Raising the Academic Bar

R is for Rigor 

Rigor is a buzzword in education, but when looking at the definition it is pretty intimidating. In the dictionary it falls between rigmarole (a ridiculously complicated process) and rigor mortis (stiffness after death). Nevertheless, the word has become firmly established in the current educational lexicon (Kinney, 2008). It seems to be completely opposite than many peoples philosophy on education as being flexible, lively, and compassionate. Rigor is creating an environment in which each student is expected to learn at high levels, each student is supported so they can learn at high levels, and each student demonstrates learning at high levels (Blackburn, 2013). Rigor is not making lessons so hard and expecting the students to learn on their own. It is not giving them unattainable goals that set them up for failure. Rigor is not just giving students more to do or punishing them with more homework (Blackburn, 2012). The idea of rigor is to focus on quality over quantity. Blackburn states, “When it comes to rigor, less is more. If we expect students to learn at a high level, we must focus on depth of understanding, not breadth of coverage (Blackburn, 2008, p. 40)”.

E is for Engagement

Raising the bar means to teach on or above grade level utilizing a variety of engaging teaching strategies. Teaching strategies play a huge role in how rigorous a lesson comes across.  In addition, asking higher level questions will trigger students to think beyond rote memory. It is also important in how the teacher responds to answers that are given and that they don’t accept anything lower than high expectations as well as offers efficient wait time. In a classroom setting, you have to disguise rigorous work so the students don’t get overwhelmed.  By making the learning experience engaging, students will strive harder to complete the task.  

A is for Alignment

Being intentional and focusing on the standards first is very important when planning rigorous lessons.  In an article by Dutchess Maye, the importance of strategic planning is emphasized when it comes to increasing academic rigor. Maye determined:

Though many of the teachers’ learning tasks were tightly structured, well-organized and facilitated, highly engaging creative, and – for the lack of a better word to capture their appeal to students –cute, the knowledge and cognitive domains primarily involved students in remembering and understand information through activities that required listing, identifying, find, naming, defining, reciting, recognizing, and applying content information within the discipline through rote, perfunctory tasks.  The effort and energy teachers put into designing these cute, lower-level learning tasks were quite impressive but ultimately lost luster as the objectives lacked academic rigor. (Maye, 2013, p. 32)

Maye went on to discuss that strategic planning was essential and that teachers should carefully examine the targeted standards first and then select the resources that provide exemplary material for demonstrating the targeted skills (Maye, 2013, p.33).  In addition to aligning the lesson with the standard, Maye emphasized being intentional with higher level questions.  Like my school, Maye finds it important to not fly by the seat of your pants when it comes to questioning.  She came up with an idea called Plan 5 which encouraged teachers to plan at least 5 predetermined questions for the lesson that would incorporate the higher cognitive levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy. 

C is for Complexity

To increase complexity you need to shift our attention from isolated facts to application of knowledge (Blackburn, 2008, p. 59). By making learning more applicable, students will have a higher level of comprehension and will be able to perform at higher levels. The use of projects and hands on activities allows the opportunity for students to take ownership and value in their work while also working as motivation.  These things demand the students to demonstrate understanding at a deeper level (Blackburn, 2008, p. 78).

H is for High expectations

Having high expectations starts with the decision that every student you teach has the potential to be the best, no matter what (Blackburn, 2008, p. 20). People will only push as far as they are expected.  It is the responsibility to set high standards for students to reach for.

REACH

Rigor is not an easy thing to step into and may take trial and error.  Changing the way things are done are going to have to be supported by all involved including administration, teachers, students, and their parents.  Teachers must change how they have always done things and refigure how they teach and how to extend the content to a new level.  At the same time of making work less shallow and building the quality, there is a new responsibility to be creative in how to make the harder lessons more engaging so the students will not give up.  Students are going to have to learn the true meaning of work ethic just as their parents are going to have to quit making excuses and support what is going on in the classroom.  With the combination of everyone’s participation, rigor can be successfully implemented in any school setting.  It may not take effect immediately but over time progress will be evident and the character of students will manifest.