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Page 155 of Growing Success defines Success Criteria as:
Standards or specific descriptions of successful attainment of learning goals developed by teachers on the basis of criteria in the achievement chart, and discussed and agreed upon in collaboration with students, that are used to determine to what degree a learning goal has been achieved. Criteria describe what success “looks like”, and allow the teacher and student to gather information about the quality of student learning.
Success criteria are developed to provide the opportunity for:
- Students to make judgements about the quality of their work;
- Students to self-assess where they are in relation to mastering the learning goal;
- Students to identify their strengths and next steps.
When developing success criteria it is important to remember that:
- Success criteria describe in specific terms what successful attainment of the learning goals looks like (Growing Success page 33).
- Identify the criteria they will use to assess students’ learning, as well as what evidence of learning students will provide to demonstrate their knowledge and skills (Growing Success page 33).
- Success criteria will be used to develop assessment tools, such as checklists, rubrics, exit cards, and more.
- Success criteria are skill based vs task based.
- When the success criteria is established it can be used regarding that skill the rest of the year.
How are success criteria created? The creation of success criteria includes the use of professional judgment (Note: this secured link is for ETFO Members only). The following graphic organizer may be helpful to guide your reflection and organize your thoughts:
Refer back to the learning goal. | |
Refer to the overall and specific expectations in the curriculum and identify those that students will need to know and understand in order to be successful with the learning goal. | |
Using the identified specific expectations, develop questions regarding what skills are required to be demonstrated by students. | |
Collaborating with students, use clear language that is meaningful to the students and will allow them to identify, clarify and apply the criteria in their learning. |
Here is an example:
Refer back to the learning goal. | Learning Goal We are learning to use a range of strategies so we can demonstrate the understanding and construct meaning of the texts we read. |
Refer to the overall and specific expectations in the curriculum and identify those that students will need to know and understand in order to be successful with the learning goal. | Overall 1. Read and demonstrate an understanding of a variety of literary, graphic, and informational texts, using a range of strategies to construct meaning. Specific 1.4 Demonstrate understanding of increasingly complex texts by summarizing important ideas and citing a variety of details that support the main idea. Period of the Learning Goal We are learning to summarize important ideas so we can support a main idea. |
Using the identified specific expectations, develop questions regarding what skills are required to be demonstrated by students. | What are the important ideas from the text? What are the details that support these ideas from the text? |
Collaborating with students, use clear language that is meaningful to the students and will allow them to identify, clarify and apply the criteria in their learning. | Skill/success criteria Summarize I can… 🔲 Provide the most important ideas from the text. 🔲 Provide relevant and specific details. 🔲 Provide sufficient details. |
» Please click here to download the graphic organizer above.