RIGOR IN ASSESSMENTS Nov 14 – Teach for America Break-Out Session

FIRST THREE: 2 minutes  Open the PDF document titled “DOK (your content area)”  Open the Word document titled “(your content area) – DOK of objectives AND items”

DO NOW: 3 minutes Using the periodic table below, write the Electron Configuration for Lead (Pb).

DO NOW Con’t: 1. Is this question hard? Why or why not? 2. Is this question rigorous? Why or Why not? 3. Why might your answers to questions 1 and 2 be different? Share out – 2 minutes

Hook and Session Take-Aways: 3 min  We want to teach our students to take assessments in our classrooms that match the rigor of the standardized assessments they are required to take so that they are prepared for those assessments.  Session Take-Aways:  Analyze an assessment item in order to determine the level of rigor.  Write an assessment item of the appropriate rigor level so that it matches the objective or standard being assessed.  Explain the importance of having assessments and lessons of the appropriate rigor.

A Look at Standardized Questions

Rigor is IMPORTANT.  You may be thinking that the standardized test items you just looked at were WAY harder than most of the questions that you give your students.  You may be worried that your kids are not ready for these types of questions.

Rigor is IMPORTANT.  Common misconceptions:  My kids can’t do this. Yes they can. It is up to you to teach them HOW to perform rigorous tasks by teaching them how to problem-solve and connect concepts together by doing think-alouds, sharing their thoughts with their peers, and doing lots and lots of rigorous practice.  My kids aren’t focused enough to do this (i.e. my classroom management isn’t there yet). Rigorous lessons are a HUGE part of investing your kids in your class. Kids are intrinsically curious and eager to learn. By providing rigorous materials, you are engaging them in a truly authentic way.

Rigor is IMPORTANT.  Kids will be faced with rigorous assessment items at some point.  The earlier we start teaching and assessing at a high level of rigor, the more prepared they will be!

DOK Levels in a Nutshell  DOK 1 – One step, one piece of recalled information…DONE!  DOK 2 – Know a piece of information and do something with it (multiple steps).  DOK 3 – Multiple steps with multiple decision points or connecting multiple ideas and concepts.  At DSST (unit tests, finals): DOK 1 – 20-40% DOK 2 – 40-50% DOK 3 – 20%

Depth of Knowledge Levels 1 minutes

DOK of objectives  DOK of your assessment items should MATCH the DOK of the objective.  It is okay if your assessments have items that build to your intended DOK level, but you must hit it!  Or else, when they come to the TCAP/SAT/ACT, they won’t be at a high enough knowledge/skill level to answer the questions that align to an objective/standard.

DOK of objectives: I Do  Science: Interpret weather data and the changes that occur over time (graph, charts, weather maps). DOK 2  Draw conclusions from scientific evidence and indicate whether further information is needed to support a specific conclusion DOK 3  Math: Use the order of operations to simplify expressions. DOK 1  Create, interpret and use a frequency table and/or histogram DOK 2/3  English: Summarize the key points and identify the main idea of an article. DOK 2  Analyze the use of imagery in To Kill a Mockingbird DOK 3  Social Studies: Explain the impact of the first 10 Amendments in the Bill of Rights on life today. DOK 3  Identify the capitals of each state in the United States of America. DOK 1

DOK of objectives: We Do  Science: Use common metric prefixes and make conversions between them. DOK 1 Build/draw a circuits and explains the flow of energy through them. DOK 2  Math: Create a circle graph using raw data. DOK 3 Identify and describe patterns and sequences. DOK 2  English: Write complete, grammatically correct sentences. DOK 2 Define “metaphor,” and “simile,” and compare and contrast the two. DOK 1/2  Social Studies: Rank the causes of the Civil War and justify your ranking. DOK 3 Summarize the 3 branches of government. DOK 2

DOK of Objectives: You Do (8 min)  Open “(your subject) DOK of Objectives AND Items.”  Find someone who is in your same content area (if possible). Social Studies – use English examples  Read through the beginning explanation, if you want more rationale for DOK levels  Then scroll down to “Sample (Subject) Objectives” Spend 5-7 min identifying the DOK level of each objective. Check yourself with the answer key at the end of the objectives. Ask questions if you need to!

DOK of Objectives  Questions?

DOK of Items  Turn and Talk: What are the DOK levels for each of the questions below? #1#2 3 x 2111 x 35  Same DOK level (1g) since this “performing a routine procedure”, even though the right one is more difficult.

Try another one!  What is the DOK level here?

Final group practice: DOK level?

DOK Practice– 10 minutes  With your partner, go back to the document you were just in.  Scroll down to example assessment items.  Identify the DOK level of the items and then check yourself at the bottom.  Ask questions! ** There is an additional document called “Social Studies DOK Questions Examples” – check that out if you teach social studies ** Also check out “Science - More Items DOK Examples” if you want more science practice

Next Steps (possibly with your MTLD)  Take a look at your next test.  Find the DOK level of the objectives to be tested.  Then find the DOK level for each objective’s questions.  Do they match?  If there is a misalignment between DOK of objective and test, either:  Rewrite the questions to make them the correct level of rigor OR  Add more questions that scaffold up to the correct level of rigor