Larry Ainsworth, co-author of Common Formative Assessments: How to Connect Standards-Based Instruction and Assessment, will present a “big picture” of an integrated standards and assessment system that showcases common formative assessments and data teams as central components. He will emphasize the development of common inschool assessments for learning aligned with external school-board or school-division assessments and provincial assessments of learning. Mr. Ainsworth will then preview the 10 steps for creating a common formative pre- and post-assessment aligned with the “unwrapped” priority standards (Priority Outcome Indicators) for a selected instructional unit topic. The common formative assessment process can be used effectively in every grade and every content area.

Educators play a special role in society because their role is to play life forward.

Educators deal in the day-to-day, but their responsibility is tomorrow.

Educators understand that anyone can count the number of seeds in an apple, but no one can count the number of apples in a seed.

With this in mind, what’s important for every educator to remember . . . to remember in the face of exhaustion, and budgets, and the ever-present time crunch . . . is that of all the things you make in life, you make a difference. And that makes all the difference.

Schools can become much more efficient and innovative as learning organizations by using data effectively and efficiently. When schools use data effectively, they are able to see which processes are working to help students become proficient and which ones are not. Using data to improve processes enables teachers, collectively, to take their practices to the next level and to make a difference for all students.

Schools can become much more efficient and innovative as learning organizations by using data effectively and efficiently. When schools use data effectively, they are able to see which processes are working to help students become proficient and which ones are not. Using data to improve processes enables teachers, collectively, to take their practices to the next level and to make a difference for all students.

Jane Bluestein will affirm that principals, teachers and parents do have a powerful influence on our youth and hold in their hands the ability to make a positive difference in their lives: parents, who set the stage for nurturing and supporting; teachers, who continue the nurturing by establishing a rich learning environment within their classrooms; and principals, who set the tone for leadership and inspire within their schools a lifelong desire for learning and for motivating our youth. We are preparing students for a future that we do not know and a time when we will not be there. If our students have emotional intelligence, academic strengths, social awareness, empathy, compassion and a sense of our truly global society, we will have given them wings to fly. Dr. Bluestein will talk about some of the specific strategies that each of us can put in place to ensure this success and the privilege that it is to play such roles in the lives of our adolescents.

Jane Bluestein will affirm that principals, teachers and parents do have a powerful influence on a child and hold in their hands the ability to make a positive difference in a child’s life: parents, who set the stage for nurturing and supporting; teachers, who continue the nurturing by establishing a rich learning environment within their classrooms; and principals, who set the tone for leadership and inspire within their schools a lifelong desire for learning and for motivating our youth. We are preparing our children for a future that we do not know and a time when we will not be there. If our children have emotional intelligence, academic strengths, social awareness, empathy, compassion and a sense of our truly global society, we will have given them wings to fly. Jane will talk about some of the specific strategies that each of us can put in place to ensure this success and the privilege that it is to play such roles in the lives of our children.

EQAO’s questionnaires provide valuable information about who needs extra support and why. They can also suggest what works for students. This session will survey what educators are learning from background questionnaires and suggest ways we can use this information to make a difference in our schools.

The world is changing at breakneck speed. From the workplace and post-secondary institutions to technology and students themselves, the dizzying pace of change presents educators with significant challenges. As the mission of schooling evolves from sifting and sorting students into high, average, and low achievers to encouraging all students to strive for excellence, the strategies and processes associated with assessment, grading and reporting are being focused on like never before. The demand for greater accountability is ever-present, yet some teachers, parents, and the media believe that standards are being lowered rather than raised. In his keynote presentation, Damian Cooper will address the major changes facing high-school educators; he will examine what the new mission of secondary education really means; and he will ask participants to examine their current practices and consider new approaches to assessment and grading in light of this new mission.

As teachers plan classroom assessments, they often feel torn between two competing demands: that for increased accountability and that for feedback in words, not scores, which research suggest is a hallmark of the most effective assessment strategies. This session will present eight “big ideas” to help teachers simplify the assessment process and achieve a balance of assessment for learning (i.e., to promote learning) and assessment of learning (i.e., for grading and reporting).

