teaching for rigor and relevanceyou find intriguing from the “prologue,” and create a written...

Helen M. BraniganSenior Consultant

email: [email protected]

Richard D. JonesSenior Consultant

email: [email protected]

International Center for Leadership in Education1587 Route 146, Rexford, NY 12148

(518) 399 2776http://www.LeaderEd.com

Teaching for Rigor andRelevance

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International Center for Leadership in Education

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INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR LEADERSHIP IN EDUCATION

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Quadrant C Assimilation

• Compare and contrast literarystyles of different authors.

• Relate literature to historicalcontext.

• Discuss role of media in ademocracy.

• Research limits of First Amendmentfreedoms.

• Analyze characters from a novel.• Create a storyboard.• Analyze and improve typical

student writing.• Role-play characters from literature

in new situations.

Quadrant D Adaptation

• Write and perform a radio play.• Simulate a presidential debate.• Write a legal brief defending a

school policy.• Prepare a demonstration video.• Review newspaper editorials for a

week and write a letter to the editorexpressing an opinion in responseto one of them.

• Develop guidelines for publishingcontent on Internet pages.

• Develop a reading list of historicalbiographies for a middle level socialstudies course.

Quadrant A Acquisition

• Practice SAT vocabulary words.• Select books and read to younger

children.• Read important works of

literature.• Give an extemporaneous speech.• Learn several graphic organizers.• Use word processing outlining

and table tools.• Write an essay on an historical

topic.

Quadrant B Application

• Participate in a debate on a currentpolitical issue.

• Write a research report on a nationalproblem.

• Identify and analyze typical bodylanguage traits.

• Create a personal or class Website.• Research a career field.• Use word processing software to

write a business letter.• Prepare a multimedia presentation.

I. PLANNING INSTRUCTION

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StudentActivities

in theRigor/

RelevanceFramework

ENGLISH

LANGUAGE

ARTS

HIGH SCHOOL

EXAMPLES

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INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR LEADERSHIP IN EDUCATION20

RIGOR AND RELEVANCE HANDBOOK

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• Draw Venn diagrams to represent a set ofreal conditions, e.g., common characteristicsof students in class.

• Find length of line segments without measuring.• Take measurements using calipers and

micrometers.• Calculate measurement error in real

observations.• Calculate frequency of vibration of various

piano strings.• Calculate medical dosages for different

weight animals.• Calculate mathematical values for an

excellent golf swing.• Plot changes in temperature at different

altitudes from a NASA space flight.


• Distinguish rational and irrationalnumbers

• Simplify, factor, and compute polynomials.• Solve and graph linear equations. • Create and solve factorial expressions

for permutation problems.• Construct and solve for unknowns in

ratio problems.• Compute numbers with scientific notation.• Predict the probability of events using

ratios.• Bisect line segments and angles.• Provide examples to illustrate properties

of real numbers.


• Determine types of measurements/calcula-tions involved in designing everyday items.

• Make calculations of electrical load ofappliances based on usage in homes in thecommunity.

• Examine the different elements, visualeffects, and features found in a computergame and use mathematics to design someof these elements.

• Create formulas to predict changes in stockmarket values.

• Design support posts of different materialsand size to handle stress load in a building.

• Develop a sampling plan for a public opinionpoll.

• Design a roller coaster ride.


• Solve interdisciplinary problems withsigned numbers, such as moleculeswith a charge of protons and electrons.

• Identify congruence of shapes fromexpressions and truth statements.

• Complete Euclidian proofs in geometry.• Construct truth tables as a shorthand

method for discussing logicalsentences.

• Analyze factors in difference betweentheoretical and empirical probability.

• Select best measures of centraltendency to support a particular pointof view.

• Solve quadratic equations and linearinequalities.

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StudentActivities

in theRigor/

RelevanceFramework

MATHEMATICS HIGH SCHOOL

EXAMPLES

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Rigor/Relevance FrameworkWorksheet

Knowledgein one discipline

Applyacrossdiscipline

Applyin one discipline

Apply toreal-worldpredictablesituations

Apply toreal-worldunpredictablesituations

Awareness

Comprehension

Application

Analysis

Synthesis

Evaluation

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KN

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APPLICATION MODEL


A - Acquisition

C - Assimilation D - Adaptation

B - Application

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Planning Rigorous and Relevant Instruction

StudentPerformance

Rigor/Relevance

Assessment LearningExperiences

Alignment withPerformance

Alignment withAssessment

Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4

Focus ofLearning

DataStandards

Student

Best Practices

Reading

Questions

Step 1 - Focus - What defines or drives the learning experience?

