1. Evidence of Understanding
Cherie McCollough
VaNTH-PER Workshop June 2, 2003

2. Conceptual Challenges
What is the evidence of in-depth understanding as opposed to that which is superficial or naive?
What should teachers look for to determine the extent of student understanding?
What kinds of assessment evidence will anchor a curricular unit, guiding instruction?

3. Calvin’s Evidence of Understanding

4. Establishing Curricular Priorities

5. Skills Compared to Understandings
Reading Text
Creating scoring opportunities in soccer
Speaking persuasively in public
Understanding
Reading between the lines
Spread defense as broadly and deeply as possible
Emotionally appealing to wishes, needs, hopes and fears of audience, regardless of how logical and rational the argument

6. Framing Questions for Understanding
Essential Questions
Have no one obvious right answer
Raise other important questions
Address the philosophical or conceptual foundations of a discipline
Recur naturally
Are framed to provoke and
sustain student interest

7. Overarching vs. topical questions
Point beyond unit to larger, transferable ideas
Like a topic to other related topics and subjects
Topical
Can be answered by uncovering a unit’s content – have several plausible answers that can be defended from
Can be answered as a result of in-depth inquiry into a single topic

8. Tips for using Unit Questions
Pp. 112 – 113 McTighe and Wiggins
Small group discussion p – What makes these questions Overarching vs. Topical?
Complete worksheet 6.1 and 6.2
(Pp. 120 – 121) using ideas from your content area.

9. General assessment design usually consists of:
Identifying Engaging
Enduring Effective
Understandings Design
(content standards) (design of
lessons)

10. Backward design assessment consists of:
Identifying Evidence of Engaging
Enduring Understanding Effective
Understandings Design

11. What are effective assessments?

12. Continuum of Assessment Methods
Informal checks for understanding
Observation/dialog
Quiz/Test
Academic Prompt
Performance task/project

13. Continuum of assessment methods
Scope: simple to complex
Time Frame: short term to long term
Setting: decontextualized to authentic contexts
Structure: Highly structured to ill defined
All are a result of ONGOING inquiry and RETHINKING

14. “Think of assessment as a dialog between teacher and student, one that is as informative to the student as it was to the teacher if it is done right.” Laura D’Amico, 1999
Project binders
Self-assessments
Peer-assessments
More traditional methods
Should be thought of as a collection of evidence over time instead of a single event.

15. Conceptual Challenges
What is the evidence of in-depth understanding as opposed to that which is superficial or naive?
What should teachers look for to determine the extent of student understanding?
What kinds of assessment evidence will anchor a curricular unit, guiding instruction?

16. What is the goal of assessment?
Basic concepts and skills?
Assessment with written tests and quizzes are generally sufficient
Deep Understanding?
More complex assessment methods are required

17. Quiz and Test Items
Assess for factual information, concepts, discrete skills
Use selected response or short answer formats
Typically have a single, best answer
Easily scored
Are secure

18. Quizzical Calvin

19. Academic Prompts
Open ended questions that require students to think critically
Require constructed responses under exam conditions
Open – no single best answer or solution strategy
Involve analysis, synthesis, and/or evaluation
Require judgment based scoring
May or may not be secure

20. Performance Tasks and Projects
Involves complex challenges that mirror the issues and problems that adults face
Challenges are authentic
Short term, long term, or multi-staged
Require tangible product or performance
Use real or simulated settings with similar circumstances and adult would find
Allow students greater opportunity to personalize the task

21. Performance Tasks and Projects Continued
Differ from academic prompts in that they:
Use real or simulated settings that are similar to what an adult would find
Require students to address an identified audience
Based on specific purpose that relates to the audience
Allows students opportunity to personalize the task
Are not secure – task, criteria, product, etc. known in advance
GRASPS – Goal, Role, Audience, Situation, Product or Performance, and Standards.

22. Considering a Range of EvidencePp
Write the targeted understanding and core performance task in the middle box – what students should understand and be able to do.
Brainstorm types of evidence that might be most useful, insightful, and fair for rounding out the picture to produce sufficient evidence of
understanding

23. Curricular Priorities and Assessment Methods

24. Teacher Misconception RE: Evidence of Understanding
MISCONCEPTION: evidence of understanding is that which includes only end-of-teaching test, performance tasks, projects, etc.
TRUTH: Evidence of understanding is EVERYTHING on continuum gathered over time.
Informal checks for understanding
Observation/dialog
Quiz/Test
Academic Prompt
Performance task/project
Student self assessments
ETC

25. Teacher Misconception RE: Evidence of Understanding
MISCONCEPTION: If evidence is hands-on, results must be valid.
TRUTH: Hands-on activities can be done without deep understanding
Understanding backward design requires realizing not only THAT assessment design comes before instruction and clarity of target precedes assessment, but WHY.
Multiple sources of evidence and types of performance are required.

26. Conceptual Challenges
What is the evidence of in-depth understanding as opposed to that which is superficial or naive?
What should teachers look for to determine the extent of student understanding?
What kinds of assessment evidence will anchor a curricular unit, guiding instruction?

27. Designing Performance Tasks
Must be authentic:
Is realistic
Requires judgment and innovation
Asks a student to “do” the subject
Replicates or simulates the contexts in which adults are tested in workplace, community, and home.
Assesses a students ability to effectively use a repertoire of knowledge and skills to negotiate a complex task
Allows appropriate opportunities to rehearse, practice, and consult resources; obtain feedback and refine performance and products.

28. Designing Performance Tasks
Looking for that creative inspiration?
Pp. 141 – 143: Performance task vignettes. See instructions.

29. Backwards design (assessor) vs. traditional design (activity designer)
Activity designer’s design:
Looks for interesting and engaging activities on topic.
Identifies available resources and materials.
Thinks about what students will be doing in and out of class and what assignments will be given
Wonders if the activities worked – why or why not?
Assessor’s design:
Requires sufficient and revealing evidence of understanding
Distinguishes between those who really understand and those who don’t.
Has distinguishing work criteria
Checks for predetermined misunderstandings

30. How to design authentic and engaging tasks??
GRASPS = Goal, Role, Audience, Situation, Product or Performance, Standards for Success.
Task design tools:
Review Pp. 147 – 152
Think about p. 155 using your own unit of interest
Complete p. 157 using your own unit of interest

31. Conceptual Challenges
What is the evidence of in-depth understanding as opposed to that which is superficial or naive?
What should teachers look for to determine the extent of student understanding?
What kinds of assessment evidence will anchor a curricular unit, guiding instruction?

32. Wrapping it up Have framed essential questions.
Have defined what constitutes evidence for understanding.
Have begun designing formative and summative assessments.
?? What are you wondering
about??