High School Equivalency

This resource explains Webb’s Depth of Knowledge very well. The videos included enhance the learning of the learner and allow them to feel like they are participating in live professional development. There are several suggested activities that practitioners can immediately take back into the classroom to use. The classroom activities are particularly strong. This resource was developed specifically for ABE/ASE teachers, and most of the videos involve two teachers sharing activities from their classrooms. The two teachers present compelling units that are comprehensive in scope and show the range of the depth of knowledge levels being addressed at each classroom/student level, which is an important focus of the resource. The teachers also address the realities of the “typical” ABE/ASE classroom and how they worked with these realities in designing their thematic or project-based units. The overall orientation in the materials toward critical thinking as a stance, as a culture to be fostered in the classroom rather than as something to be easily “taught” was refreshing. This resource has much potential but only highly motivated learners might make it through. After the first few videos, most of the remaining 17 involve a lecture style. Very little reading material is provided, other than notetaking handouts and the classroom handouts used by the teachers, so users must watch the videos to obtain the information. If users make it through the 2.5 hours of videos, the user will come away with a good, practical knowledge base of Webb’s Depth of Knowledge and how to enhance critical thinking.