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Chapter 21
290
Assessment and Evaluation in Social Studies Classrooms 291
administered according to their instructions, can be and identify current trends and issues in the field for
interpreted the same way in different circumstances. further investigation and research so that we can be
The standardization occurs as a result of field-testing more proactive and better able to hold our own in
with thousands of students. They are administered debates about assessment, evaluation, standards, and
system-wide or province-wide. The instructions to accountability. As assessment expert Ruth Childs put
students, the test conditions, the timing, and scor- it in the title of a recent address to a group of student
ing are the same in all places. They are generally teachers, “Critical Consumers Needed.”5
norm-referenced and provide comparative data on
students. They usually test for what the test authors
determine to be basic skills and knowledge, and What Is the Vocabulary
are considered to be objective; i.e., free of teacher of Assessment and
bias in scoring. Commercial standardized tests are
supposed to be content-free; that is, they are not
Evaluation?
designed to fit any particular district or provincial One of the confusing factors in the field of assessment
curriculum. In Canada, students are usually given is that professionals often use the same terms to mean
standardized tests in language and math. Alberta is different things. It might be helpful then to
the only province that currently gives standardized define some important terms and see how they relate
tests in social studies at a number of grade levels. to each other.6
Provincial examinations in all subjects including The terms “assessment” and “evaluation” are
social studies contain many if not most elements of often used interchangeably but they do not always
standardized tests.4 mean the same thing. For many, assessment is the
Whatever benefits such tests have in determining process of collecting data on student performance
student acquisition of basic facts and simple skills, that is then used to evaluate (make judgements
they do not set a standard as to what students should about) the attainment of certain expectations, objec-
be able to do. They do not define clear expectations, tives, or outcomes. Because we speak of judgements,
other than to get the highest score possible. They evaluation is never neutral. It can only be objective
seldom assess complex thinking and behaviours. in that assessments provide us with a quantity and
Even the advocates of standardized tests express quality of information sufficient to make judgements
concerns for their overuse. Most importantly for the that are fair to the strengths and needs of all learners;
purposes of this chapter, standardized tests are inca- precise in that students and others gain clear insights
pable of providing teachers with the day-to-day, mo- into how they are learning and what they can do to
ment-to-moment information they need for making improve performance; and true in that our verdicts
instructional decisions. What follows will therefore are valid, consistent, and accurate. It is important to
focus on classroom-based forms of assessment and remember that all assessments and evaluations are
evaluation. limited in that they do not tell us everything there is
Even at the school and classroom levels there to know about the learning of particular individuals
are competing trends in assessment and evaluation. or groups.
This chapter tries to make sense of these as they Assessment and evaluation are continuous ac-
influence the assessment and evaluation of student tivities in the classroom and they can be both infor-
achievement in social studies. The key focus is to mal and formal. Informal assessment occurs when a
promote “assessment literacy”; i.e., the capacity to teacher collects information to use for the purposes
better match assessment methods and the informa- of shaping ongoing instruction. At the end of a seg-
tion desired about student achievement, make sense ment of a lesson, for example, the teacher might
of the student achievement data we collect, com- orally ask a random sample of students around the
municate assessment results effectively, use assess- room to respond to questions about what was just
ment to maximize student motivation and learning, taught. The responses to these questions will give
292 Challenges & Prospects for Canadian Social Studies
the teacher a sense of how well the class has learned in developing the skill. Most of the assessment and
the information, concept, or skill in question and evaluation we do will be formative, and the feedback
whether they are ready to move on. Teachers might loop that results (see Figure 1) is very important in
also carry out informal assessment of individual stu- the teaching and learning process.
dents by observing the way they are completing tasks Central to formative assessment is the provision
assigned in class. This can tell them which students of quality feedback. Feedback consists of information
might need corrective feedback or more instruction that tells us how we are doing and what we need
in a particular area. to do next, in the light of our intentions and goals.
