1. Authentic Assessment Rigor and Relevance
Unit time: 3 minutes Cumulative time: 3 minutes
Introduce yourself
Explain to participants that this is a work session, not a professional development session. The majority of the time will be spent working with your program groups on authentic assessments and rigor and relevance. I will be available to facilitate your work.
Explain to WebEx participants that they will be logged into the current WebEx for the short presentation and will then login with their program for the work session portion.
Documents we are using today are: (available in the Blackboard communities)
Rigor and Relevance framework blank
Rigor and Relevance framework
Rigor and Relevance examples
Developing Assessments
New Bloom’s Taxonomy
Should have capstone course SLOs or can access them through Baker
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Work Session

2. What is authentic assessment?
Unit time: 5 minutes Cumulative time: 8 minutes
Ask participants, “when we talk about “traditional” assessment what comes to mind? (exams, quizzes, multiple choice). Traditional assessments are the types of assessments we hear the most about and are used most often – they generally involve recall and recognition or selecting a correct response.
Ask participants, “When we talk about “authentic” assessment what comes to mind? (real-world, application, projects, role-plays). Authentic assessments involve application and performing real-world tasks.
Discuss: There is a place for both in the classroom – using multiple forms of assessment is a best practice.
Ask participants, “Is there a time when a “traditional” form of assessment might also be “authentic”? The answer is yes. If a student is preparing for a licensure exam that is required as the next step in the process for becoming employed in their field, then it is an authentic assessment as it prepares them for the next step in the process…many licensure exams are multiple choice.
Transition: Now we are going to look at a very useful assessment tool called the Rigor and Relevance Framework…How many of you are familiar with and/or have used the Rigor and Relevance Framework?
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3. Rigor and Relevance Unit time: 10 minutes Cumulative time: 18 minutes
What is it…
Developed by the International Center for Leadership in Education
Based on research and best practices in teaching and learning – tied to brain-based learning, LCI, authentic assessment.
How can we use it…
It is a simple test for validity of assessing student learning outcomes. Used to determine if your assessments are at the appropriate level based on SLOs and R & R plotting.
To determine if your SLOs are at the appropriate level. Plot to Rigor & Relevance and discuss.
To have deeper discussions around assessment
To explain the why behind your choice of assessments for a course – creating a faculty guide, developing a using UbD and understanding a UbD course you are teaching.
Explain the Framework and the quadrants…
Y axis is Bloom’s Taxonomy and represents “rigor”. We use the newest version of Bloom’s the revised Bloom’s.
X axis is the Application Model developed by the ICLE…ranges from no application to the highest, most complex level of application to real-world, unpredictable (ill structured) problems.
Each quadrant represents a level of Bloom’s and a level of Application and the research that is tied to teaching and learning for that level
A Quadrant – low level Bloom’s and little to no Application – remembering and understanding knowledge (example – basic math problems – adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing numbers)
B Quadrant – low level Bloom’s and high levels of Application – use knowledge to solve problems and design solutions and complete work. (example – using basic math to solve story problems, build something, etc.)
C Quadrant – high level Bloom’s and little to no Application – use knowledge to analyze and solve problems, but not applying to real-world scenarios. (example – Using math equations to solve problems)
D Quadrant – high level of Bloom’s and high levels of application – this is where students can draw upon existing knowledge and think in complex ways to solve difficult problems. (example – using math formulas and equations in combination with other knowledge to construct, predict outcomes and changes)
Transition: Let’s look at how we create a R & R Framework and what it can tell us.
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4. Unit time: 6 minutes Cumulative time: 24 minutes
Plotting…this is an overview for how to do it later in the session.
Using your SLOs, (EOs if you have them) choose one SLO (EO) and locate the level of Bloom’s on the Y axis.
Using the same SLO, (EO) locate the level of Application on the X axis…this will take some discussion as it isn’t as clear-cut as locating Bloom’s. Think about the importance of application and where real learning takes place…think about the mission of Baker College…for a capstone course, students should be very comfortable working at a higher level of Bloom’s and high levels of application - we want to operate and assess in the D quadrant as much as possible.
Where the two intersect, plot that SLO (EOs) in that quadrant…see completed Rigor and Relevance handout.
Continue this process for all of the SLOs (EOs).
Now, using the Rigor and Relevance Framework (handout) find the quadrants where your SLOs (EOs) are located and read the information about the types of assessments and learning experiences that are appropriate for each quadrant. We won’t do this right now
Transition: You will have an opportunity in a moment to plot all of your SLOs, for now let’s look at the steps for creating a good assessment.
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5. Developing a Good Assessment
Determine the appropriate level of SLOs and EOs (Rigor and Relevance).
Determine an appropriate method (Rigor and Relevance).
Demonstration, essay, oral, multiple choice, project…
Determine your criteria for success.
Unit time: 5 minutes Cumulative time: 29 minutes
Determine the appropriate level of SLOs (EOs) using Rigor and Relevance – use the steps for completing the Rigor and Relevance Framework.
Determine an appropriate method (Rigor and Relevance). What does the Rigor and Relevance Framework tell us about the types of learning experiences and assessments that are appropriate for the SLO (EO)?
Determine your criteria for success – based on the type of assessment that is appropriate, design the assessment by developing the criteria for success. For example…if the SLO (EO) is plotted in the D quadrant at a high level of Bloom’s and the highest level of application, then a stimulation or role-play will be an appropriate type of assessment. What criteria do students have to meet when completing this assessment to be successful. This will feed into your rubric.
You can assess multiple SLOs with the same assessment.
Okay, now it is your turn to do some work.
Use….New Bloom’s Taxonomy handout, Rigor and Relevance Framework blank, and your SLOs. Complete the steps for developing a good assessment. I will be walking around helping you. For those of you who have a WebEx participant, please login to your WebEx meeting and make sure your audio is one. I can assist if needed.
If you have assessments already developed, then plot your SLOs to the Rigor and Relevance Framework blank document and discuss if your assessments are appropriate for the level of the SLOs.
If your SLOs are in the higher levels of Bloom’s and application on the Rigor and Relevance Framework, but your assessments are not at the same level, then have discussion about what might need to change…are your SLOs appropriate? Does your assessment need to change? Can you keep this assessment and add to it to create alignment with Rigor and Relevance? Are you meeting your accreditation requirements with the assessment? Does anything need to change?
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6. Next Steps At the next quarterly meeting…
Continue to completion your Rigor and Relevance Framework and authentic assessment
Request attendance at the Rubric work session
Unit time: 1 minute Cumulative time: 30 minutes
Keep this slide on the screen for the remainder of the session, before work begins, briefly review slide.