1. DOK and GRASPS, an Introduction for new staff
Caitlin Winebarger and Joan Gonzales

2. Depth of Knowledge Focuses on the cognitive rigor of a standard.
Is descriptive, not sequential
Is not the same as difficulty
Caitlin Final Jeopardy is always DOK 1 (recall) even though the level of difficulty is often quite high.

3. Webb’s Depth of Knowledge Levels:
Recall & Reproduction: Level 1
Skills & Concepts: Level 2
Strategic Thinking: Level 3
Extended Thinking: Level 4
Caitlin

4. Recall and Reproduction: Level 1
DOK 1 requires recall of information, such as a fact, definition, or term, or performance of a simple process or procedure.
Answering a Level 1 item can involve following a simple, well-known procedure or formula. Simple skills and abilities or recall characterize DOK 1.
Joan
Level 1 only requires students to demonstrate a rote response, use a well-known formula, follow a set procedure (like a recipe), or perform a clearly defined series of steps.

5. DOK Level 1 Examples List animals that survive by eating other animals
Locate or recall facts explicitly 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 musical terminology
Identify basic rules for participating in simple games and activities
Joan

6. Skills and Concepts: Level 2
DOK 2 includes mental processing beyond recalling or reproducing a response. Items require students to make some decisions as to how to approach the question or problem.
These actions imply more than one mental or cognitive process/step.
Joan
The content knowledge or process involved is more complex than in level 1. For example, to compare data requires first identifying characteristics of the objects or phenomenon and then grouping or ordering the objects

7. DOK Level 2 Examples Compare desert and tropical environments
Identify and summarize the major events, problem, solution, and 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, at school, and on the job
Classify plane and three-dimensional figures
Describe various styles of music
Joan
Organize, represent and compare data
Compare/contrast people, events, places, concepts

8. Strategic Thinking: Level 3
DOK 3 requires deep understanding as exhibited through planning, using evidence, and more demanding cognitive reasoning. The cognitive demands at Level 3 are complex and abstract.
An assessment item that has more than one possible answer and requires students to justify the response they give would most likely be a Level 3.
Caitlin
The complexity does not result only from the fact that there could be multiple answers, a possibility for both Levels 1 and 2, but because the multi-step task requires In most instances, requiring students to explain their thinking is at Level 3; requiring a very simple explanation or a word or two should be at Level 2.

9. DOK Level 3 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
Caitlin
Explain, generalize, or connect ideas using supporting evidence from the text or from other sources

10. Extended Thinking: Level 4
DOK 4 requires high cognitive demand and is very complex. Students are expected to make connections—relate ideas within the content or among content areas—and have to select or devise one approach among many alternatives on how to solve the problem.
Due to the complexity of cognitive demand, DOK 4 often requires an extended period of time.
Caitlin
Many on-demand assessment instruments will not include any assessment activities that could be classified as Level 4. However, standards, goals, and objectives can be stated in such a way as to expect students to perform extended thinking. “Develop generalizations of the results obtained and the strategies used and apply them to new problem situations,” is an example of a Grade 8 objective that is a Level 4. The extended time period is not a distinguishing factor if the required work is only repetitive and does not require applying significant conceptual understanding and higher-order thinking.  

11. DOK Level 4 Examples
Gather, analyze, organize, and interpret information from multiple sources (print and nonprint) to draft a reasoned report
Analyze authors craft (e.g., style, bias, literary techniques, point of view)
Create an exercise plan applying the “FITT (Frequency, Intensity, Time, Type) Principle”
Caitlin

12. The Verb Issue
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)
DOK 2: Describe the difference between metamorphic and igneous rocks. (requires cognitive processing to determine the differences in the two rock types)
DOK 1: Describe three characteristics of metamorphic rocks. (simple recall)
Joan
Same verb—three DOK levels

13. Remember…
DOK is a scale of cognitive demand.
Determining the DOK levels requires looking at the assessment item, not student work, in order to determine the level. DOK is about the item not the student.
The context of the task, and not the verb chosen, must be considered when determining DOK.
Joan

14. Activity
Please access the DOK article/ Activity listed on the inservice website.
You will also find some helpful resources like the DOK wheel, and examples from multiple content areas.
Caitlin
15 minutes to read article and start on the activity.
Brief share out for themes.

