Unwrapping the Standards
August 2011
In a standards-based world:
Educators first clarify the standards to fully understand what students have to know and be able to do. They think Assessment first.
Then, they Plan to connect the assessment results to instruction,
Then, they Teach to the standards, beginning where the student is ready to learn.
Assess
Teach Pl
an
UNPACK the Standards!
But in order to to assess, plan and teach, to the standards, first educators must . . . .
Knowing the Structure…Unpacking the standards is a process districts employ to
“breathe life” into the standards in a way that gives educators, students and parents specific and clear directions about what to assess, plan and teach.
The First Step in Unpacking the Standards…
… is to organize the standards in a way that reveals hidden patterns within and among the standards.
Learning Progressions Extended Learning Progressions
Clarification Documents
Unpacking Process
Step 1—Code the Goal Step 2—Unwrap the Goal Step 3—Determine Big
Ideas Step 4—Develop
Essential Questions
Step 5—Identify Facts, Concepts, Skills
Step 1: Code the Goal Highlight or circle the Verbs (skills), Highlight or Underline the Nouns (facts and concepts)
Original Goal Coded Goal Unwrapped Goal Big Ideas Essential Questions
The learner will analyze the economic, political, and social reforms of the Progressive Period.
The learner will analyze the economic, political, and social reforms of the Progressive Period.
11th Grade U.S. History
Step 2: Unwrap the Goal Identify the concepts and skills found in
the goal to determine what students need to understand and do.
Organize or list the goals graphically in a way that makes them stand out in “high relief”.
This list will unwrap the various concepts as they relate to other concepts in the content area.
Step 2: Unwrap the Goal 11th Grade U.S. History
Original Goal Coded Goal Unwrapped Goal Big Ideas Essential Questions
The learner will analyze the economic, political, and social reforms of the Progressive Period.
The learner will analyze the economic, political, and social reforms of the Progressive Period.
The learner will analyze the economic reforms of the Progressive Period.
The learner will analyze the political reforms of the Progressive Period.
The learner will analyze the social reforms of the Progressive Period.
Step 3: Determine the Big Ideas
Attributes of Big Idea StatementsConceptual—goes beyond content to
inference; Cannot be justified with a yes/no response
Open-ended—allows for multiple perspectives; no one “right” answer
Enduring—a “timeless” idea that may apply to other fields of learning
modified from Ainsworth, “Unwrapping” Essential Standards, 2003.
Step 3: Determine the Big Ideas
Filtering questions: Will this Big Idea apply to more than
one content area of learning? Will this Big Idea apply to more than
one grade in school? Will this Big Idea endure? Will it be as
important in the future as it is now? Will this Big Idea be one that students
remember long after instruction ends?
Larry Ainsworth, “Unwrapping” the Standards, 2003.
Step 3: Determine the Big Ideas
Original Goal Coded Goal Unpacked Goal Big Ideas Essential Questions
The learner will analyze the economic, political, and social reforms of the Progressive Period.
The learner will analyze the economic, political, and social reforms of the Progressive Period.
The learner will analyze the economic reforms of the Progressive Period.
The learner will analyze the political reforms of the Progressive Period.
The learner will analyze the social reforms of the Progressive Period.
Rapid change, often
associated withscientific andtechnological advances,
benefitssome, at theexpense of
others.
Reforms initiated by
both governmentand individualsaddress economic,political andsocial problems associated with arapidly changingsociety.
Reform movements
do not alwaysbenefit everyoneequally.
Over time,government has become more responsive to the needs of its
citizens.
11th Grade U.S. History
Step 4: Write Essential Questions
Attributes of Essential Questions No ordinary questions - Derived from the
“unwrapped” standards/objectives and Big Ideas, which makes them standards-based questions
May be used to drive both instruction and assessment
When posed to students at beginning of unit, teachers are advertising upfront the learning goals they expect students to meet
Ultimate goal would be for students to answer the Essential Questions with their own big idea statements
Ainsworth, “Unwrapping” the Standards, 2003.
Step 4: Write Essential Questions
Filtering Questions: Are my essential questions open-ended? Will they be engaging for students? Will they take students beyond the
“who, what, where, and when” recall of information to the “how” and “why” applications and extensions of learning?
Do my big ideas effectively answer my Essential Questions?
Ainsworth, “Unwrapping” the Standards, 2003
Step 4: Write Essential QuestionsOriginal Goal Coded Goal Unwrapped Goal Big Ideas Essential
Questions
The learner will analyze the economic, political, and social reforms of the Progressive Period.
The learner will analyze the economic, political, and social reforms of the Progressive Period.
The learner will analyze the economic reforms of the Progressive Period.