While informal assessment is a continuous and Feedback is not the same as praise and blame, rather
sometimes almost unconscious process, formal as- it is precise information about where someone is in
sessment is normally more overt and systematically relation to the goals they are trying to attain and
planned. We are all familiar with typical manifesta- what they might do in the future to make progress
tions of formal assessment: quizzes, tests, essays, towards those goals.
and projects. But formal assessment may take a A research synthesis by Marzano, Pickering, and
wide range of forms, including teacher observa- Pollock noted the following principles of quality feed-
tion of student performance. For example, a typical back:7 First, feedback should be timely (the longer
outcome for social studies is that students become we wait the less effect it has on achievement). Feed-
more open- minded. One could imagine assessing back should be specific (criterion-referenced) and
progress towards that goal by having students write “corrective” in order to show what went well, what
position papers on issues from various points of needs improvement, and how to improve (all three
view, but observing students interacting in class components needed for maximum achievement).
with people expressing views different from theirs Feedback can be verbal and written and can come
might also accomplish this. What makes this kind of from teachers, peers, or the student him/herself. It
observation different from an informal assessment is should ask students to interpret data and self-as-
the structured nature of the data collection, perhaps sess in the light of their goals and intentions, rather
using a checklist or taking notes, and sharing the than ask them to react to our interpretation. Finally,
information gathered with the students involved and feedback should allow students to make decisions as
perhaps others to provide feedback. to the nature of the improvements and adjustments
A key to effective assessment and evaluation is that need to be made. The great inventor Thomas
clarity about purpose. Broadly speaking in terms of Edison had his own way of describing the importance
purpose, there are two types of assessment: formative of feedback: “I’ve never made a mistake. I’ve only
and summative. The purpose of formative assessment learned from experience.”
is to provide teacher and student with feedback Summative assessment provides an accounting
that can direct future teaching and learning. For of student progress at a particular point in time. It
example, following some instruction on the skill is normally a measurement that describes where the
of comparing and contrasting, the teacher might student stands in regard to some sort of standard
assign students the task of writing a short essay such as curriculum outcomes. An end-of-unit test,
comparing and contrasting Napoleon’s and Hitler’s for example, is designed to let students know how
invasions of Russia. When the teacher examines the well they have accomplished the goals of the unit in
essays she finds that the majority of students tend to terms of knowledge and skill acquisition. The most
describe both invasions but do not actually develop familiar summative assessment is the report card
comparisons and contrasts. This information tells her that communicates to students and their parents the
that there are areas of the skill that need further work. degree to which students are meeting expectations
She can then develop a lesson showing students with regard to the curriculum. Of course summative
both the strengths and weaknesses of their work assessments can be used in a formative manner—a
in terms of the skill, and provide further direction report card might help students focus on particular
Assessment and Evaluation in Social Studies Classrooms 293
figure 1
Assessment, evaluation, and student improvement
Teacher makes an
inference based on the
data collected.
Teacher renders
Teacher a judgement about
collects data. what a student knows/
can do.
Feedback results in
self-assessment and
self-adjustment.
Large-scale standardized assessments do not complete the cycle at the student level or even at
the school level, though they can offer useful feedback at the district level if done well.
© John Myers, 2003.
