This month has flown by. I can't believe it will be done next week. Today, I was fortunate to be able to work with an outstanding group of teachers on Depth of Knowledge. We spent much of the day deconstructing standards and assessments to determine the DOK level and to ensure alignment of the items to the standards. The conversation was exciting and rich. The teachers had excellent questions and made real connections with the material. They weren't afraid to voice their opinions and to change those thoughts when someone made a valid point. I love conversations that provide such interesting talking points, and it is even more fulfilling when I see teachers learning and getting excited about sharing with their colleagues and students. It was a great day.

Depth of Knowledge

Missouri is in the middle of State testing and one of the components that can cause difficulty is the Depth of Knowledge of the questions. Missouri's grade level expectations (GLEs) have been evaluated by Dr. Norman Webb and his alignment team for the DOK level indicated by each standard. Alignment items are being written to ensure proper alignment with those standards. There are four DOK levels, but only levels 1, 2, and 3 will be seen on the assessment. The first step to reaching the various levels is for the teacher to truly understand each of the levels and to be able to recognize them when presented. This can be very difficult, but becomes much easier with practice.

When I first started working with DOK, I was asked if a flip chart was available to help classroom teachers. When Dr. Webb confirmed that there was no flip chart, he agreed to collaborate with me to create one. Since then, a large number of districts have purchased the flips charts of all their teachers. Steve Williams, from the State Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, produced a similar flip chart for the areas of Fine Arts and Music. Again, this is just the first step in truly understanding DOK.