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http://www.sreb.org / Illinois HSTW Forum
Creating A Broader Definition
of Rigor
Connections Conference
Pheasant Run Resort
St. Charles, Illinois
March 9, 2010
Lois Barnes
High Schools That Work Forum
Creating a Broader Definition of Rigor
Connections Conference
March 9, 2010
St. Charles, Illinois
Agenda
Objectives
As a result of the Illinois HSTW Forum school team members will be able to:
§ Create a broad definition of rigor
§ Self-assess their school’s current practices along dimensions of rigor and identify goals and strategies for improvement
§ Go back to their schools and develop an action plan for increasing schoolwide rigor.
Link to HSTW Key Practices
§ Program of study – Each student needs to complete an upgraded academic core and a concentration
§ Academic studies – Teach more students the essential concepts of the college-preparatory curriculum by encouraging them to apply academic content and skills to real-world problems and projects
§ Career/technical studies – Provide more students access to intellectually challenging career/technical studies in high-demand fields
§ High expectations – setting higher expectations and getting more students to meet them.
Essential Questions
§ What is rigor and how do we measure it?
§ How do we determine the extent to which rigor exists systemically in our school?
§ How can we broaden the definition of rigor at our school to join the “ready” academic core with CT programs of study course sequences?
Agenda
12:45-1:00 p.m. Registration
1:00-1:15 p.m. Welcome, Introductions, Network News,
Getting the Most from the Connections Conference
1:15-2:30 p.m. Creating a Broader Definition of Rigor
Small group (school team) members will jigsaw a reading packet to develop a better understanding of the definition of rigor. School team members will then synthesize the information from the different readings to create a clear and measurable definition of rigor that they believe will be meaningful and motivational for their school.
2:30-2:45 p.m. Break
2:45-3:45 p.m. Using the SREB Rigor Rubric
Team members will self-assess school practices and identify areas of not ready, getting ready, emerging, and schoolwide implementation for each element of the eight dimensions on the SREB Rigor Rubric. Team members will prioritize dimensions that they think are key for their school to monitor in order to increase rigor.
3:45-4:30 p.m. Best Practice Showcase
4:30-4:45 p.m. Debriefing and Closure
Participants will provide schools with feedback on evidence of the levels of rigor, expectations and effort for each school whose roundtable presentation they visited.
4:45-5:00 p.m. Exit Tickets, Evaluations and CPDUs
Jigsaw: Creating a Broader Definition of Rigor
Overview. The purpose of this exercise is to help you explore a series of readings so that you can develop an understanding of an all-encompassing definition of rigor.
This jigsaw activity has three parts. First, each person on your school team (or home group) will be assigned a different reading. In small “expert groups” you and other members of your expert group will be discuss the reading and answer two questions. Then, you will regroup with people in your school team who’ve looked at different readings and together, synthesize how all the readings address the questions. Finally, there will be a large group discussion of what rigor means.
Directions, Part One — One reading set, three questions. With other members of your small “expert” group, discuss the three questions below and take notes on the group’s answers.
1. What is rigor?
Ø At student level
Ø At classroom level
Ø At school level
Ø At district level
2. How do we measure rigor?
3. What does rigor have to do with “readiness?”
Directions, Part Two — Several reading sets, one question. Work in your school team, with others who have read different articles from you. Use your knowledge from Part One to come up with an answer that synthesizes the information from the different readings. Select one person to present the team’s answer to the whole group. You may use a flipchart to support your answer, if you wish.
1. What is the message we want to take back to others at our school about a broader definition of rigor? (Write a clear and measurable definition of rigor that you believe will be meaningful and motivational for your school and think about how to package that message.)
School Level Evidence of Rigor
Step One: Complete a self-assessment of schoolwide practices. Go through the SREB Rigor Rubric and identify areas of not ready, getting ready, emerging, and schoolwide implementation for each element (a, b, c . . .) of the eight dimensions of schoolwide practices. Use a highlighter to draw attention to how your school team is rating each element. Provide a rubric score tally for each of the eight dimensions (assessment, collaboration, etc.) at the bottom of each rubric page.
