Sunday, February 9, 2014

What quadrant of the Rigor and Relevance Framework am I in?

Notice also, by the way, the helpful charts that are included in the Iowa Core. Here’s one from the section on “civic literacy” that I referred to in my last post (click to enlarge):


You can see how the chart helps teachers teach and students learn. So much better than what a teacher could come up with on his or her own. Interesting, too, how the standards manage to turn the discussion of individual rights into a discussion of compliance with school rules.

(Good luck figuring out what the quadrants mean, or how any purpose is served by presenting that information in the form of quadrants. If you can find the answer on the Department of Education’s website, you’ve got more spare time to kill than I do.)
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3 comments:

Karen W said...

I can help you with this one:

From http://www.leadered.com/rrr.html

"The Rigor/Relevance Framework is easy to understand. With its simple, straightforward structure, it can serve as a bridge between school and the community. It offers a common language with which to express the notion of a more rigorous and relevant curriculum."

Though I'm not quite sure how it can serve a purpose as a "common language" bridge between school and community if the community isn't familiar with it--or the associated education-ese.

Matt Townsley said...

Hi Chris,
I obviously can't speak for the Department of Education, but here where I think the four quadrants came from.

Back in the late 200x's, Iowa hosted several annual "model high school" conferences. This was part of the movement influencing the 9-12 "Model Core Curriculum' that eventually became the Iowa Core Curriculum. I attended one of these conferences, but I am unable to find anything online after a brief Google search. I did find this reference to William (Bill) Daggett on another blog: http://dangerouslyirrelevant.org/2008/12/beware-outside-consultants-part-1-willard-daggett.html

It looks like similar "model schools" conferences are being held at the national level. http://www.modelschoolsconference.com

Daggett works out of the International Center for Leadership in Education. From what I understand the ICLE has trademarked the rigor/relevance framework (Source: http://www.leadered.com/rrr.html) which you read as the four quadrants within the Iowa Core Essential Concepts and Skills. Putting two and two together, I believe the four quadrants are a hold over from Daggett's work with the state several years ago.

Chris said...

Thanks, Karen. Here's the link in clickable form. Readers can judge for themselves the real-world usefulness of the quadrant formulation, and the accuracy of the excerpt you quoted.