The High Performance Toolbox: Succeeding With Performance Tasks, Projects, and Assessments - Softcover

Rogers, Spence; Graham, Shari

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1889852074 ISBN 13: 9781889852072

Publisher: Peak Learning Systems Inc, 1998

Synopsis

Use this practical , school tested book to develop performance units and assessments that are worthwhile and challenging. Maximize student assessment results and reach the highest standards with the most complete "how to" resource of its kind. Achieve success with performance tasks and assessments across disciplines and grade levels. This easy-to-use guidebook provides the tools you need to successfully design, adapt, evaluate, refine or implement performance tasks and assessments. Take advantage of the step-by-step guides, easy-to-use designers and organizers, and extensive resource lists that are helping educators around the world.

Benefit From: * Practical, teacher-tested strategies and guidelines for developing classroom & system performance tasks * Step-by-step guidelines for developing effective rubrics * Easy-to-use tools for evaluating tasks, assessments, and rubrics * Templates to help align curriculum, instruction, & assessment * Guides & templates to support uniform assessment procedures * Resource lists of over

150 performance task ideas 120 usable performance contexts 190 formats for student products and performances 30 universal concepts and themes 80 assessment prompts for self-assessment & reflection 265 performance roles & audiences 80 critical tips for earning stakeholder support 150 additional resources * Clarification of multiple forms of assessment essential for thorough and effective assessment of student learning * A thesaurus of qualitative and quantitative terms for rubrics * Timesaving performance management & grading forms * Easy-to-use templates for planning performance scaffolding * A glossary of terms in easy-to-understand language

About this title

About the Author

Introducing Spence Rogers

Spence began his career in education over 25 years ago. Most of his efforts during this time were focused on teaching high school math, but he also served as a math department chairperson, a math curriculum coordinator, a staff-development resource teacher, a college math instructor, and more recently as a consultant to schools, districts, boards, and states.

In his role as a teacher, Spence received numerous awards that include recognition by two Arizona governors and certification on four occasions as a finalist for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching Mathematics.

Spence now is the director of Peak Learning Systems and works with schools and districts in Japan, Canada, Puerto Rico, and across the United States. He is best known for his work in the area of building high performance classrooms through improving and aligning curriculum, instruction, and assessment practices at both the classroom and district levels. In addition, he provides effective staff-development in the area of enhancing student motivation. Spence is consistently recognized for his abilities to make what he teaches practical while helping others build on their strengths.

With his colleagues, Spence is the co-author of 2 books that are highly praised by both classroom teachers and experts in the field for their practicality and adherence to research and best known practices. His book Motivation & Learning is an easy to use resource designed to help teachers at all levels build challenging and motivating learning environments. It combines an easy to understand model with over 600 practical quick tips and strategies for immediate classroom use. His second book, The High Performance Toolbox, is a practical guidebook for successfully designing and implementing rigorous and standards-based performance tasks, projects, assessments and evaluations.

In addition to conducting staff-development workshops, Spence presents keynote addresses and both general and breakout application sessions at over a dozen major educational conferences each year. He also is a featured consultant with the National School Conference Institutes' Satellite Staff-Development Telecasts in the area of Increasing Motivation, Learning, and Performance Quality.

On a more personal side, Spence is a grandfather and lives in the Rocky Mountains near Evergreen, Colorado at over 8200 feet where he enjoys skiing and hiking with his family. Education B.S. (Math) and M.N.S. (Math and Natural Science) Arizona State University. Professional Memberships ASCD, Colorado ASCD, Partners for Quality Learning, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, American Association of Educators in Private Practice, National Staff Development Council, American Society for Training and Development (ASTD). Honors * Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching Mathematics - four time state level recipient. * Certified by the Arizona Governor for Excellence in teaching mathematics for four years. Classroom Experience Eighteen years teaching mathematics ranging from Advanced Placement Calculus to remedial mathematics at Apollo High School, Glendale Community College, and Arizona State University. Education Reform Leadership * Mathematics Curriculum Coordinator for the Glendale Union High School District (1985-1986). * Mathematics Department Chairperson, Apollo High School, Glendale Union High School District (1976-1990). * Educational Consultant for schools, districts, boards, states, and provinces across the United States, Canada, and the U.S. Department of Defense in the areas of curriculum, instruction, assessment, and leadership. * Co-Outcome-Based Coordinator, Glendale Union High School District (1986-1990). * Co-founder, Associate Director, and consultant with The High Success Network (1991-1994). * Co-founder, Director, and consultant with Peak Learning Systems of Evergreen, Colorado (1994 to present).