Step 2 - Student Performance - What are studentsexpected to know, do or be like and at what levelof rigor and relevance?

Step 3 - Assessment - How will you assess desiredstudent performance?

Step 4 - Learning Experience - What activities will enable students to achieve student performance?

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Appendix – Tools

INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR LEADERSHIP IN EDUCATION 299

Yes NoStandards

❑ ❑ Instruction is based on state standards.

❑ ❑ Instruction is based on high priority standards using Curriculum Matrix data.

❑ ❑ Students and parents are informed at the beginning of the year that the state standardsare included in your course.

❑ ❑ Integration of academic standards into arts or career and technical education is focusedon standards that are high priority and highly connection to the curriculum.

Students❑ ❑ Student existing knowledge and skills levels have been determined.

❑ ❑ Student learning styles have been determined.

❑ ❑ You ask students about their interests and aspirations.

❑ ❑ You make home visits to meet parents and understand students’ family situations.

❑ ❑ Instruction is differentiated to adjust to individual student differences in priorexperience and learning style.

Best Practices❑ ❑ Teaching strategies have been researched and evaluated to determine effectiveness.

❑ ❑ You analyze the effectiveness of your innovative practices through action research.

❑ ❑ You observe other teachers in your subject or grade.

❑ ❑ You observe teaching strategies in different settings, e.g., watching a special educationteacher for ideas on classroom management or a technical teacher conducting aproblem-based learning activity.

Reading❑ ❑ Reading levels necessary for competence on state tests have been determined.

❑ ❑ Reading levels of students have been determined.

❑ ❑ You know the reading levels required for students’ career goals.

Data-driven Curriculum Checklist

This checklist will help teachers to make curriculum decisions based on objective datarelated to standards, students, best practices, and reading.

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Examples of Student Work for Real World Instruction

• Advertisement • Audiotape • Brochure • Business • Chart • Community

service • Construction • Contract • Correspondence • Debate • Demonstration • Design • Diagram • Discussion • Display • Dramatization • Drawing • Editorial • Exhibit • Experiment • Field guide • Graph • Interview • Invention

• Journal • Letter • Log • Machine • Magazine • Manufacturing

process • Map • Memo • Mnemonic • Model • Mural • News report • Newspaper • Oral history • Oral report • Painting • Petition • Photo album • Play • Poster • Production

process • Proposal • Questionnaire

• Questions • Rap • Relief map • Research report • Resume • Rules • Scale model • Scrapbook • Script • Sculpture • Sketch • Skit • Slide show • Software

application • Solution • Song • Speech • Story • Survey • Taxonomy • Teach a lesson • Test • Videotape

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Aligning Standards, Tests and Essential Skills to Improve Instruction

© International Center for Leadership in Education, Inc.54

Directions: For each of the standards, list student work that would enable studentsto learn that standard. Start with a generic type of student work and complete theitem with a specific task related to that area of learning.

Example:Standard/Topic Student Work

Apply in writing the rules ofgrammar, punctuation andspelling

Gather information from a varietyof sources and summarize andanalyze

Follow oral directions

Know how to decipher unfamiliarwords

Perform operations with numbersincluding decimals, ratios, per-cents, and fractions

Understand characteristics ofparallel lines

Understand best procedures forstatistical data collection, organi-zation, and display

Understand how and why rotationand revolution of Earth affect day,seasons, and weather

Understand systems of humanbody

Make observation of the localenvironment using senses andinstruments

Practice Linking Standards and Student Work

Standard/Topic Student Work

use maps and scale drawings torepresent real objects or places

construct a scale model of a house

Worksheet

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A performance task is a description of how a student is expected todemonstrate understanding, knowledge and skills. The task may be aproduct, performance or extended writing that requires rigorous thinking andrelevant application. It is usually written in the third person describing thelearning to other educators.

Performance tasks include;

♦ student work that will be produced or performed♦ whether group or individual♦ Specific learning context♦ resources students will be provided or have to acquire♦ setting where students will complete the work♦ conditions (often real world) under which the work will be done

Performance tasks usually do not include;

♦ assessment. A performance-based implies but does not specify howthe performance will be assessed.

♦ specific direction to the student♦ specific equipment list♦ homework or reading assignments

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Test Question Evaluation Worksheet

Directions: For each of the following test questions, indicate the appropriate level of Rigor andRelevance.

1 The phrase “x to the fifth power” is represented by which mathematical expression?

A. x5 B. 5

x C. 5x D. 5 + x

2 The pressure (voltage) of a battery for a bus or truck employing a diesel engine isusually 24V, if you use two 12V batteries how should they be connected to producethe necessary 24 volts?

