Messy Minutes Assessment Edition Special Proficiency Scale Series Episode 1 - There's no place like backward design

TRANSCRIPT:

Hey everyone, welcome to Messy Minutes: Assessment Edition Episode 1: There’s no place like backward design! I’m your host, Shannon Schinkel, from the Embrace the Messy Podcast. Today, we’re kicking off a new series on Proficiency Scale Design—and where better to start than by embracing the messy reality of Backward Design? It’s time to let go of old habits and embrace a new way of thinking about lesson planning. Trust me—it’s worth it. There’s simply “no place like backward design…no place like back design…” ________________________________________ Here’s the Issue: Many teachers still plan lessons by focusing on content first. They think teaching means covering units, chapters, and textbook sections in a specific order. The more they cover, the better, right? Wrong. This approach is called forward design, where the focus is on moving through material, hoping students learn what they need along the way.  Where did this come from?

Forward design was historically embraced by educators because it aligned with traditional educational practices. Teachers were used to creating lessons around familiar topics or textbooks, with assessments added afterward. Since early educational models prioritized delivering content, learning was seen primarily as acquiring knowledge through lectures and materials. This made forward design feel straightforward and flexible, allowing teachers to plan engaging activities first and fit assessments around them. Moreover, during the industrial age, schools operated like factories—teaching was the input, and learning was the expected output—reinforcing the step-by-step logic of forward design. With few detailed assessment frameworks available, teachers naturally focused on delivering lessons and evaluating learning afterward, making backward design less practical at the time.

But here’s the challenge: If students don’t fully grasp the essential learning targets, what was the point of covering all that material? Checking off topics, assigning quizzes, and grading papers might show progress on the surface, but deeper learning happens when lessons are purposefully designed with clear goals in mind. Forward design emphasizes completion, while meaningful learning requires planning with mastery as the destination. ________________________________________ Let’s Break It Down: Let’s talk about what Backward Design really means. It’s a planning process where you start with the end in mind—the learning goals or standards—and then work backward to decide what activities, lessons, and assessments will help students reach those goals.

With backward design, consider these reflective questions: • What skills and knowledge should students have by the end of the course? • How will you know students have learned these skills? • What learning experiences will support their growth?

Note that the learning opportunities come last, not first. Content is still important, but it’s the path, not the destination.

Many teachers fall into the unit coverage trap. They feel pressure to cover every topic and every chapter, often falling into the 'inch deep, mile wide' trap where they may rush through numerous units without ensuring deep understanding of essential skills. But here’s the reality: Coverage isn’t learning.

Beginning with the units often means: • Rushing from unit to unit with the idea that students need to get through all units regardless of whether they have mastered a skill • Giving assessments which tend to focus on content or are a mishmash of skills all rolled into unit assessments rather than skill-specific assessment • Checking off curriculum boxes without ensuring students mastered anything meaningful •  Backward design frees you from that pressure. When you plan with the standard as the destination, you can be selective about what content really matters. Educators can still follow the linear progression of units but should focus on the skills students