Coast Metro

Regional Standards for Performance Tasks in

Science, Grades K-6

DRAFT June 2009

Copyright notice
No part of this document may be reproduced in any form or by any means, including electronic
storage, reproduction, execution or transmission without the prior written consent of the Coast
Metro Consortium.

Proprietary notice
This document contains information that is proprietary and confidential to the Coast Metro
Consortium. Any reproduction, disclosure or other use of this document is expressly prohibited
except as the Coast Metro Consortium may authorize in writing.

Permission to copy and use this publication in part, or in its entirety, for non-profit educational
purposes within British Columbia and the Yukon, is granted to all staff of BC school board
trustees, including teachers and administrators.
Contents
About the Coast Metro Consortium Science Project
The Development Process
The seeds for Coast Metro Consortium Science Project initiative were sown in
2004 at a Coast Metro Consortium meeting when Delta and Richmond
volunteered to be the lead districts in developing performance standards to
support the new elementary science curriculum.

It was decided that the goals of this work would be:

• to facilitate excellence in science instruction
• to promote inquiry-based learning through collaboration
• to develop science literacy
• to support assessment for learning

The project has focused on building capacity for the thoughtful and meaningful
teaching of science in classrooms, including attention to the ways of knowing and
doing in the discipline of science, fidelity to the prescribed curriculum,
opportunities for students to do hands-on, minds-on science, the development of
performance tasks, and formative assessment. This has been a four-year journey
with seven school districts beginning with 39 teachers across grades 1 to 6 and
expanding to 53 teachers across Grade 1 to 9.

During the 2008-09 school year, grade teams from participating school districts
produced a draft document for grades 1-6 for response and feedback from
teachers across the province. At the same time, they continued to explore their
teaching practice in science and developed performance tasks. It is anticipated
that a draft document for grades 7-9 will be available for response and review in
the 2009-2010 school year.

The Coast Metro Regional Standards for Performance Tasks in Science describe
the professional judgments of participating Lower Mainland educators about
standards and expectations in science. They are intended as a resource to
support ongoing instruction and assessment. They emphasize criterion-
referenced assessment in which students’ performance is compared to explicit
criteria. The standards enable teachers, students, and parents to compare
student performance to regional standards.

The standards focus exclusively on performance assessment, where students

are asked to apply the science skills and processes they have developed to
complete hands-on tasks. Additional information on the characteristics of
performance tasks can be found in Appendix 1.
Acknowledgments
This project has been made possible through
• the vision of the Delta and Richmond School Districts
• the financial support of the Coast Metro Consortium and nine participating
school districts
• the leadership, expertise, and facilitation of Anita Chapman
• the leadership of the Start-Up Advisory Team
• the support of the Coast Metro District Leaders
• the hard work of the educators on the Grade Teams
• the ministry for sharing the revised front matter for the BC Performance
Standards

Startup Advisory Team

Wendy Lim, District Administrator
Susan Tse, Teacher Consultant
Janice Novakowski, Curriculum Coordinator
Judith Kootte, Curriculum Coordinator
Susan Martin, District Principal
Dean Eichorn, Teacher Consultant
May Wong, Teacher Consultant
Marie Brewer, District Principal
Anita Chapman, Project Facilitator
School District #38 (Richmond)
School District #38 (Richmond)
School District #38 (Richmond)
School District #38 (Richmond)
School District #37 (Delta)
School District #37 (Delta)
School District #37 (Delta)
School District #44 (North Vancouver)
Consultant

with recent additional Advisory Team members:

Judy Marshall, District Principal School District #37 (Delta)
Favian Yee, Teacher Consultant School District #37 (Delta)
Rosalind Poon, Teacher Consultant School District #38 (Richmond)

