Guajome Park Academy

Guajome School has always been about backwards design, however the COVID-19 Pandemic disrupted this work. Now, they are building back this work better than ever.

They say that to go fast, go alone, but to go far, go together. Guajome Schools took the latter path as it sought to revamp its backwards design work using an inclusive framework: Understanding by Design (UbD). They started with a focus team of teachers and administrators who did intensive training which they, in turn, facilitated to cross-grade level cohorts. After engaging in some initial whole-staff professional learning, the focus team created and deployed nearpod lessons to support ongoing learning throughout the year.

Each teacher was responsible for creating one exemplar unit that captured the backwards learning and inclusive design principles the school committed to. The cross-grade level cohorts met monthly, unpacking standards, designing assessments, and adjusting their learning plans to attend to English learners and leverage Kagan strategies. Student learning is shared with students and families through student-friendly progress reports and competency rubrics.

To support this work, the administrative team incorporated UbD and backwards design elements into the formal evaluation process and created a draft of feedback protocol to ensure that classroom walkthroughs and observations supported the school learning goal.

Their process brings learners at every level together to ensure not that teachers have taught, but that students have learned.