Authentic Performance Tasks Assessing Students’ Understanding and Ability to Apply Their Learning in Relevant, Meaningful Ways

Session Goals To develop a rationale for using authentic, performance-based assessments To understand the context for authentic performance tasks as part of a balanced assessment system To recognize the qualities of a high- quality, authentic performance task To develop performance-based assessments that provide opportunities for students to demonstrate what they know, understand, and are able to do

Enduring Understandings: There is a direct connection between curriculum and instruction and student performance High quality curriculum is designed to develop student understanding by uncovering complex ideas which involves students doing authentic practice Providing students with the opportunity to work like professionals will ensure true understanding of the content and provide relevance I

Essential Questions How might we ensure that students see the relevance of what we are teaching? To what extent can the use of authentic performance tasks assess students’ understanding and ability to apply their learning in meaningful and relevant ways? In what ways can we ensure that students are provided with rigorous work that mirrors the work of experts?

KUD – Know , Understand, and Do Assessment for understanding must be grounded in authentic performance-based tasks Authentic performance-based assessments provide opportunities for students to work like experts in a given field Performance-based assessments must be aligned with K-U-Ds developed in Stage 1 Understanding is revealed in performance Do: Use the GRASP tool to design a PBA Analyze performance tasks in order to understand authenticity

Strategic Objectives Obj. 1 All teachers will engage every student in meaningful, authentic and rigorous work through the use of innovative instructional practices and supportive technologies that will motivate students to be self- directed and inquisitive learners. Obj. 2 VBCPS will develop and implement a balanced assessment system that accurately reflects student demonstration and mastery of VBCPS outcomes for student success. Obj. 4 VBCPS will create opportunities for parents, community and business leaders to fulfill their essential roles as actively engaged partners in supporting student achievement and outcomes for student success. Recognizing that the long range goal of the VBCPS is the successful preparation and graduation of every student, the near term goal is that by 2015, 95 percent or more of VBCPS students will graduate having mastered the skills they need to succeed as 21st century learners, workers, and citizens. This training will support teachers efforts to engage every student in meaningful, authentic and rigorous work…. (review object 1). It also supports objective 2 in that it includes the issue of assessment and supports providing a balanced assessment system that will……. (complete obj. 2). When providing students with the opportunity to do authentic work, that provides the perfect opportunity to bring experts in the field into your classroom to enhance that work.

VBCPS Outcomes for Student Success: Our primary focus is on teaching and assessing those skills our students need to thrive as 21st century learners, workers and citizens. All VBCPS students will be: Academically proficient; Effective communicators and collaborators; Globally aware, independent, responsible learners and citizens; and Critical and creative thinkers, innovators and problems solvers. Finally, as we look at the outcomes for student success, we will discuss best practices that will help us to ensure that our students are: Academically proficient; Effective communicators and collaborators; Globally aware, independent, responsible learners and citizens; and Critical and creative thinkers, innovators and problems solvers. Post walk-about posters from Session 1. Quickly review and ask participants to add if they would like. 7

Curriculum and Instruction Community Outreach & Service Teachers PLCs PLC s 21st Century Curriculum and Instruction Balanced Assessment STUDENTS Rigor Resilience Relationships Relevance Community Outreach & Service Responsiveness To Students It is important for us to understand how the content of today’s session is reflected in the school division’s strategic plan. This graphic illustrates the interconnected approach of the strategic plan. As you can see, the students are at the center surrounded by supports of relationships, relevancy, rigor and resilience. The content of today’s session will mainly focus on the development of a Rigorous curriculum and the importance of creating authentic performance tasks that allow gifted students to meet curriculum goals while at the same time goals and benchmarks of the gifted program. Support Staff Administrators PLCs 8 8

“Best Assessment” Exercise Think about an assessment exercise that significantly contributed to your learning (in school or out). What features characterized your experience? What factors in the assessment (and how they were used) most contributed to your learning? Generalize “Assessments promote learning when…” Generate a list based participants responses. Jay McTighe Balanced Assessment for Improved Learning

3 Stages of (“Backward”) Design 1. Identify desired results 2. Determine acceptable evidence Our work with authentic assessments will 3. Plan learning experiences & instruction Based on the work of Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe VBCPS: Office of Gifted Education

What are Authentic Performance Tasks? Analyze the two tasks provided How are the tasks similar in nature How are they different Which task is more authentic Provide blank Venn Diagram to participants to record discussion points.