As teachers plan classroom assessments, they often feel torn between two competing demands: that for increased accountability and that for feedback in words, not scores, which research suggests is a hallmark of the most effective assessment strategies. This session presents eight “big ideas” to help teachers simplify the assessment process and achieve a balance of assessment for learning (i.e., to promote learning) and assessment of learning (i.e., for grading and reporting).

What do EQAO assessments consist of? The information and activities in this presentation will familiarize parents with the Assessments of Reading, Writing and Mathematics, Primary and Junior Divisions. The presentation will also focus on how these assessments contribute to children’s success on their journey of learning.

Dr. Lorna Earl examines the issues and ideas that emerged from the conference and reflects on possible ways EQAO can contribute to the effective use of assessment to support learning for all students.

What do EQAO assessments consist of? The information and activities in this presentation will familiarize parents with the Assessments of Reading, Writing and Mathematics, Primary and Junior Divisions. The presentation will also focus on how these assessments contribute to children’s success on their journey of learning.

School improvement is a complex issue fraught with ambiguity and challenge. To create “harbours of hope,” where learning by all is a reality, a school must create a climate that supports collaboration, good planning, frequent monitoring of progress and the celebration of successes.

The climate of support is created when school staff members see one another as resources to support teaching and learning and invite parents into the process of supporting their efforts. Good planning, monitoring progress and celebrating are based on the ability of a school to use meaningful data or critical evidence.

This keynote presentation will highlight the importance of focused goals and energy in fulfilling the mission of “learning by all, whatever it takes.”

Using data for improvement puts school practitioners into new roles in which they must operate like artists to characterize the complexities and subtleties of their subjects. Artists are always gathering and using data; they are constantly observing, investigating and responding to colours, textures and images. They also use their considerable interpretive talent and experience to draw salient features to the foreground, emphasize important dimensions and communicate with an audience.

In this plenary, Steven Katz, Ph.D. draws on this metaphor of educators as artists to describe a process for using data in decisions about policy and practice in schools. He shows that data can be an effective tool for much more than number crunching. It can be a powerful catalyst for change in schools—and can have positive impact on student achievement. He focuses, in particular, on three core human capacities for using data wisely: developing an inquiring habit of mind, becoming data literate and building a culture of inquiry.

Note: Due to contractual restrictions, only excerpts of the live webcast are available.

Using the themes of the conference, Mr. Lewis explores the ways in which education transforms the lives of children throughout the world, and is perhaps the greatest unacknowledged instrument we have for dramatic social change. A positive, concerted focus on helping students achieve their highest potential is the goal of all educators and a foundation for providing equitable access to opportunities for children in all nations. The ability to read and write, to think critically, to contribute positively to society and to believe in the potential of each human being are all core goals informing the efforts of every teacher in every classroom. EQAO’s conference honours the role of educators in their support of our youth.

In many countries, large-scale international assessment programs such as the Programme for International Student Assessment or the Progress in International Reading Study have become important indicators of the overall efficiency of school systems. This presentation shows current assessment approaches, as well as the difficulties in relating results from different large-scale international studies to one another, and to the micro-level of schools and classrooms. The presentation also outlines how the quest for a balanced assessment system will intensify both the need for collaboration and communication between the different levels, and the need for complex databases. The potential benefits and challenges of computer-assisted assessments and feedback can reduce the gaps among different assessment levels and promote a more balanced assessment approach.

Assessment has shown great promise for improving student learning, but only when high-quality assessments are used. The purpose of this presentation is to translate psychometric jargon into clear language that is meaningful and useful to classroom teachers. The goal is to equip teachers with an understanding of the critically important components of technically sound classroom assessments so that they will be able to use them effectively in their classrooms. Armed with better tools for designing, developing, delivering and discussing assessment results, classroom teachers will be empowered to be more effective consumers and users of classroom assessments. Components of technical quality are applied to typical classroom assessment practices through the use of examples.

