Understanding by Design: Book/Research Study

Based on Grant Wiggins’ and Jay McTighe’s best-selling ASCD series, Understanding by Design (UbD) is a powerful comprehensive approach to curriculum, instruction and assessment design to enhance student achievement. With careful alignment to the Ohio Academic Content Standards, this backwards-design process offers a framework and practical strategies for educators to be cognizant of enduring student understanding when designing curriculum, instruction and assessment. UbD is the most widely recognized backwards-design approach in standards-based education and is utilized both nationally and internationally for preK-16 education levels. Rich in resources and research grounding, UbD has natural connections that lend themselves to Differentiated Instruction (Tomlinson), Assessment for Learning (Stiggins), What Works for Schools (Marzano), Professional Learning Communities (DuFour) and various protocols for examining student work.

What We Offer/Performance Promises:

• On-site facilitation (book and article study) of research supporting understanding-based teaching.
• High-quality professional development focused on adult learning needs.
• Ashland University credit for groups meeting a total of 12 hours.
• Book Options:
  • How People Learn by John Bransford
  • Understanding by Design by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe
  • Transforming Schools: Creating a Culture of Continuous Improvement by Alllison Zmuda, Robert Kuklis, Everett Kline
  • Making the Most of Understanding by Design by John Brown
  • Research articles as cited in Educational Leadership and other professional periodicals

Key Benefits:

• Through widely-cited research, participants will recognize why teaching for understanding is critical.

Please contact Rita Glavan, Gifted & Talented Coordinator, at Rita.Glavan@fcesc.org for more information.