But What About The Test?
There are three constants in life: death, taxes, and when you’re participating in a PBL workshop, there will inevitably be at least one person who asks, “But how does PBL support success on our standardized tests?” “The test” can take many standardized forms; it can be a districtwide assessment, a common assessment given to a grade level, or even the ominous statewide exam. Despite the level of concern it generates, the good news is that if you dig into the research, there is no cause for alarm. Study after study has shown that project-based learning supports higher achievement on standardized exams. Particularly noteworthy are the following studies;
PBL has been shown to boost achievement on AP courses in Environmental Science and Government by as much as eight percentage points (see research brief)
English-language learners in PBL classes outperformed their peers in traditional classes by as much as 28 points (see research brief)
Students in math classes where PBL was the primary method of instruction saw an average of 12 points higher on standardized tests than their peers in traditional classes (see research brief)
Lucas Educational Research Executive Director Kristin De Vivo best summed up the evidence shared above when she said, “It works, it works for everyone, and we can prove it.”
And yet, despite this assertion and the research backing it, teachers and administrators still regularly voice concerns about how prepared learners in a PBL classroom will be when it comes time to take “the test”. Previous experiences, competing initiatives, and the high-stakes nature of testing in some spaces all negate whatever researchers and experts say.
Understanding the Concerns: Why Teachers Are Wary
Another common concern is simply the fear of the unknown. Teachers who already seem to achieve success with their students logically question the value added that comes with integrating PBL or wonder if changing up their approach would negatively impact their students. This is an understandable concern, but one that doesn’t take into account what PBL delivers, which more traditional approaches can’t.
PBL is something that all students deserve to experience because students who participate in PBL projects come away with experiences that challenge them, provide opportunities to explore what comes after school, and allow them to see their work do more than just fill a file cabinet. This, and the fact that PBL and “the test” don’t need to be at odds, should be reason enough to “trust a lot and try a little.” In fact, there are many ways that one can be used in service of the other.
Bridging the Gap: PBL Strategies for Standardized Test Prep
To illustrate this, here is a list of some of the more common concerns I’ve heard educators voice and the specific PBL strategies that can be used to support student performance and preparation for standardized tests.
Top Concern: “I don’t have time to do PBL AND prepare my students for their exam.” |
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The idea that teachers will be forced to choose between PBL or test prep is as pervasive as it is perplexing. Why does it have to be one or the other? After all, if projects weren’t an effective method of cultivating knowledge, then they wouldn’t be a major component of almost every classroom. When I hear comments like this, the person asking usually has trouble identifying how PBL experiences can be designed to lend themselves to exam prep. Some approaches include:
Be strategic. Align your projects to the standards that you know will be incorporated into the test, especially learning goals that will appear with the highest frequency. This isn’t a mystery, especially considering publishers often share the blueprint for teachers to see. We also know what key terms and concepts show up again and again, so weaving these into our processes or into features of PBL like word walls or the sentence starters we utilize to support students in our discussion activities can all have a cumulative impact when done consistently.
Incorporate practice into assessment plans. High-quality PBL projects should include a variety of assessment tools and methods, and these can include the kinds of things that students will encounter on their end-of-year exams. If you know that there will be reading comprehension questions, make sure to use similar assessment tools at points in your project. Just don’t overdo it, as the best projects include a balance between authentic and traditional methods. If you’re looking for additional ideas regarding both the structure of a strong assessment plan and how to maximize and support the kinds of learning that are “sticky” and last longer for better retention, check out the additional ideas in this article.
PBL processes have value, even outside of projects. Not everything in your classroom has to be a project, especially since some standards aren’t well suited for extended, inquiry-based processes like PBL, as they lack depth and don’t require extended time. However, the processes and strategies used during projects can be used anytime.
One of these is reflection, a powerful tool for helping students identify opportunities for improving their performance. Encouraging regular reflection at the end of assessments that mirror test questions or processes can help learners focus on not just what they did well, but opportunities or habits that might improve future performances. Teachers can further support student reflection through coaching questions like these that help learners to identify not just gaps in their performance but helpful habits as well.