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Educators are finding themselves bombarded with pressures to reform, demands to return to the basics, desires to provide the best for all students, regional and national standards, and a plethora of outstanding innovations. The purpose of this toolbox is not to provide another new and improved approach to solving every problem in education. Instead, the purpose is to provide teachers (practicing and student), staff-developers, and support personnel in the areas of curriculum, instruction, and assessment with proven templates, procedures, support documentation, numerous ideas, and evaluation instruments necessary to be successful with performance tasks, projects, and assessments. How To Use The High Performance Toolbox "The Toolbox" is just what its name implies - a toolbox. Like any good toolbox, it contains numerous tools with overlapping, but different uses. Use these tools to ... * increase student learning; * improve the significance of what students are learning; * increase student motivation toward learning and school; and * improve student results with local, regional, state/ provincial, and national assessments. The High Performance Toolbox should be used much the same way one uses good computer software "how to" books. Some people are most comfortable reading them "cover-to-cover." Others have enough background knowledge to jump around - studying those parts that are needed at any given time. The Toolbox is designed to accommodate either of these approaches. The Toolbox has been prepared with both classroom and system needs in mind. Where applicable, there are different templates, documentation, and guides to accommodate these two similar, but different sets of needs. Systems will want to use the templates, or adaptations of them, to be certain to address each detail. Classroom teachers quite often are so busy on a day-to-day basis that the thought of completing endless templates is almost more than can be tolerated. The templates are not the issue. Classroom success will be determined more by adherence to the principles and concerns prompted by the templates then by a dedication to creating reams of completed templates. Excerpt: Suggestions For People Who Want To Jump Right In If you're the type of person that is very happy avoiding structure and just jumping into your projects, then jump around throughout the toolbox, and ... Find and use templates to design ... * classroom and district performance assessments; * rubrics and performance checklists for coaching and scoring; * aligned curriculum, instruction, and assessment within extended performances; * performance implementation plans; and * system assessment administration plans. Find and use documentation to develop an understanding of ... * the principles behind performance learning and assessment; * the multiple types of assessment and their best uses; and * performance tasks and assessments - their strengths and weaknesses. Find and use step-by-step procedures and guides to develop system or classroom level ... * tasks, performance assessments, and projects; * rubrics, scoring guides, and checklists; * procedures for administration of system level performance assessments; and * performance implementation plans including learning events and management of logistics. Use any of the evaluation tools to assess your performances or those provided by publishers, other educators, or governmental agencies. Gain insights into how to refine or adapt others' performances through the insights provided by these instruments.

