WIggins argues that if the goal of school reform is deeper understanding of the teaching and learning process on the part of faculty, then leaders have an obligation to deliberately design experiences that allow for that understanding to occur. Facilitating a deeper understanding of the instructional process starts with developing a critical understanding of the design process - what it takes to ensure understanding and transfer. There are two strands of inquiry for faculty to pursue - understanding "understanding" (the concept of transfer and the principle of big ideas), and understanding "good design" - which is best done "backward from the desired results." Wiggins posits three big ideas for leading by design:

• A new kind of leadership )”as opposed to more “good management”) is needed which encourages -significant changes are required in how school is run and changes in how teaching & learning are conceived is required to succeed in meeting standards
• Reform must be based on principles about how learning for understanding works, not just generic processes about change.
• “Backward Design” is vital in long-term planning

Ten Principles of Learning

Wiggins also lists 10 overarching principles of learning that must be considered by leaders:

1. The goal of all learning is fluent and effective transfer - powerful and wise use of knowledge, in a variety of contexts.
2. Meaning is essential to learning: learning goals must make sense to and inspire learners, and work in school must seem important, interesting and goal-driven.
3. Successful learning requires active processing by the learner: understanding how to reflect, self-assess, question, and use feedback to self-adjust. These processes can (and should) be taught explicitly & assessed.
4. The complexity of learning requires helpful scaffolding and feedback: teachers must draw upon a rich repertoire of instructional “moves” carefully matched to learning goals and learner needs.
5. Learning is most effective when it is personalized, when the prior knowledge, interests, and strengths of (diverse) learners are accommodated.
6. Success in learning depends upon the right blend of challenge and comfort - knowing that success is attainable, and realizing that persistent effort will pay off.
7. To learn to high standards, learners need many opportunities to practice in risk-free environments, regular and specific feedback related to progress against standards, and timely opportunities to use the feedback to re-do and improve.
8. All learning-related work in schools should be judged against standards related to learning goals (for both students and staff) and reflective of how people learn.
9. As a model learning community a school appropriately requires learning from every member of its community, since continual learning is vital for institutional as well as personal success.
10. All learners are capable of excellent work, if the right conditions are established.

Wiggins points out that the principles apply to everyone - students and staff - as to how they should be treated: as learners. The principles serve as criteria for judging curriculum, instruction, and assessment. The challenge for leaders is to enact policies & structures that ensure that the principles are safeguarded against inevitable bad habits, misunderstanding, backsliding with respect to the principles

Stay Focused on Results

Aim for Deeper Understanding

Replace Fear with Initiative

Make the Plan Transparent

Keep Clarifying Goals, Questioing Habits

Get Rid of Incoherence

Wiggins work connects most closely with that of Michael Fullan and Robert Marzano.

Understanding by Design

Understanding by Design (UbD) is a framework for improving student achievement. Emphasizing the teacher's critical role as a designer of student learning, UbD works within the standards-driven curriculum to help teachers clarify learning goals, devise revealing assessments of student understanding, and craft effective and engaging learning activities.

Developed by nationally recognized educators Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe, and published by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), Understanding by Design is based on the following key ideas:

• A primary goal of education should be the development and deepening of student understanding.
• Students reveal their understanding most effectively when they are provided with complex, authentic opportunities to explain, interpret, apply, shift perspective, empathize, and self-assess. When applied to complex tasks, these "six facets" provide a conceptual lens through which teachers can better assess student understanding.
• Effective curriculum development reflects a three-stage design process called "backward design" that delays the planning of classroom activities until goals have been clarified and assessments designed. This process helps to avoid the twin problems of "textbook coverage" and "activity-oriented" teaching, in which no clear priorities and purposes are apparent.
• Student and school performance gains are achieved through regular reviews of results (achievement data and student work) followed by targeted adjustments to curriculum and instruction. Teachers become most effective when they seek feedback from students and their peers and use that feedback to adjust approaches to design and teaching.
• Teachers, schools, and districts benefit by "working smarter" through the collaborative design, sharing, and peer review of units of study.

In practice, Understanding by Design offers

• a three-stage "backward planning" curriculum design process anchored by a unit design template
• a set of design standards with attendant rubrics
• and a comprehensive training package to help teachers design, edit, critique, peer- review, share, and improve their lessons and assessments.

A graphic of the unit design cycle is listed below: