UNDERSTANDING by DESIGN

STAGE 2—ASSESSMENT EVIDENCE The goal is to obtain valid, reliable, credible, and useful evidence. The key mantra is to Think like an assessor, not an activity designer. There should be a tight alignment between the desired results we seek and the evidence we plan to collect.

EVIDENCE needed to determine the extent to which students have achieved the desired results in Stage 1:

Identify Performance Tasks & Rubrics that anchor the unit by providing evidence of student understanding.

Other evidence, including diagnostic & formative assessments, quizzes, tests, observations, prompted writing and speaking.

Student self-assessments.

Consider: Are students asked to exhibit their understanding through authentic performance tasks? Are appropriate criterion-based rubrics used to judge student products and performances? Are a variety of appropriate assessment formats provided as additional evidence of learning? Are students encouraged to self-assess?

Alignment: The Logic of Backward Design(What do the Understandings imply for assessment?)____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Stage 1 Stage 2If the desired result is for learners to…

Then, you need evidence of the student’s ability to…

So, the assessments need to include some things like…

Understand that:

And thoughtfully consider the questions…

APPLY:What applications would enable us to infer student understanding of what they have learned? What kinds of performances and products, if done well, would provide valid ways of distinguishing between understanding and mere recall?

EXPLAIN:What must students be able to explain, justify, support, or answer about their work for us to infer genuine understanding?How can we test their ideas and applications to find out if they really understand what they have said and done?

Collecting Diverse Evidence from Assessments

Informal checks for understanding

Observations & Dialogues

Tests & Quizzes Academic Prompts

Performance Tasks

Performance Tasks Complex challenges that mirror the issues & problems faced by adults. Range in length from short-term tasks to long-term, multi-staged projects Yield one or more tangible products and performances. Differ from academic prompts in the following ways:

o The setting is real or simulated and involves the kind of constraints, background “noise,” incentives, and opportunities an adult would find in a similar situation

o Typically require the student to address an identified audience (real or simulated)o Are based on a specific purpose that relates to the audienceo Allow students greater opportunity to personalize the tasko Are not secure: the task, evaluative criteria, & performance standards are known in

advance & guide student work.

Academic Prompts Open-ended questions or problems that require the student to think critically; not just recall

knowledge, & to prepare a specific academic response, product or performance Such questions or problems:

o Require constructed responses to specific prompts under school & exam conditionso Are “open” with no single bets answer or strategy expected for solving themo Are often “ill structured,” requiring the development of a strategyo Involve analysis, synthesis, and evaluationo Typically require an explanation or defense of the answer given & methods used.o Require judgment-based scoring based on criteria & performance standardso May or may not be secureo Involve questions typically only asked of students in school

Quiz and Test Items Familiar assessment formats consisting of simple, content-focused items that:

o Assess for factual information, concepts, and discrete skillo Use selected-response (multiple choice, true-false, matching) or short-answer formatso Are convergent, typically having a single, best answero May be easily scored using an answer key or machineo Are typically secure (items are not known in advance)

Informal Checks for Understanding Ongoing assessments used as part of the instructional process. Examples include:

o Teacher questioning,o Observationso Examining student worko Think alouds

These assessments provide feedback to the teacher & the student. Not typically scored or graded.

Sources of Assessment Evidence: Self-Assessment

Use the following scale to rate your level of use of each type of assessment tool. Are you collecting appropriate evidence for all the desired results, or only those that are easiest to test and grade? Is an important learning goal falling through the cracks because it is not being assessed?

