Balanced Curriculum Evaluation

Ontario’s curriculum is designed to help all students develop the knowledge and skills they need to become informed, productive, and responsible citizens in today’s rapidly changing world. We recognize that students’ needs are diverse, and it is important to ensure that the curriculum is meaningful to them. Ontario supports students through practical, experiential learning to become discerning individuals who are equally literate in language skills, the social sciences as well as mathematics and science.

We recognize the importance of supporting students’ well-being and ability to learn. Our educators are aware of, and respond to, students’ cognitive, emotional, social, and physical development and design lessons accordingly. Students need time and information to decide on their career goals. Accordingly, the first two years of high school foster students’ aspirations and goals for their future.

Our lesson plans are based on Provincial Guidelines that provide specific expectations for each course. These are translated into learning goals and teachers also present the performance standards in the form of success criteria. Higher order thinking skills are integrated throughout the course. Achievement charts provide the teachers and the students with a balanced categories of learning that focus on the following four areas:

Knowledge and Understanding is all about how much you know about the content. This is the foundation for each course.
Inquiry and Thinking is all about how you use information. Are you thinking about the question, planning your response, and giving answers from different perspectives?
Communication is all about how you communicate your ideas, both orally and in writing. Are you concise and clear? Do you use proper grammar and writing conventions? Can you articulate reasons for your decisions?
Application is all about your ability to apply what you have learned to your own life and in other new situations. Are you able to relate to knowledge from sources outside of the course.

Assessments and evaluations are integrated throughout the course and provide students with multiple opportunities to demonstrate their learning in a variety of ways. Student learning is assessed and evaluated according to the clear standards outlined in the curriculum expectations provided in the Ministry documents. Students receive frequent descriptive feedback to assist them with their learning.