areas where they need extra work—but that is not sequencing of events, the analysis of patterns and the
their primary intent. placement of events in context.”8 Much assessment
In order to overcome the limits and minimize in history, however (including surveys and tests that
the errors in our assessments and evaluations, the have garnered wide media attention), focuses on col-
assessment tools we use must be valid and reliable. lecting information on discrete facts such as names
Validity and reliability are terms usually associated and dates. Sam Wineburg’s research demonstrates
with standardized testing, but the underlying ideas that knowing a set of discrete facts is not the same
are important to assessment and evaluation more as understanding the concepts of the discipline at
generally. a sophisticated level or the procedures used in an
Validity simply means that the data collected is inquiry for making sense of contradictory accounts.9
truly related to the outcomes we intend to measure. He found that high-achieving senior high students
For example, social studies curricula across Canada studying the American Revolution knew more facts
call for students to develop conceptual and proce- measured in a test and could outscore some history
dural understanding related to the disciplines of professors whose specialties were elsewhere. Yet
social studies including history. The new curriculum the professors were superior in analyzing primary
for Alberta calls for students to develop “historical sources depicting the period, since they had a much
thinking” which, among other things, involves “the deeper understanding of the procedures for making
294 Challenges & Prospects for Canadian Social Studies
valid historical claims about the past. Assessment in nisms for tracking student progress and providing
struments that only collect data on discrete histori- feedback is a complex endeavour for all teachers,
cal facts, then, are not valid in assessing curriculum but social studies presents some unique challenges
outcomes related to developing historical thinking. for assessment and evaluation. Social studies in-
Reliable assessment instruments are ones that cludes many ways of thinking and knowing: from
will produce the same (or very similar) results in the narrative of history and the mathematical and
different situations. There are two components to statistical reasoning of economics, to the visual and
be concerned about in producing reliable instru- graphic components of geographic study and the
ments. First, the activity itself should produce clear, deep understanding of differing perspectives and
consistent evidence of student achievement in the beliefs underlying the study of public issues and
desired area. For example, ambiguous test questions current affairs. Even within a single social studies
that can be read and answered in many different discipline, the kinds of learnings to be assessed cover
ways are not particularly reliable because they might a wide range.10
produce very different responses from students of Many key social studies outcomes such as
similar ability in the same class. They cannot be critical thinking, social responsibility, and informed
relied upon to provide a relatively objective sense of decision-making are hard to define compared to
student achievement. Second, the evidence should outcomes from other subjects. Furthermore, some
be interpreted the same way by independent observ- of these complex goals such as the development of
ers. In the case of an essay, for example, reliability is responsible citizenship, may not be evident until after
demonstrated when qualified independent markers students have left school and engaged in tasks such
reach similar conclusions about the quality of the as informed voting, social action, and other forms
work. This kind of inter-rater reliability is achieved of civic participation.
when both the assignment and the criteria for suc- As a result of these varied and contested out-
cess are clearly understood. In standardized testing comes, the field of social studies has had great
raters are trained in evaluating student work so that difficulty reaching consensus on its key concepts
grading is consistent and fair. This is not possible in and purposes, including what constitutes sound
classroom situations but it is important that those assessment and evaluation. Because social studies
involved—teachers, students, parents, and adminis- is concerned with affairs in the real world, it has al-
trators—know the criteria for evaluation and can see ways been subject to pressures from that world (the
they are being correctly and consistently applied. political dimension noted earlier). This has certainly
It is important to remember that no single in- been true in the area of assessment. Tests or quiz-
strument, no matter how carefully constructed, can zes purporting to test student knowledge of history,
collect all the information needed for a comprehen- geography, or civics are routinely published in the
sive evaluation of student progress or be completely media, with subsequent blaming and hand-wringing
valid and reliable. The evaluation of student progress about our wayward youth.11 These challenges lead
is a very complex process and good teachers build to our next question.
a wide repertoire of approaches to both collecting
information and making sense of it.
How Do I Plan for
What Are Some Sound Assessment and
Particular Assessment and Evaluation?
Evaluation Challenges for Sound assessment begins with the learner in mind.
This “backwards design” or “design down” process
Social Studies Teachers? requires we: (1) determine what the learner needs
Designing and implementing appropriate mecha- to know and or do as a result of the learning;
Assessment and Evaluation in Social Studies Classrooms 295
(2) identify clear evidence of learning; and (3) design and assessment technique. Asking students to
instruction so that students will have opportunities use a checklist to rate their peers’ performance
to learn and demonstrate their learnings.12 Good in a debate by collecting data on several criteria
teachers will keep the following questions in mind (content, presentation, argument, etc) both
when planning for assessment. directs the students to pay specific attention to
these important criteria (teaching) and provides
1. What is to be assessed? As mentioned above,
information on how well they understand them
assessment instruments should be valid; that is,
(assessment).
they should provide information about specific,
clearly defined elements of students’ knowledge 6. How often and when will the data be collected?
