Curriculum Planning with Backward Design
Starting with the Objectives Results in Greater Student Achievement
Jun 28, 2009
No engineer or architect begins planning anything until he knows exactly what the desired end result is. It would be foolish to begin planning a bridge, only to find out that a skyscraper is what the client wants. In the same way, teachers should set objectives, or learning goals, before writing lesson plans.
Backward design is simply a term that means deciding upon a learning objective before writing any classroom lesson plans. Once the objectives are clear, the teacher can create a lesson or unit that will guide the students to the learning goal. When the teacher and the students know what the goals are, the students are more successful and achieve more.
Decide on the Learning Objective
With standards for education, most teachers are told what the goals must be. Yet each lesson can have objectives that are a smaller part of the entire standard. For example, a standard might be that students will write narratives with proper punctuation and grammar. In one lesson, the objective could be for the students to use proper punctuation with dialogue.
Create a Rubric or Grading Standard
Once the objective is set, create a rubric that reflects exactly what the teacher intends for the students to learn. What will be evidence that the student has mastered the concept? What will prove that the students know the core objectives? The rubric should be differentiated according to the student needs of the class, adapting for differences, but still meeting the objective.
Plan the Instruction
Once the objective is set, and the rubric is ready, it’s time to begin collecting material and planning the lesson and the assessment. Lessons can be creatively taught, as long as they meet the objective. This is not a new idea. It has been a concept taught by Stephen R. Covey for years.
In The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, [Free Press, 1990], author Stephen R. Covey states,“To begin with the end in mind means to start with a clear understanding of your destination. It means to know where you’re going so that you better understand where you are now so that the steps you take are always in the right direction.”
Teaching the Lesson
Before teaching the lesson, after the introduction and hook, let the students know what the objective will be. Tell them what they will be expected to know. This way, the students will study with the goal in mind, more focused on the concept to be learned. This is how higher student achievement happens.
Backward Planning Results in Higher Student Achievement
In summary, backward planning involves these steps:
- Deciding on the objective.
- Creating a rubric or grading standard.
- Planning the instruction.
- Teaching the lesson.
The last step is the assessment. The assessment is not written at the end of the teaching unit, but during Step 3 when the teacher is writing the lesson plans. Having clear objectives, creating rubrics aligned with those objectives, and communicating the goals to the students results in better lesson focus when teaching, better student focus on learning the content, and higher student achievement.
For more success tips, see Classroom Instruction That Works and Teach With Your Strengths.
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