Backwards Design for Standards-based Education

Highlights of the Work of

Grant Wiggins and Jay McTigheBy

Marianne Kenney

Social Studies Instructional Specialist

Desired Outcomes

Awareness/Refresh on UbD philosophy and framework

Awareness/Refresh of social studies standards and beliefs

Commitment to develop/improve UbD unitStage 1

Stage 2

Social Studies Mind Walk

Think-Pair-ShareWhat does good social studies teaching look like?

How do students learn social studies?

Why should we begin with the end in mind?

K-W-L: What do you already know?

What do you want to know?

UbD in a Nutshell

Read the first page

Turn to a partner and talkWhat is the main idea on this page?

What are the implications for what we do in the classroom?

Understanding by Design

“Backward Design” focus: Clarify results and evidence of them before designing lessons.

UbD is a way of thinking more carefully about design; it’s not a program.

This design process is compatible with the whole notion of standards-based education.

We Learn About….

10% of what we READ

20% of what we HEAR

30% of what we SEE

50% of what we both SEE & HEAR

70% of what we DISCUSS

80% of what we EXPERIENCE

95% of what we TEACH

Understanding by Design

Thinking like an assessor is key to effectively designing the curriculum.

Overcoming the “twin sins” of “aimless activity” and “superficial coverage”.

The work is only “coverage” or “nice activity” unless focused on questions and big ideas, directly related to the standards.

3 Stages of “Backward” Design

1. Identify desired results

2. Determine acceptable evidence

3. Plan learning experiences & instruction.

Then and only then

Stage 1 - Step 1 Identify desired results

Consists of four componentsContent standards

Understanding big ideas

Essential questions

Knowledge and skills

Targets

“If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there.”“Too many teachers focus on the teaching and not the learning. They spend most of their time thinking, first about what they will do rather then first considering what the learner will need in order to accomplish their learning goals.”Standards and benchmarks are our targets

Folder Activity

You can work in your grade level team or alone if you wishWork on an upcoming unitUse the chart paper and markersSelect ALL the standards that might be used in a performance assessmentYou have 10 minutes

What are the Big Ideas?

Usually derive from the standards

A linchpin that is essential for “holding together” related content knowledge.

Central to coherent connections in a subject and an anchor for making facts understandable and useful.

What are Big Ideas for?

Connect the dots for the learner by establishing learning priorities.Without Big Ideas, students are easily left with forgettable fragments of knowledge.Provides:

Conceptual “lens” for area of studyBreadth of meaning by connecting and organizing factsA focus on the heart of the subjectAbility to transfer knowledge/facts

Essential questions

Are at the very heart of the subject.

EQ is a way to connect content/facts in an engaging and thought provoking way.

Centered on the Big Ideas

Allows students to apply their skills while addressing the Big Ideas

Can provide purpose for learning.

Skills and Content

Identify specific skills and knowledge that the students will learn and use in the unit.

Be specific: What will students know and be able to do?

Now….revisit standards and glue.

Peer Consultation

Gallery Walk:Each team presents their Stage 1

Consultants listen and jot dot questions and ideas

Consultants share questions and ideasPresenters listen and jot down ideas

Presenters share their final thoughtsShare his/her commitment to improve their unit

Questions?

Create UbD Frayer organizer

3 Stages of “Backward” Design

1. Identify desired results

2. Determine acceptable evidence

1. Plan learning experiences & instruction.Then and only then

Stage 2 is the essence of backward design & alignment

Begin with the end in mindAs Alice made her way through the adventures of standardsland, she asked for directions from the Cheshire Cat. “Would you please tell me which way I ought to go from here?”

“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.

“I don’t care much where,” said Alice.

“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat.

Stage 2 - Assessment Evidence

• Is set in a scenario that replicates or stimulates the ways in which a person’s knowledge and abilities are tested in real-world situations?

• Requires judgment and innovation. Will the students use their understanding and skills to solve a problem?

• Asks students to “do” the subject instead of reciting, restating, or replicating through demonstration what he/she was taught or already knows.

• It’s the game not the drill.

Big Ideas Worth

understanding

Important to know& do

Worth beingFamiliar with

Assessment types

Traditional quizzes& tests

•paper/pencil•selected-response•constructed response

Performance tasks& projects

•open-ended•complex•authentic

Developing Authentic Tasks

You are a …..(adult role, professional)….who must successfully (perform, produce)….for (audience, client)….thus, accomplishing (purpose, result)….which reveals and understanding of (big ideas, standards)….and skill at…..

Examples of Authentic Tasks

Research how Global Warming might affect AntarcticaWrite a briefing book to the president on the war in IraqCreate a manuscript to let future generations know what life is like on a Feudal Manor

Analyze the task for the skills, knowledge, concepts students need to successfully complete the assessment.

Develop Rubrics

Purpose: To provide clear descriptors about how performance is judged.Must be used with UbD assessment since there is no one right answer.Should measure the quality of the student understanding, application, or analysis.In standards-based rubrics, the standards = the criteria.The performance levels become the observable actions that give us the evidence they have met the standards.

Peer Consultation

Gallery Walk:Each team presents their Stage 2

Consultants listen and jot dot questions and ideas

Consultants share questions and ideasPresenters listen and jot down ideas

Presenters share their final thoughtsShare his/her commitment to improve their unit

Homework

Deconstruct your performance assessment for:

Declarative knowledge

Procedural knowledge (skills)

3 Stages of “Backward” Design

1. Identify desired results

2. Determine acceptable evidence

3. Plan learning experiences & instruction.

Then and only then

Stage 3-Plan learning experience and instruction

Purpose: To align the curriculum with each of the standards/benchmark they are using

Making connections - very high quality planning

Plan instructional strategies - how will they teach the standard? Coop learning? Think-pair-share/ Jigsaw? Lecture?

How will you prepare students for the product or performance?

Organize by W.H.E.R.E.

W = Where are we headed? and why? (from the student’s perspective)

H = How will the student be ‘hooked’?E = What opportunities will there be to be

equipped and explore key ideas.R = How will we provide opportunities to

rethink, rehearse, refine and revise?E = How will students evaluate (so as to

improve) their own performance?

Backwards Design

“To begin with the end in mind means to start with a clear understanding of your destination. It means to where you are going so that you better understand where you are now so that the step you take are always in the right direction.”

Stephen CoveyThe Seven Habits of Highly Effective People