1. Identifying Outcomes and Indicators
• What learner outcome(s)/content standard(s) will be assessed through this task?
• What are observable and measurable indicators or each?
What are outcomes and indicators and how do they relate to Scope and Sequence?
Learner outcomes or expectancies are long-range goals that a teacher would assess on a longitudinal or summative basis. For example, one of the Maryland School Performance Assessment Program (MSPAP) expectancies for Social Studies is that students will be able to demonstrate an ability to gather information, think critically, and solve problems. This expectancy can only be measured over a period of time in which students are instructed and assessed on a variety of methods for demonstrating this set of skills and processes.
Learning indicators, on the other hand, are more activity and task specific, that is, they an be assessed through the performance task. An indicator under the umbrella of the skills and processes expectancy described above is that students will be able to use print and non-print sources of information to acquire and use information necessary to make decisions. A student's competency and level of mastery of this indicator is more specific to the set of skills that would be measured by this task.
Expectancies and indicators are articulated within a Scope and Sequence of skills and competencies as articulated by the school system. The Scope and Sequence specifies the indicators that students must master at a particular grade level and by subject area. When planning lessons, units, and performance tasks, the Scope and Sequence serves as a road map for teachers to determine from which indicators they may select to plan.
What is the difference between indicators and objectives?
While indicators describe what students will be able to know and do in a performance task, they may not necessarily be specific enough for a teacher or student to be able to assess a given lesson or activity within the broader task. Therefore, as part of the planning process, teachers may have to articulate more specific learning objectives do help students understand how they will be assessed both formatively and summatively on a daily basis. A daily objective is observable, measurable, and specific. For example, a daily objective from the above indicator might be that students will be able to use the internet to find at least three reasons Northern United States citizens in the mid 19th century were opposed to the slavery.
How are outcomes and indicators used in developing tasks?
As stated in the answers above, outcomes/expectancies are used to determine the overall knowledge and skill targets for students over a long period of time while indicators set the learning targets to be accomplished within a given task. These indicators help teachers to specifically identify the necessary skills and competencies before the task is developed. By framing task activities around these indicators, teachers can be sure to align these activities appropriately with that which is measured by the task. Additionally, as activities are constructed, the indicators give teachers targets toward which activities all build. In the example above, where students are will be assessed on their ability to gather information to make decisions, activities and lessons would build these skills. Specifically, students might be involved in the following activities:
• instruction and practice in using the internet to gather information;
• analysis of historical documents, with accompanying instruction on how to analyze text to distinguish point of view and biases; and
• writing a letter to the editor of the Gettysburg Gazette from the point of view of a northern sympathizer during the Civil War.
Just as these indicators are used to develop the task activities, they are the backbone of the assessments used throughout the task. Formative assessments for the task activities might therefore measure students' understanding of key concepts related to the task's indicators. These assessments may also measure key skills and processes needed in order to master the indicators. For example, for the indicator described above, skills and understandings measured formatively might include: (1) an understanding of how the internet can be used to locate information; (2) ability to use a search engine on the internet; (3) ability to locate key information from text that denoted biases within the work; or (4) an understanding of how opinions, facts, and events contribute to the decision-making process.
2. Creating a Meaningful Task Context
• What is a meaningful context for engaging students in this task?
• What real issues, problems, themes, and student interests can help determine this context?
To capture students' attention and to engage them in the learning process, their learning must have meaning beyond the activity or task. Task activities and assessments must be geared around authentic, real-world experiences. Meaningful themes established throughout the task will help students to build a greater understanding of the content and skills developed through the task.
How is a meaningful context established?
Think about the students in your classroom. Think of their interests, goals, experiences, and hobbies. Think of the skills they will need to develop in progression toward the stated outcomes and indicators. Now, connect the two thoughts. A meaningful context helps to bridge students' prior knowledge and interests with essential skills and competencies. For example, students may have an interest in basketball and in socializing with friends at a local park that is targeted for destruction in order to build a new parking lot. Essential skills may include developing a persuasive argument and presenting it in written and oral form. These two ideas can be bridged into a meaningful context where students would develop the skills needed to present an argument for saving the local park.
What are some options in determining a meaningful context?
3. Identifying Products and Performances
• What student product(s) and/or performances will provide evidence of student attainment of outcomes?
• Will students have a choice regarding products and/or performances?
The activities within a performance assessment task serve as instructional exercises and as assessments of student progresses toward the stated outcome/indicators.
What considerations should be made in determining the products and performances of task activities?
Once the theme or meaningful context has been established (see Step 2), teachers should begin to develop the task activities. Within these activities students will complete a product or performance based upon the task's learning indicator(s). While these activities may include products and performances, teachers should be sure to plan for additional instruction as necessary to assist students in completing the activity satisfactorily. For example, if students were asked to make a presentation on the amount of rainfall over the past ten months, and as part of that presentation students would need to include a graph and illustrations of rainfall measurements for different regions, instruction would need to include, but not be limited to: (1) use, analysis, and construction of graphs for displaying data; (2) gathering information on rainfall and other weather data; and (3) understandings of geographic regions, biomes, and weather patterns.