or skills. In order to design appropriate meth- As stated above, teachers assess students all the
ods of assessment, teachers must be very clear time. To paraphrase Thomas Jefferson, “The price
about exactly what it is they want information of democracy is constant vigilance,” and constant
on. vigilance applies to assessment as well. Having
2. What is the purpose of the assessment? The said that, particular types of, and purposes for,
means of collecting information and reporting on assessment should guide our response to this
it will vary depending on whether the purpose of question. Giving formal written tests to students
the assessment is formative—to provide informa- every day will probably not prove effective, but
tion for the student and teacher to use to monitor research on skills teaching indicates that in the
or improve progress—or summative—to provide early stages of learning a skill, it is very impor-
end-point information for students, parents, tant to provide timely and frequent corrective
and/or administrators. feedback.
3. What assessment tools will best provide the 7. What will be done with the data making up the
information we need? Tools will vary depend- assessment? As stated above, we assess for dif-
ing on what is to be assessed and the purpose ferent purposes and, depending on the purpose,
of the assessment. For example, an essay might different things will be done with the data. If
not be the best way to assess students’ ability to the assessment is formative the data needs to
work with scale and symbols on a map, but an be provided to the students involved in an un-
exercise requiring them to plan the best route derstandable way so they can use it to monitor
between two points might work well for this and improve their progress. This is the feedback
purpose. described above. We have all had the experi-
ence of getting back a test or an assignment on
4. What form will the data take? This is obviously which we have not done well, but if we receive
related to the previous question but there may little or no feedback, we don’t know where we
be some variety within particular assessment went wrong. This is not particularly useful for
tools. A teacher might, as suggested above, ask understanding how we are doing so far and what
students to compare and contrast Napoleon’s and we might do to improve. On the other hand, if
Hitler’s invasions of Russia, allowing students to the assessment is summative, information needs
present their report in written, oral, or graphic to be provided to the relevant people about
form. In the case of students who have difficulty student achievement. In the case of large-scale
writing, the latter two forms might provide bet- international assessments, for example, the in-
ter information about their facility with the skill formation gathered is of little use to individual
being evaluated. students who have probably moved on to the
5. Who will collect the data: teachers, students, next grade or graduated before the results are
or outside judges? Involving students in self- or even available. It is valuable, however, for curric-
peer-assessment can be a very effective teaching ulum planners, administrators, and teachers in
296 Challenges & Prospects for Canadian Social Studies
thinking can be assessed, prior knowledge possessed social studies teachers can work together using the
by students can easily turn multiple choice questions above process to reach consensus on scoring.
into recall items. Language joins reliability as a scoring issue in es-
Selected response items have the advantage of says. Social studies requires a high degree of literacy.
being easy to administer and score and, if well con- Throughout Canadian classrooms, there are many
structed, are high in validity and reliability. Using students who struggle with basic literacy skills or
selective response for assessment beyond routine for whom the language of instruction is not their
knowledge or simple skills, however, is difficult. Fur- first language. Thus, in designing, administering and
thermore, it is too easy to include irrelevant data in scoring essay-type questions we should not penalize
selective response items, allowing students to guess a students unduly for difficulties in initial comprehen-
correct answer without actually knowing anything. sion of questions or writing of answers, if the goal of
the essay question is to reveal other abilities.
We are increasingly aware of the need to support
Extended- or essay-response tests students’ learning by providing supports or scaffolds.
