1. New Hope-Solebury School District

2. Develop a shared understanding of the concept of cognitive rigor Begin the conversation about Webbs’ Depth of Knowledge and how it will apply to curriculum revisions as well as curriculum and instruction endeavors

3. Think about how you define rigor. What does rigor look like in your classroom? How has the rigor of your classes/courses changed in the last few years?

4. Teachers are the primary driving forces behind change. They are best positioned to understand the problems that students face and to generate possible solutions. ~James W. Stiger, The Teaching Gap If a student is taught by a highly effective teacher, they will learn in six months what it takes students in an average teacher’s classroom to learn in a year. If a student is in an ineffective teacher’s classroom, that same learning takes more than 2 years. ~Linda Darling Hammond

5. We need to develop guaranteed and viable curricula for ever content area— not just for four core areas! Rationale: Guaranteed, viable curricula is arguably the single most important precondition for school improvement.

6. What are our students really being asked to do with the instruction we provide? Are we instructing and assessing students appropriately? Are we keeping a cognitive demand on students?

7. The kind and level of thinking required of students to engage in and solve tasks successfully The manner in which students interact with content A Key Point The secret to closing achievement gaps and making significant progress in students’ assessment results is accomplished by holding all students accountable to the same rigorous standards regardless of demographic group.

8. The PA Common Core Standards: Clearer, fewer, deeper Depth of Knowledge focuses on complexity (not just difficulty) of content PDE has replaced Bloom’s Taxonomy with Webbs’ Depth of Knowledge 4 Levels: Recall and Reproduction, Skills and Concepts, Strategic Thinking, and Extended Thinking

10. Level 1: Recall and Reproduction Approximately 10% of state assessment questions/prompts Important prerequisite knowledge needed to move to levels 2-4 Level 2: Skills and Concepts Approximately 30% of state assessment questions/prompts Level 3: Strategic Thinking Approximately 55% of state assessment questions/prompts Justifications and arguments More than one possible answer Level 4: Extended Thinking Approximately 5% of state assessment questions/prompts Long range assignments/projects

11. Level One Define a vocabulary term. Describe the physical features of Greece. Determine the perimeter or area of a rectangle. Identify elements of music using appropriate terminology. Identify the basic rules of football. Level Two Compare and contrast the health benefits of two forms of exercise. Identify and summaries the major events, problem, solution, and conflict in a literary text. Categorize paintings into the correct period of art history. Classify plane and three dimensional figures. Level Three Explain, generalize, or connect ideas, using supporting evidence from a text or primary source. Solve a multiple-step science experiment and provide an explanation that justifies the results. Level Four Gather, analyze, organize, and interpret information from multiple (print and non-print sources) to draft a reasoned report. Specify a problem, identify solution paths, solve problems, and report results. DOK

12. If there is only one correct answer, it is probably DOK 1 or DOK 2 DOK 1: You either know it or you don’t DOK 2 (conceptual): Apply one concept, then make a decision before going on and applying a second concept If there are more than one solution/approach, requiring evidence, it is DOK 3 or DOK 4 DOK 3: Must provide supporting evidence and reasoning (not just HOW but WHY – explain reasoning) DOK 4: All of DOK 3 AND the use of multiple sources or texts

13. What is its purpose? What is the implied/intended rigor? To what standard(s) does the activity align? What do student responses tell you as the teacher how to change instruction?

14. Instructing and assessing only at the highest DOK level will miss opportunities to know what students do and do not know. Instruction and assessments need to have a range of levels. Performance assessments can offer varying levels of DOK embedded in a larger, more complex task. Planned formative assessment strategies can focus on differing DOK levels.

15. Revisit your definition of rigor. What is one way you might apply these ideas to your work with students immediately? How might you shift your classroom instruction or assessment practices immediately? What existing curriculum/assessment materials could you examine for a range of cognitive rigor?

16. Revisions of all areas of curriculum will commence this year. We will prepare for the implementation of a comprehensive, coherent benchmarking system that provides information on students’ levels of achievement and growth at multiple points throughout the year. Additional professional development on cognitive rigor and depth of knowledge is forthcoming.