RSD Administrative Retreat August 9, 2005

1. Using Understanding by Design (UbD) for Planning • RSD Administrative Retreat • August 9, 2005 Many slides in this presentation are from Grant Wiggins & Jay McTighe

2. “There are costs and risks to a program of action, but they are far less than the long-range risks and costs of comfortable inaction.” • John F. Kennedy

3. UbD IS: A way of thinking and planning Appropriate for any area A set of design tools Intuitive A visible approach to planning UbD IS NOT: A prescriptive program An add on to other programs Only for certain subjects or areas Exclusively for educational planning Big Ideas about UbD…

4. Key Moves in the Change Process UbD can be a powerful tool to help facilitate necessary conversations to help transitions and change

5. 3 minute pause… • Take a moment to brainstorm 3-4 situations (Type II or III) that need attention during the next year. Then choose one situation on which you’d like to focus. Share that area with your table partners.

6. Assessing the Current State of Affairs Use this process with your stakeholders and it will provide an excellent starting point for your UbD plan.

7. Key Elements for Using UbD

8. 1. Identify desired results 2. Determine acceptable evidence 3. Plan activities 3 Stages of (“Backward”) Design

9. Why “backward”? • The stages are logical but they go against habits • We’re used to jumping to activity ideas - before clarifying our performance goals • By thinking through the assessments upfront, we ensure greater alignment of our goals and means, and that activities are focused on desired results

10. Unit Template Overarching understandings Essential Questions Knowledge and skill to be acquired Understanding by Design Template • The UbD template embodies the 3 stages of “Backward Design” • The template provides an easy mechanism for exchange of ideas

11. Standard(s): Unpack the big ideas related to the project Understandings Essential Questions s t a g e 1 Assessment Evidence Performance T ask(s): Other Evidence: s Analyze multiple sources of evidence, aligned with Stage 1 t a g e 2 Derive the activities from Stages 1 & 2 Learning Activities s t a g e 3 The “big ideas” of each stage: What are the big ideas? What’s the evidence? How will we get there?

12. ! Not necessary to fill in the template “in order” • There are many ‘doorways’ into successful design – you can start with... • Performance goals • A key resource or activity • A big idea, often misunderstood • An important skill or process • An existing unit or lesson to edit • Content standards

13. ! Misconception Alert:the work is non-linear • It doesn’t matter where you start as long as the final design is coherent (all elements aligned) • Clarifying one element or Stage often forces changes to another element or Stage • The template “blueprint” is logical but the process is non-linear (think: home improvement!)

14. 1. Identify desired results 3. Plan learning experiences & instruction 3 Stages of Design, elaborated 2. Determine acceptable evidence

15. Stage 1 – Identify desired results. • Key: Focus on Big ideas • Enduring Understandings: What specific insights about big ideas do we want students/participants to gain? • What essential questions will frame the activities, pointing toward key issues and ideas, and suggest meaningful and provocative inquiry into content? • What should participants know and be able to do? • What content standards are addressed explicitly by the unit? (for educational plans)

16. Professional Development is best embedded in a building Well fed students function more effectively Students learn science best via inquiry Big Idea: A system of many powerful inferences from a small set of givens Effective school systems involve the entire community The big ideas provide a way to connect and recall knowledge Instruction is more effective when the district possesses high expectations and accountability systems.

17. Some questions for identifying truly “big ideas” • Does it have many layers and nuances, not obvious to the naïve or inexperienced person? • Can it yield great depth and breadth of insight into the subject? Can it be used throughout the system? • Do you have to dig deep to really understand its subtle meanings and implications even if anyone can have a surface grasp of it? • Is it (therefore) prone to misunderstanding as well as disagreement? • Are you likely to change your mind about its meaning and importance over a lifetime? • Does it reflect the core ideas as judged by experts?

18. You’ve got to go below the surface...

19. to uncover the really ‘big ideas.’

