Demystifying Rigor: Dissecting Webb’s Depth of Knowledge for the Classroom
Format
Individual Presentation
Location
Plimsoll
Strand #1
Academic Achievement & School Leadership
Relevance
Mandates to prepare all students to be college and career ready require an increase in academic rigor in today’s classrooms. It is critical that educators understand rigor, how to build rigor into their instruction, and how to apply the four levels of Webb’s Depth of Knowledge to deepen students’ knowledge. Demystifying Rigor: Dissecting Webb’s Depth of Knowledge for the Classroom will address these issues and provide practical tips for increasing rigor for reluctant and below grade level learners.
Brief Program Description
Explore the four levels of cognitive rigor in Webb’s Depth of Knowledge (DOK) in the context of aligning instruction and assessment to Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Participants will engage in hands-on activities designed to model the application of DOK to improve instructional alignment, increase student engagement, and ensure appropriate rigor in classroom activities and assessment.
Summary
Participants will have the opportunity to explore and develop a working understanding of the four levels of cognitive rigor in Webb’s Depth of Knowledge (DOK). Session objectives include: 1) Participants will be able to explain the pedagogical implications of DOK in instructional planning aligned with CCSS. 2) Participants will be able to create instructional activities and assessments with a level of rigor that aligns with CCSS and DOK.
This session is designed to provide participants with a student-centered, collaborative opportunity to deepen their own understanding of DOK and explore how to utilize the DOK wheel to plan classroom instruction and optimize learning for all students. Participants will learn to identify the required cognitive level of CCSS and practice creating and aligning instruction and assessment through the use of DOK. Collaborative activities will allow participants to apply DOK to standards in their own content areas and create “mini-lessons” that demonstrate the required level of rigor of selected standards. These “make and take” activities can be tailored to the needs of each participant and will provide a framework for designing instruction and assessment as they return to their own classrooms.
The flexible grouping in this session will allow participants to work with others in content or grade-level groups to design relevant and authentic activities for their own classrooms that align to content and grade-level standards and DOK. All activities are student-centered and are designed to ensure that students reach their maximum potential via the exploration, understanding of alignment, and acquisition of adding rigor within today’s classrooms.
Evidence
The concept of cognitive rigor was introduced by Karin Hess when she superimposed Webb’s Depth of Knowledge over Bloom’s Taxonomy and created a cognitive rigor matrix which has been used by many states to identify the depth and complexity of standards and assessments (Hess, Jones, Carlock, & Walkup, 2009). More recently, in 2012, the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium adopted the concept of cognitive rigor and the Hess matrix (Smarter Balanced, 2012). Cognitive rigor has been accepted and adopted for use by developers of curriculum and assessments. As a result there is a need for teachers to apply the concept of cognitive rigor and incorporate a range of cognitive demand in their classroom instruction and assessment.
Herman, J., & Linn, R. (2014). New assessments, new rigor. Educational Leadership, 71(6), 34-37.
Hess, K. K., Carlock, D., Jones, B., & Walkup, J. R. (2009). What exactly do “fewer, clearer, and higher standards” really look like in the classroom? Using a cognitive rigor matrix to analyze curriculum, plan lessons, and implement assessments. Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), Detroit MI.
Hess, K. K., Jones, B. S., Carlock, D., & Walkup, J. R. (2009). Cognitive rigor: Blending the strengths of Bloom's Taxonomy and Webb's Depth of Knowledge to enhance classroom-level processes. Retrieved from ERIC database. (ED517804). http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED517804.pd
Holmes, V. (2012). Depth of teachers' knowledge: Frameworks for teachers' knowledge of mathematics. Journal Of STEM Education: Innovations & Research, 13(1), 55.
Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium. (April 2012). Mathematics Item Specifications Grades 3-5. http://www.smarterbalanced.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/012/05/TaskItemSpecifications/Mathematics/MathematicsGeneralItemandTaskSpecificationsGrades3-5.pdf
Webb, N. (1997). Research Monograph Number 6: “Criteria for alignment of expectations and assessments on mathematics and science education. Washington, D.C.: CCSSO.
Biographical Sketch
Dr. Kelly Brooksher is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Childhood and Exceptional Student Education at Armstrong State University. Her diverse background includes K-8 experience in both regular and special education as well as leadership roles as a teacher and administrator. Her research interests includes: co-teaching, grading & assessment, and higher-order thinking strategies.
Dr. Barbara Serianni is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Childhood and Exceptional Student Education at Armstrong State University. Her areas of interest include early academic intervention through the effective use of RTI, co-teaching, mastery learning, and the effective application of rigor in instruction and assessment.
Keyword Descriptors
Teaching, learning, rigor, alignment, engagement, Depth of Knowledge, Common Core State Standards, student-centered, collaborative
Presentation Year
2016
Start Date
3-7-2016 1:15 PM
End Date
3-7-2016 2:30 PM
Recommended Citation
Brooksher, Kelly and Serianni, Barbara, "Demystifying Rigor: Dissecting Webb’s Depth of Knowledge for the Classroom" (2016). National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference. 141.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/nyar_savannah/2016/2016/141
Demystifying Rigor: Dissecting Webb’s Depth of Knowledge for the Classroom
Plimsoll
Explore the four levels of cognitive rigor in Webb’s Depth of Knowledge (DOK) in the context of aligning instruction and assessment to Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Participants will engage in hands-on activities designed to model the application of DOK to improve instructional alignment, increase student engagement, and ensure appropriate rigor in classroom activities and assessment.