Step Two: Choose priority areas to target for improvement. Choose 3–4 of the eight dimensions that you think are key for your school to monitor in order to increase academic press. Academic press is the way rigor is frequently evidenced at the organizational level. It is the extent to which school members experience a strong emphasis on academic success and conformity to specific standards of achievement (Chicago Annenberg Research Project). Academic press is a focus on challenging students to learn complex knowledge and cognitive processes. You may choose ones receiving the lowest scores or those that coincide with other improvements planned for the school. Remember to include actions and strategies for the “broader definition of rigor” that links high-quality CT with the “ready” academic core.
Step Three: Identify goals and strategies for improvement. Decide how you are going to improve each priority indicator, using the elements (a through e) on the rigor rubric as strategies for improvement. Indicate the improvement you hope to see and the date that you will next monitor and measure this strategy. Keep in mind that you want change to begin over relatively short periods of time — you don’t want to wait a year to see changes and their effects. Use the action plan provided.
Rigor Action Plan: Example
Indicator and Strategies for Improvement / Actions Needed / Who / Timeframe / Monitoring Timeframe /Indicator and Strategy:
Collaboration
Improve elements b and c by January. / 1. Training on taxonomy
2. Common planning meetings to use taxonomy. / 1. Instructional coordinator
2. Principal, asst. principal, dept. chairs / 1. February 7-8
2. February 14, 21, March 8, 15, 22, 29, April 3, 17, May 5 / 1. Have faculty re-assess b and c in May.
2. Have parent focus group re-assess e in June.
Indicator and Strategy:
Collaboration
Improve element e from 10 points to 20 by June. / 1. Provide article in school newsletter about proficiency and readiness
2. Provide supplement to progress report indicating progress on standards
3. Midterm parent conferences required to receive report card / 1. Principal, instructional coordinator, home-school liaison
2. Dept. chairs and teachers
3. Principal, dept. chairs and teachers / 1. December 8
2. February 8
3. March 17-21 / 1. Have asst. principal and guidance chair re-assess a and e in June.
2. Have principal and guidance chair, counselors and advisors reassess in June.
3. Have principal and guidance chair, and counselors reassess in June.
Rigor Action Plan: Template
Indicator and Strategies for Improvement / Actions Needed / Who / Timeframe / Monitoring Timeframe /Indicator and Strategy:
Indicator and Strategy:
Indicator and Strategy:
Indicator and Strategy:
7
School Feedback Form
Best Practices Roundtable
Directions: As you listen to each school’s best practice, listen for evidence of rigor, high expectations and effort. In the charts below, list indicators that you can heard, whether the school meets this indicator on a scale of low to high, and evidence (explanation) to support your decision.
School Name: ______
Indicators of Rigor / Level of RigorLow ...... High / Explanation
Indicators of High Expectations / Level of Expectations
Low ...... High / Explanation
Indicators of Effort / Level of Effort
Low ...... High / Explanation
School Feedback Form
Best Practices Roundtable
Directions: As you listen to each school’s best practice, listen for evidence of rigor, high expectations and effort. In the charts below, list indicators that you can heard, whether the school meets this indicator on a scale of low to high, and evidence (explanation) to support your decision.
School Name: ______
Indicators of Rigor / Level of RigorLow ...... High / Explanation
Indicators of High Expectations / Level of Expectations
Low ...... High / Explanation
Indicators of Effort / Level of Effort
Low ...... High / Explanation
School Feedback Form
Best Practices Roundtable
Directions: As you listen to each school’s best practice, listen for evidence of rigor, high expectations and effort. In the charts below, list indicators that you can heard, whether the school meets this indicator on a scale of low to high, and evidence (explanation) to support your decision.
School Name: ______
Indicators of Rigor / Level of RigorLow ...... High / Explanation
Indicators of High Expectations / Level of Expectations
Low ...... High / Explanation
Indicators of Effort / Level of Effort
Low ...... High / Explanation
Reflections on the Day Today’s date______
Please take a few minutes and share your thoughts on the following four areas.
Important things I’ve learned or had reaffirmed / Today’s experiences have left me feeling. . .Questions I want answered now. / What I will do when I return to my workplace.