Principals Qualification Program

Leadership Practicum Report

Mason McCormick
Lakehead University
 Table of Contents
Introduction 3

Statement of Problem 4

Relationship to the Role of the Principal 4

Setting Directions 5
Building Relationships and Developing People 5
Developing the Organization to Support Desired Practices 6
Improving The Instructional Program 6
Securing Accountability 6

Research 6

Demonstration of the Application of Theory to Practice 8

Connections to School Improvement Plan 10

Policy Manual review cycle will begin 10
Begin revision of ASA grading practices and grade reporting procedures 10
Complete PYP re-authorization 10

Identification of the Links to and Application of the Standards of Practice 11

Commitment to Students and Student Learning 11
Professional Knowledge 11
Professional Practice 11
Leadership in Learning Communities 11

Links to Improving Teaching and Learning 12

Teaching 12
Learning 12

Benefits to Staff, Students and Parents 14

Staff 14
Students 15
Parents/Community 15

Benefits to Personal Learning 15

Results/Recommendations 16
Results 16
Recommendations 17

Evidence of Effective Leadership 18

References 19

Appendices 20
Appendix A - Old Assessment Policy 20
Appendix B - Log of Hours 21
Appendix C - New Assessment Policy 25

Introduction
Assessment is a fundamental component of instruction, as it determines whether the
goals of teaching are being met. Assessment affects choices about grading, placement,
progression, program development, instructional needs, and curriculum. Students in the
21st century require more than basic skills and knowledge. It is essential that they
acquire skills that enable them to think critically, collaborate with others, analyze, and
make inferences. The changes from skill and knowledge-based learning to new learning
goals require a change in the relationship among assessment and instruction.

Changes in the skills, knowledge and understanding that students need today requires
changes to the relationship between assessment and instruction. Teachers need to
analyze the ways that they make decisions about assessment, the content being
assessed, and the tools they use to assess student work.

The Curriculum Development Council (2002) suggests that fundamental changes in

school assessment practices to bring a better balance across assessment for learning
and assessment of learning need to be planned, discussed, shared, negotiated and
agreed by all teachers in each school (5.2). The goal of this practicum is to work
collaboratively with administration, teachers, parents and students to further develop
assessment strategies in order to achieve improved student outcomes by creating and
implementing a schoolwide assessment policy.

This practicum is aligned with the schools strategic plan and is supported through our
connections with the International Baccalaureate Organization. The practicum goals are
reflected in the Ontario College of Teachers Standards of Practice and are also
connected to the School Effectiveness Framework. The policy focuses on elements
from Ontarios Growing Success (2010) and Learning for All (2013) documents to guide
its creation and implementation.
 Statement of Problem
Currently the ASA has a half page assessment policy (Appendix 1) briefly noting only:
curriculum standards, assessment, instructional practice and external testing.
Educational stakeholders through the community have voiced the need for greater
consistency in assessment, evaluation and reporting practices amongst the school. The
ASA is also an International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) Diploma Program (DP)
candidate school, and up for review for our Primary Years Program (PYP) in March. The
IBO requires that their schools have a comprehensive assessment policy. As a result of
this need, initiatives to achieve improvement in the area of assessment is necessary
and encouraged by administration.

This practicum is also justified by the need to provide focused, ongoing professional
learning to staff on conceptions of instructional practice with assessment of student
learning at the forefront. Teachers at the ASA need to see assessment interconnected
with the need to establish classroom routines and practices that represent
personalized, ongoing data-driven, focused instruction (Learning for All, 2013, p.8).

As a whole, by collaboratively developing a comprehensive assessment policy for

educators across the school, our rationale is to produce high levels of student
achievement by raising the bar and closing the gap in achievement for all students. The
assessment policy will focus on ways that staff can plan and provide the type of
assessment that enables all students to learn best.

Relationship to the Role of the Principal

School leaders are pivotal to the development of excellent teaching, excellent schools
and ultimately, enhanced student achievement and well-being (The Institute for
Education Leadership, 2013, p. 3). As principals are responsible for the implementation
of board policies and goals at the school level, this practicum relates to the relationship
of the role of the principal by providing instructional leadership to staff, and by
monitoring and supporting curriculum instruction and assessment, through the creation
of policy (Ontario School District, 2017, p. 1).

