Several states have adopted measures that include high stakes assessment and school improvement issues in an attempt to address this situation. Nor have they capitalized on the appropriate technology available to help facilitate this process. By definition, an IPA is an activity or learning experience that provides students an opportunity to construct a response, create a product, or perform a demonstration to show what they understand and are able to do based on the required curriculum. Teachers may search the database using either single or multi-criteria to find activities that can be printed for use as a part of unit or daily lesson plans. Activities can be easily incorporated in the daily instructional plan or modified for specific classroom use and implementation.
Teachers find the print format quite handy and useful for inclusion in lesson plan books.
The IPA searchable database and on-line authoring environment have made a dramatic and significant difference for several teachers by saving them time and providing an effective way to appropriately plan for meeting curricular goals on a daily and consistent basis. The effective instructional strategies of the performance based lessons reflected in IPA's allow teachers to feasibly meet the individual needs of their students as they work towards successful achievement of curricular goals. Elva Marie Bowens is a staff development specialist and consultant for The Center for Educational Progress with the Caroline County Public Schools, Maryland.