Complex Tasks Every Student Can Accomplish
[Originally published by MiddleWeb April 2024] Years ago, I heard Dr. Howard Gardner make a comment that has stayed with me all these...
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President, EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH IN ACTION, Underhill, VT
Providing educators with research-based models for effective instruction and assessment, moving students towards greater engagement and deeper learning.
My Blog - Some Things Old, Some Things New, Some Things Borrowed...
karinhessvt
Nov 20, 20231 min read
Connecting the CBE Design Principles with a Defensible Body of Evidence
[Originally published by the Aurora Institute CompetencyWorks Blog 10/10/23] Fully embracing the seven design principles of...
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karinhessvt
Nov 20, 20231 min read
How to Be Strategic with Scaffolding Strategies
[Originally published by MiddleWeb 10/25/23] When you choose a scaffolding strategy, do you first consider the intended learning targets...
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karinhessvt
Oct 14, 20231 min read
A New Framework to IMPACT Building a Defensible Body of Evidence - Part 1
(Originally published in the COMPETENCYWORKS BLOG October 2023) If you were to analyze student work samples in a body of evidence for...
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karinhessvt
May 29, 20231 min read
5 Metacognitive Tools to Reveal Hidden Learning
(Originally published by MiddleWeb May 15, 2023) The words metacognition and reflection are often used interchangeably. Although they’re...
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karinhessvt
May 1, 20231 min read
How to Create Assessments that Drive Learning Using An Actionable Assessment Cycle
(Originally published by ASCD on March 20, 2023.) When I began teaching 3rd grade, my assessments included observing, conferencing,...
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karinhessvt
Feb 9, 20231 min read
Building Deeper Critical and Creative Thinking in Your Classroom
[First published in COMPETENCYWORKS blog February 2023] Deeper learning happens when students become actively immersed in challenging...
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karinhessvt
Jan 30, 20231 min read
6 Key Questions to Build Better Rubrics
For decades, I’ve supported teachers in developing problem-based performance tasks and project-based learning assessments. One thing I’ve...
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karinhessvt
Oct 1, 20223 min read
The Great American Chocolate Chip Cookie Taste Test
AKA “Is everything in the rubric equally important to assess?” This activity was co-created by Alysa Cummings and Karin Hess while...
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karinhessvt
Sep 23, 20211 min read
Looking for rigor? Here are 6 places to find it in your classroom.
What does it look and sound like when your students are doing rigorous work and thinking deeply? Over the years, I’ve heard a lot of...
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karinhessvt
Feb 26, 20216 min read
To scaffold or not to scaffold? The first big misconception about rigor.
[Originally published by Renaissance Learning] Think back to the last really rigorous and complex task that you worked on. Did you...
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karinhessvt
Nov 25, 20202 min read
A Roadmap for Student Self-Direction: Building Essential Skills for the Future
[Published November 2020 by Students at the Center] Research tells us and both employers and colleges confirm that communication,...
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karinhessvt
Oct 9, 20201 min read
3 Ingredients for Effective Distance Learning
(Originally posted May 13, 2020) When our governor declared in March that learning would continue while schools are closed, he added that...
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karinhessvt
Oct 9, 20204 min read
Deepening Student Understanding with Collaborative Discourse
(Originally published by ASCD April 4, 2019.) Most educators agree that asking students to engage deeply with the content they are...
420 views0 comments
karinhessvt
Apr 13, 20142 min read
College & Career Readiness
College and career readiness includes expectations that students demonstrate deep conceptual understanding through the application of...
368 views0 comments
karinhessvt
Apr 10, 20142 min read
About the Learning Progressions Frameworks (LPFs)
Visit Focus Area In 2010, as the Common Core State Standards were simultaneously being developed, Dr. Karin Hess was charged to recruit...
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