The learner will analyze the political reforms of the Progressive Period.
The learner will analyze the social reforms of the Progressive Period.
Rapid change, often associated with scientific and technological advances, benefits some, at the expense of others.
Reforms initiated by both government and individuals address economic, political andsocial problems associated with a rapidlychanging society.
Reform movements do not always benefit everyone equally.
Over time, government has become more responsive to the needs of its citizens.
How did Americansof this period
define progress?
Why is there a need
for social, economic,
and political reform
during this timeperiod?
To what extent did progressive
political reform
successfully combat the socialand economic illsCreated by a
rapidlyIndustrializing
society?
How were the social, political,
and economic standing
of labor, women and African Americans impacted by progressive
efforts?
11th Grade U.S. History
Step 5—Identifying Facts, Concepts, Skills
What facts, concepts, and skills should students be able to respectively know, understand, and do to demonstrate an understanding of this particular goal?
Step 5—Identifying Facts, Concepts, Skills
11th Grade U.S. History
Essential Questions
Facts (What students should know) Concepts:(What students
should understand)
Skills: (What students should be able to do)
How did Americans of this period define progress?
Why is there a need for social, economic, and political reform during this time period?
To what extent did progressive political reform successfully combat the social and economic ills created by a rapidly industrializing society?
How were the social, political, and economic standing of labor, women and African Americans impacted by progressive efforts?
Muckrakers Jane Adams Hepburn Act Alexander Graham BellIda Tarbell Meat Inspection ActJacob Riis Pure Food & Drug ActUpton Sinclair Plessy v. FergusonLincoln Steffens Newlands ReclamationTriangle Shirtwaist Fire Booker T. WashingtonCarrie Nation Atlanta CompromiseWCTU W.E.B. Du BoisAnti-Saloon League Ida B. WellsFrederick Winslow Taylor Henry Ford Robert La Follette Niagara MovementCharles B. Aycock NAACPLouis Brandeis Theodore RooseveltFlorence Kelley William H. TaftLewis Hine Woodrow WilsonMuller v. Oregon Payne-Aldrich TariffNorthern Securities v. U.S. Election of 1912Initiative, referendum, recall Eugene V. Debs16th 17th 18th 19th Amendments Clayton Anti-Trust Act Commission system FTCcouncil-manager system Federal ReserveSusan B. Anthony Thomas EdisonSherman Anti-trust Act Frederick Olmstead1902 Pennsylvania Coal Strike YMCA
PowerStrikeTechnologyInnovationSystemReformProgressProgressivismInterpretationIdentityLeadershipSocial gospelMass cultureProhibitionConservationSegregationAccommodationFranchise/ DisenfranchisementCitizenshipIndustryDiversityConflict
Describe and interpret political, economic, and cultural ideologies.
Compare and contrast perspective and biases evident in primary source documents.
Generate expository and creative writing to express insights and conclusions of key aspects of the time period.
Debate and defend personal interpretations of key events and issues including reflective and expressive writing, class discussion and seminars.
Analyze historical political cartoons and illustrate reflections of the time period.
Pacing Guides
Lay out the grade level expectations by calendar (quarters, trimesters, etc.) and provide a research-based framework for determining the appropriate timing of instruction
Identify the most critical skills and allocate learning time accordingly
The next step in unpacking the standards is to unpack the benchmarks and grade level expectations into their implied assessment items and lessons.
Standards, benchmarks and grade level expectations are statements of learning in which assessments and instruction are merely implied. There are no explicit assessments or lessons in any standard, any benchmark or any grade level expectation. One hundred experienced teachers might read a standard, benchmark or grade level expectation and each visualize a different assessment or lesson.
The need for common assessments and lessons:
If our assessments and lessons are not common, our 100 teachers might all be teaching to the same standards, but all be measuring and working toward different learning targets.
Each test and lesson is a concrete example of what a child must do to demonstrate mastery of a standard.
Common assessments and common lessons mean common learning targets.
Learning Targets
A Learning Target…(is)
Learning Targets and Student Friendly Language
Learning Targets and Student Motivation
Learning Targets to AssessmentOn a standards-based assessment,
students are not compared to each other, rather, their performance is compared to the mastery of a specific set of skills or concepts, i.e. learning target.
If everyone masters the targeted standards at a high enough level, the standards based system is working!
An Aligned System: CCSS Tools
Assess
Teach P
lan
-Common Model Lessons
-Lesson Plans
-Common Formative Assessments
-Prevention and Intervention Activities
-Learning Progressions-Pacing Guides
-”Unpacked” Standards-Instructional Guides
- Professional Learning
-State Assessments-Common Benchmark
and Formative Assessments-Classroom Assessments