Proficiency

What does it mean to be proficient in the Math Classroom?

Emerging	Developing	Proficient	Extending
The student shows a beginning understanding of being able to know or do something in relation to the learning standards but can only demonstrate learning sometimes or inconsistently.	The student is showing increasing understanding or skills in a particular area of learning but needs to demonstrate more growth or consistency to meet the learning standards.	The student demonstrates their learning consistently and with efficiency. Proficiency is the goal for every student but not every student will demonstrate proficiency in all areas of learning at the same time.	The student is able to use their knowledge and skills to extend their understanding of the world around them in ways that connect their learning to personal areas of interest or in unexpected ways.
Emerging and Developing do not mean that a student is unsuccessful in learning, but it denotes that they are not yet able to demonstrate the learning outcomes independently most of the time.		Proficient and Extending do not mean that a student never makes mistakes or that learning is complete. It denotes that a student’s skill and knowledge have reached or exceeded the curriculum goal post for a particular learning outcome.
A student may require or benefit from supports or adaptations in any of these descriptors of learning, including but not limited to extra time and an alternate space.

A learner that has demonstrated that they are proficient at the grade-appropriate learning standards is confident in accessing their knowledge and skills to problem-solve using numbers in a variety of ways. It is important to note that the BC curriculum makes a distinction between those outcomes that are active (doing) and those that are static and specific to that particular grade of learning (knowing) - what students are expected to do (curricular competencies) and what they know (content learning standards). Students are often able to demonstrate proficiency in the “doing” category without being proficient at the “knowing” category and vice versa. In addition, students can often do more than they can say, and they can say more than they can express in a written way formally. It is also important to note that the mathematics curriculum only covers a narrow slice of what it means to be “doing math”.

Demonstrating learning can happen in a variety of ways, at different times and will likely look different from learner to learner because there is space for differentiation. Regular assessment and re-assessment is needed to highlight the progress that a student is making towards showing proficiency so there is a roadmap of what the student is able to do and what they are working on getting better at. As learning is never complete, it is also important to note that a student could be proficient at adding multi-digit whole numbers but when starting to add decimal numbers may find that they have an emerging understanding of the concepts. This is a typical cyclical process in learning and is expected as the student progresses and their understanding deepens.

A student that has demonstrated proficiency has acquired and practiced their confidence in their identity as a mathematician, can collaborate and communicate with others using appropriate vocabulary and has access to multiple strategies that allow them to problem-solve efficiently.