In order to do so, I have taken on the role of the principal to develop committees, and
oversee professional development plans that address the needs of student assessment
that align with the five domains of the Ontario Leadership Framework (2013).
Growing Success (2010) states that it is essential that schools have procedures in
place to ensure that parents are aware of the expectations for their child in the various
grades. Principals play a key role in developing these procedures, which should be
designed to create the conditions for student success by ensuring that parents have the
information they need to interpret their childs report card and to work with teachers to
improve their childs learning. (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2010, p. 14). This quote
made me firmly believe that this practicum relates to the role of the principal, as it
invited parents to help develop the policy and come up with mutually agreed upon and
understood terms and understandings. It is my hope that this will help parents and
teachers work together to help students improve and better understand assessment and
its purpose.

The Ontario Leadership Framework (2013) suggests that as instructional leaders,

principals ...embed direct involvement in instruction in their daily work through teamwork
with all staff focused on improved school and classroom practices. ...School and system
leaders carry out these specific aspects of their role using a growth-oriented and
collaborative approach across all the domains of the framework. (The Institute for
Education Leadership, 2013, p. 7). Through creating administration, parent, teacher,
and student committees to assess and review our current assessment policy, I am
confident that this practicum relates to the role of the principal as outlined in the
following connections to the five domains of the OLF (2013).

Setting Directions
I began by setting direction for the creation of this policy, by building a shared vision of
what assessment means to staff, students, parents, building on understandings of the
specific implications of the schools vision for its programs and the nature of classroom
instruction. As a committee, I encouraged the development of organizational norms
(using our ASA meeting agreements) that support openness, building consensus
among the stakeholders.

Building Relationships and Developing People

I worked on building relationships and developing people by leading discussions about
the relative merits of changing our assessment practices and policy; challenging them to
re-examine the extent to which their practices support the learning of all their students. I
encouraged staff to reflect on what they are trying to achieve with students through
assessment and how they are doing it, considering all members opinions (The Institute
for Education Leadership, 2013).
What was great about this project, is it brought staff and parents together to listen to
one anothers ideas and consider the value of assessment (The Institute for Education
Leadership, 2013). It was great to be able to build relationships between these two
parties, and also work on developing parents as educators.

Developing the Organization to Support Desired Practices

I used the practice of collaborative development of our assessment policy to support
desired practices. By fostering open and fluent communication toward building and
sustaining learning communities, I was able to involve staff in the design and
implementation of the policy, supporting teachers and working together on instructional
improvement. This was successful in the way that I engaged teachers to be active
change agents in making decisions that affect their instructional work (The Institute for
Education Leadership, 2013). I also think that everyone developed through the use of
cooperative learning communities. People for Education (2011) state that Schools
work best when principals can focus on building cooperative learning communities
among the staff, fostering strong links between school and community, and ensuring the
school provides equitable opportunities for all students ( p. 1).

Improving The Instructional Program

While reflecting on current practices was great during the writing of the policy, I believe
that I was best able to improve the instructional program through the PD sessions. This
provided teachers with an opportunity to observe effective assessment practices that
are already happening in our school. I also feel like there was more buy-in by my active
participation in the improvement of this policy. By being an active member of the
committees, I was able to aid staff in understanding the importance of student
assessment for, of and as learning (The Institute for Education Leadership, 2013).

Securing Accountability
This whole policy is about securing accountability in assessment practices from K-12.
The policy clearly defined accountability for individual staff, students, and parents that
are mutually understood and agreed upon. By following up on staff assessment
techniques and procedures next year, they can be reviewed and evaluated against the
policy (The Institute for Education Leadership, 2013).

Research
As a team, we looked up the best research in relation to assessment and found that the
following sources best fit the needs of our school and our policy:
Chappuis, Jan, Rick Stiggins, Steve Chappuis, and Judith Arter. Classroom
Assessment for Student Learning: Doing it Right, Using it Well. Pearson Education,
2014.

Dueck, Myron. Grading Smarter not Harder. Assessment Strategies that Motivate Kids
and Help them Learn. Alexandria: Association for Supervision and Curriculum
Development, 2014.

Guskey, Thomas R., and Lee Ann. Jung. Answers to Essential Questions About
Standards, Assessments, Grading and Reporting. Corwin, 2013.

