Commonplace Book Entry for EDUC513A at the MAT @ USC

1. Understanding by Design A Review based on John L. Brown’s Making the Most of Understanding by Design

2. Understanding By Design Framework for curriculum design Oriented toward development of student understanding Focused on “Big Ideas” in content areas

3. What Works the common sense nature of principles and activities potential power for overcoming a tendency in public education to teach to the test ability to guide and inform educators’ efforts to unpack standards and to help all students develop a deep conceptual understanding of what they are studying. - Brown, J. (2004)

4. Sound bites

5. What’s Been Challenging The need for educators to have time to think about and implement the process in their classrooms The need to make UbD implementation a long-term initiative the involves all organizational stakeholders The need to collect, analyze and disseminate achievement data related to high levels of UbD use. -Brown, J. (2004)

6. Where To Go From Here Because UbD now actually brings forth for all students many of the approaches formerly associated with gifted programming, I hope to see some effort to build in a way to address differentiation for high-ability learners in the future framework. That said, [finding] a way to address modifications for any learner with special needs would send a loud message that high-quality learning is for all students, but here is a structure to use to “modify” access to this high-quality learning as needed. -Deborah Jo Alberti, assistant director of special and gifted education services for the Norfolk Public Schools in Norfolk, VA

7. Works Consulted Brown, J.L. (2004). Making the Most of Understanding by Design. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development Wiggins, Grant. (2011) Retrieved from http://grantwiggins.wordpress.com/recent-professional-projects/