Assessment of the Assessment

Last week I wrote about types of assessments in the Understanding by Design framework.  The essential question about assessment in UbD: How will we know if students have achieved the desired results?  The “desired result” in UbD is understanding—being able to transfer the knowledge and skills to new situations and contexts.

With this essential question in mind, take a few minutes to read the background and look at two hypothetical assessments.  The first is a fairly traditional school assessment, and the second is a Performance Task.  Both would give information about skills and knowledge, but only one would give information about transfer. 

The Background:

We have a fairly clear directive from central office that Understanding by Design is a framework we will implement K-12.  You can see it referenced in letters going home to parents, on the HSE website, in our TEDS rubric, and in the HSE21 initiative.  Our central office administrators have many, many options for gathering evidence about the degree of understanding HSHS teachers have about UbD.  To be honest, I’m not sure how they will gather this information to report to the school board, but I am sure they will want to know about our progress.

Here are two options:

First Scenario: A Short Quiz/Test

Directions: Answer the questions below.

1.  What is the order for planning an Understanding by Design unit?

     A. Plan the learning experiences, determine acceptable evidence, identify the desired results

     B. Identify the desired results, determine acceptable evidence, plan the learning experiences

     C. Determine acceptable evidence, identify the desired results, plan the learning experiences

     D.  Identify the desired results, plan the learning experiences, determine acceptable evidence

2.  Acceptable Evidence in the UbD framework includes:

     A.  Tests and Quizzes

     B.  Academic Prompts

     C.  Performance Tasks

     D.  Formative Assessments

     E.  All of the above

3.  Short answer: Describe briefly the difference between knowing and understanding.

4.  Extended Answer: Explain the difference between an Academic Prompt and a Performance Task.

5.  Include an explanation of how you decide when to use an Academic Prompt and when to use a Performance Task.

Second Scenario: A Performance Task

Directions: Work with others in your department or in a course-alike group to complete this task.  During this semester, plan one UbD unit and use it in at least one class.  By May 1, as a group, answer the following questions and send the results to your primary evaluator.  Include a copy of the UbD unit plan and any other information that would help your evaluator map the results to Domain 1 (Purposeful Planning) in the TEDS rubric.

1. What was the strength of this UbD unit?
2. How did you assess “knowledge and skills,” and how did you assess “understanding”?  (Can students transfer the knowledge and skills?)
3. What changes, if any, will you make to this unit when you use it again?

Assessment of the Assessment

Both of the assessments given above provide information about your knowledge of UbD, but only one gives evidence of understanding.  I contend that you might be able to answer all of the questions in the first scenario correctly and have no understanding of how to create and implement the UbD framework.  The second scenario isn’t a perfect assessment, and it is certainly possible to game the system, but it could give solid evidence of whether or not the knowledge can be transferred to action.

In your classroom, both approaches are needed.  They serve different purposes, but both are necessary.

Let me know if these hypothetical assessments prompt your thinking about how Performance Tasks and traditional assessments can be used most effectively in your classes. 

Have a great week, HSE.  Enjoy the heat wave.  (Any temperature above zero seems warm right now!)

Phil

Here is one final thought about assessment from Rick Stiggins. It is a bit scary and a bit encouraging at the same time:  “You can enhance or destroy students’ desire to succeed in school more quickly and permanently through your use of assessment than with any other tools you have at your disposal.”