planning for rigorous and relevant · pdf fileplanning for rigorous and relevant instruction...

Richard D. JonesSenior Consultant

email: [email protected]

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

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

Planning forRigorous and Relevant

Instruction

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International Center for Leadership in Education

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INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR LEADERSHIP IN EDUCATION

RIGOR AND RELEVANCE HANDBOOK

KNOWLEDGE TAXONOMY VERB LIST

ADVANCE

CALCULATE

CHANGE

CONVERT

CONTEMPLATE

DEFINE

EXPLAIN

EXTRAPOLATE

INFER

INTERPRET

OUTLINE

PROJECT

PROPOSE

REWORD

SUBMIT

TRANSFORM

TRANSLATE

VARY

2COMPREHENSION

ARRANGE

CHECK

CHOOSE

FIND

GROUP

IDENTIFY

LABEL

LIST

LOCATE

1KNOWLEDGE

MATCH

NAME

POINT TO

RECALL

RECITE

REPEAT

S A Y

SELECT

WRITE

3APPLICATION

ADOPT

CONSUME

CAPITALIZE ON

DEVOTE

EMPLOY

EXERCISE

HANDLE

MAINTAIN

MAKE USE OF

MANIPULATE

MOBILIZE

OPERATE

PUT TO USE

RELATE

SOLVE

START

TAKE UP

UTILIZE

ACCEPT

APPRAISE

ARBITRATE

ASSESS

AWARD

CLASSIFY

CRITICIZE

DECIDE

DETERMINE

6EVALUATION

GRADE

JUDGE

PRIORITIZE

RANK

RATE

REJECT

RULE ON

SETTLE

WEIGH

BLEND

BUILD

CAUSE

COMBINE

COMPILE

COMPOSE

CONCEIVE

CONSTRUCT

CREATE

5SYNTHESIS

DEVELOP

EVOLVE

FORM

GENERATE

MAKE UP

ORIGINATE

PRODUCE

REORDER

STRUCTURE

ASSAY

AUDIT

BREAKDOWN

CANVASS

CHECK OUT

DISSECT

DEDUCE

DIVIDE

EXAMINE

4ANALYSIS

INCLUDE

INSPECT

LOOK AT

SCRUTINIZE

SIFT

SURVEY

STUDY

TEST FOR

UNCOVER

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Application Model Decision Tree

Is theoutcome

unpredictable?

Isit

application?

Is more thanone school

subjectinvolved?

Level 4Real-worldpredictableapplication

Level 5Real-world

unpredictableapplication

Level 1Knowledge inone discipline

Is theapplicationreal world?

Directions: Select a task, application, or activity and then answer thefollowing questions. See next page for clarification of the questions.

YES

YES

Level 2Application inone discipline

Level 3Interdisciplinary

application

NO

NO NO

NO

YES

YES

4


6

5

4

3

2

1

1 2 3 4 5

Quadrant B Application

• Develop a food list for a space trip.• Create a class book about the animal

and plant life in local rivers.• Take photographs of insects to describe

characteristics and behaviors.• Study examples of paper airplanes and

then create one.• Keep a field journal about the insects that

live near your school.• Develop an acid test and sample rainwater

for acidity.• Create electric circuits of various materials

and determine properties of conductivityand insulation.

• Analyze characteristics of different soil types.

Quadrant A Acquisition

• Memorize names of planets in solarsystem.

• Demonstrate phases of the moon.• Participate in simple hands-on

activities that demonstrate Bernoulli’sprinciple of air pressure and air flight.

• Match pictures of insects with theirnames.

• Illustrate parts of a cell.• Make a model of the layers of Earth’s

atmosphere.• Make daily observations of the life

cycle of a selected species.• Create a mural showing various kinds

of creatures that live in the ocean.

Quadrant C Assimilation

• Write and illustrate biographies ofinventors.

• Make diagrams of animal life cycles.• Classify a group of similar objects to

create a dichotomous key.• Conduct experiments to show

photosynthesis.• Research an endangered species.• Make observations of similarities and

differences of fish heads and predictfood sources.

• Research characteristics and habitsof insects.

• Write a story describing the movementof water through municipal watersystems.

Quadrant D Adaptation

• Design a candy dispenser that workswithout gravity.

• Invent a musical instrument.• Design a zoo.• Study bread chemistry, purpose of

ingredients, and how changes affectfinal product.

• Set up experiments to test life lengthof batteries.

• Research and write a field guide foridentifying local trees.

