Read Our Blog Article "Rethinking Depth of Knowledge"

Depth of Knowledge (DOK) is a different and deeper way to look at instructional goals and learning expectations of academic standards, curricular activities, assessment items, and generative artificial intelligence (AI) resources. It is a concept, framework, and language that can serve as the following:

a criterion for alignment studies (Webb, 1997, 1999, 2021)

a measure of cognitive rigor (Hess, 2009, 2018, 2023)

a method and model for teaching and learning (Francis, 2021, 2022, 2024)

Depth of Knowledge (DOK) is a concept that clarifies and considers the complexity of the conditions and criteria - or context - in which students must understand and use their learning.

Determining the level of Depth of Knowledge (DOK) demanded involves checking and confirming the following:

• What exactly must students learn?
• How deeply must students understand and use their learning?

That's described and detailed by the words and phrases that follow the cognitive action - or Bloom's - verb that introduces a learning intention, objective, or target.

Depth of Knowledge (DOK) does not consider the difficulty of an academic standard, curricular activity, or assessment item. Activities, items, learning objectives and targets, questions, and tasks are described as "easy" or "hard" - or "difficult" - based on the following:

• the time and effort it takes a student to answer the question, address the problem, accomplish the task, or analyze the text or topic
• the amount or number of activities, items, problems, questions, or tasks must students answer, complete, or solve correctly
• the capability or confidence of a student to answer a question, address a problem, or accomplish a task correctly or successfully
• the percentage or portion of students who answer a specific question, solve a particular problem, or complete a task correctly or successfully

The DOK Level depends on the depth and extent students must comprehend and communicate their learning. Academic standards, activities, items, learning objectives and targets, problems, questions, and tasks are described as "simple" or "complex" based on the following:

• the complexity of the task students must complete
• the demand of the mental processing students must perform
• the extent of the response students must provide

There's no 1:1 correspondence between the difficulty and demand of an academic standard, curricular activity, or assessment item. For example, a DOK 1 activity, item, problem, question, or task simply requires students to answer correctly. However, attaining the answer can be "hard" for students - especially when they are first learning about the subject or skill. The demand of the mental processing students must perform at a DOK 3 is complex. However, they may find the experience "easy" once they have developed and demonstrated subject-specific knowledge, understanding, awareness or expertise.

Depth of Knowledge (DOK) is a language educators can use to clarify and communicate what exactly and how deeply academic standards, curricular activities, and assessment items demand students to understand and use their learning to demonstrate proficiency or perform successfully.

The DOK Descriptors state and specify the following:

• the goal of a teaching and learning experience (DOK Goal)
• the expectation for student learning (DOK Expectation)
• the instructional focus and purpose for learning (DOK Focus)
• the overarching essential question to ask and address (DOK Good Question)
• the complexity of the task students must complete (DOK Task)
• the demand of the mental processing students must perform (DOK Skill)
• the extent of the response students must provide (DOK Response)

The DOK Levels are a framework that describes four different contexts or ways academic standards, curricular activities, and assessment items can demand students to understand and use their learning.

• OK 1: Knowledge Acquisition (DOK Focus) - The goal is to attain the answer (DOK Goal). The expectation is for students simply to answer (DOK Expectation). Students must recall information (DOK Skill) or recall how to (DOK Skill) do something to answer correctly (DOK Response). Activities, items, problems, questions, and tasks will require students to provide just the facts (DOK Task) or just do it (DOK Task).
• DOK 2: Knowledge Application (DOK Focus) - The goal is to explain or express the answer (DOK Goal). The expectation is for students to explain how they attained the answer or express their emotions (DOK Expectation). Students must apply knowledge, concepts or skills (DOK Skill) or use information and basic reasoning (DOK Skill) to establish and explain with examples (DOK Response). Activities, items, problems, questions and tasks will require students to show and share or summarize (DOK Task), comprehend and communicate (DOK Task), give examples and/or non-examples (DOK Task), or express your opinion or outlook (DOK Task). That last task description makes DOK 2 the level that supports social and emotional learning.
• DOK 3: Knowledge Analysis (DOK Focus) - The goal could be to justify or verify an answer (DOK Goal) or to consider or critique an answer (DOK Goal). The expectation is for students to check, conclude, confirm, consider, or critique with evidence (DOK Expectation). Students must think strategically (DOK Skill) or use complex reasoning (DOK Skill) to examine and explain with evidence (DOK Response). Activities, items, problems, questions, and tasks will require students to delve deeper (DOK Task); inquire and investigate (DOK Task); think critically (DOK Task); problem solve (DOK Task); think creatively (DOK Task); or defend, justify, or refute with evidence (DOK Task).
• DOK 4: Knowledge Augmentation (DOK Focus) - The goal could be to explore or extend an answer (DOK Goal). The expectation is for students to expand, explore, or extend (DOK Expectation). Students must think extensively (DOK Skill) or use extended reasoning (DOK Skill) to explore and explain with examples and/or evidence (DOK Response). Activities, items, problems, questions, and tasks will require students to go deep within a subject area (DOK Task); go through multiple texts or topics (DOK Task); go across the curriculum (DOK Task); or go beyond the classroom (DOK Task). DOK 4 tasks will take an extended amount of time to complete. However, that's a characteristic of a DOK 4 task, not a criterion. Remember - time is a measure of difficulty, not demand.

NO! The DOK Levels do not function as a taxonomy that categorizes and scaffolds levels of learning. A teaching and learning experience does not have to start at a reduced DOK Level before students can be engaged and encouraged to comprehend and communicate their learning at a deeper DOK Level. Each DOK Level functions independently of each other.