Key Terms Performance Tasks- A task that gives the student the opportunity to illustrate, perform, or demonstrate what they know, understand, and can do. Authentic Performance Task- A task that gives the student the opportunity to illustrate, perform, or demonstrate what they know, understand, and can do through a real-world challenge so that they are working like an expert in the field. Performance Assessment- Involves more than a single test of performance and might use other modes of assessment such as surveys, interviews of the performer, observations, or quizzes. Authentic Assessment- An assessment composed of performance tasks and activities designed to simulate or replicate important real-world challenges. Authentic assessments ask students to use knowledge in real-world ways, with genuine purposes, audiences, and situational variables. Understanding by Design Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe Some examples of performance tasks include: music or dance recitals, oral presentations, art displays, etc… Performance tasks might be authentic, but they don’t have to be. Non-authentic performance tasks differ from typical multiple choice, or short answer tests because they still require students to put it all together in the context of ill-structured, non-routine, or unpredictable problems or challenges. Real performers must learn to innovate and use their judgment as well as their knowledge instead of simply recalling facts. When considering performance assessment, keep in mind that a fair and technically sound assessment usually has students creating some type of product. Authentic assessments are meant to do more than “test”, they should teach students what the doing of a subject looks like and what kinds of performance challenges are actually considered most important in a field or profession. Keep in mind that tasks, problems, or projects are authentic when: Tests a person’s knowledge in real-world situations Requires judgment and innovation that require the learner to figure out the nature of the problem Puts students in a situation where they have to “do” the subject instead of reciting, restating, or replicating what was taught. Puts students into key challenging situations in which adults are truly tested in the workplace, in civic life, or in personal life. Use a repertoire of knowledge and skill to negotiate a complex, multistage task. Allows appropriate opportunities to rehearse, practice, consult resources, and get feedback on and refine performances and products. These tasks are truly transparent instead of mysterious like most tests are.

Authentic Performance Tasks Provide complex challenges that mirror the issues and problems of adults Are open-ended Engage students in doing the work of experts in the field Are naturally more rigorous than traditional assessments Require the application of knowledge and skills Are aligned with the identified KUD’s from Stage 1 These are some elements of Authentic Performance Tasks. Keep in mind that when ensuring alignment with Stage 1, if you are using the task as a summative assessment your task should measure several of the KUDs within the unit. Understanding by Design Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe

Designing Performance Tasks Structure performance tasks so that there is not one right answer or one right approach to arriving at answers Ensure that even if there is a “right” answer you are looking for, that arriving at the answer follows sound reasoning and a supported argument or approach Students should have to consider when to use which approach and which facts Ensure that the task involves transfer The performance should require students to figure out which knowledge and skills are needed in order to efficiently and effectively arrive at a solution Limit the amount of cues or prompts that are offered when framing the task. Establish evaluative criteria and performance standards that are appropriate to the task and known by the students in advance Students should have to engage in true problem solving when designing tasks and ideally those problems should be the same types of problems that experts encounter in order to make it authentic. In math classes, designing these types of tasks can be particularly difficult. Keep in mind that if students have to consider what approach is best to solve a problem, they are more performance based. It is impossible to build math assessments out of only exercises. With performance tasks, the focus shifts from just finding an answer, to the justification of the approach and solution. Math Exemplars are a good example of this type of work. Keep in mind that transfer is the flexible use of knowledge and skill in light of particular challenges. Transferability is understanding revealed. By limiting cues we are making the task more rigorous Understanding by Design Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe

