Defining Rigor through the Common Core Standards

1. Defining Rigor through the Common Core Standards Vertical Alignment Text Complexity

2. Rigor and the Common Core What does it mean?

3. “As specified by the CCSSO and NGA, the standards are (1) research and evidence based, (2) aligned with college and work expectations, (3) rigorous, and (4) internationally benchmarked.” Introduction, p. 3

4. Independently, locate five words that define rigor in the article you read. • Working with others who read the same article, reach agreement about which five words from your article best define rigor. • Be prepared to share your words with the large group.

5. Rigor defined Essential Characteristics Non-Essential Characteristics Definition: Rigor is Rigor Examples Non-Examples

6. Rigor • Rigor is the expectation that students will be able to perform at levels of cognitive complexity necessary for proficiency at each grade level, and readiness for college and the workplace. Alignment of instruction and assessment with standards/objectives that are at those levels of cognitive complexity is a critical part of increasing rigor in schools. • Typically, the gap between the levels of cognitive complexity in the standards and the levels in assignments increases as students progress through grade levels.

7. What implies “rigor” in the CCSS? • Focus on • Increase in informational text • Increased complexity of text with increasing independence • Using academic vocabulary • Making evidence-based arguments to support writing and reading discussion • Design elements • Progression of learning within the standards themselves

9. Vertical Articulation

10. Coordinated Structure • Standards are usually somewhat random lists of skills, knowledge, and strategies • The Common Core State Standards have very strong progressions and an organization that requires attention • Strong connections across reading, comprehension, oral language, and writing • Vertical articulation requires careful study

11. Example of Grade-Level Progression in Reading CCSS Reading Standard 3: Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.

12. Back-mapping the ELA CCSS • Starting with college and career readiness • Standards for each grade level are identified • Working backward from grade 11-12 to 9-10 to 8 etc. • Establishes a clear, aligned K-12 pathway, linking elementary, middle, high school, and end-of-high school college and career readiness

13. What is Vertical Articulation Vertical alignment asks: • How are the content standards/objectives related from one year/grade to the next? • Knowledge or skills extend to a wider range of content • Deeper understanding of the (cognitive process) for same content • New content or skills

14. A vertical view of the standards

15. Analyzing the Standards

16. Your turn… • With a partner, choose a standard • Highlight the additions of the grade level standard as it progresses from Kindergarten toward College and Career Ready Anchor Standards (CCRS)

17. When you have finished: Using the standard you have highlighted. • Underline the key concepts important nouns or noun phrases • Circle the verbs describing skills required of students

18. Observations • What do you notice about the vertical articulation of the standard? • What do you learn about the standard as a result of highlighting the additions and refinements? • In what ways is rigor reflected in the progression of the standard? • What are the implications for instruction and curricular planning?

19. Cognitive Rigor Matrix by Karin Hess • Combines Bloom’s Taxonomy with Webb’s Depth of Knowledge framework. • A tool for: • Designing units of study that have a range of cognitive demand. • Assessing tasks for the thinking they require of a student

20. Bloom’s Taxonomy Labels the type of thinking (verbs) needed to complete a task; tracing the verbs reveals a deepening of the cognitive processes through a standard from K-12.

21. CONTENT TASK STUDENT TEACHER This is important because… Task Predicts Performance Elevate the cognitive demand of the task, and you elevate the performance.

22. Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy: Brief Review • Taxonomy of cognitive objectives • 1950s- developed by Benjamin Bloom • Means of qualitatively expressing different kinds of thinking • Adapted for classroom use as a planning tool and continues to be one of the most universally applied models • Provides a way to organize thinking skills into six levels, from the most basic to the higher order levels of thinking • 1990s- Lorin Anderson (former student of Bloom) revisited the taxonomy, and as a result, a number of changes were made (Pohl, 2000, Learning to Think, Thinking to Learn, pp. 7-8)

23. A ComparisonOriginal Revised • Evaluation • Synthesis • Analysis • Application • Comprehension • Knowledge • Creating • Evaluating • Analyzing • Applying • Understanding • Remembering (Based on Pohl, 2000, Learning to Think, Thinking to Learn, p. 8)

24. Bloom’s Taxonomy Levels

27. Remember… Depth of Knowledge (DOK) is a scale of cognitive demand.

28. Cognitive Demand • The kind and level of thinkingrequired of students to successfully engage with and solve a task • Ways in which students interact with content

29. Why Depth of Knowledge? Focuses on complexity of content standards in order to successfully complete an assessment or task. The outcome (product) is the focus of the depth of understanding; it is about the item/standard—not the student.

30. Why Use a Depth of Knowledge? It does not require an inference about the skill knowledge, and background of the student, but is based solely on what is being asked cognitively. The Depth of Knowledge classification scheme classifies assessment items or tasks, not students or student work.

