“It is the job of teachers and schools to create work that students will want to do so that they will learn the things we want them to learn.â€
Dr. Philip Schlechty
QUALITY # 1 – CONTENT & SUBSTANCE
Learning to read and to write complete sentences, for example, is not the same as learning to write persuasively and to read critically, thoughtfully and well.
QUALITY # 2 – ORGANIZATION OF KNOWLEDGE
Students are more likely to be engaged when information and knowledge are arranged in clear, accessible ways, and in ways that let students use the knowledge and information to address tasks that are important to them. Content should be organized so access to the material is clear and relatively easy, and the students’ work has enough attractive qualities to keep them engaged.
QUALITY # 3 – PRODUCT FOCUS
Work that engages students almost always focuses on a product or performance of significance to students.
QUALITY # 4 – CLEAR & COMPELLING STANDARDS
Students prefer knowing exactly what is expected of them and how those expectations relate to something they care about.
QUALITY # 5 – PROTECTION FROM ADVERSE CONSEQUENCES FOR INITIAL FAILURES
Students are more engaged when they can try tasks without fear of embarrassment, punishment, or implications that they’re inadequate.
QUALITY # 6 – AFFIRMATION OF THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PERFORMANCE
Students are more highly motivated when their parents, teachers, fellow students and other “significant others” make it known that they think the student’s work is important. Portfolio assessments, which collect student work for scrutiny by people other than the teacher, can play a significant role in making student work more “visible.”
QUALITY # 7 – AFFILIATION
Students are more likely to be engaged by work that permits, encourages, and supports opportunities for them to work interdependently with others. Those who advocate cooperative learning understand this well; and also recognize the critical difference between students working together and student working interdependently on a common task, which may look like group work, but isn’t.
QUALITY # 8 – NOVELTY & VARIETY
Students are more likely to engage in the work asked of them if they are continually exposed to new and different ways of doing things. New forms of work and new products are equally important.
QUALITY # 9 – CHOICE
When students have some degree of control over what they are doing, they are more likely to feel committed to doing it. This doesn’t mean students should dictate school curriculum, however. Schools must distinguish between giving students choices in what they do and letting them choose what they will learn.
QUALITY # 10 – AUTHENTICITY
When students are given tasks that are meaningless, contrived and inconsequential, they are less likely to take them seriously and be engaged by them. But if the task carries real consequences, it’s likely that engagement will increase.
For additional information about The Schlechty Center, visit http://www.schlechtycenter.org/