Activities and performances within a task may lead to a culminating activity or meaningful use task. This final task activity serves as a summative measure of students' understandings, abilities, and competencies as they relate to the task outcomes and indicators. The final task is specifically related to the theme or meaningful context for the task and may be a way to tie together the separate skills from various activities within the performance task.
In designing the task activities, teachers should consider the following:
What is the purpose for the task/activity? What will students need to do?
• persuade
• make decisions
• defend a position
• entertain
• design
• conduct an experiment
• explain
• solve a problem
Who is the audience for their performance?
• other students
• elected officials
• a newspaper editor
• school board members
• parents/relatives
What kinds of authentic products and performances will students be asked to do?
Written Performance Visual
• book review
• editorial
• letter
• magazine article
• poem
• play
• research report
• information web page
• interview
• oral report
• play
• song/rap
• teach a lesson
• cartoon
• display
• model
• poster
• videotape
• web page
4. Considering Options in Task Design
• To what extent will the task allow for student choice?
• To what extent will students need to acquire outside resources
• Will students work on the task individually and/or in pairs/groups?
• To whom will students present their products and performances?
• How long will students be involved in this task?
• Who will be involved in evaluating student products and performances?
• How will assessment results be reported?
Performance assessment tasks serve to supplement and reinforce existing curriculum. The questions articulated above provide teachers with several questions to consider as tasks are designed. In addition, the following may be considered:
For how long should students be involved in a performance task?
While there is no specified time limit or minimal time specifications, teachers should examine their curriculum to see where and how long would be appropriate to engage students in a performance tasks. Some tasks may be more limited in scope and last for one class period, while others may have interdisciplinary connections or extended projects which may last for weeks.
As constructing and implementing performance tasks takes time, particularly in the beginning, teachers may want to start small, i.e., start by developing s short task focusing on a limited number of indicators that can be completed in a day or two. As more tasks are developed, the teacher's proficiency and comfort level will be increased and the teacher may wish to extend the time and scope of the next task.
When and how should tasks be designed with interdisciplinary connections?
There are times when two or more curricular areas lend themselves well to integrated tasks. When a social studies unit can be enhanced by involving students with a piece of literature or when problem solving involves both mathematics and science, for example, then teachers would serve their students well by drawing the critical connections between the content areas. However, when teachers force connections in order to involve as many teachers as possible, they may do more harm than good by delivering inconsistent instruction.
Just as curriculum guides and Scope and Sequence guides are used to help plan instructional and assessment tasks, so too must they be used to see where appropriate interdisciplinary connections may be made. If connections will help to strengthen, reinforce, or extend students' understandings and abilities, then an interdisciplinary connection may be warranted. If however, there is uncertainty or if you have to search beyond the scope of the curriculum, then perhaps there is no connection.
Once the decision is made to connect two content areas within the scope of a single task, the teachers involved would establish some guidelines for constructing the task. These guidelines may include: defining the theme or meaningful context; determining the connections and how they are evidenced in the culminating task; and deciding how activities would be completed within each content area/discipline. In addition, teachers involved would make assessment decisions, including how results would be reported and by whom would tasks be reviewed or assessed.
Another connection that teachers of other disciplines/content areas may wish to explore beyond content connections is that of skill reinforcement. Tasks may be designed to teach and assess a set of skills, such as comparison or abstract reasoning. Teachers may agree on the skill(s) to be addressed in the task and address the skills as appropriate for their content area. The graphic organizers and general process may be similar for all areas, yet the content and how the skills are used in conjunction with the content will vary.
5. Planning Task Activities
• What activities will be included in the task?
• Which of these activities will be scored?
• Which indicator(s) will be assessed through each activity?
• In designing the task activities, be sure he scored components elicit student responses that correspond to the identified indicators. Additionally, non-scored components should be supportive of those that are scored. The following template may be helpful for designing task activities:
Theme/Meaningful Context:
Activity # Time: Scored? ___YES __NO
Indicator(s):
Purpose: Audience:
Activity Description: Materials and Other Considerations:
6. Identifying Evaluative Criteria
• What criteria, related to identified outcomes/standards and indicators, will be used to evaluate student products and performances?
• Do these criteria reflect the most valued elements of student performance?
Criteria for evaluating performance tasks are established using the indicators for the assessed activity(ies).
How are criteria established?
Using these indicators, proficiency levels can be established to determine the extent to which students have mastered the skills or understandings. For each set of skills or understandings, scoring tools can be developed to measure the degree of proficiency for each area. Differences in these degrees are described below.
These degrees can be used in scoring tools to assess the achievement of students on a given task.
7. Generating an Exemplary Response
• What would an exemplary response(s) to this activity/task be? What are the key characteristics of such a response(s)?
• Does your exemplary response clearly relate to the outcome(s) and indicator(s) that you wish to assess?
Providing students with models of excellence will help them to see what is expected of them. What follows is a list of suggestions for preparing exemplary responses:
• Be sure the responses you provide measure up to the criteria set in the scoring tools.
• Present exemplars along side the accompanying scoring tools to show students how the two align
• Present exemplars and scoring tools when the task is first assigned.
• In addition to exemplary responses you may have written or constructed, present exemplary student work as well.
• Be sure to provide a variety of responses to the same activity. Let students know there is more than one correct way to respond.