Hattie, John. Visible Learning: A Synthesis of over 800 Meta-analyses Relating to

Achievement. London: Routledge, 2009.

Marzano, Robert J. Transforming Classroom Grading. Alexandria: Association for

Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2000.

Reeves, Douglas. Elements of Grading: A Guide to Effective Practice. Solution Tree,

2010.

Wiggins, Grant, and McTighe, Jay. Schooling by Design: Mission, Action and
Achievement. Alexandria: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development,
2007.

Committee members each chose some of the books to read, and clipped out important
features of best practices from each of them. We inserted notable material into our
collaborative document where it fit, and used this research to inform ourselves,
students, and parents of research-based assessment practices. We used these to
redefine some of the terms we had in our glossary of terms. This was important,
because as many of us use some of the same words, it was essential that we all had a
shared understanding of what they mean to us at the ASA and within this policy.

The research was also essential to staff PD and buy-in with this policy. Staff, students
and parents could then realize that this was not material that we mandated because of
our opinions, but rather that it was backed by research in order to push forward student
success. We were also able to answer and explain when why? questions arose during
PD and committee meetings.
 Demonstration of the Application of Theory to Practice
Growing Success (2010) states that Principals champion the importance of
assessment for learning by ensuring a consistent and continuous school-wide focus on
student learning and by using classroom, school, and system data to monitor progress
(p. 14). As a result of this, the school has purchased a management system
ManageBac, to monitor the progress of assessments.

Here is how we applied each of the educational theories that we read about into
practice.

Chappuis, Jan, Rick Stiggins, Steve Chappuis, and Judith Arter. Classroom
Assessment for Student Learning: Doing it Right, Using it Well. Pearson Education,
2014.

We used the 5 keys presented in this book to structure our assessment policy from start
to finish. The 5 keys helped us establish our purpose for assessment, set learning
targets, design assessments that relate to standards, communicate assessment results
effectively, and involve students in the assessment process.

Dueck, Myron. Grading Smarter not Harder. Assessment Strategies that Motivate Kids
and Help them Learn. Alexandria: Association for Supervision and Curriculum
Development, 2014.

We used Duecks (2014) research to examine the fairness and effectiveness of our
grading and assigning of homework assignments. We also looked at the theories he
puts in practice to ensure that grades measure what students know, without punishing
them for factors outside of their control. His theories on systems where students can
improve their grades were also used in our policy in the evaluation of data stating that
Teachers will consider the most consistent data with emphasis on the more recent and
rejecting outliers (ASA Assessment Policy).

Guskey, Thomas R., and Lee Ann. Jung. Answers to Essential Questions About
Standards, Assessments, Grading and Reporting. Corwin, 2013.

We used this book to look at implementing standards-based grading, and informing

parents on what standards-based grading is. We also looked at their theories on how
standards-based grading improves student learning. Some of their material was used in
our section on modifying assignments and grades. Our policy states Learning Support
students who have identified needs that mean that they cannot meet ASAs regular
learning standards, may receive modified coursework, assignments and grades that
reflect their individualised learning goals. These will be reported appropriately to parents
through written reports and parent conferences. (ASA Assessment Policy). With that
said, we didnt go into too much detail as each student's modifications are unique to
them. With that in mind, we also looked at Learning for All (2013) as they mention that
the planning of assessment and instruction for students who need additional support is
an integrated and often collaborative process. It begins with the teacher in the
classroom, and it is supported as needed by the in-school team(s) (p. 44).

Hattie, John. Visible Learning: A Synthesis of over 800 Meta-analyses Relating to

Achievement. London: Routledge, 2009.

We used Hatties (2009) research when looking at how homework relates to

achievement, as well as his principles about collaborative learning. Our biggest
take-away from Hattie (2009) was on feedback in relation to assessment and
student-teacher relationships; noting that feedback should be timely, regular, positive
and constructive. Essentially, we used Hatties core influences for better learning
outcomes and becoming a more successful school.

Marzano, Robert J. Transforming Classroom Grading. Alexandria: Association for

Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2000.

We used Marzanos (2000) theories to begin discussions on the importance of changing

grading policies at the ASA. We also used it in our introduction when stating what
grades are for, what should be included in grades, and what types of classroom
assessments should be used at the ASA.

