Planting the Seeds of Rigor: Strategies for Principals' Success

1. PLANTING THE SEEDSOF RIGOR Region I Principals’ Meeting November 5, 2010

2. Presented by Curriculum Support Specialists: Isis Casares Lizbeth Gonzalez & Esther Sanchez

3. What is Rigor? • Barbara Blackburn, author of Rigor is NOT a Four-Letter Word, states Rigor can be ice cream—everyone has his or her own favorite flavor. And when you are told you are to increase rigor, but there are 32 definitions to choose from, it leads to frustration.

4. Other definitions of Rigor Rigor is Rigor is not • Scaffolding thinking • Planning for thinking • Assessing about content • Recognizing the level of thinking students demonstrate • Managing the teaching/learning level for the desired thinking level • More or harder worksheets • AP or honors courses • The higher level book in reading • More work • More homework

5. So then… What is Rigor? • Rigor is creating an environment in which each student is expected to learn at high levels, • each student is supported so he or she can learn at high levels, and • each student demonstrates learning at high levels.* * From RIGOR is Not a Four Letter Word by Barbara Blackburn

6. The teacher is always the KEY • It’s not the textbook, or the latest program on the market, or even a policy. • It is the individual teacher—it is how the teacher uses the textbook or program with the students. It is how the teacher implements the policy.

7. Examples of Rigor in Reading/ Language Arts • Whole group instruction • Small group instruction • Differentiation • Questioning • Centers

8. Examples of Rigor in Mathematics • Use of manipulatives to explore concepts in mathematics • Mathematics Journals • Incorporation of technology in centers • Real world problem solving

9. Examples of Rigor in Science • Vocabulary maps • Lab journals to explore concepts • Lab reports following hands-on or virtual experiments • Variety of authentic student work used to explore concepts

10. How can we increase Rigor? • Higher Order Thinking Skills • Webb’s Depth of Knowledge

11. Let’s Learn about Norman Webb’s Depth of Knowledge • The Depth-of-knowledge (DOK) was created by Norman Webb from the Wisconsin Center for Education Research.  • The Depth of Knowledge is the degree of depth or complexity of knowledge standards and assessments require; this criterion is met if the assessment is as demanding cognitively as the expectations standards are set for students.

12. Four Levels of Depth of Knowledge

13. Level 1 Recall Requires students to use simple skills or abilities to recall or locate facts from the text or information such as a fact, term, definition, or performance of a simple process or procedure. The student either knows the information or does not.

14. Level 2 Skill/Concept Requires both initial comprehension and subsequent processing of text or text portions. Important concepts are covered, but not in a complex way. Tasks involve more than one step. Students must make decisions about how to approach a problem or activity. Literal main ideas are stressed. Items may include words such as paraphrase, summarize, interpret, infer, classify, organize, and estimate.

15. Level 3 Strategic Thinking Requires deep knowledge. Cognitive demands are complex and abstract. Students are encouraged to go beyond the text and are asked to explain, generalize, or connect ideas. Students must be able to support and explain their thinking, inferencing and analyzing.

16. Level 4 Extended Thinking Requires complex reasoning, planning, developing, and thinking. Students take information from at least one passage and are asked to apply this information to a new task. They may also be asked to develop hypotheses using evidence, and perform complex analyses combining and synthesizing ideas into new concepts.

17. They Go Together

18. DOK Levels

19. Which Level of Webb’s DOK? Collecting data samples Developing a generalized model from the data and applying it to a new situation Using the chart to make and justify predictions Organizing the data in a chart Recall Extending Thinking Strategic Thinking Skills/ Concepts

20. Do your classrooms have DOK quality?

21. DOK in Language Arts/Reading What is the author’s purpose in writing this article? What did the author say about the childhood of the salmon? Why did the author begin the article/story with “Pacific salmon have a wonderful childhood”? Moderate Low High

22. DOK in Mathematics • Determine the perimeter or area of rectangles given a drawing or labels. • Classify plane and three dimensional figures. • Solve a multiple-step problem and provide support with a mathematical explanation that justifies the answer. • Specify a problem, identify solution paths, solve the problem, and report the results. Low Moderate High High

23. DOK in MathematicsSame VERB • Determine the formula for the area of a rectangle and explain reasoning through modeling • Demonstrate and model multiplication (repeated addition, arrays) and division (repeated subtraction, partitioning) • Model, describe, and draw – lines, rays, angles including right, obtuse, and acute angles. High Moderate Low

24. DOK in Science Knowledge • Content knowledge • Knowledge of science processes Teachers need to understand the benchmarks to ensure that the intent of the standard and the level of student demonstration required by each standard are addressed in classroom instruction.

25. DOK on the FCAT Science

26. DOK on the FCAT Science

27. DOK on the FCAT Science

28. Percentage of Points by Cognitive Complexity Level for FCAT 2.0 Reading

29. Percentage of Points by Cognitive Complexity Level for FCAT 2.0 & EOC Mathematics Assessments

30. Percentage of Points by Cognitive Complexity Level for FCAT Science

31. Plant the seeds of knowledge everywhere you go!