AS S E S S ME NT

An Interview with Grant Wiggins: The

Power of Backwards Design
NO V E MB E R 1 9 , 2 0 1 3
ByBenJohnson,Administrator,authorandeducator
WhenGrantWigginsandJayMcTighewroteUnderstandingbyDesign
(http://shop.ascd.org/Default.aspx?
TabID=55&ProductId=406&gclid=CM2s6vq_7boCFQ3hQgod2HIAfA)(UbD)they
didwhatnoothereducatorhadeveraccomplished.Theyunequivocallycast
assessmentinthecentralroleofteachingandlearningbymakingtheforceful
argumentthattestingshouldnotbetheafterthoughtofinstruction,butthecentral
pointofinstruction.
Photocredit:msmstewartvia
flickr(CCBYND2.0)
Afterall,howdoweknowstudentshavelearnedanythingafterwehavetaught
(http://www.flickr.com/photos/38193629@N02/4296502132/)
themifwedon'tassessthemonwhatwehopetheyhavelearned?SinceDr.
WigginshelpedDr.McTighewriteUbDawhileago,Iwascurioustoknowhow
muchprogressweaseducatorshavemadesincethen.SoIaskedhim.

Asaresult,IhadaveryencouragingchatwithDr.Wiggins,PresidentofAuthenticEducation
(http://www.authenticeducation.org/whoweare/grant.lasso),abouthisviewsonassessmentandI'dliketopass
ontoyoutheinsightsthatDr.Wigginssharedwithme.

Edutopia:Dr.Wiggins,stateassessmentshavebeeninthespotlightsomuchthatfocusontheregularevery
dayassessmentshasbeenpushedtothebackseat.Weknowthatthestateassessmentsareacurriculum
magnet,(i.e.thestandardizedassessmentencouragesthestatestomatchtheircurriculumwiththetest)how
canteachersuseeverydayassessmentstodrivethecurriculumupfromtheminimumstandards?"

GrantWiggins:Elementaryteachersseemtodoamuchbetterjobofthisthansecondary.Forexample,Iwas
justvisitingasecondgradeclassroomthismorningandIsawthattheteacherwasabletostructureher
classroomsothatliteracycouldbebetterdevelopedthroughindividualfeedback.Somestudentswork
independentlyatstations,whiletheteacherspendstimeprovidingcriticalfeedbacktoindividualsandsmall
groups.Suchformativefeedbackisessentialtoliteracysuccess.Intheuppergrades,teacherstendtodomore
wholegroupinstructionthansmallgroupinstructionandfinditdifficulttogivethatcriticalfeedback.

Edutopia:Whataresomewaystogetaroundthatdifficulty?
GrantWiggins:SomehighschoolteachersuseSocraticSeminarstoprovidestudentswithfeedbackontheir
thinkingandliteracysimilartoanathleticcoachthathastostandonthesidelineswhiletheathletesperform.
Thereareothereffectiveformativeassessmentstrategiessuchaspersonalwhiteboardpaddlesandclickers
(individualresponseremotes)thatIhaveseenteachersusetoassessunderstandingatdeeplevels.Good
teachersunderstandthatforstudents,themereactofreceivingthefeedbackthattheydonotknowsomething
beginstheprocessof"learningbytryingtolearn."Thisrevealsthetruenatureofformativeassessment.

Edutopia:Teacherscouldspendalloftheirtimecraftingassessmentsmakingsurethattherearequestionsthat
challengeeachcognitivelevel,maintainingaculturallyneutralvocabulary,designingquestionsthatcoverboth
readinessandknowledge,andmatchingeachquestionwithataughtstandard.Whatisthebestwayforteachers
tokeepassessmentinperspectivewithalloftheirotherduties?

GrantWiggins:Formativeassessmentsarenotjustforthestudents...theteachersalsomusthavecontinual
feedbacktoguidetheirinstruction.Theseassessmentsdonothavetobeelaborate.Forexampleasimpleexit
slipdoneeveryday,willrevealthelikelymisunderstandingsandmisconceptionsthathavethemayblockstudent
progress.Aforwardthinkingteacherwillcheckforthelikelymisunderstandingstobeabletoeliminatethem.
Someteachersarenotgoodatdoingthis,butaresmartenoughtoturntotheirgradelevelorcontentarea
colleaguesforassistanceindesigninganddebuggingformativeassessments.

Edutopia:Thetopicsofformativeandsummativeassessmenthavebeenrevisitedsomanytimesthattheterms
arestartingtolosetheireffectiveness.Howdoyouhelpteacherskeepthemstraight?

