Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment AlignmentRationale
Sun West schools follow Saskatchewan Curriculum. Understanding and using the outcomes identified in the curriculum when planning and assessing students is essential. Instruction must work to engage and involve students in decisions about their learning and in setting goals for learning. Instruction moves from a teacher centered model to a student centered focus. Teachers must work to activate student learning. They do this by identifying strengths and weaknesses in a student’s learning profile as well as the gaps that may exist in their learning and create a plan to address the gaps. Students must be involved in this process and be able to verbalize their learning goals, be empowered to self-regulate and set goals and then self assess to determine whether the goals have been met.
Implementation
The following points must exist in all classrooms and are necessary components in order to implement personalized learning in the classroom and school setting.
Understanding Curriculum Outcomes
Assessment Literacy
Recommendations
Sun West schools follow Saskatchewan Curriculum. Understanding and using the outcomes identified in the curriculum when planning and assessing students is essential. Instruction must work to engage and involve students in decisions about their learning and in setting goals for learning. Instruction moves from a teacher centered model to a student centered focus. Teachers must work to activate student learning. They do this by identifying strengths and weaknesses in a student’s learning profile as well as the gaps that may exist in their learning and create a plan to address the gaps. Students must be involved in this process and be able to verbalize their learning goals, be empowered to self-regulate and set goals and then self assess to determine whether the goals have been met.
Implementation
The following points must exist in all classrooms and are necessary components in order to implement personalized learning in the classroom and school setting.
Understanding Curriculum Outcomes
- Sun West Planning form Understanding By Design (UBD) with personalized focus Steps in Planning
- Unpacking curriculum outcomes
- Aligning assessments with outcomes
- Selecting instructional methods
- Designing lessons and learning opportunities that allow for choice, path, time and pace
- Personalizing instruction for students to engage, enrich and address gaps in learning
- Differentiated instruction when needed
- Use of inquiry to allow for deeper exploration of topics
Assessment Literacy
- Common assessments across Division
- Use of data to inform instruction
- Common Student Information System (SIS) – PowerSchool/PowerTeacher
- Common report cards – K-9 and 10-12
- Parent Portal use in all schools
- Use of electronic portfolio to report student progress and engage parents
- Students must be engaged in goal setting
- Triangulation of assessment is important – it must include a variety of samples and be evidence based
- Opportunities for students to “show what they know” in a variety of ways
Recommendations
- Continued creation and maintenance of curricular wikis
- Creation of common assessment banks
- Exemplars of student work
- Creation of Moodles on UBD planning, assessment basics
- Alignment of division assessment schedule with Provincial assessment
- Implementation of Sask Reads for Administrators
- Division Reading Assessment (DRA) alignment and continued use in individualized reading instruction plans
- Implementation of provincial writing rubrics and exemplars
- Implementation of provincial math rubrics and exemplars