Student Metacognition and Reflection meets Creativity (Chapter 6)

    Chapter 6 of Karin Hess’s book Rigor by Design, Not Chance Deeper Thinking Through Actionable Instruction and Assessment describes the fifth essential, evidence-based teacher move for rich student learning in the classroom: engage students in metacognition and reflection throughout the learning process. She distinguishes metacognitive skills which happens during learning and supports monitoring one’s own focus and progress from self-reflection which is the act of looking back on learning and evaluating achievement versus set goals. “(Developing metacognitive and self-reflection skills) is integral to becoming a self-directed learner who can propel and personalize learning in and out of school” (p.128). Hess clarifies that engagement goes beyond students asking “Is this what you want?” (p.128). Rather, teachers should educate their students about the continuum of engagement so that they can more effectively engage in metacognition, recognizing their own level of achievement, and linking their engagement to their learning. Hess stresses that a goal for student learning is far transfer of skills and concepts, and teachers should evaluate both the products and processes of student learning. “Whenever possible, give students the opportunity to choose a personally meaningful way to reflect on their learning” (p.136). For example, student self-reflections could take myriad forms such as a written essay, visual/multimedia display, or recorded oral presentation, but each way would provide insight into their thinking and be an artifact summarizing their learning process.

    A key component of a rigorous classroom, or any classroom that holds deep learning as its goal, is engagement. Hess introduced the continuum of engagement as defined by Amy Berry and visually summarized by Frey and Fisher (Hess, p.129) as a tool to introduce with students so that they can begin to identify their current level of engagement and self-monitor choices to be active and engaged learners. Throughout the chapter, Hess refers to rubrics from BEST that can be adapted for specific classroom use as students have collaborative work. These introductions piqued my curiosity about BEST and so I followed the “related resources” links to find out more about the entity.

    According to their website, BEST (Building Essential Skills Today) is “an effort to elevate the teaching and assessment of essential skills in our schools” based out of New Hampshire. The organization outlines four key ingredients needed to shift classroom learning toward ones where students demonstrate the essential skills of communication, collaboration, creativity, and self-direction:

• Teacher instruction of Work-Study Practices (essential skills) to their classrooms
• Professional development of teachers within an improvement cycle framework
• Statewide performance assessment system for competency-based education
• Research to practice to research encouraging a dialogue between researchers and practitioners

    BEST, like Hess, is future-focused, doing work to improve student learning in order to promote a future where students can connect their classroom learning to real-world living with the end-goal of students being able to direct their own learning both in terms of college readiness and beyond. Unlike Hess’s book which is a roadmap for individual teachers, BEST promotes large-scale adoption of defined practices and is being piloted in 4 large districts across New Hampshire. One stand-out resource is Applying Creative Thinking and Developing Creative Products 1.0, designed for students and teachers to use to monitor and assess creative thinking, development of creative products or solutions, and reflecting on and developing their confidence as problem solvers and creative thinkers. What I love about these rubrics is that they include clear “I can…” statements in kid-friendly language at the emerging level, but continue with “I can also…” statements at the developing, applying, and extending levels, scaffolding a student’s ability to see their work on this continuum.

    Ultimately, both Karin Hess’s chapter outlining student metacognition and reflection as well as the work and initiatives promoted by BEST underscore the importance of rigor in the classroom. That is, the goal of rigor is for students to engage in deep learning, of which engagement and creative thinking are integral aspects. Each provides practical, ready-made tools that teachers can implement in classrooms tomorrow. As someone dedicated to lifelong learning and to better supporting students, I was grateful to interact with both sources which provide roadmaps for encouraging student scholarship.


BEST for the Future (2021). Applying creative thinking and developing creative product rubrics. https://www.best-future.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/NH-Rubric-BEST-Creativity-Intro_v3.pdf

Hess, K. (2023). Rigor by design, not chance: Deeper thinking through actionable instruction and assessment. ASCD.