Backwards Design Pedagogy for StandardsBased Education SBE Carmen

Backwards Design Pedagogy for Standards-Based Education (SBE) Carmen Riedlinger, Our Lady of Holy Cross College criedlinger@olhcc. edu

BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND. WHY? ?

Honor the old; bring in the new.

Content standards are of little value as a guide for teaching and best practice unless our assessments are closely aligned with the standards.

It’s about CHANGE. Traditional Table of contents Instruction Assessment Backwards Design Standards Assessments Instruction

What are the Backwards Design steps? 1. Analysis of standard/benchmarks (or use state grade-level expectations). 2. Develop the assessment task. 3. Development of a scoring guide. 4. Design of curriculum. 5. Planning of instructional strategies. 6. Delivery of instruction. 7. Administering assessment. 8. Evaluate/refine your 8 -step process.

Have your teachers had trouble determining exactly what a standard or a benchmark is saying? Then they are not alone.

Louisiana Resources ® Past…very good documents to help teachers begin the deciphering…SAGE Deep in Math, LINCS Science Performance Expectations. ® Future…In light of NCLB…La. needed K-12 Grade Level Expectations. ® Hired EDC; brought together teachers, wrote, recommended a draft, need approval, etc.

We can hope that this fall, or soon thereafter, all LA. schools will have K 12 grade level expectations for their teachers to specifically pinpoint what students should know and be able to do according to NCLB standards.

#1. Analysis of Standard/Benchmark ® Purpose: to promote the collegial conversation about the meaning of standards and benchmarks that result in consensus on the knowledge, skills, relevance of standards and benchmarks.

In the event that we don’t… …the practice of analysis of standards and benchmarks is an excellent one promoting collegiality and deep understanding.

Analysis (cont’d. ) ® Have teachers partner with a colleague who teaches the same subject or grade level. ® Go to the math (or ELA or Science) content standards. www. doe. state. la. us ® Select a strand then a standard/benchmark.

Analysis (cont’d. ) ® Focus on the benchmark. ® Silently, have them read it slowly. ® Now, look at/read the P 1 form ( or their own form) components. ® Fill in the benchmark you have chosen. ® Now begin the analysis by…

Analysis (cont’d. ) ® …asking themselves, “What am I asking my students to KNOW and to BE ABLE TO DO in this benchmark? ® KNOW: nouns ® BE ABLE TO DO: verbs…notice the verbs you are coming up with…where do they fall within Bloom’s Taxonomy? ? Basic? Higher order? ® Relevance……. important!

#2 Select Assessment Type …and actually create the test before they begin Day One of instruction…they will clearly be more focused on what must be taught… Option Two…Question(s) -A-Day test creation method

No more night-before test creation crisis.

#2 Select Assessment Type ® Ask themselves, “What is the best way for students to demonstrate what they know and can do? ® Paper and pencil test? ® Graph? Portfolio work? Song? ® Chart? Multiple choice questions? ® Oral explanation? Drawing?

A few types of assessments ® Multiple Choice ® Enhanced Multiple Choice ® Justified Multiple Choice ® Constructed Response ® Open-ended ® Performance Assessments

#3 Develop Scoring Guide ®Purpose? To provide clear descriptors about how performance will be judged. ®Their grading will be more reliable.

#3 Develop Scoring Guide ® …the chart type which includes ranges such as Advanced Proficient, Partially Proficient or Basic. ® …or…because TIME is eternally a problem, , , BORROW, ® BORROW, BORROW! ® http: //www. teach-nology. com/ ® Then Teacher Tools, go to Rubric Generators, scroll to Math Rubric Generator.

#3 Develop Scoring Guide ® Spend time with teachers exploring the te. Ach-nology site for ideas for their classroom. ® Rubric sites to explore… ® rubistar. 4 teachers. org ® www. rubric. com ® www. Te. Ach-nology. com

#4 Design of Curriculum Purpose: To align curriculum with each of the standards/benchmarks which they are using.

MAKING CONNECTIONS ® VERY HIGH QUALITY PLANNING ® WELL-DESIGNED (except that the placement of the assessment writing should be up front as per Backwards Design)

#5 Planning of Instruction How will they teach this standard? STRATEGIES… e. g. , cooperative learning? Think-pair-share? mind mapping? manipulatives? jigsaw? lecture?

#5 PLANNING NSTRUCTION TACTICS… Four Corners? Fish Bone Diagram? Inside/Outside Circles? Venn Diagram? Numbered Heads?

Beyond Monet By ……Carol Rolheiser & Barry Bennet OISE, University of Toronto with Michael Fullan

#6 Delivery of Instruction TEACH!

#7 Delivery of Assessment TEST! (don’t forget to vary the type!)

#8 Refine your 8 -step Process Encourage teachers to be reflective practitioners. Step back and look at how they planned. Did it work well? Did the students learn? How did they score? What could you have done better or in a different manner? Add a pre-test next time?

Bottom line…. Backwards Design Pedagogy is a method of approaching standards-based education (SBE) which forces us as teachers to focus on our standards so much so that we complete our assessments before we begin instruction, thereby keeping the assessment foremost in our minds as we teach our students what they should know and be able to do to become productive citizens in society.

In the literature… G. Wiggins J. Mc. Tighe R. Stiggins www. mcrel. org

Backwards Design Begin with the end in mind

It’s about CHANGE. Traditional Table of contents Instruction Assessment Backwards Design Standards Assessments Instruction

Backwards Design I’d be happy to be of help if you’d like… Carmen Schexnaildre Riedlinger Education Department Our Lady of Holy Cross College New Orleans (504) 398 -2122