Designing and Using Performance Tasks

Tracey K. Shiel - Consultant

Other Titles in:
Assessment | Standards & Accountability | Teaching the Curriculum

November 2016 | 256 pages | Corwin

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

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

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