Beyond Tests: How Triangulation Elevates Competency-Based Assessment

In today’s classrooms, evaluating what students know and can do is no longer just about marking tests or collecting assignments. Competency-based education calls for more nuanced, authentic assessments that reflect the complexity of real learning. That’s where triangulation of evidence of learning becomes essential.

What is triangulation?

Triangulation means collecting information about student learning from at least three different types of sources:

• Observations — Watching how students engage in tasks, interact with others, and apply strategies in authentic contexts.
• Conversations — Engaging with students to explore their thinking, reasoning, and ability to reflect on their learning.
• Products (or artifacts) — Reviewing the work students produce, from written assignments and projects to digital creations or portfolios.

This approach, emphasized in frameworks like Ontario’s Growing Success (2010) and widely recognized across Canada, ensures that no single piece of evidence disproportionately shapes the evaluation of a student’s competencies.

Moreover, recent research highlights that triangulation is not only a best practice but also a key to ensuring the validity and reliability of assessments. Bellido‑García, Cruzata‑Martinez, Ponce Marín, and Rejas Borjas (2022) emphasize that triangulation strengthens the credibility of evaluations by cross-checking different types of evidence. By doing so, it helps mitigate implicit biases and prevents isolated or subjective interpretations from unduly influencing assessment outcomes. In short, triangulation supports fairer, more defensible judgments about student learning.

Why is triangulation so powerful for evaluating competencies?

Competency-based learning focuses on students’ ability to apply knowledge, skills, and attitudes in varied, meaningful situations. Relying on a single form of evidence—such as a written test—doesn’t capture the full scope of these abilities.

Triangulation enables teachers to:

• Capture learning in action, not just on paper.
• Validate evidence across contexts, reducing the impact of outliers or isolated performances.
• Adapt to diverse learning profiles, offering students multiple ways to demonstrate understanding.

Research supports this practice:

• Stiggins (2005) highlights that multiple forms of assessment help foster confidence that the evidence truly reflects student learning.
• Black and Wiliam (1998) show that ongoing, varied assessment is key to supporting learning and improving achievement.
• Heritage (2010) emphasizes that formative assessment, rooted in rich evidence, allows teachers to adjust instruction responsively.
• Bellido‑García et al. (2022) further affirm that triangulation is central to building assessments that are valid, reliable, and aligned with the complexity of real-world learning..

Examples from Canadian classrooms

🔹 Ontario: The Growing Success policy (2010) explicitly mandates that teachers base their judgments on a “triangulation of data” from observations, conversations, and products. Many boards, such as the Peel District School Board (PDSB) and Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB), provide professional learning on using triangulation in inquiry-based and culturally responsive classrooms.

• PDSB’s Assessment Policy clearly emphasizes the use of “triangulated evidence of student achievement”, indicating ongoing professional expectations for educators to gather data from observations, conversations, and student products in an assessment process rooted in inquiry and equity.
• OCDSB’s initiative on Destreamed Science explicitly describes “differentiating triangulation” as shifting the balance among observations, conversations, and products to meet diverse learners’ cultural strengths and needs. This approach supports culturally responsive, inquiry-based assessments.

🔹 British Columbia: In BC’s Competency-Based Curriculum, assessment practices encourage teachers to gather evidence through student self-assessments (conversations), performance tasks (observations), and portfolios (products). Some districts, like Surrey Schools, have highlighted the role of triangulation in supporting diverse learners in inclusive settings.

• Greater Victoria / School District 61: A provincial K–12 Student Reporting Policy (Aug 2023) emphasizes “culturally informed assessment practices”, highlighting the importance of triangulation: “A triangulated approach to assessment is an effective way to assess the whole child. Triangulation is a way to gather evidence of learning in three ways: through observation, conversation, and product. This approach empowers students to demonstrate their learning in less traditional ways.”

🔹 Alberta: The Literacy and Numeracy Progressions include explicit guidance on using observations and conversations alongside products to inform assessment for learning—especially for early learners and students with individualized learning plans.

• Edmonton Public Schools (EPSB) incorporated triangulated assessment practices into its Leadership and Excellence in Assessment Program. Workshops, coaching, and data coaching helped subject-area teachers design authentic tasks and interpret learning evidence through multiple lenses

The benefits for teachers

For educators, triangulation strengthens professional judgment. It helps:

• Mitigate bias by balancing different kinds of evidence.
• Support instructional decisions, as patterns emerge from diverse sources.
• Build clearer pictures of growth over time, beyond isolated snapshots.

Teachers also report that triangulation helps in creating fairer, more defensible report card comments and grades—because they can point to evidence from different angles.

The benefits for students

Triangulation aligns assessment with the principles of equity and inclusion. Students benefit because:

• They have multiple opportunities to show what they know and can do.
• They receive richer, more personalized feedback, helping them reflect and improve.
• It promotes student voice, as conversations become part of the evidence.

When students see that their learning is valued beyond test scores, they are more engaged, confident, and motivated to grow.

Final thoughts

In a world where education must prepare young people for complex challenges, triangulation of evidence helps ensure that assessments are as dynamic and diverse as today’s learners. It’s a key lever for building fair, meaningful, and competency-aligned evaluation practices in every classroom.

References

Students Reveal Their True Nature With Evidence of Learning – Winter 2022 (Vol. 2 Issue 2)

Students Reveal Their True Nature With Evidence of Learning: A whole issue about assessing with triangulation of data

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• Alberta Education. (2019). Literacy and Numeracy Progressions.
• Bellido‑García, R., Cruzata‑Martinez, A., Ponce Marín, M., & Rejas Borjas, L. G. (2022). Implicit theories on learning assessment and the use of triangulation as a means of qualitative validity and reliability. The Qualitative Report, 27(5), 1276–1300. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2022.4231
• Black, P., & Wiliam, D. (1998). Inside the black box: Raising standards through classroom assessment. Phi Delta Kappan.
• British Columbia Ministry of Education. (2019). Curriculum and Assessment Framework.
• Ghrayeb, O., Damodaran, P. & Vohra, P. (2011). Art of triangulation: an effective assessment validation strategy. Global Journal of Engineering Education, 13(3).
• Heritage, M. (2010). Formative assessment: Making it happen in the classroom. Corwin Press.
• Ontario Ministry of Education. (2010). Growing Success: Assessment, Evaluation, and Reporting in Ontario Schools.
• Stiggins, R. (2005). From formative assessment to assessment FOR learning: A path to success in standards-based schools. Phi Delta Kappan.