3 The wholesale price of books bought by a book seller increase from $3.00 to $3.50.He had been selling the books at $4.00. What price must he sell the books at tomake the same percentage profit.?

4 The distance between two parts of a cell, measured using a microscope that enlarges5.7 million times, was 2.43 cm. Calculate the true distance separating these two partsin micrometers.

5 Your boss tells you to find the best deal in cellular phone service. Economy service is$19.95 per month plus 31¢ per minute of airtime. Silver service is $40.95 per monthplus 16¢ per minute. Gold service is $80.95 per month with unlimited airtime. Definevariables. Write equations. Make tables and graphs. Find slopes and points ofintersection. For each plan, how much airtime will $100 buy? For what range of airtimeis each plan cheapest?

6 After reading Chaucer’s “Prologue” to The Canterbury Tales. Select two charactersyou find intriguing from the “Prologue,” and create a written dialog between them.Stress both the differences and commonalties so that the dialog reveals two distinctpersonalities.

7 Which of these substances is found in every living cell?A. protein B. chlorophyll C. cellulose D. starch E. hemoglobin

8 Jose wants to build a triangular pen for his pet rabbit. He has three lengths of boardsalready cut that measure 7 feet, 8 feet, and 16 feet. Explain why Jose cannot constructa pen in the shape of a triangle with sides of 7 feet, 8 feet, and 16 feet.

9 The NuFone Communications Company mustrun a telephone line between two poles atopposite ends of a lake, as shown in theaccompanying diagram. The length and widthof the lake are 75 feet and 30 feet,respectively. What is the distance betweenthe poles?

10 After examining and comprehending the Bill of Rights, rewrite anamendment or create a new one for the 21st century.

R/R Level

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© International Center for Leadership in Education, Inc.

Planning Rigorous and Relevant Instruction

Test Question Development

Directions: In the first box, develop a test question. Use the second box to revise the question at a higher level of knowledge and/or application.

Test Question

Revised Question

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Primary• Extended Response• Product Performance

Secondary• Process Performance• Constructed Response• Portfolio• Self-reflection• Multiple Choice


Primary• Multiple Choice• Constructed Response

Secondary• Process Performance• Extended Response• Self-reflection


Primary• Portfolio• Product Performance• Interview• Self-reflection

Secondary• Extended Response• Process Performance


Primary• Process Performance• Product Performance

Secondary• Interview• Constructed Response• Multiple Choice• Portfolio• Self-reflection

Relationship of Assessments to the Rigor/Relevance Framework

Primary = Best Match Secondary = Also Appropriate

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Aligning Standards, Tests and Essential Skills to Improve Instruction

© International Center for Leadership in Education, Inc.

Rigor/Relevance Framework

Certain instructional strategies work better than others depending on the quad-rant of the Rigor/Relevance Framework in which the learning objective falls. Listtwo or three instructional strategies that you think would be effective in each ofthe four quadrants.

What Works Best?Worksheet

APPLICATION MODEL

Apply toreal-world

unpredictablesituations

Apply toreal-worldpredictablesituations

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Evaluation

Synthesis

Analysis

Application

Understanding

Awareness

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Knowledge Apply indiscipline

Applyacross

disciplines

AAcquisition

CAssimilation

DAdaptation

BApplication

TAXONOMY

KNOWLEDGE

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Adaptation

I. PLANNING INSTRUCTION

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Adaptation

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Researched-Based Strategies

22Questions, cues, and advance organizers

23Generating and testing hypotheses

23Setting objectives and providing feedback

27Cooperative learning

27Nonlinguistic representations

28Homework and practice

29Reinforcing effort and providingrecognition

34Summarizing and notetaking

45Identifying similarities and differences,using metaphors and analogies

PercentileGain

Categories of Instructional StrategiesThat Affect Student Achievement

Marzano, R., Pickering, D., & Pollack, J., Classroom Instruction ThatWorks, 2001

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Ways to Increase Rigor and Relevance

Challenging Assessments Interdisciplinary Instruction Reading in the Content Area Relationships Use of Technology New Teaching Ideas Peer Teaching Observations Peer Learning Experience Review Action Research Continuous Professional Development

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Taking ActionIdentify the objective of what you intend to do as a follow up action. Then brainstormand identify actions to be taken, who will take responsibility and date to be accomplished.Finally identify the data or measure that will be used to evaluate the effectiveness ofactions taken.

Rigorous and Relevant Learning for All Students

Identified Objective: What do you plan to accomplish?

Data to Measure Effectiveness: What will be different and how will you know?

By When?Who will do this?Actions to be Taken: What do you plan do?

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teaching for rigor and relevanceyou find intriguing from the “prologue,” and create a written...

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