Reeves, Douglas. Elements of Grading: A Guide to Effective Practice. Solution Tree,

2010

We wove Reeves (2010) four criteria for effective grading (accuracy, fairness, specificity
and timeliness) throughout our policy, using his proposed strategies for beginning
conversations about grading reform in schools. This also helped us develop our
discussions during PD sessions.
Wiggins, Grant, and McTighe, Jay. Schooling by Design: Mission, Action and
Achievement. Alexandria: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development,
2007.

Wiggins & McTighes (2007) research was used in making this policy our own. They
discuss the importance of creating a curriculum and assessment framework that
honours the mission of the school. They list a set of principles of learning the support
decisions about policies such as our assessment policy and discuss the use of
developing resources consistent with the mission of the school and learning principles.
They advocate for an overall strategy that includes ongoing feedback and backward
design to accomplish assessment reform, both of which we have included in our policy.

Connections to School Improvement Plan

This practicum connected to the school improvement plan in the three ways outlined
below.

Policy Manual review cycle will begin

This was one of the driving forces behind the update of our assessment policy. The
school has also updated its language policy this year. This practicum connects to school
improvement by taking a look at our old assessment policy and updating it with research
based best practices, and a collaborative approach to policy creation in order to create
an assessment policy that is understood and co-created by all stakeholders.

Begin revision of ASA grading practices and grade reporting procedures

With the new assessment policy, grading and reporting practices and procedures fell
under the umbrella of assessment. There are significant changes in the assessment
policy to grading practices and reporting procedures. They are outlined in the reporting
practices and grading for learning sections of the policy. As mentioned above, grading
and reporting practices and procedures have now been revised in order to follow best
practices and be understood by the ASA Community.

Complete PYP re-authorization

Our school is up for PYP re-authorization in March. Under section 5b of IB Guide to

School Authorization: Primary Years Program, it states that The school has developed
and implements an assessment policy that is consistent with IB expectations
(International Baccalaureate Organization, 2016, p. 11). Using our research and IBO
assessment guides as a guide, we are confident that we have produced an assessment
policy worthy of IB re-authorization. The IB also states in the assessment section that:
 The school communicates its assessment philosophy, policy and procedures to
the school community.The school uses a range of strategies and tools to
assess student learning.
The school provides students with feedback to inform and improve their
learning. (International Baccalaureate Organization, 2016, p. 17).

The assessment policy is an essential component/requirement for the authorization. It

will be reviewed by the International Baccalaureate Organization and we will be
provided feedback on any necessary changes that need to be made.

Identification of the Links to and Application of the Standards of Practice

Commitment to Students and Student Learning

This policy is about using assessment to push learning forward. Committee members
were dedicated to the commitment to students. Students on the student committee were
treated equitably and with respect. The policy also outlines factors that influence
individual student learning. Members on all committees facilitated the development of
students as contributing citizens of the community (Ontario College of Teachers, 2017).

Professional Knowledge

The creation of this policy and the professional development that came with its
implementation helps educators remain current in their professional knowledge about
assessment and its relationship to practice. Staff now understand and are able to reflect
on educational research related to the policy in order to inform professional practice
(Ontario College of Teachers, 2017).

Professional Practice

With support from PD and the assessment policy, staff are now able to apply
professional knowledge to promote student learning. They have been informed on how
to use appropriate pedagogy, assessment and evaluation in planning for the needs of
students and learning. Contributing staff members were able to refine their professional
practice through inquiry, dialogue and reflection (Ontario College of Teachers, 2017).

Leadership in Learning Communities

The committees took a shared leadership approach to developing the assessment

policy. Members participated collaboratively in the creation of the policy in safe and
supportive learning communities. Staff recognized their shared responsibilities in
leadership roles in order to facilitate a policy that will lead to student success.

Ongoing Professional Learning

The PD that was administered provided ongoing professional learning for staff. The staff
who worked on the committee in our book club researching best practices also
benefited from professional learning. It is our hope that self-directed learning informed
by this experience, drives teacher research, collaboration and knowledge.

Links to Improving Teaching and Learning

Successful leadership practices directly and indirectly influence the quality of teaching
and learning. Direct links to improving teaching and student learning are outlined below,
however it is our intention that many indirect links come out of this process, driving
individualized learning for teachers, parents and students.

