What is Planning with Understanding by Design?
Understanding by Design, often abbreviated as UbD, is a curriculum planning framework that reverses traditional planning approaches. Instead of starting with activities and resources, UbD begins with identifying desired results. This backward design process helps teachers focus on developing student understanding rather than simply covering content. The framework was created by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe to address common challenges in education, particularly the tendency to teach for breadth rather than depth.
At its core, UbD emphasizes teaching for understanding and transfer of learning. It’s not just about students knowing facts; it’s about them understanding concepts deeply enough to apply them in new contexts. This approach requires teachers to develop specific teacher skills that focus on designing learning experiences with clear goals and evidence of understanding.
The Three Stages of Backward Design
The UbD framework consists of three distinct stages that guide teachers through the planning process:
- Stage 1: Identify Desired Results – Determine what students should know, understand, and be able to do
- Stage 2: Determine Acceptable Evidence – Plan assessments that will demonstrate understanding
- Stage 3: Plan Learning Experiences – Design activities and instruction that will help students achieve the desired results
This approach fundamentally differs from traditional planning, which often begins with selecting activities or textbook chapters. By starting with the end goals, teachers can ensure that every instructional decision supports student understanding. Developing these planning teacher skills helps create more cohesive and effective learning experiences.
“Teaching is a means to an end. The most successful teaching begins with clarity about desired learning outcomes and about the evidence that will show that learning has occurred.”
Stage 1 of Planning with Understanding by Design: Identify Desired Results
The first stage of UbD requires teachers to get clear about what students should know, understand, and be able to do by the end of the unit. This involves prioritizing content and focusing on the most important ideas. Developing these teacher skills helps create more purposeful learning experiences.
Establishing Priorities
When identifying desired results, teachers should consider three levels of priority:
Enduring Understandings
The big ideas and core concepts that have lasting value beyond the classroom. These are what we want students to remember years later.
Important to Know and Do
Knowledge and skills that are essential for students to master in order to achieve the enduring understandings.
Worth Being Familiar With
Supporting knowledge that enriches the educational experience but isn’t essential to the core understanding.
Crafting Essential Questions
Essential questions are open-ended inquiries that stimulate thought and prompt investigation. They help guide the learning journey and promote deeper understanding. Creating powerful essential questions is one of the key teacher skills in the UbD framework.
Examples of Essential Questions:
- How do authors use story elements to convey meaning?
- How do mathematical models help us understand the world?
- What makes a scientific explanation convincing?
- How do geography and culture influence each other?
By focusing on these elements in Stage 1, teachers create a clear destination for learning. This clarity helps both teachers and students understand what they’re working toward, making the learning process more intentional and meaningful. Effective UbD planning resources can help teachers master these essential teacher skills.
Stage 2 of Planning with Understanding by Design: Determine Acceptable Evidence
Once you’ve identified what students should understand and be able to do, the next step is determining how you’ll know they’ve achieved these goals. Stage 2 focuses on assessment planning, a critical teacher skill that ensures alignment between goals and evidence of learning.
Types of Assessment Evidence
UbD encourages teachers to use a variety of assessment methods to gather evidence of student understanding:
Performance Tasks
Authentic assessments that require students to apply their learning to real-world situations. These tasks reveal whether students can transfer their understanding to new contexts.
- Projects
- Presentations
- Demonstrations
- Portfolios
- Problem-based scenarios
Other Evidence
Supplementary assessments that provide additional information about student learning and progress.
- Quizzes and tests
- Observations
- Work samples
- Discussions
- Self-assessments
Designing Authentic Performance Tasks
Creating authentic performance tasks is a sophisticated teacher skill that requires careful consideration of how students might apply their learning in meaningful contexts. Effective performance tasks:
- Require application of knowledge and skills, not just recall
- Are set in realistic contexts that mirror how knowledge is used in the real world
- Allow for student choice and creativity
- Engage students in complex thinking
- Result in specific products or performances
“The most successful teaching and learning begin with clarity about desired learning outcomes and about the evidence that will show that learning has occurred.”
By thoughtfully planning assessment evidence in Stage 2, teachers create a clear roadmap for both themselves and their students. This clarity helps focus instruction and provides meaningful feedback opportunities. Professional development resources can help teachers refine these essential assessment teacher skills.
Stage 3 of Planning with Understanding by Design: Plan Learning Experiences
With clear goals and assessment evidence established, Stage 3 focuses on designing the learning experiences that will help students achieve the desired results. This is where many teachers traditionally begin planning, but in UbD, it comes after establishing the destination and how you’ll know when students have arrived.
The WHERETO Elements
Wiggins and McTighe suggest using the WHERETO elements as a guide for designing effective learning experiences. These elements help teachers develop the instructional teacher skills needed for successful UbD implementation:
| Element | Description |
| W – Where and Why | Ensure students understand where they’re going, why they’re going there, and what is expected of them |
| H – Hook and Hold | Engage students with thought-provoking experiences that connect to their interests and prior knowledge |
| E – Equip and Experience | Provide students with the necessary knowledge, skills, and experiences to achieve the desired results |
| R – Rethink and Revise | Build in opportunities for students to reconsider ideas, revise work, and deepen understanding |
| E – Evaluate | Incorporate ongoing assessment and feedback to guide learning |
| T – Tailor | Differentiate instruction to address diverse learning needs and styles |
| O – Organize | Sequence learning experiences for maximum effectiveness and coherence |
Designing Engaging Learning Activities
When planning learning activities, focus on those that will help students develop the understandings and skills identified in Stage 1. Effective activities:
- Align directly with desired results
- Provide appropriate scaffolding
- Engage students actively in constructing meaning
- Address diverse learning needs
- Build toward transfer of learning
Developing these instructional design teacher skills takes practice and reflection. The key is ensuring that activities serve the purpose of helping students achieve the desired understandings and transfer goals, rather than being engaging for their own sake.
