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Using the Quality Assignment Routine

Improving assignment completion in diverse classes

The author: Joyce Rademacher is professor of special education at the University of North Texas. This article originally appeared in the August 1998 issue of Strategram.

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One of the newest additions to the Content Enhancement series is the Quality Assignment Routine. The Quality Assignment Routine focuses on how teachers can plan, present, and evaluate assignments in partnership with their students to improve the quality of assignments produced by their students as well as their rate of assignment completion. Although assignments represent a major vehicle for helping students to learn and master course content, many students fail to take advantage of this opportunity for a variety of reasons. Thus, the instructional procedures in this routine are designed to address this problem. Specifically, the Quality Assignment Routine is used to do the following:

• Plan assignments that all students can complete and that are motivating
• Present to students what they need to do to complete an assignment to a high level of quality and to ensure students understand the instructions that have been given
• Evaluate assignments with students to ensure they understand how they performed on the assignment and how they might improve their performance in the future
• Incorporate assignment planning, presentation, and evaluation procedures as an overall assignment completion framework to be carried out in partnership with students

The Quality Assignment Routine helps students become better learners in four ways. First, students become involved in planning assignments as much as possible, thus increasing their motivation to complete them. Second, students become involved in assignment presentations so they understand fully what to do to earn a satisfactory grade on the assignments. Third, students evaluate their own assignments against a standard set of grading criteria before handing them in to the teacher to be graded. Thus, they learn self-monitoring skills. Finally, students see the connection between developing and practicing effective and efficient assignment completion habits and improved grades and self-esteem.

The Quality Assignment Routine can be used any time throughout the school year. However, the routine is best introduced to students at the beginning of the year or semester when classroom expectations are established. The planning phase of the routine is particularly helpful when used to design a major assignment or type of assignment that will be given throughout a course. Over time, the routine will enable a teacher to compile a portfolio of assignments for a course that students enjoy and are successful at completing.

Components of the Quality Assignment Routine

Three teaching components and a quality assignment planning form are incorporated into the Quality Assignment Routine and contribute to its success with academically diverse groups of students.

The Assignment Window
The teacher prepares a visual device called the Assignment Window before class and presents it to students through a co-constructive process. The Assignment Window allows the teacher and students to record information related to an assignment while promoting student understanding of how to complete it. As the teacher presents the assignment during class, students write down the following:

• Course information and critical dates
• Directions, student options, grading criteria, and supplies or resources needed
• An assignment plan whereby they break the assignment down into parts, determine the number of study sessions they might need to complete the assignment, set a grade goal and a quality goal, and then, after the assignment is finished, circle the actual grade received
• A goal related to the assignment, such as remembering to edit one's work

The Linking Steps
The teacher uses a set of Linking Steps to involve students in the in-class presentation of the Assignment Window.

• Announce the assignment and its purpose.
  During this step, the teacher names the assignment and gives a rationale as to why the assignment is important. Giving a logical reason for doing an assignment, plus explaining the benefits the learner will accrue, increases the likelihood that students will be motivated to do it.
• State clear directions
  During this step, students fill in Section I and Section II of the Assignment Window to gather all the information they need to know to complete the assignment successfully. Specifically, students are informed about the due date, the directions (specific steps to follow), the options they have, the grading criteria, and the necessary supplies or resources.
• Stop for students to "REACT"
  In this step, students are asked to use the REACT Strategy.
• Investigate student understanding
  Here, the teacher checks whether students understand the assignment by asking questions related to the due date, directions, options/choices, grading criteria, and the supplies or resources to be used. Any misunderstandings are clarified.
• Give start-up time and offer help
  During this step, the teacher announces time to get started, makes an offer to help as needed, and circulates among the students as they work. Assistance is provided to individual students when necessary.
• Note expectations
  During the final Linking Step, the end of the work time is announced, the due date is reiterated, and students are prompted to do a quality job on their assignments. They also are reminded to use the "PACE 1,2,..." Self-Checking Process to evaluate their final products.

Cue-Do-Review Sequence
A Cue-Do-Review Sequence provides an overall structure for how the Quality Assignment Routine is to be carried out in partnership with students. During the "Cue" phase, the teacher cues students that the routine will be used and prompts them to participate in constructing the Assignment Window. In the "Do" phase, the Linking Steps are used to promote interaction between the teacher and students to ensure students understand the assignment. In the "Review" phase, the teacher reviews with students how they performed on the completed assignment and provides information about how to improve future performance.

Introductory lessons
Two student lessons are used to introduce students to the Quality Assignment Routine. The first lesson is designed to teach students about the concept of "quality work" and how to use the "PACE 1,2,..." Self-Checking Process on completed assignments. "PACE" stands for Prompt, Arranged neatly, Complete, and Edited for clarity--the standard requirements for all finished products. The numbers "1,2,..." stand for any additional requirements teachers may specify for a particular assignment.

The second lesson is used to teach students the "REACT" Strategy, which is designed to help students think about the assignment as it is being presented during class and devise a plan for completing it. The REACT Steps prompt students to

• Review the directions
• Evaluate whether the directions are complete
• Ask questions to better understand the assignment
• Create a plan to complete the assignment
• Target some goals in terms of producing quality work

The Quality Assignment Planning Worksheet
The planning form contained in the Quality Assignment Routine is called the Quality Assignment Planning Worksheet. This planning tool will guide teacher thinking toward the development of a quality assignment, an assignment that students find meaningful and motivating and, as a result, that students are more likely to complete. The emphasis is on creating an assignment that all students in the class can complete because it contains a number of options to choose from that address the specific learning needs and interests of each individual.

The planning process entails thinking about the interests and skills of students in the class, considering the problems they face when they have to complete an assignment, and making adjustments accordingly. The letters HALO on the worksheet remind teachers to consider high-, average-, and low-achieving performers in the class as well as other students who may require some kind of special education support. By using the four sections of the Quality Assignment Planning Worksheet labeled with the letters "P," "L," "A," and "N," teachers can ensure the development of a high-quality assignment that includes a number of research-based assignment characteristics known to be important when differentiating assignments for diverse learners. Specifically, as teachers fill in each section of the worksheet, they do the following:

• Plan the purpose of the assignment to clarify its link to critical content to be learned and its benefit to the learner
• Link the assignment to students' needs and interests by considering personal relevance, student choices for doing the work, and the pitfalls to assignment completion students may encounter and how to solve them
• Arrange clear student directions that include a few of the action steps needed to get started, the needed supplies and resources, and the grading criteria
• Note the evaluation date and results by writing down a date to review assignment completion outcomes and afterward recording the results to improve the assignment in the future

Conclusion

In summary, the Quality Assignment Routine contains a number of components that, when used over time, can improve teaching and learning in classrooms where many students fail to achieve because they lack the motivation and strategies to perform quality work. Planning, presenting, and evaluating in partnership with students increase the likelihood that students will not only improve their grades but also acquire work habits that are beneficial for life outside of school. Inasmuch as the "information explosion" is resulting in rapidly changing knowledge bases, students must "learn how to learn" to become independent learners and productive citizens.

Teachers who make the biggest difference in education are those who try new ways of teaching and reaching students. Implementing the Quality Assignment Routine should result in two big wins. First, students win when they do authentic work as they are learning, gain personal satisfaction from their learning, and see that their learning is reflected in the grades they receive. Second, teachers win because improved learning for students is professionally and personally rewarding.

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