Coast Metro District Leaders

Maureen Dockendorf, Assistant Superintendent School District #43 (Coquitlam)
Steve Cardwell, Superintendent School District #37 (Delta)
Bruce Beairsto, Superintendent School District #38 (Richmond)
Kathy Champion, Director of Instruction School District #38 (Richmond)
Val Overgaard, Associate Superintendent School District #39 (Vancouver)
Alasdair MacKinnon, Director of Instruction School District #36 (Surrey)
Pat Horstead, Director of Instruction School District #36 (Surrey)
Magy Odofer, District Principal School District #48 (Sea to Sky)
Suzanne Hoffman, District Principal School District #35 (Langley)

Grade 1 Team
Janice Novakowski, Team Leader School District #38 (Richmond)
Linda Araki School District #38 (Richmond)
Michelle Hikida School District #38 (Richmond)
Lisa Schwartz School District #38 (Richmond)
Dee-Ann Wozney School District #38 (Richmond)

Grade 2 Team
Selina Millar, Team Leader School District #36 (Surrey)
Patricia Bowers School District #36 (Surrey)
Dave Ellis School District #36 (Surrey)
Dorothy Goodison School District #39 (Vancouver)
Gail Hayes School District #36 (Surrey)
Kirsten Rehnby School District #36 (Surrey)
Mary-Ellen Stewart School District #36 (Surrey)
Tammy Stubbings School District #36 (Surrey)

Grade 3 Team
May Wong, Team Leader School District #37 (Delta)
Sharron Cooke School District #38 (Richmond)
Candace Donaldson School District #36 (Surrey)
Fiona Gray School District #37 (Delta)
Jan Kroeker School District #37 (Delta)
Ellen Martin School District #37 (Delta)
Vanessa Morell School District #37 (Delta)
Leonard Pawer School District #38 (Richmond)
Doug Roch School District #37 (Delta)
Jacquie Schrier School District #37 (Delta)
Kevin Tozer School District #44 (North Vancouver)

Grade 4 Team
Jason Hewlett, Team Leader School District #43 (Coquitlam)
Andrea Mueller, Team Leader Consultant
Dario Demetlika School District #43 (Coquitlam)
Kirk Deutschmann School District #43 (Coquitlam)
Dave King School District #43 (Coquitlam)
Dawn Lessoway School District #38 (Richmond)
Terry Lindburg School District #43 (Coquitlam)
John Pringle School District #43 (Coquitlam)
Rob Seath School District #43 (Coquitlam)
Theo Towler School District #43 (Coquitlam)

Grade 5 Team
Diane Chretien, Team Leader School District #35 (Langley)
Dawn Holden, Team Leader School District #35 (Langley)
Carolyn Johnson, Team Leader School District #35 (Langley)
Dianne Chretien School District #35 (Langley)
Angela Davidson School District #35 (Langley)
Maureen Paterson School District #35 (Langley)
Kyla Regehr School District #35 (Langley)
Karen Walsh School District #35 (Langley)

Grade 6 Team
Don Gordon, Team Leader School District #43 (Coquitlam)
Eric Jones, Team Leader School District #48 (Sea to Sky)
Rob Sidley, Team Leader School District #41 (Burnaby)
Susan Tse, Team Leader School District #38 (Richmond)
Terry Borsoff School District #48 (Sea to Sky)
Heather Briske School District #36 (Surrey)
Lorrie Burnham School District #35 (Langley)
Merle Cuthbert School District #35 (Langley)
Yana Gallagher School District #43 (Coquitlam)
Marcia Garries School District #44 (North Vancouver)
Bryan Gidinski School District #41 (Burnaby)
Wendy Hibberd School District #48 (Sea to Sky)
Dave Hunt School District #48 (Sea to Sky)
Randall Hunter School District #37 (Delta)
Susan Johnston School District #44 (North Vancouver)
Ellen Leroux School District #41 (Burnaby)
Kevin Levenstein School District #38 (Richmond)
Matt Parker School District #48 (Sea to Sky)
Laurelei Primeau School District #43 (Coquitlam)
Marjorie Reimer School District #48 (Sea to Sky)
Shannon Sharp School District #44 (North Vancouver)
Janice Willcox School District #37 (Delta)
Kirby Young School District #48 (Sea to Sky)