Designing a high-quality performance assessment doesn’t mean starting from scratch—it means intentionally shaping learning so that students can apply what they know in authentic, meaningful ways. The five steps below outline a backward design process for aligning your performance assessments to competencies, clarifying expectations, and designing equitable learning pathways. Each step connects to supporting Catalyst pathways and pages, resources, and AI partners that can help you move from big idea to classroom-ready plan.

At each step, return to the project or task you brought with you. Notice where the focus/goals of the step are already visible, and where new opportunities for revision or re-imagining could strengthen the alignment.