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Designing with a Purpose: Using Colorado Standards to Inform Performance Assessment Design

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Colorado Standards

Matching the Performance Assessment to the Goal

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OPTION 1: Course Level Performance Assessment

  • Performance Assessment attributes:
    • Embodies all six of the design elements (aligned, accessible, authentic, relevant, transferable, iterative)
    • Task provides compelling evidence of mastery of a group of related content standards
    • Integrates a small number of strategically selected essential skills/ performance outcomes from the PWR’s
      • Provides opportunity for goal setting, formative feedback related to these skills
      • Can be used as evidence to demonstrate growth over time
  • Possible Products:
    • Newspaper article
    • Live performance
    • Blog
    • Podcast
    • Pamphlet
    • Facilitation of a community meeting
    • Authentic simulation

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Example: Course Level Assessment

A group of robotics students are entering a competition. They must collaborate to engineer a robot that adheres to the design criteria and maximizes the efficiency of energy conversions.

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  • Students will be engaging in science in engineering practices and meeting several science content standards
    • Design, build, and refine a device that works within given constraints to convert one form of energy into another form of energy. (HS-PS3-3)
    • Apply scientific and engineering ideas to design, evaluate, and refine a device that minimizes the force on a macroscopic object during a collision. (HS-PS2-3)

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  • Student will be engaged in several PWR domains connected to the 9 Competencies
    • The teacher decides that all students working on this project will set goals, reflect and receive feedback directly related to creativity/ innovation & collaboration and their respective success criteria
    • In a conference with a student, they identify 7 others that may apply to this task. Since this is 12th grade, the students choose a third personalized area of focus from the list of 7.
  • Evidence and feedback is directly connected to each domain through their respective success criteria

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Student 1: Performance Outcomes

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Essential Skill for PWR

PWR Domain

Success Criteria

Inquiry and Problem Solving: I can use a variety of discipline-specific techniques and/or processes to solve complex problems.

Creativity/ Innovation

Uses various processes (e.g. logical reasoning, design thinking, scientific method) to find reasonable and justifiable solutions or conclusions

Team Building: I can collaborate with other to achieve a common goal

Collaboration

Determines and assigns roles based on task, challenges, process, and group members’ strengths

Actively listens and evaluates ideas

Inquiry and Problem Solving: I can use a variety of discipline-specific techniques and/or processes to solve complex problems.

Critical Thinking and Problem Solving

Evaluates evidence from previous approaches and varied perspectives to plan actions for maximum impact

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Student 2: Performance Outcomes

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Essential Skill for PWR

PWR Domain

Success Criteria

Inquiry and Problem Solving: I can use a variety of discipline-specific techniques and/or processes to solve complex problems.

Creativity/ Innovation

Uses various processes (e.g. logical reasoning, design thinking, scientific method) to find reasonable and justifiable solutions or conclusions

Team Building: I can collaborate with other to achieve a common goal

Collaboration

Determines and assigns roles based on task, challenges, process, and group members’ strengths

Actively listens and evaluates ideas

Adaptability and Reflective Practice: I can adapt and grow based on feedback, reflective practices and changing situations.

Adaptability and Flexibility

Adapts, adjusts, revises, or changes perspectives, claims or actions in response to input

Differentiates between a variety of competing variables to determine focus

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“An authentic application of Essential Skills for Postsecondary and Workforce Readiness (ES/ PWR), through the creation of a complex product or presentation.”

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OPTION 2: Graduation Level

  • Performance Assessment attributes:
    • Embodies all six of the design elements (aligned, accessible, authentic, relevant, transferable, iterative)
    • task is complex
    • evidence is substantial, broad and deep
    • opportunities for goal setting, reflection and responding
    • demonstrates growth over time
    • emphasis is on demonstration of a wide range of PWR’s performance outcomes as evidence of mastering the 10 competencies
  • Possible Products:
    • Body of Evidence
    • Portfolio Defense
    • Capstone Experience

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Example: Evidence for Graduation Readiness

As part of a senior defense of learning, a student pulls together artifacts related specifically to the Communication competency.

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Grounded in reflections, goal setting and practice, the student identifies work from across content areas to demonstrate growth and mastery.

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In addition to personal reflections, goal setting documents and mentor evaluations, evidence for relevant domains might include the following:

    • Communication:
      • research paper from grade 12 English class
      • podcast from grade 12 Public Speaking
      • activism project from grade 10 World Cultures
      • Lab report from grade 11 Chemistry
    • Inquiry, analysis and evaluation:
      • community outreach project from grade 11 Civics class
      • personal wellness plan from grade 9 Advisory
      • engineering design plan from grade 12 Robotics
      • Research proposal from grade 12 AP Biology

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Best Practice

  • leverage integration of domains and success criteria to increase learner agency
  • personalize the learning by providing students the opportunity to establish individual goals related to each domain/ success criteria
  • utilize success criteria at all stages of the learning by providing targeted instruction, feedback and reflection at keys points in the process
  • strategically align course level tasks with a small number success criteria that naturally lend themselves to the task (examples)
  • further leverage embedded performance tasks as evidence to support growth/ mastery or opportunity to practice graduation level competencies

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Common Pitfalls to Avoid

  • assuming students know what the domains/ success criteria mean and look like: share anchor products and calibrate with students
  • assessing at higher level than practice: when the performance assessment is complex and rigorous, “teaching to the test” is highly effective
  • having inconsistent expectations: with appropriate scaffolding, all students can demonstrate deep learning related to the Essential Skills for Post-Secondary and Workforce Readiness

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Designing with a Purpose: Using Colorado Standards to Inform Performance Assessment Design

REACH OUT WITH QUESTIONS!