1. As we attempt to diagnose RIGOR, we've found it helpful to consider the following
questions:
• If student were learning what the teacher was teaching, would that be meaningful? (likely
to get us closer to the big goal? Likely to get us a lot closer to the big goal?).
• If I had a child and s/he was in this class, would I be satisfied with the general direction
and ambitiousness of what is being undertaken?
• How does what is being undertaken here compare to what is being undertaken in
excellent classrooms at this same grade/subject level? *** Note that this only works if
you've got a well calibrated understanding of what should be accepted as an excellent
classroom. This question won't help you if content in your "anchor" classroom is not
suitably rigorous.
• What is the Bloom's level of what is being undertaken? Can I see the path to higher
levels of Blooms and do I believe that students are being moved along that path rapidly
enough?
• How will student ultimately need to use the content they're learning now? Is the way
they're learning it aligned with they way they'll use it?
• Are students doing a significant volume of work? Spending considerable time on task?
• Is the intended or stated objective aligned to standards? Is the objective that's actually
being taught aligned to standards?
As we attempt to diagnose MASTERY, we've found it helpful to consider the following
questions:
• What would it look like for students to master what's being taught?
• What evidence can I look at (students' body language, work, response to teacher
questions, and response to questions I pose) to know if the objective is being mastered?
• What, specifically, do students understand and misunderstand? What are they taking
away - what are they actually saying in response to the teacher's questions, not just what
the teacher interprets they mean?
• Who knows what? Are there group trends? Whose mastery do I know about and whose
don't I yet know about?
• Is the teacher aware of the extent to which students are mastering this material?
