What it means for you: Align your curriculum with the Common Core Standards using UbD Grant Wiggins 2012 1 2 Big ideas 2
Big idea #1 READ CLOSELY: The Standards are complex texts. Like all texts, they need close reading and careful analysis. 3 Big idea #2 The standards need to be translated into operational terms, with a focus on complex outcomes - understanding. 3 approaches discussed today inside out matrix sideways 4
Big Idea #1 Close reading of the document required Like the Bill of Rights or building code 5 Close reading The job of everyone is a close reading and considered judgment about the meaning of the text for curriculum, instruction & assessment. 6
Standards as a text, staff as good readers! Key questions in reading: What problems are the Standards trying to solve? What is implied by the hierarchy (i.e. Standard and sub-standards)? What does the hierarchy hide? What s the role of introductory and ancillary material? 7 Standards as a text, staff as good readers! ELA: What is implied by anchor standards vs. grade by grade standards? MATH: What s the role of the math practice standards? How are the content and practice standards to be handled together? 8
Standards as a text, staff as good readers! These Standards do not dictate curriculum or teaching methods. For example, just because topic A appears before topic B in the standards for a given grade, it does not necessarily mean that topic A must be taught before topic B. A teacher might prefer to teach topic B before topic A, or might choose to highlight connections by teaching topic A and topic B at the same time. Or, a teacher might prefer to teach a topic of his or her own choosing that leads, as a byproduct, to students reaching the standards for topics A and B. 9 Curriculum = blueprint, not a plan for meeting code 10
Backward Design from goals, not code NOT: what has to be covered? RATHER: What do you want them to be able to realize & do with content to be covered? 11 Mission: Critical Thinking C Core S S in ELA & Math on Argument Assessment of ability to argue Best practice in argument Best Practice in unit design Course 1 Course 2 Course 3 Course 4 unit 1 unit 2 unit 3 unit 4 Unit 4 unit 1 unit 2 unit 3 unit 4 unit Unit 5 6 unit 1 unit 2 unit 3 unit 4 unit 5 unit 2 unit unit 1 2 unit 3 unit 4 Unit 7 12
From Ontario English Standards the over- all expectations outline standard sets of knowledge and skills They encompass the types of understanding, skills, approaches, and processes that are applied by effective communicators of all ages and levels of development, and are therefore described in constant terms from grade to grade. 13 14
From KS standards website Unpacking often results in a checklist of discrete skills and a fostering of skill-and-drill instruction that can fragment and isolate student learning in such a way that conceptual understanding, higher order thinking, cohesion, and synergy are made more difficult 15 From KS standards website Although this process may be important work in some instances and can certainly be enlightening, it also poses substantial problems if those completing the work never take the time to examine the synergy that can be created when those foundational or prerequisite skills are reassembled into a cohesive whole. Metaphorically speaking, "unpacking" often leads educators to concentrate on the trees at the expense of the forest. 16
Close reading: key ELA info in Appendices Sample Text Difficulty Appendix A Sample Tasks & Anchors in Appendix B 17 Common Core ELA Close ing Text Complexity per grade level, Appendix 2 The following text samples primarily serve to exemplify the level of complexity and quality that the Standards require all students in a given grade band to engage with. ELA Common Core performance standards = Appendix B Sample Tasks The text exemplars are supplemented by brief performance tasks that further clarify the meaning of the Standards. Appendix B, p. 2 18
Math: Focus on big ideas These Standards endeavor to follow a [spiral] design, not only by stressing conceptual understanding of key ideas, but also by continually returning to organizing principles such as place value or the properties of operations to structure those ideas. 19 Math Practice Standards The Standards for Mathematical Practice describe varieties of expertise that mathematics educators at all levels should seek to develop in their students. 1. Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them. 2. Reason abstractly and quantitatively. 3. Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others. 4. Model with mathematics 20
Standards as a text, staff as good readers! The Standards for Mathematical Practice describe ways in which developing student practitioners of the discipline of mathematics increasingly ought to engage with the subject matter as they grow in mathematical maturity and expertise throughout the elementary, middle and high school years. Designers of curricula, assessments, and professional development should all attend to the need to connect the mathematical practices to mathematical content in mathematics instruction. 21 Standards as a text, staff as good readers! Note that with ALL Standards, at least 3 different types of Standards are at stake: Content standards: the discrete facts, skills & concepts to be mastered Process standards: complex skills to be mastered Performance standards: complex and rigorous use of content & process together 22
