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Identifying Outcomes and Indicators What learner outcome(s)/content standard(s) will be assessed through this task? What are observable and measurable indicators or each?

When constructing Performance Assessment Tasks, the first step involves the selection and identification of learner outcomes/expectancies and indicators.

What are outcomes and indicators and how do they relate to Scope and Sequence?

Learner outcomes or expectancies are long-range goals that a teacher would assess on a longitudinal or summative basis. For example, one of the Maryland School Performance Assessment Program (MSPAP) expectancies for Social Studies is that students will be able to demonstrate an ability to gather information, think critically, and solve problems. This expectancy can only be measured over a period of time in which students are instructed and assessed on a variety of methods for demonstrating this set of skills and processes.

Learning indicators, on the other hand, are more activity and task specific, that is, they an be assessed through the performance task. An indicator under the umbrella of the skills and processes expectancy described above is that students will be able to use print and non-print sources of information to acquire and use information necessary to make decisions. A student's competency and level of mastery of this indicator is more specific to the set of skills that would be measured by this task.

Expectancies and indicators are articulated within a Scope and Sequence of skills and competencies as articulated by the school system. The Scope and Sequence specifies the indicators that students must master at a particular grade level and by subject area. When planning lessons, units, and performance tasks, the Scope and Sequence serves as a road map for teachers to determine from which indicators they may select to plan.

What is the difference between indicators and objectives?

While indicators describe what students will be able to know and do in a performance task, they may not necessarily be specific enough for a teacher or student to be able to assess a given lesson or activity within the broader task. Therefore, as part of the planning process, teachers may have to articulate more specific learning objectives do help students understand how they will be assessed both formatively and summatively on a daily basis. A daily objective is observable, measurable, and specific. For example, a daily objective from the above indicator might be that students will be able to use the internet to find at least three reasons Northern United States citizens in the mid 19th century were opposed to the slavery.

How are outcomes and indicators used in developing tasks?

As stated in the answers above, outcomes/expectancies are used to determine the overall knowledge and skill targets for students over a long period of time while indicators set the learning targets to be accomplished within a given task. These indicators help teachers to specifically identify the necessary skills and competencies before the task is developed. By framing task activities around these indicators, teachers can be sure to align these activities appropriately with that which is measured by the task. Additionally, as activities are constructed, the indicators give teachers targets toward which activities all build. In the example above, where students are will be assessed on their ability to gather information to make decisions, activities and lessons would build these skills. Specifically, students might be involved in the following activities:

• instruction and practice in using the internet to gather information;

• analysis of historical documents, with accompanying instruction on how to analyze text to distinguish point of view and biases; and

• writing a letter to the editor of the Gettysburg Gazette from the point of view of a northern sympathizer during the Civil War.

Just as these indicators are used to develop the task activities, they are the backbone of the assessments used throughout the task. Formative assessments for the task activities might therefore measure students' understanding of key concepts related to the task's indicators. These assessments may also measure key skills and processes needed in order to master the indicators. For example, for the indicator described above, skills and understandings measured formatively might include: (1) an understanding of how the internet can be used to locate information; (2) ability to use a search engine on the internet; (3) ability to locate key information from text that denoted biases within the work; or (4) an understanding of how opinions, facts, and events contribute to the decision-making process.

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