Project+Vision+&+Details

//**Collaboration**//
The best way to improve teaching and learning Is to get teachers together to discuss their practice and to collaboratively work on shared resources and improvement. Too often we are reinventing the wheel, producing similar resources or reaching our own understanding of teaching methodology in isolation. The vision of collaboration, centered around outcomes, with resources developed by teachers, for teachers, will improve instructional effectiveness. By using assessment we are focusing our development and discussion specifically on a deeper understanding of the outcomes. Further use of data can provide insights into instructional effectiveness and provide valuable feedback to students, parents and future educators.

//**Outcome Based**//
Outcome based collaboration places the emphasis on alignment. A greater understanding of what the outcome specifies, and what that outcome looks like, and how it is assessed at different levels of achievement creates the understanding that will improve teaching practice. However, creating high quality, aligned assessment is often difficult due to the significant time commitment required. As well, determining the validity of the assessment and the degree of alignment is outside of the statistical abilities of most teachers.

//**Feedback**//
Quality, authentic assessment provides important feedback to students, parents and teachers. Continued formative or primary assessment feedback can expose the gaps in learning and allow students to improve their understanding and meet the specified outcome. An individual teacher-learner relationship continually provides personalized feedback to the learner and the teacher to improve learning. A well aligned assessment at the end of the learning process provides feedback to the student of their success at attaining the outcome, and identified learning difficulties for both the student and parent. Analyzed data can also provide a picture of the instructional effectiveness for the teacher to help guide professional growth and improvement.

//**Variety of Assessment**//
A variety of assessment that includes paper and pencil tests that include multiple choice, numerical response and constructed responses, as well as skill based assessment and project based assessment can provide important comprehensive feedback. Constructing quality assessment collaboratively will increase the quality of the assessment tool, while streamlining the application and the analysis.

//**Transition focus**//
From a High School Completion perspective, the transition from Grade 8 to Grade 9 is one of the most important transitions students will make in our educational system. However, this is also a transition in teaching focus (specialist teachers) and teaching practice (outcome driven with multiple opportunities to demonstrate attainment of the outcome). Such philosophical differences can be stressful to the student and the parent as they transition to their final years. Providing clear outcome based common assessment provides a common communication tool between schools and teachers about student learning.

//** Key Messages **//
 //**Teacher collaboration, discussion, sharing and group reflection is the best (and probably most enjoyable) way to improve teaching practice. Collaboration around assessment can reduce the work and increase the quality through shared development.**//  //**Quality assessment provides detailed and extensive feedback to the student and parent about their learning. Such feedback allows the learner to improve or understand specifically, the learning difficulties and appropriate supports that will lead to success.**//  //**Outcome based assessment is the vehicle that allows teachers to discuss, share, collaborate and reflect on their instructional effectiveness.**//