IDM: Formative Performance Tasks (FPT)

 4th Grade Social Studies Lesson

    

        The Formative Performance Tasks within the IDM are outlined by the supporting questions and 

a congruence exists between the two (Grant, Swan, & Lee, 2017). The formative performance tasks 

provide the opportunity for students to simultaneously build their knowledge of the content and their 

social studies skills (Grant, Lee, Swan, 2015). Students engage in a series of exercises that allow them

to demonstrate the content, concepts, and skills they have acquired that will assist them in building an 

effective summative task argument (Grant, Swan, Lee, 2017). Formative performance tasks provide 

student-centered exercises that allow students to independently inquire and answer the supporting

questions for themselves.

        As an evaluative tool, formative performance tasks surface students knowledge of the supporting 

question and support students in constructing their evidence-based summative task argument (Grant, 

Swan, Lee, 2017). Teachers evaluate students responses to determine if they are ready or not to move

on to the next supporting question and formative performance task (Grant, Swan, & Lee, 2017). FPT's

provide a window into students progression and affords the instructor the opportunity to modify 

instruction if need be (Grant, Swan, & Lee, 2017). By adjusting instruction, teachers can improve their 

students achievement on the summative performance task and argument (Grant, Swan, & Lee, 2017).

The inherent nature of formative performance tasks allow teachers to circumvent assessments that 

are inappropriate or catch students off guard (Grant, Swan, & Lee, 2017).

        As a supportive tool, FPT's provide students experience with analyzing sources, understanding 

multiple perspectives, and making evidence-based claims (Grant, Swan, & Lee, 2017). FPT's build

in complexity throughout the inquiry experience leading the student from definition, to application, to 

analysis (Grant, Swan, & Lee, 2017). The IDM possesses a pedagogical aim within the formative 

performance tasks that lead students in a progression toward building their evidence-based argument in

the summative task (Grant, Swan, & Lee, 2017).

        In reflecting upon the 4th grade social studies lesson that was implemented in Teri Crowe's 

classroom, the formative assessments existed in 4 ways; the opening group discussion, answering

questions to the PBS video in google classroom, observing students in their dance performances,

and any anecdotal notes that were taken throughout the lesson. Although these tasks provide the 

opportunity for teacher evaluation and certainly surface students knowledge of which the tasks aim to

build or bring about, the congruence between the tasks and the essential question is not as clean, succinct,

and directly linked. Furthermore, once again the tasks move in a horizontal trajectory rather than a vertical

alignment, enabling students to acquire deeper knowledge. 

        The group discussion of culture in the opening of the lesson is an attempt to surface previous 

knowledge and build background knowledge. The PBS video and the questions in google classroom 

attempt to build surface knowledge about Native American dance. The students performing the dances 

provides experiential knowledge of Native American dances, and crafting instruments provides a 

superfluous activity providing idea of a tool or prop that may have been used or worn by 

Native Americans. It is very apparent that these tasks really did not provide students with any real

depth of knowledge about Native Americans, nor did it provide me with a clear idea of what my students

were really learning, if they were learning anything at all. Within these shallow tasks, there really isn't any

opportunity to understand if instruction should be modified, and these assessments, particularly the 

questions to the PBS video, really caught my students off-guard. The students were so stumped by

the questions that it took them approximately 20 minutes, which threw the timing of the lesson off.

This task not only didn't help the students, it didn't support me in their assessment and threw off my 

schedule.

        Furthermore, the lesson plan was so narrow in scope that it demanded correct answers rather than

leading the students toward discovering their own evidence, and building their own argument as to 

whether or not Native American dance IS important to Native American culture. The tasks in their 

lesson do not promote the understanding of multiple perspectives, nor do they progress in complexity.

Additionally, these tasks do not have students analyzing multiple sources to build their own knowledge 

and ideas. In a very shallow way, the lesson does provide the trajectory of definition (what is culture), 

to application (actually learning dances), to analysis (why is culture so important to a particular people

or nation). However, the zig-zagging activity in this lesson is glaringly apparent and does not always 

align with the essential question. The questions actually change and create confusion. As I reflect on this

I wonder if the students ever thought to themselves, "why am I learning this"? If I see the confusion, I

can only imagine what the students felt during the lesson and chances they didn't learn much in the 

process. This lesson did not afford students the opportunity to simultaneously build knowledge and use 

necessary skills that would enable them to become responsible citizens.