Essays are items that require an extended or con- Scaffolding helps many learners write appropri-
structed written answer to a relatively open-ended ate responses until they are able to respond more
question for which a variety of appropriate responses independently. The elements of the writing process
are possible. Along with short-answer questions, se- in language arts classrooms, including the role of
lective and essay responses constitute the traditional collaborative small group talk, can prepare students
assessment options in social studies classes. for doing higher-quality work than when left to sink
Essay responses can come in various forms such or swim on their own.15
as writing a letter to the editor of the local newspaper How can we modify an essay question to meet
about a current issue or writing a detailed analysis the diverse needs of our students? We can nar-
of a case similar to what a judge would write. Essay row or broaden the content focus by increasing or
tests or assignments may be more valid than selected decreasing the factors or variables to consider. For
response items in that they are more likely to pro- example, an essay may challenge students to focus on
vide data on important outcomes such as the ability a narrow historical period such as the 1920s. Other
to identify an issue, organize relevant information essays might have students look at a larger period
into an argument, reveal cause-effect relationships, such as the 1920s and 1930s. Still other essays could
recognize human-environmental interactions, weigh require students to examine (usually for purposes of
evidence, and so on. The essay can range from a short comparison and contrast) the interactions among
paragraph to many pages. geographic and economic patterns in two regions
Essays do, however, raise serious design and of Canada or reduce the cognitive demands to an
scoring issues. Without clear and precise scoring analysis of these interactions in one region.
criteria, applied consistently by teachers, one person’s We can also specify the cognitive demands.
“A” can be another person’s “C.” The unreliability of Some questions can provide additional support for
teacher scoring on essay items is one reason for the learners by specifying what is required in an answer;
rise of standardized testing. This lack of reliability for example, which events need to be examined or
can be offset somewhat by the use of carefully de- what factors need to be compared. Some questions
veloped examinations at the provincial level, as is offer a context that can serve as a thesis statement
the case in British Columbia and elsewhere. Com- while other questions require students to develop
mittees of specialists, especially teachers, meet to their own thesis statements.16 Vague instructions
design questions based on curriculum outcomes, offer no support for students, as these instructions
to be assessed with clear criteria and reliable scor- fail to define criteria for success.
ing systems. Where there are no carefully designed, Some questions personalize responses through
administered, and scored provincial examinations, role play to offer a more authentic context for writing;
298 Challenges & Prospects for Canadian Social Studies
• require students to think deeply about important like when we see it. Such “intelligent behaviours” are
issues “habits of mind”: a repertoire of mindful strategies
we use when faced with problems or decisions. If
• ask students to create a meaningful product or
we are going to provide useful feedback, either of
performance
a formative or summative nature, about something
• demand students use different learning styles like thinking, we need to say more than, “John has
and intelligences shown great improvement in critical thinking.” We
need to be able to be more specific about what we
• make clear to students the standards by which
mean and that kind of specificity can be obtained by
their work will be judged
structured observation: watching for, and collecting
• foster the habit of self-assessment evidence on, particular behaviours. In the area of
thinking, for example, we might watch for: 21
• allow teachers to act as coaches
• Perseverance: Do students give up or back up
and use a different strategy if the first ones do
Authentic Assessment not work?
Authentic assessments are a particular form of per- • Decreased impulsiveness: Do students blurt out
formance assessment where students are required answers and make many corrections in their
to perform a real-life activity and an assessment is written responses or do they pause before an-
made based on that activity. Students in a grade 3 swering, make sure they understand the learning
class studying their community, for example, might task, and consider the responses of others in
be asked to do an assessment of the area around building arguments?
their school (sidewalks, parks, public places) for
wheelchair accessibility and prepare a report for a • Flexible thinking: Do students use the same ap-
relevant civic body such as a committee of city coun- proaches for different problems or do they use
cil. The activity does not necessarily have to relate and weigh the merits of alternative strategies,
to contemporary situations. Currently, some Acadian consider the approaches of others, and deal with
people are asking that the Queen apologize for the more than one classification system simultane-
expulsion of their ancestors from the Maritimes. ously?
Students might be asked to prepare a recommenda- • Metacognition: Are students unaware of how
tion for the Crown on whether or not, considering they learn or do they describe and reflect on the
the historical evidence, such an apology would be processes they used in learning?
justified.
• Careful review: Do students hand in uncorrected
Structured Observation or unedited work as soon as it is done or do they
take time to review and edit?