Teaching
The overall goal of this practicum is to improve teaching and learning through
assessment. This was done by creating sufficient understanding of the complexity of
changing assessment practices and the intricacy of assessment in professional practice
through staff PD using professional development models.

Positive outcomes for students are related to teachers developing their understanding of
the use of assessment. This is why the professional development focused on the skills
of interpreting and using assessment data. We also spotlighted a variety of
assessments for students thinking and understanding and how to interpret results from
standardized tests (MAP). In looking at all of this, we concentrated on the
teaching-learning relationship for the purpose of improving teaching. Assessments
provide valuable information to improve teaching.

We hope that assessment can be used as a tool to improve teaching by encouraging

teachers to engage in individual professional learning where they use assessment as a
tool for reflecting on the effectiveness of teaching, and revising lessons.

This practicum also drove teacher improvement by working collaboratively as a

professional community. Teacher were able to discuss, negotiate and come up with a
common understanding of best practices in assessment. Teachers worked together to
improve practice and, as such, improve student achievement.

Learning
The assessment policy is a document with an aim of maintaining high standards,
improving student learning, and benefiting students, parents...The document is intended
to ensure that policy is clear, consistent, and well aligned... and that every student in the
system benefits from the same high-quality process for assessing, evaluating, and
reporting achievement (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2010, p. 2). The purpose of
policies like this one is to use assessment to improve student learning, through
improving the instructional program, defining assessment purposes, and evaluating
data.

Growing Success (2010) states that the primary purpose of assessment is to improve
student learning. Assessment for the purpose of improving student learning is seen as
both assessment for learning and assessment as learning. As part of assessment for
learning, teachers provide students with descriptive feedback and coaching for
improvement. Teachers engage in assessment as learning by helping all students
develop their capacity to be independent, autonomous learners who are able to set
individual goals, monitor their own progress, determine next steps, and reflect on their
thinking and learning (p. 28). This led us to look at the purpose of assessment for
student learning in our policy. We came up with the following:

The primary purpose of assessment is to improve student learning by:

giving students the opportunity to demonstrate their learning, experience
success and increase self-reliance by understanding their own progress,
setting realistic goals and planning the next stages of their learning.
enabling teachers to: determine degrees of prior knowledge before
starting new learning; ascertain degrees of understanding at various
stages of the learning process; identify and support learning differences
and learning styles and monitor and modify teaching strategies and
content.
providing parents with the opportunity to be partners in the learning
process and information for them to assist their child in planning for the
future, both immediate and long term.
providing teachers and administrators with the data necessary for effective
curriculum evaluation and revision.
providing other learning institutions with the data necessary for admissions
and grade/year placement.
decisions and accurate information on what the child knows and is able to
do, including strengths and areas needing support.

(ASA Assessment Policy)

The entire document is for the purpose of improving learning by developing students to
become independent learners in a culture where educators and students work together
and each playing an active role in setting learning goals, developing success criteria,
giving and receiving feedback, monitoring progress, and adjusting learning strategies
(Ontario Ministry of Education, 2010, p. 30).

One of our main goals at the ASA is to focus on feedback to improve student learning.
Growing Success (2010) states that feedback is to encourage students to produce their
best work by improving upon their previous work and, at the same time, to teach them
the language and skills of assessment, so they are able to assess their own learning
and that of their peers (p. 34).

Benefits to Staff, Students and Parents

Staff
The development of this assessment policy benefited staff by providing them with the
information needed to make instructional decisions, plans and changes regarding
classroom objectives and implementation. Staff were invited to serve on the
assessment policy committee to further develop their understanding through research
and collaboration. These teachers benefit by being part of a distributed leadership team
where they are given a voice to discuss and collaboratively learn about best practices in
assessment. Shared leadership builds teacher relationships and is a foundation for the
way that teachers work to improve instruction. Professional communities are important
to improve instruction because of the act of collaboratively accumulating evidence
related to improved instruction. All staff were later given a voice through the
collaborative creation of our Google Doc for review.

After researching and developing our school-wide assessment policy, it was necessary
to have whole-school professional development training for the effective use of
assessment to support learning. All teachers benefitted from learning how to do this
effectively and by learning new strategies.

