Our Client: Qatar Ministry of Education, Director of Training and Educational Development Center
We worked with the Training & Educational Development Center of the Qatar Ministry of Education to provide support to experienced K-12 Qatari teachers who are teaching online during COVID-19.
The Goal: Help Teachers Confidently Evaluate Student Work in an Online Space
Evaluations and assessments today involve using new online tools for students and teachers. Our goal was to provide an up-to-date and urgent orientation to online evaluation and assessment themes, including the general best practices of assessment, which we refer to as the Three Purposes of Assessment: Assessment For, As, and Of Learning (or, the Ontario Approach).
The Participants:
20 Qatar K-12 teachers and coordinators of English Language, Math, and Science participated in the course.
The Program:
We custom designed a flexible learning program with both synchronous and a-synchronous components that we facilitated over a four–week period. The course content was based on our OISE CPL course, K-12 Student Evaluation and Assessment, and was custom designed by the facilitator to meet the specific needs of this educator audience. Over the course of four learning sessions, we focused on the following areas of practice:
- Fundamental Principles of Assessment
- Three Purposes of Assessment
- Learning Goals, Success Criteria, and Descriptive Feedback
- Universal Design, Differentiated Instruction, and Inquiry Based Learning
Format:
The custom designed program took place over four weeks. It featured a 1-hour live online session each week (recorded so participants could view it later) and was complimented by a variety of supporting resources, discussion periods and activities, as well as a-synchronous participation via regular assignments.
The Facilitator:
Our Qatar program was facilitated by Dr. Lara Chebaro, a former principal and current Education Officer at York Region District School Board. Lara is an Arabic speaker and delivered the content to learners in Arabic.
Outcomes and Impact:
Our facilitator pivoted responsively throughout the program to meet the needs of learners, particularly related to technology and privacy issues and working with parents to help support students without affecting students’ academic integrity.
As with all custom programs, we also found opportunities to adapt the course in the future, if required, based on our learners’ level of familiarity with the subject material.