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Benefits of Planning with Understanding by Design
Implementing the UbD framework offers numerous advantages for both teachers and students. Understanding these benefits can help motivate the development of new teacher skills required for effective backward design.
Benefits for Teachers
- Provides a clear planning structure that aligns goals, assessments, and instruction
- Helps prioritize content and focus on what’s most important
- Reduces “activity-oriented” teaching that lacks clear purpose
- Improves assessment quality and alignment
- Enhances professional teacher skills and curriculum design expertise
- Creates more coherent and purposeful units
Benefits for Students
- Promotes deeper understanding rather than surface-level knowledge
- Develops critical thinking and transfer skills
- Creates more engaging and meaningful learning experiences
- Provides clear learning targets and expectations
- Connects learning to real-world applications
- Supports diverse learning needs through intentional design
Research Support for UbD
Research has consistently shown that backward design approaches like UbD lead to improved student outcomes. A study published by ASCD found that schools implementing UbD showed significant improvements in student achievement, particularly in areas requiring critical thinking and application of knowledge.
By focusing on understanding and transfer rather than just content coverage, UbD helps teachers develop the teacher skills needed to prepare students for success in an increasingly complex world. The framework aligns well with current educational priorities, including standards-based instruction and 21st-century learning skills.
Implementing Planning with Understanding by Design in Your Classroom
Transitioning to the UbD framework requires developing new teacher skills and approaches to planning. Here are practical strategies for getting started with Understanding by Design in your classroom.
Getting Started with UbD
Beginning with UbD doesn’t mean completely overhauling your teaching approach overnight. Consider these steps for gradual implementation:
- Start with a single unit that you’re familiar with and comfortable teaching
- Review your content standards and identify the big ideas and essential questions
- Determine what evidence would show that students truly understand these ideas
- Evaluate your existing activities to see which support the desired results
- Modify or replace activities that don’t align with your goals
- Reflect on the process and results, then apply insights to future units
Common Challenges and Solutions
Teachers often encounter challenges when implementing UbD. Recognizing these challenges can help you develop the teacher skills needed to overcome them:
| Challenge | Solution |
| Finding time for planning | Start small with one unit; collaborate with colleagues to share the workload |
| Identifying truly essential questions | Focus on questions that promote inquiry and have no single “right” answer |
| Creating authentic assessments | Consider how professionals in the field use the knowledge and skills you’re teaching |
| Balancing depth with coverage requirements | Prioritize standards and integrate multiple standards into rich learning experiences |
| Shifting from activity focus to results focus | Always ask: “How does this activity help students achieve the desired results?” |
Pro Tip: Create a planning template based on the three stages of UbD to guide your curriculum development. This will help you internalize the backward design process and ensure you don’t skip important steps.
Remember that becoming proficient with UbD is a journey that develops important teacher skills over time. Be patient with yourself and focus on continuous improvement rather than perfection. Professional development resources can provide valuable support during this transition.
Integrating Planning with Understanding by Design and Universal Design for Learning
Understanding by Design (UbD) and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) are complementary frameworks that can be powerful when used together. While UbD focuses on planning curriculum with the end in mind, UDL addresses how to make learning accessible to all students. Combining these approaches enhances teacher skills for creating inclusive, effective learning environments.
How UbD and UDL Complement Each Other
UbD and UDL address different aspects of the teaching and learning process:
Understanding by Design
Focuses on what to teach and assess:
- Identifying desired results
- Planning assessment evidence
- Designing learning experiences
Universal Design for Learning
Focuses on how to teach for all learners:
- Multiple means of engagement
- Multiple means of representation
- Multiple means of action and expression
When combined, these frameworks help teachers develop comprehensive teacher skills that address both the what and how of effective instruction. UbD provides the structure for identifying important learning goals, while UDL ensures that all students can access and engage with the content.
Practical Integration Strategies
Here are some ways to integrate UbD and UDL in your planning:
- Stage 1: When identifying desired results, consider the diverse needs and backgrounds of your students
- Stage 2: Plan for multiple ways students can demonstrate their understanding
- Stage 3: Design learning experiences that offer choice, flexibility, and multiple pathways to understanding
- Assessment: Create rubrics that focus on the essential understandings while allowing for diverse expressions of learning
- Materials: Select resources that are accessible to all learners and represent diverse perspectives
By integrating these frameworks, teachers can create learning environments that are both rigorous and accessible. This integration represents an advanced set of teacher skills that can significantly impact student success.
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Conclusion: Transforming Teaching Through Understanding by Design
Planning with Understanding by Design represents a powerful shift in how we approach curriculum and instruction. By focusing on understanding and transfer rather than just content coverage, UbD helps teachers create more meaningful and effective learning experiences for all students.
The backward design process—identifying desired results, determining acceptable evidence, and planning learning experiences—provides a clear structure for developing curriculum that promotes deep understanding. By developing these essential teacher skills, educators can move beyond superficial coverage to create learning that truly matters and lasts.
Remember that implementing UbD is a journey, not a destination. Start small, reflect on your practice, and gradually expand your use of the framework. The investment in developing these teacher skills will pay dividends in student engagement, understanding, and achievement.
As you continue to refine your planning with Understanding by Design, consider exploring professional development opportunities that can deepen your expertise. Specialized courses in UbD can provide valuable guidance and support as you transform your teaching practice.
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