DOK and SBG: Levels of Four Are Not Equivalent to Scales of Four
There’s been some talk lately on standards based grading (SBG) forums about using Webb’s Depth of Knowledge (DOK) Levels with SBG. It’s a great idea, and it seems like a natural fit since both DOK and SBG generally use four levels to mark and measure student learning.
However, it doesn’t work.
Please trust me. I tried.
I first explored how to align DOK with SBG earlier this year. I planned on including how to use Webb’s DOK Levels for standards-based grading in my book on teaching and learning depth of knowledge. I informed my colleagues who have extensive expertise on standards-based grading that I was exploring how to align DOK with SBG and hope we might collaborate some day in the future.
However, what I found is that the four levels of DOK and SBG have a unique focus that do not align with each other.
SBG is about proficiency. The four levels serve as scales that measure how successfully students can meet the learning expectation set by an academic standard or demanded by a curricular or assessment. The levels measure academic success.
Webb’s DOK Levels code the cognitive demand of the learning expectation of standards. They designate the depth and extent students must demonstrate and communicate their knowledge and thinking – or learning. That’s based on the most cognitively demanding performance objective of a standard. For example:
Multiply or divide to solve word problems involving multiplicative comparison, e.g., by using drawings and equations with a symbol for the unknown number to represent the problem, distinguishing multiplicative comparison from additive comparison. (MATH.CONTENT.4.OA.A.2)
This is the complete learning expectation of this math standard. A curricular or test item addressing this standard may demand students to demonstrate and communicate their learning at the following DOK levels in the graphic below.
A curricular or assessment item addressing this standard could demand students to demonstrate their learning at any of these levels. The DOK-3 is the ceiling of assessment – the highest and deepest level of learning an assessment could and should demand students to demonstrate their learning. The other levels indicate degrees of alignment to the learning expectations of standard and where the student is in their learning.
However, it should not be used for the purpose of grading.
Here’s where the problem with using DOK for SBG lies. The learning expectation of an academic standard and the item fully aligned to it may be a DOK-1 (which is perfectly acceptable). If you grade student learning based on the DOK levels, they would earn a 1. However, using the SBG approach and philosophy, the appropriate score would be a 3 or 4 because they demonstrated their learning successfully at the level of expectation of the standard.
It could be just as inaccurate or detrimental as percentage or letter grades. If a student is given a proficiency score of 1 just because the learning expectation is a DOK-1, then it’s not a true measure of their proficiency. Using SBG proficiency scales, they should receive a 3 because they are achieving. If they demonstrate their learning beyond the expectation of the standard, then they should receive a 4. That should also apply if they demonstrate and communicate their learning at a DOK-2 or DOK-3 learning expectation if the learning expectation of the standard is simply a DOK-1.
Does that sound confusing? It should. That’s why Webb’s DOK Levels should not be used as SBG proficiency scales. It’s bad enough we have the DOK Wheel misleading everyone what exactly is depth of knowledge and how to use Webb’s DOK Levels.
Please do not think I’m being closed-minded. I am speaking from my own experience with trying to use DOK as a scale for SBG. I tried. In fact, I planned to have a section in my upcoming book on depth of knowledge on how Webb’s DOK Levels. I wanted it to work. I couldn’t see how the DOK Levels could be used as SBG proficiency scales without having an inaccurate or even a detrimental effect on measuring student learning. Just like an A isn’t necessarily an A, a DOK-1 isn’t necessarily an SBG-1.
However, please feel free to contact me and change my mind if you have found a way to make Webb’s DOK Levels work as SBG proficiency scales. I would welcome the opportunity to learn how you used it successfully and accurately. Also, if you have, write a blog or a book on it. We need people in the education community out there sharing ideas how to use Webb’s DOK Levels not only accurately and successfully but also creatively to ensure our students are learning at the depth and extent they deserve.