31. Why Depth of Knowledge (DOK)? Mechanism to ensure that the intent of the standard and the level of student demonstration required by that standard matches the assessment items To ensure that teachers are teaching to a level that will promote student achievement

32. DOK is NOT... • a taxonomy (Bloom’s) • the same as difficulty • about using “verbs”

33. It’s NOT about the verb... The Depth of Knowledge is NOT determined by the verb (Bloom’s Taxonomy),but by the context in which the verb is used and the depth of thinking required.

34. Verbs are not always used appropriately... • Words like explain or analyze have to be considered in context. • “Explain to me where you live” does not raise the DOK of a simple rote response. • Even if the student has to use addresses or landmarks, the student is doing nothing more than recalling and reciting.

35. DOK is about what follows the verb... What comes after the verb is more important than the verb itself. “Analyze this sentence to decide if the commas have been used correctly” does not meet the criteria for high cognitive processing. The student who has been taught the rule for using commas is merely using the rule.

36. Same Verb—Three Different DOK Levels DOK 1-Describe three characteristics of metamorphic rocks. (Requires simple recall) DOK 2-Describe the difference between metamorphic and igneous rocks. (Requires cognitive processing to determine the differences in the two rock types) DOK 3-Describe a model that you might use to represent the relationships that exist within the rock cycle. (Requires deep understanding of rock cycle and a determination of how best to represent it)

37. DOK is about intended outcome, not difficulty • DOK is a reference to the complexity of mental processing that must occur to answer a question, perform a task, or generate a product. • Adding is a mental process. • Knowing the rule for adding is the intended outcome that influences the DOK. • Once someone learns the “rule” of how to add, 4 + 4 is DOK 1 and is also easy. • Adding 4,678,895 + 9,578,885 is still a DOK 1 but may be more “difficult.”

38. DOK is not about difficulty... Difficulty is a reference to how many students answer a question correctly. “How many of you know the definition of exaggerate?” DOK 1 – recall If all of you know the definition, this question is an easy question. “How many of you know the definition of ennui?” DOK 1 – recall If most of you do not know the definition, this question is a difficult question.

39. DOK is about complexity • The intended student learning outcome determines the DOK level. • Instruction and classroom assessments/tasks must reflect the DOK level of the objective or intended learning outcome.

40. Partner Check • 1) Give an example of a statement that uses a verb that “sounds” like a high DOK but is used inappropriately. • 2) Fill in the blanks: What _____ the verb is more _____ than the verb itself when deciding the DOK level. • 3) What is the difference between difficulty and complexity? • 4) What really determines the DOK level?

41. Partner Check • 1) Give an example of a statement that uses a verb that “sounds” like a high DOK but is used inappropriately. answers vary • 2) Fill in the blanks: What follows the verb is more important than the verb itself when deciding the DOK level. • 3) What is the difference between difficulty and complexity? answers vary, but do not rely on the verb • 4) What really determines the DOK level? the intended learning outcomes

42. What is Depth of Knowledge (DOK)? • A scale of cognitive demand (thinking)to align standards with assessments • Based on the research of Norman Webb, University of WisconsinCenter for Education Research and the National Institute for Science Education • May guide item development for state assessments

43. Webb’s Four Levels of Cognitive Complexity • Level 1: Recall and Reproduction • Level 2: Skills & Concepts • Level 3: Strategic Thinking • Level 4: Extended Thinking

44. DOK Level 1: Recall and Reproduction • Requires recall of information, such as a fact, definition, term, or performance of a simple process or procedure • Answering a Level 1 item can involve following a simple, well-known procedure or formula

45. Recall and Reproduction DOK Level 1Examples: • List animals that survive by eating other animals • Locate or recall facts found in text • Describe physical features of places • Determine the perimeter or area of rectangles given a drawing or labels • Identify elements of music using music terminology • Identify basic rules for participating in simple games and activities

46. Skills/Concepts: DOK Level 2 • Includes the engagement of some mental processing beyond recalling or reproducing a response • Items require students to make some decisions as to how to approach the question or problem • Actions imply more than one mental or cognitive process/step

47. Skills/Concepts: DOK 2 Examples • Compare desert and tropical environments • Identify and summarize the major events, problems, solutions, conflicts in literary text • Explain the cause-effect of historical events • Predict a logical outcome based on information in a reading selection • Explain how good work habits are important at home, school, and on the job • Classify plane and three dimensional figures • Describe various styles of music

48. Strategic Thinking: Level 3 • Requires deep understanding exhibited through planning, using evidence, and more demanding cognitivereasoning • The cognitive demands are complex and abstract • An assessment item or classroom task that has more than one possible answer and requires students tojustify the responsewould most likely be a Level 3

49. DOK Level 3: Strategic Thinking Examples • Compare consumer actions and analyze how these actions impact the environment • Analyze or evaluate the effectiveness of literary elements (e.g., characterization, setting, point of view, conflict and resolution, plot structures) • Solve a multiple-step problem and provide support with a mathematical explanation that justifies the answer

50. DOK Level 3 Examples • Develop a scientific model for a complex idea • Propose and evaluate solutions for an economic problem • Explain, generalize or connect ideas, using supporting evidence from a text or source • Create a dance that represents the characteristics of a culture