How do I show the students what an A, B, C looks like in AP Calculus before they know how to do the work? I like what he said about letting the students know what it looks like to be successful. Don't let it be a secret!

Giving students a goal to push toward is not doing the work for them. Providing success criteria places gives students a clearer path to follow toward proficiency. It allows them to have the thought "if I don't land there when I'm finished, I've not quite arrived yet."

I would like the state to be provide examples of being successful and what a 1, 2, 3,4 looks like. AP (College Board) does a great job of this for AP teachers, so the state should do the same!

Students need to know what they are going to learn - this makes it more personal and allows them to see how the skill applies to their learning. Students need exemplars to understand what their end goal is. While this can require teachers to be more creative when developing the lesson, it also helps refine lessons because the teacher is more likely to get rid of the stuff that doesn't matter. Students can be a part of the process of identifying what a successful product is, as well.

When showing students the end goal, how long should I allow them to dive into their own strategies, could this be a group activity to motivate deep thinking?

What are some strategies that are effective in marrying the worlds of the best practice of gradual release to the necessary concisely communicated success criteria and how can those lead toward assessment?

We should not focus so much on what students do, but what they learn. Using a rubric or showing exemplar work would help students to understand what's expected of them. They have a goal to reach.

How often should this be done? Which type activities would require showing the success criteria?

What am I learning?

Why am I learning it?

How will I know that I learned it?