Designing and Using Performance Tasks: Enhancing Student Learning and Assessment

Stretch student thinking with performance-based tasks. With waves of high-stakes assessments rolling through the education waters, many educators feel tied to teaching to the test. But there is a bright side. With the increased attention on assessment outlined in The Every Student Succeeds Act comes a surge of interest in designing performance-based tasks—an important key in unlocking your students’ readiness for career and college. Designing and Using Performance Tasks: Enhancing Student Learning and Assessment walks you step-by-step through the process of incorporating performance tasks as a tool to teach, monitor, and extend student learning. This book will help you Make instructional decisions based on student performance of learning tasks Learn all about the different kinds of performance tasks and the benefits of each Incorporate learning progressions as an integral part of planning performance tasks Close the "knowing–doing" gap by focusing on considerations for successful implementation If you’re ready to engage your students in unique and innovative ways, grab a copy of this book to guide you and your students in applying their learning—and your teaching—to real-world situations. "Teaching using performance tasks was, by far, was the most difficult type of teaching strategy for me to learn. When I began my teaching career, not many people were using this strategy, but I was fortunate to have a mentor who understood the process and was willing to teach me, two very rare occurrences in the teaching world. Thank heavens for Tracey Shiel, who has the ability to communicate the process so well and in such a manner that you enjoy reading about it at the same time – another rare event in education! I know from experience, students who learn using this strategy retain the information for longer periods of time giving teachers a stronger base upon which to build." Pamela L. Opel, Teacher Gulfport School District

Table of Contents:
List of Figures and Tables Acknowledgments About the Author Introduction Chapter 1. The Lasting Power of Performance Tasks Chapter 2. Building the Base: Begin With the End in Mind Chapter 3. Building the Base: Learning Progressions Chapter 4. Building the Base: Going SOLO! Chapter 5. Performance Task Attributes Chapter 6. Scoring Guides, aka Rubrics Chapter 7. Implementation Considerations Appendix 1. Unit Planning Template: Performance Task Appendix 2. Unit Planning Templates: Examples for Grades 3 and 11 Appendix 3. Combined List: SOLO and NCEA Verbs Appendix 4. Unit Planning Template: Ideas for Products and Performances Appendix 5. Implementation Success Action Plan: Guidelines Appendix 6. Implementation Success Action Plan: Example Appendix 7. Implementation Success Action Plan: Vision Versus Reality Appendix 8. Implementation Success Action Plan: Template References Index

About the Author :
Tracey Shiel has been in the field of education for over 25 years in several education positions including teacher, principal, school business administrator, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, and interim superintendent. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from the University of Richmond, a Master’s in Reading Education from Syracuse University, and a Certificate of Advanced Study in Educational Administration from the State University of New York in Oswego. She has been an educational consultant, in some capacity, since 2005 providing educational services nationally and internationally, including in Canada and Bermuda focusing on instruction, assessment, leadership coaching, and implementation. She presently is an author/consultant for Corwin and is a certified presenter for Visible Learning and Common Formative Assessments 2.0. Through her company, Thought Partners, she provides research-based educational services including leadership coaching, professional development, implementation planning and execution support, and special project educational services of the highest quality to support and develop educational leaders in leading classrooms, schools, and districts to superior academic performance. As a skilled communicator, Tracey is very adept at facilitating the development of Implementation Success Action Plans to achieve critical educational goals. Tracey Shiel was initially certified as a Leadership Performance Coach and she has also been certified as a Hallmarks Educational Coach. She has provided leadership coaching to Department of Education administrators, district administrators, building administrators, and instructional coaches to support the achievement of a critical project as well as to develop their leadership capacity and those around them. Presently, Tracey is refining her own leadership coaching model – Balanced Educational Leadership Coaching, which melds together coaching techniques, with mentoring, and consulting components. Tracey retains a passion for classroom instruction and assessment, specifically nonfiction reading and writing instructional strategies and performance tasks. She is well-versed with the Common Core State Standards, which emphasize Tracey’s passions. Tracey authored Engaging Students through Performance: Creating Performance Tasks to Monitor Student Learning (2011) and incorporated Common Core examples through the text. She brings a wealth real-world experience and researched-based knowledge to her presentations, coaching, and implementation support. She is a strong communicator and pays attention to details to provide the powerful educational services to her clients. As principal Dr. Susan Frampton states in referencing her coaching,     My work with Tracy Shiel has benefitted my staff, community, and most importantly my students. Well versed with current research and the ability to affect change, Tracey supports me by asking the difficult questions that challenge my thinking. A guide, Tracey helped me clearly assess where we areas a school, plan where we are going, and monitor our progress. My work with Tracey gets results for my students and provides me with a safety net when the going gets tough. Tracey Shiel can be reached at traceyshiel@corwinlearning.net.

Review :
Teaching using performance tasks was, by far, was the most difficult type of teaching strategy for me to learn. When I began my teaching career, not many people were using this strategy, but I was fortunate to have a mentor who understood the process and was willing to teach me, two very rare occurrences in the teaching world. Thank heavens for Tracey Shiel, who has the ability to communicate the process so well and in such a manner that you enjoy reading about it at the same time – another rare event in education! I know from experience, students who learn using this strategy retain the information for longer periods of time giving teachers a stronger base upon which to build.