CC Standards add a third type of Standard Content standards What discrete elements must be learned? Process standards What complex processes must be learned and used with content? Performance standards? What complex uses of the elements (types of performance), to what level of and independence of performance (rigor) is good enough? How does developmental competency occur over time (learning progressions)? 23 Math progress What students can learn at any particular grade level depends upon what they have learned before. Ideally then, each standard in this document might have been phrased in the form, Students who already know... should next come to learn... But at present this approach is unrealistic not least because existing education research cannot specify all such learning pathways http://math.arizona.edu/~ime/progressions/ 24
Independence as aim: ELA They demonstrate independence. Students can, without significant scaffolding, comprehend and evaluate complex texts across a range of types and disciplines, and they can construct effective arguments and convey intricate or multifaceted information. Likewise, students are able independently to discern a speaker s key points, request clarification, and ask relevant questions. They build on others ideas, articulate their own ideas, and confirm they have been understood. Without prompting, they demonstrate command of standard English and acquire and use a wide-ranging vocabulary. More broadly, they become self-directed learners, effectively seeking out and using resources to assist them, including teachers, peers, and print and digital reference materials. 25 Independence as aim: MATH Mathematically proficient students can apply the mathematics they know to solve problems arising in everyday life, society, and the workplace.... Mathematically proficient students who can apply what they know are comfortable making assumptions and approximations to simplify a complicated situation, realizing that these may need revision later They routinely interpret their mathematical results in the context of the situation and reflect on whether the results make sense, possibly improving the model if it has not served its purpose. 26
Make the key implicit idea of AUTONOMY explicit The Standard really means: Students can, on their own, (i.e. without teacher reminders and simplifying scaffold), do what the Standard says. 27 Modeling example Mathematically proficient students can ON THEIR OWN, WITHOUT REMINDERS apply the mathematics they know to solve problems arising in everyday life, society, and the workplace.... They routinely ON THEIR OWN, WITHOUT SCAFFOLD OR OTHER CUES & HINTS interpret their mathematical results in the context of the situation and reflect on whether the results make sense, possibly improving the model if it has not served its purpose. 28
Use a rubric for degree of autonomy in local assessment 1. Did with no teacher assistance 2. Required only 1-2 quick reminders 3. Required some direction, hints, and reminders 4. Required significant teacher assistance: scaffolded prompting, directions, reminders 5. Even with considerable teacher assistance, could not complete task 29 Big Idea #2 3 approaches Rigor in the assessment is key! 30
3 Ways to translate the Standards Inside Out language of standards Matrix mesh content & process, derive implications Sideways analyze via UbD Template 31 Inside Out Look at the language and syntax of the top standards Pay close attention to the language of outcomes the verbs: what performance should result, not what should Grant Wiggins be 2012 taught 32
Inside Out Tip #1: verbs Look closely at all the key verbs in the document and determine their meaning: Students who can meet the Standard are able to do - what - as stated and implied by the verb(s)? 33 Tip #2: Nouns Look closely at all the key nouns in the document and treat them as concepts: what ideas should frame learning, be investigated, and recur in increasingly sophisticated ways, as part of learning and assessment? 34
Tip #3: Look at key qualifiers Look at the qualifying adverbs or adjectives: they will typically be the key criteria, to be turned into rubrics. By what criteria should performance against Standards be assessed? 35 C. C. ELA example 1. Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence. 36
Example (color coded) 1. Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence. 37 Math Example 3. Solve multi-step real-life and mathematical problems posed with positive and negative rational numbers in any form (whole numbers, fractions, and decimals), using tools strategically. Apply properties of operations to calculate with numbers in any form; convert between forms as appropriate; and assess the reasonableness of answers using mental computation and estimation strategies. 38
Math Example 3. Solve multi-step real-life and mathematical problems posed with positive and negative rational numbers in any form (whole numbers, fractions, and decimals), using tools strategically. Apply properties of operations to calculate with numbers in any form; convert between forms as appropriate; and assess the reasonableness of answers using mental computation and estimation strategies. 39 Trickier Math Example Understand ratio concepts and use ratio reasoning to solve problems. 1. Understand the concept of a ratio and use ratio language to describe a ratio relationship between two quantities. 2. Understand the concept of a unit rate. 3. Use ratio and rate reasoning to solve real-world and mathematical problems 40
Math Standards Note Expectations that begin with the word understand are often especially good opportunities to connect the practices to the content. 41 Math understanding These Standards define what students should understand and be able to do in their study of mathematics. Asking a student to understand something means asking a teacher to assess whether the student has understood it. But what does mathematical understanding look like? One hallmark of mathematical understanding is the ability to justify, in a way appropriate to the student s mathematical maturity, why a particular mathematical statement is true or where a mathematical rule comes from. 42