• Build a simple robotic device with string,tape, and rubber bands.

I. PLANNING INSTRUCTION

1 2 3 4 5 6

StudentActivities

in theRigor/

RelevanceFramework

SCIENCE ELEMENTARY

EXAMPLES

5

INTERNATIONA L CENTER FOR LEADERSHIP IN EDUCATIO N

6

5

4

3

2

1

1 2 3 4 5


• Make a scale drawing of the classroom.• Calculate percents of daily requirements

met through a typical school lunch.• Calculate potential combinations of a

group of variables, such as wardrobecomponents, and estimate the probabilityof any one combination being picked atrandom.

• Calculate percentages of advertising in anewspaper.

• Play a simulated baseball game andcalculate statistics.

• Calculate paint needed for a summerbusiness painting houses.


• Select computational operation to solveword problems

• Calculate volume of regular solids.• Measure angles with a protractor.• Find and measure the sides and angles

of a right triangle using the Pythagoreantheorem and trigonometric ratios.

• Organize and display collected data,using tables, charts, or graphs.

• Use basic properties of equality tosolving equations with one variable.

• Plot the coordinates for quadrilateralson a grid.


• Hold a competition to determine whenusing a calculator or doing mental math ismost efficient.

• Obtain historical data about local weatherto estimate amount of snow, rain, or sunduring a given season of the current year.

• Use graphing calculators and computerspreadsheets to organize and analyzedata.

• Test consumer products such asabsorbency of the paper towels, devisea scale, and illustrate data graphically.

• Plan a large school event and calculateresources (food, decorations, etc.)needed and costs.


• Measure interior angles of polygons anddiscover the relationship betweennumber of sides and sum of angles.

• Graph the perimeters and areas ofsquares of different sizes.

• Express probabilities as fractions,percents, or decimals.

• Evaluate equivalency and relationshipof decimal and fractions.

• Determine the largest area for a fixedperimeter.

• Fill in missing numbers for ordered pairsfor an algebraic function.

• Evaluate objects for similarity andcongruence.

• Estimate sums of complex fractions.


1 2 3 4 5 6

StudentActivities

in theRigor/

RelevanceFramework

MATHEMATICS MIDDLE LEVEL

EXAMPLES

6


6

5

4

3

2

1

1 2 3 4 5


• 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.


• 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.


• 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.


• 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.


1 2 3 4 5 6

StudentActivities

in theRigor/

RelevanceFramework

ENGLISH

LANGUAGE

ARTS

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

1

2

3

4

5

6

1 2 3 4 5

KN

OW

LE

DG

E T

AX

ON

OM

Y

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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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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Rigor and Relevance of Test Questions

Identify the level of knowledge (K), application (A) an d Rigor/Relevancequadrant (RR) for each of the following questions.

1. The phrase “x to the fifth power” is represented by which mathematicalexpression?

A. x5 B. 5x C. 5x D. 5+x

2. In a diesel bus or truck, two 12V batteries are often connected in series,creating how much voltage to the engine?

3. If books bought at prices ranging from $2.00 to $3.50 are sold at pricesranging from $3.00 to $4.25, what is the greatest possible profit that maybe made selling 8 books?

4. Which of these substances is found in every living cell?

A. protein B. chlorophyll C. cellulose D. starch E.hemoglobin

5. As shown in the accompanying diagram, thelength, width, and height of Richard’s fish tankare 24 inches, 16 inches, and 18 inches,respectively. Richard is filling his fish tankwith water from a hose at the rate of 500 cubicinches per minute. How long will it take, to thenearest minute, to fill the tank to a depth of 15inches?

6. Students will read, discuss, and interpret Chaucer’s “Prologue” to TheCanterbury Tales. Students will then select two characters they findintriguing, gain a thorough knowledge of these two characters from the“Prologue,” and create a written dialog between them. Students shouldstress both the differences and commonalties so that the dialog revealstwo distinct personalities.

7. Select a local issue or controversy of interest to you. Gather data from avariety of sources and form a hypothesis on aspects of the topic based onyour data. Relate its importance to your community.

8. After examining and comprehending the Bill of Rights, each group ofstudents will rewrite an amendment or create a new one for the 21stcentury. Groups will present their “right,” and the class will debate it andthen vote on its inclusion in a “new Bill of Rights.” Each student willcomplete a portfolio containing research, summaries of and reactions toproposals by other groups, and notecards for oral presentation.

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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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6

5

4

3

2

1

1 2 3 4 5


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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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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