Leadership for Rigor, Relevance, and
Relationships
Susan Gunderman
International Center for Leadership in Education
Change can be scary.
āSome people change when they see
the light, others when they feel the
heat.ā
- Caroline Schroeder
Leadership for ChangeLeadership for Change
Why What How
is change needed?
needs to be done ?
do you implement
and sustain meaningful change?
Why Change?
āThe primary aim of education is not to enable students to do well in school, but to help them do well in the lives they lead outside of the school.ā
Mission
ā¢ Prepare students for the world they will inhabit outside the schoolhouse walls.
ā¢ Engage them in learning that will develop skills that are transferable to the 21st Century world.
Teaching is only as good as the learning
that takes place.
What do we change?
RigorRigor
Rigorous instruction prepares students to think critically
so they can solve problems in unpredictable, real world
situations.
Thinking outside the car.
RelevanceRelevance
My only skill is taking tests.
BBC Survey
21% could not locate US
60% could not locate England on a map
Bill of Rights:
ā¢ 1 in 4 could name one
20% believe sun revolves around the Earth
ā¢ 1 in 5 named āright to own a petā
55% could not name a country that begins with āUā
BBC Survey
80% knew Fiji is located in the South Pacific
50% could name at least two members of the Simpsons Family
Students will remember
learning that is connected to
their own lives.
Intelligence v Relevance
Vision and ImplementationVision and Implementation āThere are no teachers with correct answers,
only guides with different areas of expertise and experience that may help along the way.ā
~ Peter Senge and Fred Kofman, 1995
Flip the
funnel
Rigor and Relevance Framework
Shifts the Focus from
Teaching to Learning
Rigor/Relevance Framework
KnowledgeKnowledge
ApplicationApplication
High
Low
Low High
Knowledge TaxonomyKnowledge Taxonomy
1.1. AwarenessAwareness2.2. Comprehension Comprehension 3.3. ApplicationApplication4.4. AnalysisAnalysis5.5. Synthesis Synthesis 6.6. EvaluationEvaluation
1. Knowledge of one discipline
2. Application within discipline
3. Application across disciplines
4. Application to real world predictable situations
5. Application to real world unpredictable situations
Application Model
Rigor/Relevance Framework
1. Recall Knowledge2. Comprehension3. Application4. Analysis5. Synthesis6. Evaluation
1. Knowledge of one discipline
2. Application within discipline
3.Application across
disciplines
4. Application to real world predictable situations
5. Application to real world unpredictable situations
Knowledge Application
Rigor/Relevance Framework
KnowledgeKnowledge
ApplicationApplication
High
Low
Low High
A B
C D
From Theory to Practice
Moving Rigor and Relevance
Into the Classroom
Theory to Practice
Develop a school-wide focus on instruction through RR
ā¢ Instructional Strategies
Handbook
ā¢ Common vocabulary
ā¢ Common vision of effective
instruction
Collaboration for Best Practices
ā¢ Give teachers time to talk about their craft.
ā¢ Use meeting time to talk about instruction.
ā¢ Share best practices.
Collaboration
ā¢ Instructional Strategies by Quadrant
ā¢ Graphic Organizers
ā¢ Developing a Rubric
ā¢ Aligning Instruction and Assessmentsā¢ Designing Writing Prompts in Content
Areas
Snack and Shares
CollaborationPrincipalās Roundtable Discussions
Current literature
ā¢ Brain Research
ā¢ Learning Styles
ā¢ Grading Practices
ā¢ 9th Grade Success
Stupid in America
Out of India
The World Is Flat
Collaboration
Staff Meetings
ā¢ Faculty Meetings Show and Tell
ā¢ Collaborative Groups Planning Quadrant D
Lessons
Reflective Questionsto Provoke Crucial Conversations
ā¢ What do you intend students to learn?
ā¢ What is the level(s) of Rigor and Relevance?
ā¢ How do you know students understood the lesson?
ā¢ What data are you using to determine you are meeting the standards?
ā¢ What can I do as instructional leader to support your efforts?