GrantWiggins:Youarecorrect,manyteacherscontinuetobeconfusedaboutthedifferencebetweenformative
andsummativeassessments.Manyteachersthinkofformativeassessmentintermsofthetypical4weeks
interimtestwherethequestionswillneverbeaskedagain.Thisisactuallysummative.Forteststobetruly
formative,studentsneedmultipleopportunitiestobetestedonthesameinformation.

Aformativeassessmentdoesnotlookbackwardsbutitfocusesonthepresentofwherethestudentisrightnow,
itlookstothefuture.ForexampleanEnglishtest.Theteachergivesthestudentssixessays,thefirstfiveare
formativeandthesixthissummative,justlikeinsportseverynonconferencegameisformative,andeveryother
gameconsistofendlessformativeassessmentsthatpreparetheathletesforthechampionshipgame.
Summativemeansthereisnoopportunityto"redo",itisforreal,likethechampionshipgame.Studentsneedthis
typeofformativeperformancefeedback.

Let'sconsidertheCommonCoresixthgradecontentinfractionsanddecimals.The"PracticeStandards"are
basicallyendlessformativeassessmentsthatleadstudentstomastery.Secondaryteacherstendtothinkthat
everythinghastobegraded,butnongradedisformative,too.

Edutopia:InUnderstandingbyDesign,youestablishthatassessmentisintimatelyinvolvedwithplanningfor
effectiveinstruction.Itmakessomuchsensethattheexpectedlearningoutcomesshouldfirstbeestablishedin
theformoftheevaluation,andthenbeevidencedastheinstructionalplanisdesignedaroundthem.Whatisyour
takeonhowwellteachershavemadetheswitchfromthetraditionalteachthentesttodesignthetestthen
teaching?
 GrantWiggins:Followingtheconceptofpreparingtheevaluationfirst(backwarddesign),asproposedin
UnderstandingbyDesign,isnotanaturalinstinctandteachersarenotdoingaswellasImighthavehoped.On
theotherhandUbDdoesn'tmeanthatyouhavetodesigntheentireassessmentbeforethelessondesign,butat
theveryleastyoumustthinkabouttheassessmentbeforeyoudesigntheinstruction.

Forexample,inpreparinglessonsonSpeakingandListening,intheCommonCore.Ateachershouldask
himself,whatwillcountasevidenceoflearning?Ateacherwhooriginallywasthinkingondoingpublicspeaking
asamoretraditionalassessment,butwhenheasksthequestion,"Whatwillcountasevidenceoflearning?"then
hemightchangehismindandconsiderSocraticSeminarsbecausetheydefinitelyproducealotofevidenceof
howmuchthestudentshavelearnedsimplybytrackingtheirquestionsandtheanswers.

Edutopia:Whatistheroleoftheadministratorinregardstotestingintheclassroom?Howcantheadministrator
bestsupporteffectiveassessment?

GrantWiggins:WhenIvisitaclass,Ihavetheteacherfilloutan"UbDObservationForm"forsupervisors.
Someofthequestionsontheforminclude:Whatcountsasevidenceoflearningsuccess?Whatdoyouwantme
tolookforinthisobservation?Whenteachershavethoughtfulanswerstothesequestions,theresultsareeasily
observableinthelessondelivery.WhenItalktoteachersabouttheirlessonplansandtheydonothaveagood
answerforthesequestions,thisisawarningsignthattheteacherwillprobablyneedsomehelpinlessondesign
andthisisalmostalwaysevidentintheobservationofthelessondelivery.Administratorscanhelptheteachers
focusonhowandwhytheymeasurelearningandespecially,theycanhelpteacherstoremembertothinkof
assessmentintermsoftheroadtomasteryratherthantestsorgrades.

Edutopia:AmIcorrectinstatingthatadministratorsevaluateteacherperformancebyusingauthentic
assessmentstrategiesliketheUbDsupervisorformandthentheyprovidecriticalfeedback,similartowhatthe
teachersshouldbeprovidingtheirstudents?

GrantWiggins:Thatisaninsightfulquestion.Yes,administratorsshouldstarttheirevaluationswith
conversationconcerningwhatcountsasevidenceofstudentlearning,andwhattheteacherwantsthemtobe
lookingforintheirlesson,bothofwhichquestionsdemandthattheteacherdosomeeffectivelessonplanning.

Source:www.edutopia.org/blog/interviewgrantwigginspowerbackwardsdesignbenjohnson

ReprintPolicy:www.edutopia.org/termsofuse

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