Presented at the IATEFL TEA SiG & ETAS Conference held at the World Cycling Centre in Aigle, Switzerland, October 28-29, 2016

1. Assess for Success
Understanding by Design in ELT
Sheri Henderson
Ras Al Khaimah Men’s College, UAE
IATEFLTEA SIG with ETAS inAigle, Switzerland
28-29 October 2016

3. Understanding by Design (1998)
GrantWiggins and Jay McTighe
With Jay McTighe,October 2015
Abu Dhabi Community School
1950 -26 May 2015

4. What is
Understanding
by Design?
A framework to improve
student achievement
➔ Aids student understanding
Knowledge, skills, abilities
➔ Authentic, performance-based
Guide students to the end goal
➔ Formative, reflective
Learning is an ongoing process
➔ Uses “Backward Planning”
Start with the end in mind

5. 3 STAGES OF BACKWARD DESIGN
Desired
Result
What students
will learn
Evidence
How they will
demonstrate
learning
Learning
Activities &
Instruction
Designed for
success
Understanding by Design, Ch.1:
https://www.fitnyc.edu/files/pdfs/Backward_design.pdf
Start with the end in mind

6. UbD: Essential Questions
What knowledge and skills will
students acquire?
What performance/product
constitutes evidence of this?
What activities, experiences and
lessons will lead to the desired results
and success?

7. Why
Understanding
by Design?
Teaching and learning for
understanding
➔ Clarifies expectations
For both teachers and learners; deeper
learning
➔ Rubrics
Tools – to guide and grade (formative,
summative, self/peer/teacher)
➔ Engages learners
Students take charge of their learning
➔ Assessment & Grading
Transparency = fewer grade complaints

8. UbD
because…
The primary purpose of
assessment is
to improve student learning.
Assessment for the purpose
of improving student
learning is seen as both
“assessment for learning”
and “assessment as
learning”.
– Ontario Ministry of Education, Growing Success, p. 28

9. Think like an
Assessor
Design the assessment first,
then plan the path to success!
- Jay McTighe, October 2015

10. How
does UbD
work?
Start with the end in mind
➔ Desired Result
What must students do/learn/produce?
➔ Evidence
How will learners demonstrate their level
of understanding?
➔ Learning & instructional
activities
What experiences and learning tasks will
support student achievement of the
desired result?

11. Bulletin Board Task
Desired Result: Bulletin Board
Evidence: Criteria on rubric
Learning plan:
• Examine communicative purpose of bulletin
boards; conventions
• Identify topic/purpose/audience
• Start with individual slide task (formative)
• Design/display/present slides
• Self-select groups for bulletin board
• Research topic
• Design/display/present work

12. FormativeTask:
Design slide to recommend a
useful study tool, app or
website; display on college
televisions
Briefly
share work

13. “… students need multiple opportunities
to be tested on the same information.
A formative assessment does not look
backwards…it focuses on the present of
where the student is right now, it looks to
the future.”
- Grant Wiggins
Why bother with formative assessment?

15. Rubrics
• are NOT for every task!
• take time, and save time
• measure student performance against identified criteria
• make learners accountable – can reduce plagiarism
• used to guide and grade
• reduce grade complaints

16. Whether holistic or analytic, rubrics need:
Criteria
what students must do, produce, learn
(usually 4-6)
Levels of Achievement
how well they
achieve/perform/demonstrate learning
(usually 4)
Assessment
Criteria
Performance Levels*
A B C D and below
Exemplary Proficient Developing Beginning
Exceeding
Expectations
Meets
Expectations
Approaching
Expectations
Below
Expectations
*Organization will vary

17. Understanding
by Design in
ELT
Supports learners
➔ Identifies required skills
What do I need to do?
➔ Explains performance
expectations
How can I demonstrate what I know?
➔ Reflective
Better teaching, better learning
➔ Stresses continuous
improvement
Practise, practise, play the game!

18. Teach the terms
Teach the process
Watch learners flourish
Understanding by Design in ELT

19. WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING
What activities,
experiences and
lessons will lead to
the desired results
and success?
What knowledge
and skills will
students acquire?
What product
constitutes
evidence of this
learning?
To design for understanding, ask:

20. Assessment Resources
 Growing Success. (2010). Ontario Ministry of Education. p. 28
Retrieved from
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/policyfunding/growSuccess.pdf
 Secondary ESL/ELD (2007). Ontario Ministry of Education. pp. 36-37.
Retrieved from
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/secondary/esl912currb.pdf

21. UbD & Rubric Resources
 Jay McTighe & Associates – Resources http://jaymctighe.com/resources/websites/
 Authentic Assessment Toolbox by Jon Mueller. http://jfmueller.faculty.noctrl.edu/toolbox/
 Essential Learning Outcomes, from AACU. http://www.aacu.org/leap/essential-learning-
outcomes
 Edutopia. http://www.edutopia.org/blogs/tag/rubrics
And the BEST site to find a rubric for anything:
Kathy Schrock’s Guide to Everything. Assessment and Rubrics
http://www.schrockguide.net/assessment-and-rubrics.html

22. Rubric Resources for Higher Education
 Could Rubric-Based Grading Be the Assessment of the Future? By Katrina Schwartz in MindShift.
Retrieved from https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2015/10/14/could-rubric-based-grading-be-the-
assessment-of-the-future/
 Carnegie Mellon University https://www.cmu.edu/teaching/designteach/teach/rubrics.html
 Centre forTeaching and Learning, Humber College.
http://www.humber.ca/centreforteachingandlearning/instructional-strategies/teaching-
methods/course-development-tools/creating-assignment-rubrics.html
 Cornell University, Center forTeaching Excellence. https://www.cte.cornell.edu/teaching-
ideas/assessing-student-learning/using-rubrics.html
 VALUE Rubrics from Association of American Colleges and Universities.
https://www.aacu.org/value-rubrics
 VALUE Rubrics at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.
http://www.mcla.edu/Academics/assessment/atmcla/VALUE-rubrics/index

23. Assess for Success
Understanding by Design in ELT
Sheri Henderson – sheri.henderson@hct.ac.ae
IATEFLTEA SIG with ETAS inAigle, Switzerland
28-29 October 2016