20. Priorities for Big Ideas Nice to know worth being familiar with Foundational knowledge and skill Important to know and do Big ideas/core tasks Worth exploring in depth

21. Priorities – example from Language Arts Nice to know Author of Frog and Toad Foundational knowledge and skill Asking Q’s as you read Authors don’t usually mean what they say Worth exploring in depth

22. Priorities – example from Management Nice to know Budget categories Foundational knowledge and skill Balancing a budget Setting budget priorities to meet a stated goal Worth exploring in depth

23. Priorities – example from School Improvement Nice to know WASL pass scores Foundational knowledge and skill Analyzing student data How to establish a professional learning community Worth exploring in depth

24. Understandings: examples... • Great artists often break with conventions to better express what they see and feel. • Price is a function of supply and demand. • Friendships can be deepened or undone by hard times. • History is the story told by the “winners”. • F = ma (weight is not mass). • The storyteller rarely tells the meaning of the story. • Student assessment data can help inform instruction.

25. Essential Questions • What questions – • are arguable - and important to argue about? • are at the heart of the subject? • recur - and should recur - in professional work, adult life, as well as in classroom inquiry? • raise more questions – provoking and sustaining engaged inquiry? • often raise important conceptual or philosophical issues? • can provide organizing purpose for meaningful & connected learning?

26. Sample Essential Questions: • Does a good read differ from a ‘great book’? Why are some books fads, and others classics? • How different is a scientific theory from a plausible belief? • Is anything important “falling through the cracks” because we are not assessing it? • How might our assessments promote learning, not simply measure it? • What is an effective Classroom Based Assessment? • How will teachers be supported in using formative assessment in guiding instruction? • How can communication systems be used to build strong educational programs? • How can federal categorical budgets be maximized to impact student learning?

27. 3 minute pause… • Brainstorm 1-2 big ideas for the situation you identified earlier. Jot down your big ideas.

28. 1. Identify desired results 2. Determine acceptable evidence 3. Plan learning experiences & instruction 3 Stages of Design: Stage 2

29. Stage 2 – Assessment Evidence • What are key complex performance tasks indicative of understanding? • What other evidence will be collected to build the case for understanding, knowledge, and skill? • What rubrics will be used to assess complex performance?

30. The big idea for Stage 2 • The evidence should be credible & helpful. • Implications: the assessments should – • Be grounded in real-world applications, supplemented as needed by more traditional school evidence • Provide useful feedback to the learner, be transparent, and minimize secrecy • Be valid, reliable - aligned with the desired results of Stage 1 (and fair)

31. For Reliability & Sufficiency:Use a Variety of Assessments • Varied types, over time: • authentic tasks and projects • Existing data sources • Surveys • Strategic Listening system • informal checks for understanding • self-assessments

32. 3 minute pause… • Take a moment to jot down 3-4 sources of evidence that your could use to assess success in meeting your identified situation.

33. 1. Identify desired results 3. Plan learning experiences & instruction 3 Stages of Design: Stage 3 2. Determine acceptable evidence

34. E F F E C T I V E E N GAGING and Stage 3 big idea:

35. Stage 3 – Plan Activities and Learning Experiences • A focus on engagingandeffective learning, “designed in” • What activities and learning experiences will promote the desired understanding, knowledge and skill of Stage 1? • How will the design ensure that all participants are maximally engaged and effective at meeting the goals?

36. Action Planning Template • The Planning Template is adapted from the OSPI School Improvement Plan document. • Make sure that a plan is treated as a dynamic process, not a static document. • Your plan is only as good as the ideas generated during the process. • When planning, leaders should focus people around the big ideas of the situation.

37. 3 minute pause… • Take a moment to jot down stakeholders that you need to mobilize around your chosen situation.

38. Stephen Covey stated, • “To begin with the end in mind means to start with a clear understanding of your destination.”

39. Remember… • It’s all about the kids!