Learning Model Continuum

Understanding by Design

Design is Focused on Key Understandings

Teacher has a general understanding of curricular outcomes and uses them to deliver instruction.

Teacher has a clear understanding of curricular outcomes and sometimes connects them to a central idea, question, problem or project.

The inquiry study originates with the program of studies but the design is organized around a central idea or core concept and requires that students make connections between existing and new ideas.

The inquiry study emanates from a question, problem, issue or exploration that has meaning to the students and has significant influence in determining the scope of the study.

The teacher has an exceptional understanding of the disciplinary core concepts and connections, and curricular outcomes. Designs inquiry study around learning tasks that focus student inquiry on issues, questions and problems central to the discipline, connected to students lives and connected to the world outside of school. Students help to generate essential questions and assessment criteria, revisit them throughout the study and receive ongoing, specific feedback from a variety of sources and therefore are able to monitor and direct their own learning and produce proof of learning.

Essential Questions Drive the Work

Teacher selects activities that emphasize subject matter acquisition. Learning and assessment is teacher directed.

Teacher designs learning activities that are organized around subject matter. For some assignments students are provided with assessment criteria to improve their work.

Teacher utilizes essential questions, students interests and ongoing assessment of student progress to direct learning, establish learning goals and collect proof of learning. Students are provided with opportunities to reflect on their learning. The study is structured around ways of thinking that are central to

Students utilize essential questions, assessment criteria and feedback while learning and therefore are able to help monitor their learning as it progresses, help establish learning goals and make informed choices regarding proof of learning.

Work is Authentic

The work students undertake requires them to

The students are provided with a menu of approaches in order to

The work students undertake requires them to engage in

The work students undertake requires them to engage in productive collaboration with

acquire and recall static, inert facts. The work has little connection to the world outside the classroom.

meet specific learner outcomes. The work has some connection to the world outside of the classroom.

the discipline. Adults outside the school are intrigued by the task/s and can find ways to contribute to it.

productive collaboration with each other and other experts around matters that are central to the discipline and the broader community outside of school.

each other and other experts around real problems, issues, questions or ideas that are of real concern and central to the discipline, to the students and to the broader community outside of school.

Universal Design for Learning

Multiple Means of Representation

Students are expected to learn primarily from lectures and text based materials.

Students are provided with traditional learning experiences supplemented with some visuals, guest speakers, field trips and videos.

Students are provided with multiple formats and media that honor a wide range of learning preferences and styles.

Students are provided with any time any place, any path, any place access to a variety of means of representation that honor visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning styles. The teacher actively facilitates students ability to practice and demonstrate learning by offering a choice of activity formats and media that effectively separate the desired outcome from the means to attain it to ensure that the report card mark is a reflection of the students understanding.

Students are empowered to seek out, create, share and utilize technology to access formats and media that match their specific learner profile.

Multiple Means of Expression

For most learning outcomes students are required to practice and demonstrate their understandin g in a single mode fixed assessment (i.e. textbased test, paragraph, essay).

In the course of a unit of study students are provided with the opportunity to practice and demonstrate their understanding in one or more different media (oral report, visual, video, etc.) however a single mode fixed assessment is the primary component of the report card mark.

In the course of a unit of study students are provided with the opportunity to practice and demonstrate their understanding in several learning tasks that feature different media (oral report, essay, visual, video, etc.). The teachers use all of these learning tasks to formulate the report card mark.

The teacher empowers students to take understand and advocate for opportunities to practice and demonstrate learning in a format and media that they can most effectively demonstrate their understanding.Th e assessment practice is focused solely on the desired outcome not the means to demonstrate it.

Meets the Needs of Diverse Learners

Students are required to complete one size fits all activities without scaffolding to support their individual success.

Students with identified learning needs are provided with appropriate scaffolds to support them in being successful with traditional materials and methods.

Teacher utilizes media and tools to remove barriers inherent in materials and methods.

Teacher utilizes media and tools to remove barriers inherent in materials and methods in light of particular learning goals and students learning profiles.

Students are in a state of flow as performance criterion and scaffolds and supports are individualized to ensures that each student faces the ideal challenge.

Balanced Assessment

Assessment Practices Improve Student Learning and Guide Teaching

Assessment is exclusively summative (i.e. tests or assignments after learning has occurred).

Assessment is primarily summative informed by some formative (i.e., assessment activities built into the learning process) data.

Assessment is both summative and formative.

Students are provided with a variety of formative assessments for key learning outcomes before completing a summative assessment. The teacher uses formative assessments to improve learning and inform instructional decisions.

Assessment is integral to the learning and woven into the day-to- day fabric of teaching and learning.

The teacher is unaware of ways to use formative assessment to improve learning or to inform teaching practices.

The teacher occasionally uses a formative assessment instrument to improve learning and guide planning decisions. Assessment of learning is organized around assessment methods and therefore provides a general picture of student learning and competencies.

The teacher uses a limited number of formative assessments to improve learning and inform instructional decisions.

The teacher uses a wide range of ongoing formative assessments to inform instructional decisions and improve practice.

Assessment of learning provides a limited and biased picture of student learning.

Assessment of learning is organized around learning outcomes not assessment methods (i.e. assignments, quizzes, tests) and clearly communicates student performance relative to the curriculum.

Assessment of learning provides an accurate, defensible picture of student learning and competencies

Assessment of learning provides an accurate, comprehensive, defensible picture of student learning and competencies at the time the grade is awarded.

Teacher relies on one source of assessment data that appears primarily in the form of pencil and paper tests that emphasize recall.

Teacher uses a limited number of sources as assessment data that includes tests, paper and pencil artifacts and the occasional technology presentation.

Teacher uses a variety of assessment data from observations, conversations and products, however emphasis in summative assessment is placed on products.

Teacher uses a variety of assessment data from observations, conversations and artifacts that include a wide range of learning proofs including written assignments, student reflections, portfolios, digital images of student work, audio and video recordings.

Teacher and student work together to determine and gather a variety of assessment data from observations, conversations and artifacts that include a rich variety of learning proofs including written assignments, student reflections, portfolios, digital images of student work, audio and video recordings. Assessment criteria are collaboratively designed with students and mediated by or added to by experts or expertise within the discipline to reflect authentic real world standards for high quality work.

Clear Criteria are Established

Assessment criteria are shared after the work has been graded.

Assessment criteria are developed by the teacher and shared with students before the work begins however the criteria is vague or not in language accessible to the students.

Assessment criteria are developed by the teacher and fully explained to and understood by the students before the work begins.

Assessment criteria are collaboratively designed with students to ensure that everyone has input and understands the learning expectations.