Teachers are required to make a myriad of decisions when designing, developing, delivering and discussing assessment results. The goal of this presentation is to provide teachers with models to use in making such decisions about classroom assessments. Different assessment strategies are reviewed, and indicators are discussed to help teachers ensure that their classroom tests are designed in a manner that is aligned with the purpose of the test, congruent with the curriculum delivered in the classrooms, aimed at an appropriate level of student performance and designed to provide high-quality assessment information for all students—in short, that the test is composed of the “right” content, the “right” format and the “right” level. The target of assessment design is the “right” stuff!

Assessment is sometimes viewed as an external component in the learning process. Teachers use the curriculum guides to provide lessons for students. Testing is then used as a means to assess student learning. Recent research has shown that classroom assessment practices can be linked to large and meaningful achievement gains for students. However, in order for these gains in student learning to be realized, the classroom assessments need to have three key features: they must provide accurate information about student learning; students must be given high quality feedback about their performance on the tests and students must be involved in the assessment process. The focus of this presentation will be on strengthening the linkage between student learning and student assessment by looking at classroom assessments in terms of these key features.

Mark Reckase will discuss the conflicts that arise as a result of differing views on the role of assessment and will suggest ways to resolve them. One view considers assessment a feedback tool to determine strengths and weaknesses and guide instruction. A second view considers assessment’s role to be reporting the level of student proficiency to Ontario’s public. Building on each view can result in a better education system.

Dr. Douglas Reeves addresses the biggest challenges to leading meaningful change:

• getting buy-in from stakeholders;
• overcoming resistance;
• deciding what to do when people won’t change and
• determining what is worth fighting for.

New international studies involving more than 2000 schools and 1.5 million students reveal that leadership decisions have an extraordinary impact on achievement and equity. With compelling new evidence, Dr. Reeves provides his usual mix of hard-hitting facts, illuminating examples and insightful analysis to help leaders at every level have the maximum possible impact on student achievement.

The practices necessary for schools to be effective are well understood and demonstrated in many Ontario schools. Nonetheless, as educational leaders, we often fail to develop an effective role for the higher levels of our organizations: the school boards themselves. We need to know that our school boards can devise the means necessary for all schools to become effective, instead of a select few. However, experience indicates that the vast majority of change management attempted by school boards fails for a variety of reasons. While the opportunities that change presents are exciting, the stakes for public education may never be as high as they are right now. The question remains: how do we re-energize and refocus all of our schools to embrace the core mission of teaching for learning?

A strategic plan is more than a document; it’s a completely integrated system process. Common language must be used throughout the organization, and data has an important role to play in creating and measuring common objectives. But the real test of any large organization is accepting the brutal facts and moving forward with a common passion for and commitment to success. The strategic plan of any school board only becomes truly functional when the people of the organization own it. This is the primary challenge to be overcome.

Student engagement is a disposition toward learning, working with others and functioning in a social institution. It is expressed in students’ feelings that they belong at school and in their participation in the formal requirements of schooling. For many students it also entails a serious emotional and cognitive investment in learning aimed at increasing understanding, solving complex problems and constructing new knowledge. Engagement is related to students’ academic success, their mental health and well-being, and the likelihood they will finish high school. As such, engagement needs to be situated alongside academic achievement as an essential schooling outcome in its own right.

In this presentation, Dr. Willms will discuss three elements of student engagement, drawing on recent research from the Canadian Education Association’s study What Did You Do in School Today? Transforming Classrooms Through Social, Academic and Intellectual Engagement, the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), Canada’s National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY) and “Tell Them from Me” (www.thelearningbar.com), a dynamic Web-based evaluation that allows students to voice their concerns and participate in school-wide evaluation in a non-threatening way. Dr. Willms will identify the key elements of classroom and school environments related to engagement and how these can be aligned with student success.