However, each DOK Level can function as a multi-tiered system of support for delivering instruction, responding to intervention, extending or enriching student learning, and addressing and assessing learning loss.

NO! The level of Depth of Knowledge demanded is not determined by the type or level of thinking students must demonstrate, as indicated by a cognitive action - or "Bloom's" - verb.

This misconception was perpetuated by the DOK Wheel that was distributed as part of the Common Core State Standards training materials. However, Dr. Norman Webb (2023), who created the concept and framework of DOK, has refuted the accuracy of the DOK Wheel. He also did not design the DOK Wheel, even though he is cited as the creator.

CLICK HERE to read Norman Webb's refutation of the DOK Wheel published in Edutopia.

DO NOT USE THE DOK WHEEL TO DETERMINE THE DOK LEVEL OF AN ACADEMIC STANDARD, CURRICULAR ACTIVITY OR ASSESSMENT ITEM. LOOK BEYOND THE INITIAL COGNITIVE ACTION - OR "BLOOM'S" - VERB INTRODUCING A LEARNING INTENTION, OBJECTIVE OR TARGET.

Depth of Knowledge (DOK) was originally developed by Dr. Norman Webb (1997) as a concept, framework, and language system for evaluating the degree of alignment - or DOK consistency - between curricular activities and assessment items that address a specific standard. The DOK Levels function more as a rating scale for coding and comparing the cognitive demand of expectations (standards) and assessments.

The degree of alignment between academic standards, curricular activities, and assessment items is defined and determined as the following:

• Full: The activity, item, question, or task addresses or assesses the learning intention of the academic standard completely OR its most cognitively demanding objective.
• Acceptable: The activity, item, question, or task addresses or assesses at least 50% of the learning intention of the academic standard OR demands students to understand and use their learning at least one DOK level below the overall level of Depth of Knowledge of the standard.
• Insufficient: The activity, item, question, or task addresses or assesses an aspect or part of the academic standard (e.g., the concept or content) BUT NOT at the DOK Level demanded by the standard.
• Beyond: The activity, item, question, or task demands students to understand and use their learning beyond the DOK Level of the standard being addressed and assessed.

DOK can also be used to check and confirm how closely activities, items, questions, and tasks offered by an e-curricular program, an e-marketplace, or a generative artificial intelligence (AI) resource or tool address and assess a specific standard. This is important not only to check whether the activities, items, and tasks address and assess the standard. It verifies whether a resource or tool's designation of a DOK Level is accurate or inaccurate. It also allows educators to make or modify instructional decisions about how to plan and provide teaching and learning experiences for students.

CLICK HERE to learn more about how to use DOK as a criterion for alignment studies between expectations (standards), activities, and assessments.

Cognitive rigor is a concept developed by Dr. Karin Hess (2009), who superimposed Bloom's Revised Taxonomy with Webb's DOK Levels into matrix form. The cognitive rigor of an academic standard, curricular activity, or assessment item is marked and measured by the following:

• The type and level of thinking students must demonstrate as categorized by Bloom's Revised Taxonomy
• The depth and extent students must understand and use their learning as designated by Webb's DOK Levels

Determining the cognitive rigor of an academic standard, curricular activity, or assessment item starts with identifying the type of thinking students must demonstrate as indicated by a cognitive action verb and determining the level where it's categorized in the Cognitive Domain of Bloom's Revised Taxonomy.

The next step is to look beyond that initial cognitive action verb to the words and phrases that describe what exactly students must think about - or learn - and how deeply they must comprehend and communicate their knowledge and thinking - or learning. Those words and phrases determine the level of Depth of Knowledge demanded.

Both the level of thinking in Bloom's and the DOK Level inform the cognitive rigor of the academic standard, curricular activity, or assessment item. For example, the cognitive rigor of an academic standard, curricular activity, or assessment item that expects students to analyze and demands students to specify and explain (DOK Task) how they can apply knowledge, concepts, or skills (DOK Skill) to establish and explain answers with examples (DOK Response) would be designated as BLOOM'S 4 / DOK 2.

CLICK HERE to learn more about how to use the Hess Matrix to measure the cognitive rigor of academic standards, curricular activities, assessment items, and generative AI resources.

The delivery and intensity of a DOK teaching and learning experience depends on the following:

• the demand of the standard students must achieve
• the strengths of the students collectively and individually

Teaching and learning for Depth of Knowledge starts with the standard. The standard establishes both the DOK Goal and the DOK Expectation. The DOK Level of the standard sets what Hess (2018) describes as the "ceiling of assessment" - the deepest level a standardized assessment could and should demand students to understand and use their learning. It also establishes the range of DOK Levels assessment items on a standardized assessment that could and should evaluate student learning. Demanding students to understand and use their learning beyond the expectations of a standard would make the assessment unfair. Assessing students only at the DOK Level of the standard would make the assessment too difficult. To truly determine the depth and extent of student learning, they should be assessed over a range of DOK Levels leading to and through the standard's learning intention or its most cognitively demanding objective.

If students struggle to achieve the standard at the DOK Level demanded, then the teacher should tear their instruction to the DOK Level at which students can understand and use their learning correctly or successfully. The teacher then builds on the student's strengths and guides them to rise to, reach, and go beyond the level of Depth of Knowledge demanded by the standard being addressed and assessed. This not only utilizes the instructional philosophy and practice of backward design by starting with the end in mind (Wiggins and McTighe, 2005). It also transforms the DOK Levels into a multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) for delivering instruction, responding to intervention (RTI), extending or enriching student learning, or addressing and assessing learning loss.