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Assessment & Evaluation
 

"The primary purpose of assessment & evaluation is to improve student learning".

Quote and image borrowed from: Growing success:  Assessment, evaluation and reporting in Ontario schools. (Ministry of Education, 2010) 

The principles underlying current approaches to assessment and evaluation in Ontario classrooms are equally important in the appraisal of practice teaching.

In order to maximize the learning of Teacher Candidates during a Practicum, we have identified three distinct yet interconnected aspects of the assessment and evaluation of:

1. Ongoing Feedback
2. Formative Assessment
3. Summative Evaluation

1. Ongoing Feedback:

Purpose: To provide Teacher Candidates with regular ongoing input regarding strengths and areas where improvement is necessary. There are a variety of ways to provide feedback, including: informal debriefings, lesson feedback forms, journals or notebooks, rubrics, and written feedback on lesson plans.

2. Formative Assessment:

Purpose: To provide Teacher Candidates with formal written communication of their progress (i.e., strengths and areas for improvement) and status (i.e., meeting expectations or at-risk of failing the Practicum) in the first half of the placement. In light of the fact that the percentage of teaching is expected to increase in the second half of the placement, the designation of “meeting expectations” on the Formative Assessment should not be interpreted as the final outcome of the practice teaching. Teacher Candidates are encouraged to continue to seek feedback from their Associate Teacher about their strengths and areas to work on in their practice teaching.

SUPO will email each Associate Teacher to let them know the date to complete the Formative Assessment Checklist. The form can be printed from this website and then completed in hard copy by each Associate Teacher. If there is at least one check in the "at-risk of failing" column, the Formative form should be faxed to SUPO's confidential fax at 416-926-4706 (for Consecutive TCs) or 416-926-4733 (for Concurrent TCs). Teacher Candidates are also encouraged to complete the Formative form as a means of self-assessment, and to share their form with their Associate Teacher.

3. Summative Evaluation:

Purpose: To communicate a final appraisal (i.e., Pass or Fail), to provide Teacher Candidates with specific descriptive evidence of their practice teaching performance and to provide Teacher Candidates with a document that is requested in the employment process. OISE encourages Teacher Candidates to use the Collaborative Summative Tool to provide their input into the Summative Evaluation writing process.

Sample blank copies of the Summative Evaluation are available for your reference.

Associate Teachers electronically submit the Summative Evaluation for their Teacher Candidate. SUPO sends an email to all Associate Teachers during the practicum with instructions and access information on how to login to the SUPO database to complete the confidential Summative Evaluation.

If a Teacher Candidate makes a decision to leave a practicum placement prior to the completion of the practicum, the Teacher Candidate receives an unsuccessful Summative Evaluation for the practicum (unless there are exceptional circumstances as determined by the Director of SUPO/Student Services).

Completed Summative Evaluation Forms

• One signed copy to be given to the Teacher Candidate on the last day of Practice Teaching. The Principal or Practice Teaching Liaison is requested to ensure that each Teacher Candidate receive a completed and signed Summative Evaluation on the final day of the Practicum. In some exceptional cases (e.g., when a Teacher Candidate has been identified as at-risk in the Practicum), the suggested timeline for the completion and distribution of the Summative Evaluation may need to be altered.
• OISE’s copy is submitted electronically by the Associate Teacher, along with the attendance information;
• Associate Teacher should print out one copy and retain for her/his own records.
• Teacher Candidates can access an official OISE copy of their Summative Evaluation through the SUPO database approximately two weeks after the completion of a practicum. 

Summary of Attendance Information

The Summary of Attendance information (at the beginning of the online Summative Evaluation) is the official record of the Teacher Candidate’s Practicum attendance. This Summary of Attendance information is necessary to determine:
• the amount of honorarium paid to the Associate Teacher and other school staff;
• whether the Teacher Candidate will be required to complete Practicum make-up days due to absence.
For Teacher Candidates who have been absent, additional details must be provided for each day of absence. Professional Activity days are considered part of the Practicum session and full attendance is expected at these times.