Reflective Questions
ā¢ What strategies do you use to address individual learning styles? ā¢ What was the most successful part of the learning experience and why? ā¢ If you teach this lesson again, how would you change it? ā¢ What evidence can you share regarding achievement of standards?
ā¢ How do you know learning has occurred?
Benchmarksfor Progress
Instruction with High Expectations
D Quadrant Lesson Creation
1. Select outcome:
Be able to synthesize concepts learned in a nonfiction unit.
2. Select product:
Publish a newspaper article based on childrenās literature
Standard: Prose and Document Literacy
Required Componentsā¢ Headlineā¢ By-lineā¢ Staged photographā¢ Cutline and pull quoteā¢ Mapā¢ Continuation headline, if neededā¢ Body (250-400 words)
ā Interviewā Site visitā Archival research
Match to verb and strategy
ā¢ evaluateā¢ validateā¢ justifyā¢ rateā¢ refereeā¢ inferā¢ rankā¢ dramatizeā¢ argueā¢ conclude
ā¢ evaluationā¢ opinionā¢ estimationā¢ trialā¢ articleā¢ adaptationā¢ debateā¢ new gameā¢ invention
VerbsProducts Strategies
ā¢ inquiryā¢ researchā¢ cooperative
learningā¢ presentationā¢ project design
Provide rubric
All articles presented orally, then published in spiral-bound book and given to each student.
Student Reflection
āFirst of all, I never thought we could get it all together to actually produce a newspaper with all the parts that you wanted. But we did it, and I actually learned a lot. Mostly I learned that I had to pull my load so that we didnāt look like a bunch of slackers compared to the other groups. And I think I know what it might feel like to be a publisher in charge of getting a newspaper to press on time. Definitely not for me!ā
Biology II
Human Anatomy ProjectHuman Anatomy ProjectDr. Joanne Jezequel
Childrenās Book ProjectAnatomy & Physiology
āI once had a teacher who said, āIf you truly understand a concept, you can find at least 5 different ways to retell the information.ā The childrenās book helped me think past the memorization of dry textbook material.ā
Student Reflection
Renewal
ā¢ Dr. Daggett meets with students and teachers
ā¢ Responses surprisingā¢ āI feel a little sorry for my teacher
trying to get to Dā ā¢ Teachers 4; students 2.5
ā¢ Clearly not there yetā¢ The challenge
ā¢ Each teacher will create a D quadrant lesson
ā¢ Work in collaborative groups
ā¢ Present lessons at faculty meeting
Answering the Challenge
Expectations and Resources
ā¢ Work in collaborative groups 1.5 hours per month
Workdays
ā¢ Peer visits
ā¢ Snack and Shares
Rigor and Relevance 101 Movie Maker, Podcasts, Garage Band
Designing Rubrics
Kennesaw Mountain Kennesaw Mountain Model Lessons PresentationModel Lessons Presentation
Turning Point: Training Students
Make them part of expectations and celebrations
Sustaining High Expectations for
Rigor and Relevance
Sustaining the Work
āSingle
mindednessā
KFC not Baskin Robbins
Sustaining the Work
ā¢ Collaborative planning
ā¢ Sharing resources, insights,
challenges,
success
Sustaining the Work
Collect and analyze data to help guide work
ā¢ āMeasure what matters.ā
ā¢ See it through to the end.
Involve Students in the Conversations about Instruction
ā¢ Talk to the students
ā¢ Monthly principalās lunch Enrollment in AP/Honors classes
What motivates you in a class?
Interpret test data and climate surveys
Delta
Sustaining the Work
Confront Active Negativity
Eye-rollers, āBMGsā and Toxic Dumpers
Be creative
Have fun!
Quadrant D Lessons
Not one more thingā¦.
A more effective way of doing the
only thing that mattersā¦.
Engaging students in rigorous and relevant learning!
Rigor, Relevance andRelationships
āThis is not what we do,
itās who we are.ā
Kevin Maholchek
Class of 2008
International Center for Leadership in Education, Inc.
1587 Route 146
Rexford, NY 12148
Phone (518) 399-2776
Fax (518) 399-7607
E-mail - [email protected]
www.LeaderEd.com