The Framework for Authentic Intellectual Work (AIW) is an evaluative tool used by educators of all subjects at the elementary and secondary levels to assess the quality of classroom instruction, assignments, and student work. The framework was founded by Dr. Dana L. Carmichael, Dr. M. Bruce King, and Dr. Fred M. Newmann. The purpose of the framework is to promote student production of genuine and rigorous work that resembles the complex work of adults, which identifies three main criteria for student learning (construction of knowledge, disciplined inquiry, and value beyond school), and provides standards accompanied by scaled rubrics for classroom instruction, assignments, and student work. The standards and rubrics are meant to support teachers in the promotion of genuine and rigorous work, as well as guide professional development and collaboration.
Background
Authentic intellectual work refers to the complex work adults do to make informed decisions and accomplish tasks. It involves original application of knowledge and skills, rather than simply routine use of facts and procedures. This mainly lead for students having an authentic intellectual work results in a product or presentation that has meaning or value beyond the classroom.
The work that students perform in schools entails memorisation of facts and algorithms, and can fail to relate to the work they will need to do as an adult. The disconnect between the material studied at school and the skills needed to perform well in one's work, personal, or civic life can make school work seem meaningless or worthless . Learning tasks call for specific memorizes information, retrieval of given information, or application of routine computational procedures, but rarely do they call for higher-level thinking, interpretation, or in-depth conceptual understanding. Schoolwork is regarded largely as a series of contrived exercises necessary to earn credentials (grades, promotions) required for future success, but for many, especially poor students of color, this work leads to disengagement and dropping out. However, most jobs, personal matters and civic actions require problem-solving skills, in-depth understanding of problems and specific skills, and the ability to communicate in a variety of forms.
The Framework
The framework aims to prepare students for the intellectual challenges of work, civic participation, and life by maximizing expectations for intellectual rigor for all students, encouraging in-depth understanding of content, and increasing student interest in academic work. This is made evident through its three main criteria for student learning which consist by construction of knowledge, disciplined inquiry, and value beyond school.
The construction of knowledge refers to solving problems by organizing, interpreting, evaluating or synthesizing prior knowledge . Disciplined inquiry involves gathering a knowledge base of relevant vocabulary, facts, concepts, algorithms, theories, and basic skills, gaining developing a deeper understanding by identifying, proposing, and testing relationships among key fact, events, concepts, rules, and claims. Finally, value beyond school acknowledges the necessity for students to present their knowledge in a variety of complex forms of communication to resemble real life work. To meet this criterion students use verbal, symbolic, graphic, and visual tools to explain, narrate, justify, and converse about a topic. The more each of these criteria, construction of knowledge, disciplined inquiry, and value beyond school, are met, the more “authentic” the work of the student.
Summary of Research
From 1990 to 2003 researchers completed studies at Wisconsin Center for Education Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the University of Minnesota, and the Consortium on Chicago School Research. The scoring rubrics described above were used to assess the quality of student work in (list demographics). Students who received higher levels of instruction and assessment showed higher achievement, both on direct assessments of authentic intellectual performance and on traditional standardized tests. Results were positive and consistent in grades 3-12 across different subject areas regardless of students’ race, gender, or socioeconomic status.