Six Facets of Understanding UbD Facet Facet Description Facet 1: Explanation Sophisticated explanations and theories Facet 2: Interpretation Interpretations, narratives, and translations Facet 3: Application Use knowledge in new situations and contexts Facet 4: Perspective Critical and insightful points of view Facet 5: Empathy Ability to get inside another person's feelings Facet 6: Self-knowledge To know one's ignorance, prejudice, and understanding The six facets of understanding is a multi-faceted view of what makes up a mature understanding. When one truly understands he/she can explain, interpret, apply, understand various perspectives, demonstrate empathy, and be aware of his/her self knowledge. The first three facets represent kinds of performance (the do) and the last three represent the different types of insights one can have. The six facets of understanding are important when designing assessments because the bottom line is, when we truly understand, we can explain, interpret, apply, have perspective, empathize, and have self-knowledge McTighe and Wiggins Understanding By Design, 2005 Understanding by Design Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe

Key Implications of Facets Understanding is composed of all six facets The facets should permeate among all three stages of backward design The facets help us clarify the desired understandings, necessary assessment tasks and learning activities that will most likely advance student understanding Good design will make clear the idea that the learner must make sense out of what the teacher teaches Students learn to move beyond taking in what is covered to uncovering what lies beneath the surface of facts and to ponder their meaning Stress that understandings are not factual recall Facets help us to show our students that they have to do more than just take in knowledge like a sponge, they also make sense of their knowledge and be able to use it to solve problems. Constructivist approach—meaning can’t be taught, it must be fashioned by the learner coached by the teacher Understanding by Design Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe

GRASPS A tool used to design authentic performance tasks Each letter of GRASPS corresponds with a task element When using the prompts for each part of the acronym, it is not necessary to respond to all questions Consider creating at least one core performance task for assessing understanding in a major unit of study By framing performance tasks using GRASPS, you will provide clear performance targets as well as real-world relevance. This does not happen with tests or academic prompts. Understanding by Design Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe

GRASPS- A tool used to design authentic performance tasks. G- What is the Goal in the scenario? R- What is the Role? A- Who is the Audience? S- What is your Situation (context)? P- What is the Performance challenge? S- By what Standards will work be judged in the scenario? Here is what each letter in the acronym stands for. Provide participants with GRASPS handout It is not necessary to answer all questions in each piece, nor do you have to go in any particular order. Understanding by Design Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe

Performance Task Example Examine the task Compare the GRASPS tool with the written task to see how the tool was used to create the task Where do you see the Facets of Understanding embedded in the task? Provide participants with a few minutes to review task

Kaplan’s Frames of the Discipline Allow students to step into the role assigned to them by defining what the expert does Focus their understanding on the skills, language, and products of an expert in the field Sample Frame

Identifying Clear Criteria for Student Understanding Why do we need clear criteria? —  Address the fact that understanding within open-ended prompts and performance tasks is subjective —  Allow students to demonstrate varying degrees of understanding —  Allow for consistency in grading —  Highlight most revealing and important aspects of the work--not just those easy to see or score —  Let students know up front what is required to be successful —  Derive criteria from established goals (i.e. EU & EQs) Due to the subjective nature of performance tasks, evaluation of student work is based on judgment guided by criteria. Clear criteria helps us to identify the degree of understanding that each student demonstrates, which keeps the judgment based process fair and consistent Establishing criteria is addressed in a separate module and we highly encourage your to visit that module to support this important part of the process of designing authentic performance tasks. Most importantly, remember that assessments and criteria should come directly from your established goals from Stage 1. We don’t want to include criteria that is not one of our KUD’s. For example, a common piece of criteria on rubrics is neatness or creativity. If these things are not part of the KUD’s established in stage 1, they should not be a part of the rubric.

Resources Understanding by Design Professional Development Workbook by J. McTighe and G. Wiggins, 2004. Understanding by Design Expanded 2nd Edition by J. McTighe and G. Wiggins, 2005. Assessment in the classroom: the key to good instruction. by C. Callahan, 2006. The Case for Authentic Assessment by G. Wiggins, Eric Digests, 1990.

Performance Tasks Ticket-Out-of-the-Room Name: _____________________ Questions Comments, Suggestions, Ideas, & Questions In what ways did the content and activities of today’s workshop enhance your understanding of performance assessments? What questions do you have as a result of today’s workshop? Office of Gifted Education