As a grade 3 teacher, the article by Asselin, Early, and Filipenko (2005) struck a chord with me. In Ontario, students in this grade are required to complete a series of tests to measure student achievement in reading, writing and mathematics in relation to Ontario Curriculum expectations. Having administered these tests several times throughout my career, I have first-hand experience with these paper-and-pencil print-based assessments. A great amount of time is spent throughout the year preparing students for these tests and ensuring they have the required knowledge and skills to achieve success.
In the assessment policy Growing Success: Assessment, Evaluation, and Reporting in Ontario Schools (2010), the Ontario government claims that assessments should be “carefully planned to relate to the curriculum expectations and learning goals and, as much as possible, to the interests, learning styles and preferences, needs, and experiences of all students” (p. 6). Additionally, they should be “ongoing, varied in nature, and administered over a period of time to provide multiple opportunities for students to demonstrate the full range of their learning” (p. 6). However, while this may be happening in classrooms, this certainly contradicts what is happening in province-wide testing. Furthermore, as the notion of literacy and what it means to be literate is evolving, these traditional print-based assessments do not match what is happening in many classrooms across the province. As outlined in a previous post, the Peel District School Board has embraced the use of technology in the classrooms and is committed to providing its students with the 21st century skills that will allow them to become active digital citizens. Collaborative inquiry, creativity and innovation, critical thinking and problem solving, and communication skills are at the forefront. Asselin et al. (2005) claim that as the curriculum changes to reflect these notions of literacy and 21st century skills, so, too, should assessments. However, the question that arises for me is, how is this possible? How does one assess collaborative inquiry and creativity, and in particular, how is this possible in large scale, province-wide testing?
My next post will explore the use of multimodal texts (i.e., blogs) in the classrooms and assessment of these texts.
Asselin, M., Early, M., & Filipenko, M. (2005). Accountability, assessment, and the literacies of information and communication technologies. Canadian Journal of Education, 28(4), 802-826.
Ministry of Education. (2010). Growing Success: Assessment, Evaluation, and Reporting in Ontario Schools. Retrieved from http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/policyfunding/growsuccess.pdf.
Revolution 