Backwards Planning from a Major Assessment

Subject: ________________
Name of Major Assessment: __________________

STEP 1:
1. Using the blue print and/or any overview material given to you, jot down the major components
of the assessment (set-up of assessment)

2. Using the blue print and/or any overview material given to you, jot down the major content
components tested on the assessment (TEKS or CRS or types of passages)

3. Using the blue print and/or any overview material given to you, jot down the major skills tested
on the assessment

4. Skimming the assessment, classify the percentage of test questions (or project components) at
each level of Costas (Rigor of assessment)
Level 1 Gathering

Level 2 Processing

Level 3 Applying
Step 1.5:
If you are familiar with assessment, write down the misconceptions your scholars had last year and
how you can remediate those this year (using qualitative and quantitative data). Be specific with the
misconceptions and how you can prepare to proactively address misconceptions. (Think about
differentiation).

If you are new to the assessment, think about the pieces (both content and skill) that will be most
difficult to teach and what you can do to prepare.
Algebra I, Biology, English I, and English II EOC Teachers and ELA/Math Interventionists
http://tea.texas.gov/student.assessment/staar/
o Scroll down to EOC Assessments and download the blue print
o Then click on Released Test Questions and download the most recent version of the
test

9th and 10th Humanities, 9th Grade Prof Com, and 11th Grade RTW Teachers
http://www.act.org/content/dam/act/unsecured/documents/CCRS-
ReadingCurriculumWorksheet.pdf
o Looking at the CRS in the 16-19 and the 20-23 score ranges (pages 2 3), identify the
CRS that best align with the skills and content of your course so that you ensure you
address these CRS in your classroom
o Review the 4 types of passages tested on the Reading test and identify the types that
best align with the skills and content of your course so that you ensure you expose your
scholars to similar types of readings http://blog.prepscholar.com/the-4-types-of-act-
reading-passages-you-should-know
o Using CrackACT.com, look at some released passages/questions that are aligned to the
passage type and CRS you identified above in order to determine how to best
incorporate them into your classroom http://www.crackact.com/

11th Grade Science Teacher and Science Interventionist

http://blog.prepscholar.com/whats-actually-tested-on-act-science-skills-and-topics
o Read through this document to learn about the different Science passage types on the
ACT
o Then go to CrackACT.com to access released versions of tests and see what the passages
look like http://www.crackact.com/

10th and 11th Grade Math Teachers

http://blog.prepscholar.com/whats-tested-on-act-math-concepts-subjects-and-skills
o Read through the document and learn about the different sections tested on the ACT.
Identify which sections you should focus on in your class (both for remediation purposes
and new content).
o Then go to CrackACT.com to access released versions of tests and see what the passages
look like http://www.crackact.com/

AP Teachers (Click on the link next to your subject to be taken to the exam overview page; then click
on the second link to be taken to the released 2017 Free Response Questions)
NOTE: Make an AP account ASAP so that you can access a released exam that includes MC
AP English Literature: https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-english-literature-and-
composition/exam?course=ap-english-literature-and-composition FR: https://secure-
media.collegeboard.org/ap/pdf/ap-english-literature-frq-2017.pdf
AP English Language https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-english-language-and-
composition/exam?course=ap-english-language-and-composition FR:
https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/pdf/ap-english-language-frq-2017.pdf
AP Calculus https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-calculus-ab/exam?course=ap-
calculus-ab FR: https://secure-media.collegeboard.org/ap/pdf/ap-calculus-ab-frq-2017.pdf
 AP US History https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-united-states-
history/exam?course=ap-united-states-history FR: https://secure-
media.collegeboard.org/ap/pdf/ap-us-history-frq-2017.pdf
AP Environmental Science https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-environmental-
science/exam?course=ap-environmental-science FR: https://secure-
media.collegeboard.org/ap/pdf/ap-environmental-science-frq-2017.pdf
AP Bio https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-biology/exam?course=ap-biology FR:
https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/pdf/ap-biology-frq-2017.pdf
AP Spanish Literature https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-spanish-literature-and-
culture/exam?course=ap-spanish-literature-and-culture FR:
https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/pdf/ap-spanish-literature-frq-2017.pdf
AP Spanish Language https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-spanish-language-and-
culture/exam?course=ap-spanish-language-and-culture FR:
https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/pdf/ap-spanish-language-frq-2017.pdf
AP Art: https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-studio-art-2-d-
design/portfolio?course=ap-studio-art-2-d-design

Theory of Knowledge
Download the TOK guide and read about the specifics of the External Assessment starting on
page 60
http://occ.ibo.org/ibis/occ/Utils/getFile2.cfm?source=/ibis/occ/home/subjectHome.cfm&filena
me=dSpace%2Fen%2Fd_0_tokxx_gui_1304_3_e%2Epdf
Access released Prescribed Titles for the External Assessment here
http://occ.ibo.org/ibis/occ/Utils/getFile2.cfm?source=/ibis/occ/home/subjectHome.cfm&filena
me=dSpace%2Fen%2Fd_0_tokxx_prt_1711_1_e%2Epdf

Problems and Solutions

Pull up any documents you gave your class last year about the end project and pull up your
scope and sequence for this year; reflect on how you could make these documents stronger and
scaffolded/differentiated for various groups of scholars

US Government
Go to your Blackboard page and download the Uplift EOC blueprint, CA1, and the annotated CA1

STEM Teachers
Go to your Blackboard page and download your midterm common project

Spanish 2 and 3 Teachers

Go to your Blackboard page and download CA1

Fine Arts and PE Teachers

Go to your Blackboard page and download any documents related to Unit 1 that you will need in
order to backwards plan your first project
Access your MYP Course Guide in order to download the MYP rubric (this is available on your
Blackboard page)
Create/update your unit 1 project and create an MYP-aligned rubric for it