Many performance and authentic assessments will
include “hard” evidence of student progress such These observations would be structured not only
as written components, constructed models, and in the sense that the teacher looks for evidence for
visual representations, but often much of the evi- precise criteria like these but also in the sense that
dence of student progress will be gathered through some form of record is kept of the observations such
watching them work. For example, many social as checklists or anecdotal notes.
studies outcomes are related to that important and For all of these assessment tools other than
hard-to-define term “thinking.” However thinking limited response items a difficulty is designing con-
is defined, conventional tests reveal only so much. sistent and fair ways to make evaluations based on
One approach is to determine what thinking looks them. A common way to deal with this challenge is
300 Challenges & Prospects for Canadian Social Studies
to design rubrics that describe clear criteria for mak- built based on what students could actually dem-
ing evaluative judgements. A rubric is an achieve- onstrate.
ment scale: a set of scoring guidelines for evaluating Student work should demonstrate:
student work. Rubrics answer questions such as: By
1. Historical Argument: Could students present
what criteria should performance be judged? What
historically accurate and relevant arguments well
should we look for when we judge performance
supported with evidence?
tasks? What is quality? How can different levels of
quality be described and distinguished from one an- 2. Context: Could students display a strong sense
other? The word “rubric” comes from the Latin word of historical empathy reflecting a broad under-
for “red.” In the European Middle Ages it referred standing of historical circumstance, events, and
to the highlights of a legal decision as well as the relationships?
directions for conducting religious services, found
3. Role: Could students articulate a personal point
in the margins of liturgical books—both written
of view within a clearly identified historical
in red.
role?
When an activity requires a complex perfor-
mance to assess complex outcomes scored at more 4. Organization: Could students offer a well-orga-
than two levels, then a rubric is required. In one of nized and coherent letter in paragraph form?
our studies we asked grade 9 students from more
5. Persuasiveness: Could students use persuasive
than a dozen schools to write a personal letter at a
language appropriate for the historical audience?
specific point in historical time and place to a public
figure in Canada. They were asked to write a letter A word on weighting criteria for grading pur-
in the first person and allowed to choose their role poses: the issues around converting performance
from either gender and from a range of occupations levels to marks or grades are complex.22 Teachers
authentic to the time and place. should consider which criteria are absolutely criti-
Before determining specific criteria, it is impor- cal, without which the task cannot be accomplished.
tant for students to discuss what quality looks like. Which are very important, without which the quality
Fortunately, writing in role is a common activity in of the product is seriously flawed? Which criteria
the Canadian history course in Ontario, so students may not be critical to the product though they may
could see and critique samples. Students also had affect the quality?
access to real letters written during such periods as Does this sound subjective? Yes, but remember
World War I and the Depression. If students have that evaluation using a grade or rubric represents
a role in determining criteria they are more likely a judgement about what is valued. If we take the
to understand what is required and develop some mystery out of these judgements, students are more
sense of ownership and commitment to achieving likely to meet our standards.
the learning goal.
The teachers and student teachers scoring the
hundreds of responses first did a scan of the letters Conclusion
to sort into three general categories: “good,” “ok,” and The trends in assessment and evaluation in social
“poor.” Then they discussed why letters were placed studies, as in other parts of the curriculum, are in a
into each category. Veteran teachers’ experience state of flux. The issues are complex; easy solutions
enabled them to better articulate and defend their are impossible. Assessing student progress is one of
reasons on the basis of some shared values about the the most difficult and public things teachers do. It
nature of historic empathy and the role of evidence, takes time and hard work to develop the range of
two key concepts in historical understanding. From procedures and instruments necessary to adequately
this task and discussion the following rubric was provide feedback to both teacher and students
(formative assessment) and end-point information
Assessment and Evaluation in Social Studies Classrooms 301
for students, parents, and others in the education of a series of results based on national quizzes of Canadian
system (summative assessment). Informed, reasoned students’ knowledge of Canadian history and citizenship.
discussion by researchers, practitioners, and policy-
12
Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe, Understanding by Design
(Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum
makers is a must. If this chapter offers us a direction
Development, 1998).
for becoming more assessment literate, then it has 13
Richard J. Stiggins, Student-involved Classroom Assessment, 3rd
done its job. ed. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill Prentice Hall, 2001).
