Rigor in our Advanced Placement & International Baccalaureate Courses AP/IB Alliance February 8, 2010

Objectives/Goal of Today’s Collaboration…. To collaborate on a definition of rigor To reflect on the level of rigor in our schools  To promote academic excellence within the classroom through abstract thinking and an engaging curriculum

The Crisis With Rigor in American Classrooms The NAEP analysis showed, while the nation’s lowest- achieving students made respectable gains from 2000 to 2007, the performance of top students made little progress 80% of employers rate high school graduates as deficient in the basic skills of written communication 53.5% of employers rate high school graduates as deficient in the basic skills of mathematics 69.6% of employers rate high school graduates as deficient in critical thinking and problem solving skills

Although school leaders generally recognize the importance of rigor, many are not thoroughly and accurately measuring, monitoring, and encouraging rigor. Too often it is a vague concept that means that instruction is “hard, tough, and sometimes boring” SREB

Questions for Reflection What is the relationship between rigor and high expectations? At what point does rigor become stress, and is that bad? What are the characteristics of the classes that students love even though they are challenging/demanding?

Gist Brainstorming In teams, what words, phrases, and/or ideas about RIGOR are essential to write a concise summary Construct a one or two sentence summary of rigor, using no more than 20 words.

A Comparison HARD Learning includes extensive memorization of facts, details, or text Curriculum and instruction focus on isolated facts and information Learning experiences are characterized by the irrelevance of the knowledge or skills RIGOROUS Students use knowledge and skills to perform authentic work in the discipline Curriculum and instruction focus on conceptual understanding Teachers connect knowledge and skills to students’ lives or interests

Official CMS Definition Rigor is a characteristic of the learning experience which helps students develop the capacity to understand content that is complex, ambiguous, provocative and personally or emotionally challenging. As a result of rigorous content, students create a process of thinking and problem-solving that is self- directed and applicable to the real world. (based on definition of Jolly and Kettler, 2007; Tomlinson, 2007; Small Schools Project/ASCD, AVID, NCDPI)

Content, Process, Product Think-Pair-Share 1. How do you increase the rigor in your course? Think in terms of: content process product

Content Instructional Units Provide time for more holistic learning Provide more flexibility in the use of time Units provide more time to develop more complex instructional objectives

Content Curriculum Integration Curriculum integration makes learning connections/links for students, which in turn foster critical thinking Curriculum integration promotes and reinforces essential concepts in content domains, facilitating skill/knowledge building and retention Curriculum integration moves standards away from the mile long and inch deep levels of a instruction to deeper levels of teaching and learning

Content Bundling Standards Bundling can pull together a range of “verbs” that move from the more simple to the more complex levels of thinking and knowledge Competence objectives are not taught in isolation Bundling facilitates time to “spiral” the curriculum, bringing back the more important concepts in more than one teaching episode

Process A Curriculum of Connections is designed to help students to think about and apply key concepts, principals, and skills: Across disciplines Across times, locations, and/or cultures Through the eyes of people who affected and are affected by the ideas As impacted by various conditions: social economic, technological, political

Process The “Me” Connection Students are asked to: Reflect on their skills and interests as they relate to the discipline and how each is useful to the other Think about the impact of the discipline on the lives of others and self in the wider world Examine the ethics and philosophy characteristic of the discipline and their implications See a new way through creative and critical analysis

Product Offers Student Choice (Interest/engagement) Answers essential questions and relates to real world application Demonstrates an understanding of a Big Idea Rubrics - require forward thinking and backward planning identify the critical attributes of what is to be taught

Product Authentic Assessments “…Engaging and worthy problems or questions of importance, in which students must use knowledge to fashion performances effectively and creatively. The tasks are either replicas of or analogous to the kinds of problems faced by adult citizens and consumers or professionals in the field.” - G. Wiggins

Authentic Assessments Includes a task for students to perform and a rubric by which their performance on the task will be evaluated Assessment drives curriculum – planning backwards Provides teacher with direct evidence of application and construction of knowledge Most effective when used in conjunction with traditional assessments

Forms of Authentic Assessment Portfolios – shows student best work or work in progress Socratic Seminars – students explore and deepen their own learning Exhibitions – public demonstration of student’s mastery Project-based Learning – applied skills to solve challenging, real-world problems

Quick Take-Away THINK LINKS Pre-post test To design Choose a subject/topic Determine key concepts/terms Students make connections between ideas

In Summary… “Taking these steps consciously will help promote intellectual habits of mind instead of reducing intellectual life to mental labor”

Questions??

Who to call for help?? Director – stephanie.schoen (6174) Advanced Studies – kathleen.koch (2701) AVID – kat.eaker (2645) Compliance/Testing - carol.staples (2700) Horizons - roberta.malickson (2644) Elementary – shirley.kohl (6165)

Resources Mary Martin and Sam Sipes Ashley Hines /RigorEngagement.pdf /RigorEngagement.pdf htm htm Principal’s Research Review – July 2007 – Authentic Assessment, vol. 2 – issue 4