Tip #4: Hunt down & Audit Rigor You have to properly determine the rigor required of the verbs: The right kinds of tasks The right scoring of tasks You have to assess local assessment against the rigor expected by the Standards 43 Tip #4 is CRITICAL You are only truly standardsbased based on aligning with PERFORMANCE standards i.e. the rigor of tasks and scoring! Think: times in track, results in diving THINK: BLOOM or Lexile scores in reading; 44
Hidden problem of lack of rigor Consider the following test questions: What is 50% of 20? What is 67% of 81? Shawn got 7 correct answers out of 10 possible answers. What % did he get correct? JJ Redick was on pace to set an NCAA record in career free throw %. He had made 97 of 104; what was his %? In his first tournament game, Redick missed his first 5 free throws. How far did his free-throw % drop? 45 The challenge of rigor Though these questions differ tremendously in scope, difficulty, and design, all of them are aligned to the NJ state standard Understand and use ratios, proportions, and percents in a variety of situations The level of mastery that will be reached is determined entirely by what sort of questions students are expected to answer. from Bambrick-Santoyo, Driven by Data 46
That s why this distinction is critical! Note that with ALL Standards, at least 3 different types of Standards are at stake: Content standards: the discrete facts, skills & concepts to be mastered Process standards: complex skills when using content to be mastered Performance standards: complex and rigorous use of content & process together 47 Our rigor audit matrix 48
2nd Way to translate the Standards Inside Out language of standards Matrix mesh content & process, derive implications Sideways analyze via UbD Template 49 a matrix approach (cf. Tyler 1949) Standards for Practice Common Core Math Standards. Make Sense of Problems & Persevere Reason abstractly & quantitatively Construct viable arguments and critique those of others Model with Math Attend to Precision Represent and solve problems involving addition and subtraction. Understand place value. 50
Capacities of Literate Individual Common Core ELA Standards Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole. Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text. They demonstrate independence. a matrix to plan blends(tyler 1949) They respond to the varying demands of audience, task, purpose, and discipline They comprehend as well as critique. They value evidence. 51 Common Core ELA Standards My Personal Mission Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole. Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text. a matrix to plan blends(tyler 1949) Students love to read and increasingly read on their own. Students leave with greater confidence as readers Students are less literal in their reading. Students can make sense of difficult texts on their own. 52
Framing by EQs & Processes 53 3rd Way to translate the Standards Inside Out language of standards Matrix mesh content & process, derive implications Sideways analyze via UbD Template 54
55 56
Common Core ELA: Informational text Gr 8 6. Identify the main purpose of a text, including what the author wants to answer, explain, or describe. ing STAGE 1 Transfer Transfer 1. On your own, with any text, understand the purpose of any text, understand how the author has written to achieve that purpose, and determine to what extent that Meaning purpose has been achieved successfully. Essential Questions Understandings 1. What s the author s 1. A text presents a point? How do you purposeful, thus organized know? explanation, description, or 2. What does the author argument; it is not just facts provide to support the Acquisition and opinions thrown Knowledge point? Skill together. 1. Key words and phrases in the text 2. Key text features 1. Use techniques and text features for identifying the author s purpose 57 Common Core Math Standards Define, evaluate, and compare functions. 1. Understand that a function is a rule that assigns to each input exactly one output. The graph of a function is the set of ordered pairs consisting of an input and the corresponding output. Transfer Essential Questions MATH STAGE 1 Knowledge The graph of a function is the set of ordered pairs consisting of an input and the corresponding output. Definitions of function, ordered pairs, input, output Transfer Seek/find/analyze patterns, looking for functional relationships, and evaluate increasingly complex and unobvious math. relationships on your own, when needed, in solving real problems (i.e. unscaffolded and unprompted non-routine data and situations) What s the pattern here? Is there a functional relationship, and if so, how can it be represented? Meaning Understandings A function is a rule that assigns to each input exactly one output. Just because there are correlations doesn t mean there is a functional relationship Acquisition Skill Describe mathematically a graphed relationship: how are they related, and what does the graph show? Compare properties of two functions 58
59 bottom-line: You should highlight - Goals, not topics Outcomes, not activities Abilities, not content covered Priorities recurring and progressively better performance, not arbitrary chronology of coverage 60
Resources Available Free white paper at my blog: grantwiggins.wordpress.com 61 Resources Available The UbD Guide to Advanced Concepts Module I 62
Resources Available DVD & Online Course: UbD and Common Core Standards 63 Resources Available Contact me by email: gwiggins@authenticeducation.org 64