15. Performance Assessments
Stage 2, Yay!

16. Continuum of Assessments
informal checks for understanding
performance tasks
tests and quizzes
academic prompts
Joan
Our goal in Stage 2 is appropriate evidence, not interesting projects or tasks. Many projects are fun and educational, but they may not provide enough evidence about the understandings sought in Stage 1.
Effective assessment is more like a scrapbook of mementos and pictures than a single snapshot. Rather than using a single test, of one type, at the end of teacher, effective teacher-assessors gather lots of evidence along the way, using a variety of methods and formats. Thus when planning to collect evidence of understanding, consider a range of assessment methods such as those shown here.
These vary in terms of scope (from simple to complex), time frame (from short-to long-term), setting (from decontextualized to authentic contexts), and structure (from highly directive to unstructured).
Because understanding develops as a result of ingoing inquiry and rethinking, the assessment of understanding should be thought of in terms of a collection of evidence over time instead of an “event.”

17. Think Like An Assessor Three Basic Questions
What kind of evidence do we need to determine level of understanding?
(e.g., test, task, quiz, check for understanding)
What specific characteristics in student responses, products, or performances do we need to determine student understanding?
(e.g., criteria, rubrics, exemplars)
Does the proposed evidence in Stage 2 help us determine student’s knowledge, skill, or understanding?
(e.g., Does it align with goals in Stage 1? Does it assess what we taught?)
Caitlin

18. Big Ideas and Enduring Understandings Important to know and do
Assessment Methods
Paper-and-pencil
Selected-response
Constructed Response
Big Ideas and Enduring Understandings
Important to know and do
Worth being familiar with
Traditional quizzes & tests
Performance tasks & projects
Complex
Open-ended
Authentic
Joan
Activity Directions: Take a look at the egg graphic. Based on what we’ve just learned share with your elbow partners (two to three people) which assessment methods fit most appropriately into which sector. Keep in mind, a particular method may fit into more than one sector. What did you come up with?
Let’s see if we’re in agreement.
Facilitator: Click once to reveal first arrow, click again to reveal bracket and second arrow, click again to reveal last set of arrows and bracket.
In effective assessments, we see a match between the type of format of the assessment and the needed evidence of achieving the desired results.
If the goal is for students to learn basic fact and skills, then paper-and-pencil tests and quizzes generally provide adequate and efficient measures.
When the goal is deep understanding, we rely on more complex performances to determine whether our goal has been reached.
p. 141 Professional Development Workbook

19. Types of Assessment Performance Tasks
informal checks for understanding
performance tasks
tests and quizzes
academic prompts
Performance Tasks
Complex challenges that mirror the issues and problems faced by adults. Ranging in length from short-term tasks to long-term, multi-staged projects, they yield one or more tangible products and performances.
Caitlin
They differ from academic prompts in the following ways:
Involve a real or simulated setting and the kind of constraints, background “noise,” incentives, and opportunities an adult would find in a similar situation (i.e., they are authentic)
Typically require the student to address an identified audience (real or simulated)
Are based on a specific purpose that relates to the audience
Allow students greater opportunity to personalize the task
Are not secure: The task, evaluative criteria, and performance standards are known in advance and guide student work

20. GRASPS A form of Performance Task
Framework for designing an assessment prompt
In your unit, one of your assessments needs to be in this form.
Contains the following:
Goal
Role
Audience
Situation
Product, Purpose, or Performance
Standards or Criteria for Success
Joan

21. Characteristics of Performance Tasks Activity
Part One - On your own
Choose four of the performance task vignettes on the handouts from the Inservice webpage. What distinguishes these tasks from typical test items? What common features or characteristics do these share? List characteristics that you observe.
Part Two – With your group
Share and discuss your observations with members of your group. List the common characteristics or features of the performance tasks you examined.
Joan
Have copies of page 167 – 169 for your participants. Copy 168 – 169 back to back so they can write on page 167 as reading. Give participants 10 – 15 minutes to work on their own and about 10 minutes to share as a group. Discuss their findings and share next slide with some key points. You can prompt groups to have a reporter if you would like.

22. Characteristics of Performance Tasks
Complex challenges that mirror the issues and problems faced by adults
Range in length from authentic short-term tasks to long-term, multi-stage projects
Yield one or more tangible products and performances
Typically require the student to address a specific audience (real or simulated) with a purpose that related to the audience
The task can be personalized
Evaluation criteria is known in advance
Joan
Whole group discuss these characteristics to the list participants generated.

23. Resources within Rubicon
Many resources live on the Rubicon site.
There are Understanding by Design workbooks at your site. The Professional Development Workbook is split up by stage and has many templates you may find useful.
Caitlin

24. Rubric Help
Resources exist!
Caitlin