Build support, understanding, and skills by using the 85 tips for earning the support and having success with students, parents, and fellow educators. And, use the appendices to gain literally hundreds of ideas and additional resources. Excerpt: A guide to the Chapters Chapter 1 - Performance Learning develops the foundation for using performance learning (tasks and projects). In chapter 1, you will learn ... * the essential terminology used with performance learning efforts; * how performance learning is different from traditional approaches; * what performance learning looks like in a classroom and how deadlines and quality expectations still play an important role; * why performance learning is important for students today; * the beliefs and principles that form the basis for performance learning; * the critical differences between performance learning and performance assessment; and * 15 essential considerations to be addressed when using performances. Chapter 2 - Assessment develops the essential concepts surrounding the multiple forms of assessment that are critical for teaching and assessing learning in today's world. In Chapter 2, you will learn ... * terminology critical to understanding and using assessments effectively; * the 3 major types of assessment and the advantages and disadvantages of each; * how to match assessment methods with the targeted knowledge, skills, concepts, or performance abilities; * 5 crucial considerations in performance assessment design; and * how to use practical templates for designing and implementing either system or classroom level performance assessments. Chapter 3 - An Overview of Performance Unit Design overviews the essentials for designing performance-based units. In Chapter 3, you will learn ... * how 12 common starting points for designing performances differ; * the 10 essential facets to performance design; and * a 10 point checklist for managing performance design. Chapter 4 - Performance Designs - The First 3 Performance Design Facets provides extensive, detailed guidance and templates for addressing the first 3 facets of performance design. In Chapter 3, you will learn ... * how to develop the overview and the primary learning and assessment focus for a performance unit; * how to craft a performance scenario from any one of several common and effective perspectives; and * how to develop the essential performance action structure that ensures performances replicate or simulate "real-life" performances. Chapter 5 - Quick Designers provides a quick, 2 page designer for designing performance tasks. This designer is best use for short, introductory inservice sessions or by teachers who are familiar with what they are doing and want quick reminders. Chapter 6 - Aligning Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment focuses on ensuring that performance tasks and units effectively address desired curriculum. In Chapter 5, you will learn ... * how to differentiate declarative and procedural knowledge as desired learning within a performance; and * how to use a set of practical templates for carefully planning the desired learnings and the essential aligned instructional and assessment strategies. Chapter 7 - Rubrics develops the philosophical foundation and common understanding for the effective development and use of rubrics. In Chapter 6, you will learn ... * what rubrics are and what distinguishes effective rubrics from ineffective ones; * how to help students and parents develop an understanding of rubrics; * how to develop rubrics that are effective for scoring assessments or coaching students to high levels of quality in their work; * how to use both dynamic and static criteria in rubrics to create standards challenging to all students; * how to use quality terms to improve the effectiveness of your rubrics; and * how to develop rubrics that go beyond assessing essential components to assessing quality results. Chapter 8 - Learning Events, Checkpoints, and Logistics - Getting the Details Under Control identifies the details that must be adequately addressed to be successful with any performance. In Chapter 7, you will learn ... * what details must be addressed to succeed with performances; * how to use a set of practical templates to plan the learning events involved in complex performances; * how to plan and use checkpoints to improve performance results; and * how to use project planners to facilitate the successful implementation of performances. Chapter 9 - Assessing Performance Designs provides tools for evaluating performance designs so that you can avoid unnecessary, predictable problems. Chapter 10 - Launching Initiatives and Staying Afloat develops premises, principles, and strategies for successfully implementing performances tasks, projects, and assessments. In Chapter 9, you will learn ... * essential, underlying principles for being successful with initiatives; * basic beliefs that significantly increase the likelihood that your initiatives will be successful; * 12 tips for building the foundation for success; * how to be successful with students by adhering to 34 powerful tips; * 22 tips for succeeding in earning the parents' trust and support with your initiatives; and * 18 ways to earn the trust and support of your colleagues. Appendices - Resources, Resources, Resources! Use the 11 resources available in the appendices to ... * learn 193 practical ways students can show their learning through products and performances; * use an extensive list of performance verbs to strengthen performance task designs; * choose from 159 powerful ideas for performance tasks and projects; * gain 13 performance frames of long-term, transferable value; * choose from over 123 rich performance contexts; * select from 275 authentic life-roles; * choose from 101 easy-to-obtain audiences for student performances; * pick from 35 important, universal concepts for connecting subject matter information, skills, and concepts to prior learning through universal concepts important throughout life; * draw from 81 self-assessment prompts to facilitate self-directed learning; * check definitions and usage of over 38 related terms; and * choose from over 123 resources for information regarding implementing performance tasks, projects, and assessments.

Edition details

• Publisher: Peak Learning Systems Inc
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 1889852074
• ISBN 13: 9781889852072
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 3
• Number of pages: 389