Abstract:
A multiphase action research study of academic or instructional rigor was conducted
using semi-structured and focused group interviews, classroom observations, participant logs, a weekly rigor planning Matrix, and a unit planning process to ensure rigor (UPPER). Phase I was conducted to determine 15 public middle school teachers’ perspectives about the term academic rigor and how it related to their planning and praxis. Phase II included a teacher-oriented intervention that aimed to develop teachers’ capacity to design and implement classroom tasks that demanded higher-level student thinking. Fourteen teachers utilized the Hess Cognitive Rigor Matrix (Hess, 2013) within a three-step planning process that provided a framework for identifying the task to be assigned to the students, determining the level of cognitive rigor of the task using the Hess (2013) Matrix, and selecting the methods for implementing the task throughout the lesson in order to increase the level of thinking associated with the task. Five teachers participated in Phase III that focused on situating the development of rigor within a concept-based unit planning process that emphasized learning for understanding and unpacking relevant content standards. The teachers reported that both interventions positively impacted their understanding of rigor, and their capacity to design and implement rigorous tasks and two rigorous concept-based unit plans, which was verified by the classroom observation and unit plans scores. The findings suggest the value of utilizing teacher perspectives, along with the intervention tools and the structured framework, as well as the planning processes employed when seeking to increase academic rigor.