1. _____ Selected-response format (multiple-choice, true-false, matching)

2. _____ Written responses to academic prompts (short-answer format)

3. _____ Extended written products (essays, lab reports)

4. _____ Visual products (PowerPoint, mural, etc.,)

5. _____ Oral performances (oral report, foreign language dialogues)

6. _____ Student demonstrations (skill performances)

7. _____ Long-term, authentic assessment projects (e.g., senior exhibit)

8. _____ Portfolios—collections of student work over time

9. _____ Reflective journals or learning logs

10. _____ Informal, ongoing observations of students

11. _____ Formal observations of students using observable indicators or

criteria list

12. _____ Student self-assessments

13. _____ Peer reviews and peer response groups

14. _____ Other:________________________

5 = Extensive Use4 = Frequent Use3 = General Use2 = Sporadic Use1 = Infrequent Use0 = No Evidence of Use

Curricular Priorities & Assessment Methods

In effective assessments, we should see a match between the type or format of the assessment and the needed evidence of achieving the desired results. If the goal is for students to learn basic facts and skills, then paper-and-pencil tests and quizzes generally provide adequate and efficient measures. However, when the goal is deep understanding, we rely on more complex performances to determine whether our goal has been reached. The graphic below reveals the general relationship between assessment types and the evidence they provide for different curriculum targets.

Assessment Methods

Traditional quizzes & tests Paper-and-pencil Selected-response Constructed response

Performance tasks & Projects Complex Open-ended Authentic

Big Ideas & Enduring Understandings

Important to Know and Do

Worth being familiar with

A Collection of Assessment EvidenceExample – High School English

Performance Tasks:What’s Wrong with Holden? You are a member of an advisory committee for the hospital where Holden Caulfield is telling his story. After a close reading and discussion of Holden’s account of the events of the preceding December, your task is to write (1) a summary report for the hospital; and (2) a letter to Holden’s parents explaining what is wrong with Holden. You should prepare for a meeting with the parents to explain and justify your analysis of Holden’s behavior.

Other Evidence:(tests, quizzes, prompts, work samples, observations)

1. Essay—“He was the kind of phony who has to give himself room when he answers someone’s questions….” Students will write to explain Holden’s concern for authenticity.

2. Letter—Each student will write a one-page letter describing Holden from the point of view of another character in the novel.

3. Quizzes—Three quizzes on plot details.4. Journal—Students respond in their journals at the end of each reading

assignment to these questions: (a) What is the most important thing you learn about Holden in this section of the novel? (b) What is the most important unanswered question about Holden at this point in the novel?

Student Self-Assessment and Reflection:The final journal entry is a reflection guided by three questions:

1. What changed for you in the way you saw Holden as this book went along/2. If, as some people claim, “misunderstanding is inevitable,” what were your

misunderstandings before and during this unit?3. If you were to teach this novel to next year’s students, what would you do

to ensure that they really understand the novel (rather than simply read it)?

What Does the Goal Imply for Assessment? Example: Visual Arts

Established Goals:The student will recognize the visual arts as a basic aspect of history and human experience.

Content (nouns) Artistic Expression Culture Visual design elements

Process (verbs) Compare Analyze Interpret

Understandings Artistic expression is influenced by time,

place, and culture. One gains insights into a culture by

analyzing and interpreting its visual arts. Available tools, techniques, and resources

influence the ways in which artists and artisans express themselves.

Task and prompt ideas Task: Prepare a graphic organizer for

comparing three works of art from different periods and cultures. Explain the distinguishing visual characteristics and techniques.

Task: Create imagery using the visual characteristics, tools and techniques from a given period (e.g., Romantic era) to reflect some aspect of contemporary culture.

Prompt: How do today’s digital media enable contemporary artists to express themselves?

What Does the Goal Imply for Assessment? Example: Civil WarEstablished Goals:The student will analyze the causes and effects of major events of the Civil War and Reconstruction, including slavery.

Content (nouns) Civil War Reconstruction Slavery

Process (verbs) Analyze causes and effects

Big Ideas stated & implied States’ rights vs. federalism Human rights & the inconsistency of slavery Differences in regional economies North v. South—regional culture vs. national

ties Missouri Compromise and the politics of

slavery

Task and prompt ideas Prompt: In what ways is the Civil War still

being fought today as a cold war? Task: Develop a museum display (including a

timeline & proposed exhibits) on key causes of the Civil War, & historical & present-day effects not emphasized in the standard.

Task: Write a historical letter from a southern plantation owner, freed slave, or northern visitor.

Task: Write an anniversary newspaper article on visible effects today.