AAC is currently working with a grant from Alberta Education to support sound assessment practices, both formative and summative, in Alberta high school mathematics classrooms.
Teacher Leaders Supporting Sound Assessment Practices
Teacher leaders learn how to support sound assessment practices in high school mathematics classrooms.
Click on the tabs below to access materials developed through the grant activities.
Performance Tasks and Student Exemplars (12 tasks – English and French)
Click on the links below to view and download resources. These also reside in the Performance Assessment collection.
Mathematics 10
Students determine the number of grain bins they must purchase to store the grain harvested on their hypothetical farm. They must solve problems that involve linear measurement, proportional reasoning, and the volume of 3-D objects.
Students analyze the progress of a hiker based on a graphical representation. They determine the equation of a line, and then they create a new story supported by their own graph.
Les élèves analysent la progression du randonneur sur le sentier selon la représentation graphique. Ils déterminent l’équation d’un segment de droite avant de créer une nouvelle histoire basée sur leur propre graphique.
Students must use reasoning to analyze the correlation between height and shoe size. They collect data, and use the data to predict the height of a thief involved in a theft.
Student exemplars available with this task.
Les élèves vont utiliser le raisonnement pour alalyser la corrélation entre la taille et la pointure des souliers. Ils collecteront les données afin de prédire la taille du suspect impliqué dans ce vol.
Good Fences Make Good Neighbours
Students will determine the cost for each neighbour for building a fence that separates their yards. The task provides opportunities for students to solve a complex, multi-step problem, using a variety of strategies of their own choice.
Mathematiques 10-3
Les bonnes clotures font les bons voisins
Les élèves établiront, pour chaque voisin, le cout de construction d’une clôture séparant leurs deux cours. Ils devront utiliser le théorème de Pythagore, convertir en unités impériales les unités de mesure et les prix unitaires donnés en unités SI et déterminer un moyen équitable de partager les couts.
Mathematics 20
A New Arena
Students create a proposal for a design for a seating plan for a new NHL arena. The proposal must include the number of seats in the new arena, the layout of those seats, and the price that should be charged for each seat.
Student exemplars available with this task.
Un Nouvel Aréna
Les élèves doivent concevoir le plan des sièges d’un nouvel aréna. Pour ce faire, ils doivent utiliser des suites et des séries arithmétiques pour déterminer le nombre de sièges de chaque rangée, ainsi que des suites géométriques pour déterminer le prix des billets des sièges de chaque rangée.
Building a Budget
Students will create a budget to project the responsible financial management of a typical teenage income. The task involves exploring opportunities available when choosing a bank account and making decisions about simple and compound interest yielding investments.
L’établissement d’un Budget
Les élèves devront établir un budget afin d’extrapoler la gestion responsable d’un revenu typique d’adolescent. D’autres aspects de cette tâche les amèneront à étudier les possibilités qui s’offrent à eux au moment de choisir un compte bancaire et de prendre des décisions concernant les placements à intérêt simple et à intérêt composé.
Which Roller Coaster is For Me?
Students will determine the slope of roller coasters and explain how their slopes relate to the speed of the roller coaster. This project will help students refine their ability to communicate and solve problems.
Student exemplars available with this task.
Quelle Montagnes Russes me Conviennent?
Les élèves doivent calculer la pente de trois montagnes russes et expliquer comment chaque pente affecte la vitesse. Ce projet aidera les élèves à améliorer leur capacité à communiquer et à résoudre des problèmes.
Mathematics 30
Facebook Users – Math 30-1
Students will examine the exponential growth of the number of Facebook users and make predictions based on that growth. The task will help students refine their ability to communicate and reason mathematically.Student exemplars available with this task.
Utilisateurs de Facebook – Mathematiques 30-1
Facebook Users – Mathematics 30-2
Utilisateurs de Facebook – Mathématiques 30-2
Car Shopping
L’achat d’un véhicule
Performance Tasks in Action (videos)
A Mathematics 10C class completes the Rocky Road performance task.
Setting Up The Class
A teacher prepares her class to complete the task by highlighting the context, criteria, and rubric.
Peer Coaching
A student uses a Rocky Road peer coaching tool to get feedback on his work from a classmate.
Grading With a Rubric
Teachers model a collaborative process to grade student responses on the Rocky Road performance task.
Formative Assessment: Exit Slips (video and resources)
Exit Slips
Student responses from exit slips assist teachers in adjusting instruction to better meet student learning needs.
Resources used in the domain and range lessons, as shown in the video, by Mathematics 10C teachers.
- Domain and Range Lesson Plan (download Word document).
- Notebook File containing the lesson plan and slides for use with students.
(Don’t have SMART Notebook software? Click here.) - The graphs and blank grids for the drawing game:
Domain and Range Drawing Game (download Word document) – Editable, but depending on user’s version of Word and its settings, the formatting may be lost.
Domain and Range Drawing Game (download PDF document) – Printable with accurate formatting, but not editable. - The domain and range matching activity:
Domain and Range Matching Activity (download Word document) – Editable, but depending on user’s version of Word and its settings, the formatting may be lost.
Domain and Range Matching Activity (download PDF document) – Printable with accurate formatting, but not editable. - Domain and Range Exit Slip (download Word document).
Formative Assessment: Peer Feedback (video and resources)
Activating Students as Instructional Resources
Effective peer feedback processes have the potential to support learning for both the student giving feedback and the student receiving the feedback.
Resources used in the lesson, as shown in the video, by Mathematics 30-1 teachers.
The two handouts should be copied in two different colours. Create pairs of students with opposite colour handouts, and have them complete the first side (review only) with this partner. Check for understanding with the whole class. Regroup students so that the pairs have same colour handouts. They will learn the new material with this new partner. When these pairs get to the last question, send them back to their original pairs to teach their partners what they learned.
- Lesson Handout for Group 1 (download Word document)
- Lesson Handout for Group 2 (download Word document)
When students have completed the learning activity, have them create their own notes. They could use the template below to guide them.
- Note Taker Template (download Word document)
Formative Assessment: Student Self-reflection (video and resources)
Activating Students as Owners of Their Learning
Effective self-reflection opportunities empower students to become owners of their learning.
Resources used in the lesson, as shown in the video, by Mathematics 20-1 teachers.
- Cards for 5 Stations (download Word document)
- Cards for 5 Stations (download PDF document)
- Exit Slips for Self Assessment (download Word document)
Formative Assessment: Whiteboards (video)
Individual Whiteboards – Feedback For Learning
Individual whiteboards are a great classroom tool to facilitate the exchange of feedback between students and their teachers.
Formative Assessment: Row Games and Speed Dating (video)
Row Games and Speed Dating
Structured activities like row games and speed dating help students learn how to give appropriate feedback to their peers.
Year One Research Findings and Project Overview (video)
Literature Review of Sustained Coaching Model of Teacher Professional Development (download PDF document)
Formative Assessment in HS Mathematics Research Report Aug 2013 (download PDF document)
Formative Assessment in High School Mathematics Classrooms
Alberta teachers and students discuss how formative assessment supports student learning in high school mathematics classrooms.
Year Two Research Findings
Literature Review of Supporting Teacher Professional Development Using a Sustained Coaching Model (download PDF document)
Teacher Leaders Supporting Sound Assessment Practices HS Mathematics Research Report Sept 2014 (download PDF document)