Teachers also benefited by coming up with common agreed upon terms. Growing
Success (2010) argues that teachers will benefit from leadership by the principal to
ensure that there is a common understanding among all staff about the process for
determining the final grade. The principal will work with teachers to ensure common and
equitable grading practices (p. 39). This also benefits teachers by creating consistency
from grade to grade so that parents dont get upset by drastic changes in teacher
reporting.

Students
This project benefits students by allowing them the same high-quality process of
assessing, evaluating, and reporting on their achievement for their entire schooling
process at the ASA. Assessment is student centered, with increased consistency
between classes. The creation of this policy also benefits students as assessment
affects choices about program development and instructional needs.

Students who joined our assessment committee also received the benefit of being able
to have a voice and decision making capabilities about their own assessment. They
learned about shared leadership and made efforts to improve their own achievement by
having a significant decisional influence.

Parents/Community
Developing and implementing a whole-school policy for assessment benefits the school
community by ensuring that systems for assessing learning have an impact on the
quality of teaching and learning across the school, and are understood by teachers,
learners and parents. When everyone is on the same page, we are better able to
understand and assist student learning. This practicum will also benefit the community
because it will help us meet the needs of the IBO, and prepare the secondary school for
the implementation of the IB Diploma Program.

This practicum also benefits parents by outlining their responsibility as parents at home
in regards to homework. It provides them with knowledge about late assessments,
absences and how their child is assessed. It defines agreed upon language, and
purposes for assessment at the ASA.

Parents also benefited by being given a voice to join committees and have their say on
practices that are used at the ASA. They were all very happy that there would be a
common policy used across the school so that things did not differ from year to year and
teacher to teacher.

Benefits to Personal Learning

I benefited from this experience by being able to develop my leadership practices as a
relationship builder and supporter of the growth of my staff members. I learned about
my communication skills through presenting the policy to staff, and working on a team to
develop the policy. I also benefitted from the research that went into the policy, gaining
a better understanding of best practices. I also believe that I grew as a learner in my
understanding of how to run professional learning communities, placing myself as a
lead learner. I now have extensive knowledge of the process of what goes into
developing and reviewing schoolwide policies.

Results/Recommendations

Results
Our evaluation of the old assessment policy and data collected from teacher, parent and
student committees led us to a full revamp of our assessment policy. The policy
addresses learning principles, principles of assessment, the purpose of assessment,
recording practices, evaluation practices, grading practices and homework practices.
The assessment policy takes a holistic approach to both formative and summative
assessments that are ongoing and include a range of assessment strategies.

The commitment to assessment is now evident within our policy and on the school
website. Documents on homework, late assignments and absences are also provided to
the community. There was some disagreement between the way that standardized tests
were viewed and used to inform learning. While they remain a tool for driving
instruction, there was less value placed on them and their data in our policy than we
had originally intended, as many teachers did not see their value. With that in mind,
standardized testing (MAP) was still mandated, however other tools were presented and
viewed by the staff as useful for gathering and assessing data to promote student
progress.

Value was placed on the importance of educating the whole school community on the
inherent value of assessment. The collaborative approach to creating the assessment
policy was well received by the community, and will be used as a model for discussions
with parents and the community about assessment and other policies in the future.

Through the creation and dissemination of this assessment policy, students became
better able to articulate how assessment tools were used to gain insight into their
understanding and to compare learning across progression points. This process also
held teachers to be reflective of their assessment practices and understand the purpose
of the assessment tasks they design.
Through the professional development provided, teachers learned how to use a wide
range of assessment techniques to enhance their current levels of knowledge. They
reported that this PD was effective for planning learning activities where clear goals
were set and assessed for learning. Teachers recognized the critical role of feedback to
support student learning. They learned more about providing timely, constructive
feedback over personal praise. They also learned about how feedback can inform
students on how to move toward evaluating their own work, and how this helps students
become better able to self-assess.

Our policy was board and IBO approved, and is now a tool that is used to keep learning
consistent across the school. It is a tool that teachers, students, and parents can use
when they have questions about assessment, or how assignments are assessed. It also
works as a quality control tool to make sure that everyone is assessing properly,
consistently and based on best practices.

Recommendations
Our policy shows a comprehensive structure for assessment and learning practices
within the ASA. With that in mind, there is always room for improvement and to deepen
engagement with assessment. As this is a new policy that has yet to be delivered and
used, we recognize that there may be challenges that lead to poor implementation.

