Focus on Performance TasksHenry Street School

Allison Zmuda, FacilitatorZmuda@competentclassroom.com

Definition of Performance Task

• A performance task is every student’s opportunity to produce evidence of learning through strategic application (make informed, thoughtful choices before, during, and after) to solve relevant problems, make sense of situations, and/or pursue curiosities (student-driven questions for research, analysis, communication and reflection).

Theory of Action• IF staff design rigorous forms of accountability that

require student to think creatively and innovatively, test their own assumptions (i.e. perspectives, solutions, interpretations, experiments, performances), and are transparent in terms of how we assess (performance outcomes for college readiness and global competence), give feedback, and provide opportunities for revision

• THEN students will see the relevance of what they are asked to do and have a growth mindset about their work so that they can take ownership of their learning (through student choice, revision, and public exhibition).

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Transfer

• Apply prior learning to a novel and increasingly new and unfamiliar-looking task or an increasingly challenging context and situation.

• Autonomous, independent ability.

• Judge, act, self-assess, self adjust.

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Meaning Making• A big idea that

helps...– make sense of

experiences, data, or facts;

– identify the gist, point, purpose, significance of the big idea; and

– draw appropriate but not obvious inferences.

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Acquisition

•Learn with accurate and timely recall, important facts and discrete skills.

•Goal is automaticity of recall when needed in performance.

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Transfer

• “We want understanding by design as opposed to understanding by good fortune. That is, we don’t want to just throw content and activities at the wall and hope some of it sticks. We need to think of unit design work as the intellectual equivalent of a GPS device in our car: by identifying a specific learning destination first, we are able to see the instructional path most likely to get us there.” Wiggins and McTighe

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Hallmarks of TransferRequire application of understanding, knowledge and skillAbility to think strategically, make judgments, draw conclusionsMust do it on their own

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Key questions to drive the design

What would real use of the content look like?What should students ultimately be able to say

and do with content if they get it?

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MeaningUnderstanding — a theory, the result of inference, the developing and testing of ideas by the learnerEssential Question — active search, the pursuit of patterns, connections, and strategies when faced with novel challenges

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Design Standards for Enduring Understandings

Big ideas at the heart of the disciplineRequires “uncoverage” Lasting value beyond the classroomLanguage that is measurable

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Sample enduring understandings• Art• The context in which a piece is created impacts the audience’s

perception of the piece.• Experience and opportunities provide inspiration for further

pursuits.

• FACS• Pursuing a career path requires structured long-term planning and

willingness to deviate from those plans to take risks.• You are judged by the rules you follow and the rules you break.

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Sample enduring understandings• Computers/Business Education• A good planner knows why and when to make

adjustments.• Success and failures are measured in every area of

business.• Audience and purpose influence the choice, use and

presentation of language.• Satisfying a customer at any cost is not always good for

business.

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Sample enduring understandings• Social Studies• A union is only as strong as its citizens belief in it and each other.• The government structure reflects the amount of faith the leaders

have in its people.• We have become more democratic over time.

• English• Youth cannot always know what is right because of inexperience. • You are judged by the rules you follow and the rules you break.

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Understandings vs. Factual Knowledge

Understandings Factual Knowledge

-Reflect big ideas in the form of powerful generalizations-Transferrable across situations, places and times-Must be “earned” through processes of inquiry, inference and rethinking-Assessed through performance tasks

-Consists of facts and basic concepts-Facts do not transfer-Can be learned in rote fashion-Can be assessed using test or quiz items that have a “right” or “wrong” answer

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Design Standards for Essential Questions

Align with enduring understandingsSpark meaningful connections (in the mind of the student)Provoke genuine inquiryEncourage transfer

ASCD SF 2011; Zmuda and Herold

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Why do we need essential questions?• “Intelligence cannot develop without

matter to think about. Making new connections depends on knowing about something in the first place to provide a basis for thinking of other things to do – of other questions to ask – that demand more complex connections in order to make sense. The more ideas about something people already have at their disposal, the more new ideas occur and the more they can coordinate to build up more complicated schemes.”

• Duckworth, The Having of Wonderful Ideas

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Sample Essential QuestionsTo what extent are we shaped by, and to what

degree do we shape, our own brains?

What is the author trying to tell me? How do I support my thinking?

How do groups/ communities shape who I am?

How do I know if a source is valid and reliable? How do I make sense of contradictions?

Where have I seen this before? How can I use this?

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Acquisition

Declarative and procedural knowledge that are at the heart of the unit or course

Focuses on what you explicitly intend to assess and teach

Aligns with state/national standards

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Design Standards for Knowledge and Skills

• What students should knowAppropriate given the unit focus, assessments,

and time allottedSuccinctly stated

• What students should be able to doAppropriate given the unit focus, assessments,

and time allottedChoice of verb indicates performance

expectation

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Factual knowledgeincludes... - vocabulary/ terminology- definitions - key factual information- critical details- important events and people- sequence/timeline

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Skillsincludes... - basic skills - e.g., decoding, drawing- communication skills - e.g., listening, speaking, writing- research/inquiry/ investigation skills- thinking skills - e.g., comparing, problem solving, decision making- study skills - e.g., note taking- - interpersonal, group skills

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