Some Background Recently, I have been a part of many conversations with teacher teams expressing concern about over-assessing our students. At times, they feel as if the only thing they do is assess, without ever being able to actually teach. This is a valid concern and one that can be alleviated when we make use of careful planning. When we begin with the end in mind, we ensure that we are crystal clear about our destination, we recognize the value of the assessments along the way, and we share that destination and its sequence with our students.
Backwards Design Understanding by Design, a book written by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe, offers a framework for approaching instructional sequences in a “Backwards Design” format. The premise is simple: be clear about your desired results before jumping into the process of designing lessons. Teachers may, too often, be guilty of first planning lessons with a vague idea of the direction they are heading, rather than beginning by clarifying desired results, determining what they will accept as evidence, then planning the lessons. This idea is nicely illustrated below and further explained in an article titled “Understanding by Design” from The Center for Teaching.
Curriculum and Community A.J. Juliani recently wrote a post titled “Curriculum as Windows, Mirrors, and Sliding Doors,” where he expands on this idea by connecting it to the importance of keeping our community needs in mind when using curriculum. Specifically, Juliani writes, “Every school should have a different curriculum because every school community is different. This doesn’t mean that resources can’t be used across schools and communities, of course, they can. But, if we want to create a curriculum with a purpose, we must first define what the purpose is of the learning experiences we are crafting K-12.” If Juliani’s first statement in that quote didn’t have further explanation, I’d have a tough time agreeing with it, but I can definitely agree with the remainder of what he says: as we unpack our curriculums, we are obligated to align the resources provided with the community our students are a part of.
Backwards Design and the EL Education Curriculum In addition to making those community connections, we want to make sure that we understand the design of the curriculum that we are using. In the Fort Madison Community School District, we are utilizing the EL Education Language Arts curriculum in Kindergarten – 8th grade. This curriculum is “designed using the guiding principles of backward design,” as explained in EL Education’s book, Your Curriculum Companion. 
When teachers express (valid) concerns about over-assessing our students, I would challenge them to go back to the principles of backward design by looking at the assessments provided in the curriculum, in addition to centering planning around the Four T’s (Topic, Task, Targets, and Text) that are at the heart of every module. In grades K-8, there are four modules planned for the entire school year. Within those four modules, there are three units per module. In grades K-2, an assessment is provided at the end of each unit. In grades 3-8, a mid-unit and end-of-unit assessment are provided. If teacher teams commit to setting aside the time to evaluate each assessment before launching each module/unit, they are placing themselves and their students at a distinct advantage by knowing what is coming their way.
Deep Dive into Assessments The process might look like this: teacher teams set a date to come together to share their experience with each assessment. Before the collaboration event, each teacher would actually take the assessment themselves, making note of trouble spots – those items that they anticipate their class, or groups of students, may struggle with. When the team comes together to share their take-aways from the individual assessment evaluation, common themes will come to the surface with anticipated trouble spots, allowing the team to collaborate around ideas for necessary scaffolding. Teams may recognize items or sections of the assessment that need to be revised or eliminated if they do not align with the team’s agreed-upon priority standards. This process also gives teachers a birds-eye view of the assessment, highlighting those concepts that they want to be sure to spend time with in daily lessons.
A Visual: Sequence of Assessments In addition to the process described above, I would challenge teachers to provide a clear visual of the assessment sequence that will occur within each unit, each module, and across the entire year. This visual would include high stakes tests, such as regular screeners, given three times a year (FastBridge for grades K-8 in our district), and ISASP (Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress), given once a year. In referring to the visual assessment sequence, teachers would want to emphasize the opportunities for learning checks that each assessment provides, the connections between the curriculum and the high stakes tests, and the value of each.
Application Beyond the Classroom I have written about beginning with the end in mind around our Language Arts curriculum, but the concept applies to all subjects. Not only does it apply to all subjects, but it applies to many things we do in life. As a runner, I begin with the end in mind: I want to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Along the way, I have smaller goals: preparation for an occasional road race, a set number of miles per week, a set number of miles per day, a set pace for each mile. I check in on these goals (kinda’ like learning checks) by using digital tools: my Fitbit and MapMyRun.
Goal Setting and Struggles Making goals happen is not easy, as Justin Su’A explains in his book, Parent Pep Talks. In his chapter on explaining the 4th of 10 Mental Skills, (Teach Your Child to Aim High), Su’A reminds us that, “Making something happen requires time, tremendous effort, being uncomfortable, learning, growing, asking for help, and failing.” While teachers are ensuring that their students are aware of the assessment sequence that will occur in a given unit/module/school year, they would also be leading their students to a growth mindset, recognizing the struggles along the way, and how to walk away with the learning and growth that come from those struggles.
On a Personal Note I’m proud to say that my middle son, Owen Kruse, qualified for the Iowa High School State Wrestling Tournament, just yesterday. This qualification came as a result of 17-year-old, 126 pound Owen beginning the wrestling season with the end in mind. Owen’s end goal was qualifying for the state tournament, but he had smaller goals along the way. The season was filled with successes and failures, with plenty of struggle and determination along the way. Chuck Vandenberg, editor of our local news outlet Pen City Current , released an article last night summarizing the results of the qualifying district tournament. The following quotes from the article demonstrate the “begin with the end in mind” mentality, as well as dealing with successes and failures (those that came out of yesterday’s qualifying district tournament):
“Fort Madison senior Owen Kruse said getting back to Des Moines means everything to him.
Kruse was pinned by Class 3A No. 3 Grant O’Dell from Iowa City West in the title match at 126 lbs at Saturday’s Class 3A District 5 wrestling state qualifier at Iowa City West’s gym.
But Kruse wasn’t too bummed – this season had been about getting back to Wells Fargo Arena in February. He’ll join Gavin Wiseman who will be making his first trip after winning a wrestle back to take second place at 138 lbs.
Now he {Owen} said needs to go back to the practice room {this week} and fine tune some things. But the trip to Des Moines has been on his mind all year.
“It means everything to me to try and get back on the podium. I have a few liabilities on the bottom, but I need to go hard, keep up pressure and move my feet,” he said.
Owen vs Pella: District Meet