The school leadership is working on finding ways to monitor how staff are assessing
and what tools they are using. We have advocated for the purchase of Managebac, a
software for planning, assessing and reporting, and hope that this is one step that can
be taken towards monitoring if all staff are assessing effectively within the policy
framework.

We also understand that everything about assessment can not be understood within
one professional development session. Collaborative teams need to continue to
research and implement effective assessment strategies that they can use within the
framework, and be provided with ongoing PD on best practices in assessment that
evaluate the affordances of different assessment tools.

With this assessment policy in place, it needs to be a tool that is now used actively
when teachers and administrators are making curriculum decisions. This tool must be
referenced and looked back at when making pedagogical decisions about the school,
rather than be filed away for accreditation purposes.
Lastly, while there is some mention of social, emotional and cognitive skills being
assessed through the approaches to learning, more research needs to be done in this
area in order to develop a framework to assess these skills. I recommend researching
into the assessment of the learner profile attributes in order to make this policy more
holistic.

Evidence of Effective Leadership

Leadership is about school improvement, establishing agreed upon directions for
schools, and supporting people to move in those directions. This policy creation took on
a shared leadership model with myself as the lead learner. Together we established
principles and notable areas about assessment that affected our school and our
learners. My leadership focus was on improving student achievement through effective
assessment.

As the lead learner on the policy committees, I took on the role of the principal to
provide direction and exercise influence by being a servant leader, and modelling the
practices that I want to be seen in classrooms. I showed effective leadership by sharing
leadership responsibilities through committee work. I also developed trust and
relationships among teachers, students and parents, by providing a safe and open
space to discuss assessment. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, I showed evidence
of effective leadership by supporting instructional improvement by presenting the policy
and providing staff with PD and support in moving from theory to practice.

I intend to continue demonstrating how I am an effective leader by providing detailed

feedback to teachers with constructive suggestions for change. With that said, I want to
first provide them with time to adjust and develop the necessary skills to create effective
assessments.

Learning for All (2013) states that effective leaders facilitate forward planning, align
resources, and engage educators as learners in collaborative professional learning that
builds an integrated process of assessment and instruction in their schools ( p. 58).
This to me is exactly what I have done to be an effective leader throughout the
practicum, engaging parents and the community in the process.
References
Chappuis, Jan, Rick Stiggins, Steve Chappuis, and Judith Arter. Classroom
Assessment for Student Learning: Doing it Right, Using it Well. Pearson Education,
2014.

Dueck, Myron. Grading Smarter not Harder. Assessment Strategies that Motivate Kids
and Help them Learn. Alexandria: Association for Supervision

Guskey, Thomas R., and Lee Ann. Jung. Answers to Essential Questions About
Standards, Assessments, Grading and Reporting. Corwin, 2013.

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Appendices

Appendix A - Old Assessment Policy

INSTRUCTION AND ASSESSMENT 2.6

2.6.1 Curriculum Standards

Teachers will follow and maintain the relevant curriculum guides, which result from the
regular curriculum review process.

2.6.2 Assessment
Student assessment is an ongoing process that is vitally important to:
1. provide students with feedback about their learning,
2. inform teacher assessment of the students progress,
3. shape planning for future units of work and,
4. inform and engage parents in their childrens education.
The overall goal of assessment is to provide a supportive and positive mechanism that
helps students to improve their learning, teachers to improve their teaching and
contributes to the efficiency of the program. The ASA requires multiple and ongoing
standards based student assessments. The ASA requires evidence of student learning
over time. The students and parents of ASA are provided with feedback to inform and
improve their learning. The ASA requires quarterly measurements and reporting of
student progress.

2.6.3 Instructional Practice

ASA teachers shall differentiate instructional methods and assessment practices to best
suit each student and in order to maximize student learning. Instructional and
assessment practices of ASA teachers shall reflect current
best practice.

2.6.4 External Testing

ASA will use one or more international testing protocols each year to gather
comparative data on ASA student
learning. The testing protocols will provide norming data that is relevant to ASAs
population.

