge base, performance assessments are appropriate to gather information about their ability to apply what they know. Quality tasks:

    • center on important understandings,
    • connect to the classroom curriculum and are built on contexts that are familiar to students,
    • lead to further thinking, questioning, probing, and problem solving,
    • are thought-provoking and challenging, and help students value the outcome,
    • connect ideas and skills together rather than focus on small bits and pieces of information,
    • often offer multiple paths to carry out the task; model good instruction­students learn while showing what they can do and how well they can apply knowledge and skills to new situations,
    • encourage students to show their learning in a variety of ways,
    • often include opportunities for students to reflect on and evaluate the quality of their work and progress over time.

    Quality assessment provides results focused on the important mathematics and science students have learned and are doing. In quality assessment, the interpretation of responses is based on clear expectations and on established criteria that have been shared with students. These criteria identify the key qualities of an excellent response and communicate to students what is valued. Quality assessment gives students alternatives in demonstrating learning progress. The results are most useful if they are presented in simple terms that everyone, including the students, can understand. Assessment is a portrayal of student learning, with measurement as just one way of gathering information about that learning. Assessment results should be used to inform teaching and advance student learning.