Top Concern: “Our testing schedule doesn’t leave enough room for PBL projects to take place.” |
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Recently, a teacher in a workshop confessed that she didn’t think she’d be able to launch the project she designed because she couldn’t find a place in her schedule that wasn’t interrupted by district or state exams. This suggested that her concern was continuity and that having to start/stop her projects due to common assessment days would dilute the learning and confuse her learners. But interruptions occur all the time because of things like holidays and weekends, so disruptions are actually part and parcel of the student experience. So if frequent interruptions are bound to pock-mark your otherwise flawless project calendar, there are things you can suggest to maintain the through-line of the learning, such as:
Make the process visible. Visual aides like project walls can be helpful to students who need reminders about what may have occurred during their last project day. Effective project walls can include a visual timeline of major project milestones that can be viewed and reviewed so that students can reorient themselves to what they’ve done before picking back up where they left off.
Always start with where you stopped. When you watch your favorite TV show, they generally begin with a message that says, “previously on _____,” followed by a short summary. This is known as a recap sequence and is a narrative device that is now ubiquitous because of its proven effectiveness in helping viewers keep the arc of a show intact after an extended break. This same approach can also be effective for PBL projects that had to be placed on hold for required testing days. Reviewing the previous day's main points or milestones helps to refresh the learner's memory and activates prior knowledge in service of what comes next - constructivist teaching at its best. These recaps don’t have to take long, can be teacher-led, or learner-centered taking the form of routines like the +1 Thinking Routine or Give Two, Get Two.
Preflecting. Since most exams are scheduled ahead of time, teachers know when they’ll occur and that allows for opportunities to preempt them. This can be done through “preflecting” or thinking about next steps, what lessons or activities come next and writing it down in the form of a journal entry. These short messages help students help themselves to bridge the gap between the two project days, and can even be done collaboratively as well.
Top Concern: PBL is collaborative, and on the test, they won’t have the benefit of a group |
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Collaboration and group products play a prominent role in PBL. Being able to work, think, and plan alongside peers who support each other's learning is an important aspect of PBL and leads to shared success, but does that mean that learners in collaborative classrooms are at a disadvantage when they are assessed independently? Not really, especially when teachers utilize the strategies like these:
Emphasize individual assessment. Not everything in a PBL project is group-based, in fact you could argue that group assessment is actually a lot less frequent that individual work. In her recent blog post, Kristy Lathrop provides clear examples of how individual work can exist at all stages of the project process. This shows how collecting individual measures of student achievement happens just as if not more frequently than group tasks, especially since teachers need to be able to track mastery of standards at an individual level. This provides opportunities to practice independent learning and assessment techniques that can then be utilized on the test.
Leverage group learning. Provide opportunities for students to practice test-like assessment questions in groups. Providing both time and protocols for your students to practice in groups helps boost their individual understanding, much like the study groups that college students form. Not only will this allow them to become more familiar with the kinds of tasks that they will be expected to do on the test, but they will also have the added advantage of being able to debrief with others who worked on the same problems as them and can share their own strategies and understanding.
Poll the group. When it comes to what kind of preparation techniques are most effective for building not just content knowledge but also testing competence, the more students you can ask, the better. Don’t just rely on your own ideas about the best way to prep for tests, use your students as well. By letting them discuss in small groups and debrief, you will get better ideas and more clarity that will ultimately make your preparation sessions extra effective.
Embedding Test Prep into Every Phase of PBL
While these strategies address common concerns, specific examples of when you could integrate test prep within a project are helpful when PBL is new to you. To remove that guesswork, the chart below helps align those strategies to the steps of ACP's Project Learning Experience Steps.
By thoughtfully integrating test preparation at each stage—from the launch of a project to presenting products—you can ensure students engage deeply in their learning and build the skills and confidence they need for standardized assessments. The graphic below outlines practical strategies for embedding test readiness into every phase of the PBL process, which you can also download from our store.
Conclusion: Bridging PBL and Test Success
After reading this article and reviewing the strategies and suggestions contained within it, hopefully, you can start to see what research and experienced practitioners have long agreed regarding the potential of PBL to be one of your best assets when trying to prepare your learners for their end-of-year examination.
While it may not ever be possible to completely eliminate all the stress that testing season is bound to bring, implementing these strategies could at least reduce it a considerable amount for both you and your students.
By moving past the “either-or” mindset of choosing between PBL and test preparation and embracing the “both-and” approach, you can design learning experiences that prepare students not just for the test but for a lifetime of success.
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