Appendix B - Log of Hours

PROPOSED OBSERVATION SITE/DAYS

School: American School of Antananarivo

School Address: American School of Antananarivo, Ivandry, Antananarivo, Madagascar

School Phone Number: +261 20 22 420 39

Associate Principal: Shawn Hocking Email: shawn.hocking@ocdsb.ca

LEADERSHIP ACTIVITIES DATE AND DURATION

PRACTICUM OBJECTIVE
Date Hours

Implementing the Meeting with Principal. 11/8/16 1

practicum Discussing how to begin to
implement the practicum
proposal
Recruiting an assessment Emailing all staff looking for 11/8/16 1
policy committee members to represent 11/18/16
elementary school through
high school as well as
administration on a committee
to create an assessment
policy. Discussing with people
interested what the
commitment requires

Research and preparation for 11/27/16 3

first assessment committee
meeting
Creating a schoolwide -reviewed:
comprehensive Mastery of Assessment for
assessment policy and Of Common Core
Understanding
Assessment of Student
Development and
Learning in IB PYP
Schools
Assessment section of
Making the PYP Happen

Creating a schoolwide Reviewing other IB 11/29/16 2

comprehensive international schools
assessment policy assessment policies
International School of
Manila
Copenhagen International
School

Creating a schoolwide Met with committee to outline 12/1/16 2

assessment policy required assessment practices
grading for learning and
homework

Working collaboratively Collaborative work on google 12/3/16 2

with teachers and Doc with Assessment
administration to develop a committee laying out the
schoolwide assessment structure of the document.
policy
 Imputing draft Collaborative work on google 12/6/16 3
info/ideas/content from Doc with Assessment
other schools policies/our committee adding discussion
own ideas into the points, revisions, and
structure of the document questions for upcoming
meeting

Refining first draft of Met physically with 12/8/16 3

assessment policy assessment policy committee
to go through the entire
document, making revisions,
discussing questions, and
coming to common
understandings
Meeting minutes

Making revisions adding Work on google doc 1/4/27 2

homework and late suggesting and modifying
assignment section ideas

Literature review Each member of the 1/8/17 5

committee was assigned 1/13/17
some assessment literature to
review. I read and reviewed
Myron Duecks Grading
Smarter Not Harder;
Assessment strategies that
help motivate kids and help
them learn.

Discussing We met as a group with our 1/18/17 2

Literature/Incorporating it
into our Assessment Policy
take-aways from the readings
and discussed/inserted
relevant information from
readings into the assessment
policy. This completed our
policy before seeking
feedback from teachers.

Principal Approval The document was sent out to 1/23/17 1

the principal the day before.
He made comments on the
document. We got together to
 discuss them and make
amendments.

Collaborating with teachers The google doc was sent out 1/24/17-1/29/2 3
to all staff. Staff were not able 017
to edit, but were able to
comment. There was a
number of questions and
suggestions that needed to be
responded to throughout the
week.

Collaborating with students Group of interested high 2/1/17 1

school students met with the
committee to discuss the
policy, asking questions and
noting possible
changes/clarifications

Collaborating with students Group of interested middle 2/2/17 1

school students met with the
committee to discuss the
policy, asking questions and
noting possible
changes/clarifications

Committee Work The committee met to discuss 2/7/17 1

feedback from students and
teachers and amend the
policy accordingly.

Collaborating with parents Once the policy looked solid, 2/13/17 1

we sat down with 6 parent
volunteers and reviewed the
policy. This helped us realize
that we need a glossary of
terms for parents who are not
familiar with edulingo

Committee Work Finalizing policy after parent 2/16/17 1

feedback. Putting it on school
letterhead, and sending it off
for board approval
 Getting Board Approval Presenting policy to the board 3/9/17 1
of directors

Providing Professional Explaining the importance of 3/15/17 3

Development assessment for, of, and as
learning. Having turn and 1.5 hours for
learn talks defining these MS/HS

Mentor teachers share 1.5 hours for

examples of what these types ES
of assessments like in their
class and how they document
and record it effectively.

New report indicators

discussed

Homework, absence and late

assignment policies and
paperwork presented and
discussed

Parent info afternoon Elementary parent info 3/21/17 1

session. Presenting the policy
and answering questions

Parent info afternoon High school parent info 3/22/17 1

session

Appendix C - New Assessment Policy

The new policy created for this practicum can be found in its entirety here