14
John Myers et al., “Doin’ the dbq: A Project in Designing
Useful Assessments” (in progress, Toronto, oise/ut; first
Endnotes phase finished in 2003). This project, carried out with the
1
Joseph M. Kirman, Elementary Social Studies (Scarborough, assistance of fifty-eight student teachers, has demonstrated,
ON: Prentice Hall, 1991), 11. among other things, both the importance and the challenge
2
Overviews of this expanded role can be seen in Kieran Egan, of designing useful multiple-choice questions.
“Testing What for What?” Educational Leadership 61, no. 3
15
The literature on the role of talk in small groups is vast. See,
(2003): 27–30; and Steve Alsop and Larry Bencze, “A Tale for example, the International Association for the Study of
of Two Scientists: Professional Scientist/Citizen Scientist,” Cooperation in Education website, www.iasce.net, and its
Orbit 31, no. 3 (2000): 21–24. links.
3
Three collections of articles illustrating recent assessment
16
See, for example, the essay questions in the Begbie Canadian
reform can be found in Orbit 30, no. 4, (2000); Canadian History Contest, http://www.begbiecontestsociety.org/, which
Social Studies 34, no. 1 (1999); and Roland Case and Penney held its first contest in British Columbia in 1994 and is now
Clark, eds., The Canadian Anthology of Social Studies: Issues a national contest.
and Strategies for Teachers (Vancouver: Pacific Education
17
R.J. Cornfield et al., Making the Grade: Evaluating Student
Press, 1997). Progress (Toronto: Prentice Hall, Canada, 1987).
4
Charles Ungerleider, Failing Our Kids: How We Are Ruining
18
The Begbie Canadian History Contest, http://www
Our Public Schools (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 2003), .begbiecontestsociety.org/.
252–253 provides an overview (already out of date) of the
19
Adapted from Walter C. Parker, Renewing the Social Studies
changing provincial testing scene in Canada. Curriculum (Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and
5
Ruth Childs, “The EQAO Tests and the OTQT: Critical Curriculum Development, 1991).
Consumers Needed” (keynote address, oise/ut Preservice
20
Bert Bower, Jim Lobdell, and Lee Swenson, History Alive!
Assessment and Evaluation conference, Toronto, February Engaging All Learners in the Diverse Classroom, 2nd ed. (Palo
11, 2004). Alto, CA: Teachers’ Curriculum Institute, 1999).
6
This section is an adaptation of two earlier publications by
21
Art L. Costa and Bena Kallick, Habits of Mind: A Developmental
John Myers and Fiorella Finelli: Canadian History: Patterns Series (Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Cur-
and Transformations, Teachers’ Resource Guide (Toronto: Irwin, riculum Development, 2000).
2003); and “Assessment and Evaluation”, in Civics Today:
22
See Ken O’Connor, “Grading—An Exercise in Professional
Teachers’ Resource Guide, ed. Jennifer Watt, et al. (Toronto: Judgment,” Orbit 30, no. 4 (2000): 40–42.
Irwin, 2000), 18–32.
7
Robert J. Marzano, Debra J. Pickering, and Jane E. Pollock,
Classroom Instruction that Works: Research-based Strategies for
Increasing Student Achievement (Alexandria, VA: Association
for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2001).
8
Alberta Learning, Social Studies Kindergarten to Grade 12
Validation Draft (Edmonton: Author, May 2003), 9.
9
Samuel S. Wineburg, “Historical Problem Solving: A Study of
the Cognitive Processes Used for the Evaluation of Documen-
tary and Pictorial Evidence,” Journal of Educational Psychology
83, no. 1 (1991): 75–87.
10
See, for example, Canadian Council for Geographic Educa-
tion, Canadian National Standards for Geography: A Standards-
based Guide to K–12 Geography (Ottawa: Royal Canadian
Geographic Society, 2001), for the range of learnings to be
assessed in just one component of social studies.
11
Daniel Gardner, Youth and History: Policy Paper and Survey
Results (Toronto: Dominion Institute, 1997) was the first