It's "Rigor," Not "Rigor Mortis"

From Dr. Bourff: Academic Rigor

Academic rigor is frequently described by educators as high expectations, engaging work, deeper analysis, or critical thinking—all of which are elements of sound preparation for a student’s future.  However, longer exercises, assignments over vacations, accelerated pacing, or more homework are often mistaken for or passed off by educators as academic rigor.

Rigor derives from the Latin rigere, which means to be stiff and inflexible.  The term rigor mortis derives from the same word.  It is ironic that, if misused in an educational context, rigor can result in what Diane Ravitch described as a deadly dullness; in essence, a return to the meaning of its Latin root.

Rigor is the opposite of "deadly dullness."
It's rigor, not rigor mortis.

 

HSE²¹ is predicated on the most positive aspects of academic rigor.  We must be vigilant that our instructional strategies do not reflect the negative aspects of the same term.  Failure to recognize the difference can destroy not only the spirit of HSE²¹ but also a student’s interest and passion for learning.

From Stephanie: Rigor is Love

When we have questions related to solving problems that offer us an alternative advantage or support a personal interest, we enter the “Inquiry Zone.”

This zone is the sweet spot for inquiry. Our thoughts run wild and free. It’s energizing, and it’s frustrating. It is the love we feel for work that involves us personally. It’s worthy and satisfying work because it’s related to our personal interests and goals. 

This love of learning is at the heart of Rigor.

An Example of Rigorous Work

I brought this love to my own inquiry work by asking the question: Why am I still in love with Diet Coke? Love is sometimes hard—especially when you love Diet Coke and you know you have to stop.

I brought energy and passion to my research and to the action steps that followed it.  A quick Google search yielded many unexpected results for Diet Coke usage. It can be used:

Rigor is putting knowledge into action.

• To remove a toilet bowl ring;
• As a treatment for lice;
• To remove oil stains from the garage floor;
• With tin foil to remove rust: and
• To remove gum from hair.

How could I possibly be in love with something so potentially dangerous?  Myth or not, I knew I had to get a handle on my problem, so I made a plan to stop drinking Diet Coke. 

When I broke up with Diet Coke I…

• Spent time close reading;
• Grew giddy in planning my future healthy self on Pinterest;
• Compared the reasoning of multiple perspectives;
• Analyzed the effectiveness of some of the cleaning tips;
• Tried a disgusting morning detox shot; and
• Sorted out the myths and learned more about Aspartame. 

There is no question that I brought energy and passion to my research and to the steps that helped me break up with my love!  Rigor resides in inquiry, and it includes: identifying issues, resolving conflicts, and solving dilemmas.  I had to sort, respond, and shift my thinking.  This is rigorous work, so rigorous that it became distracting to other thoughts.

There’s a palpable love here—and I’m not talking about Diet Coke. It is love born of hard work. It’s the love of deep thinking.  And it is the love of putting knowledge into action. 

Rigor is love!

Good-bye old love. I do appreciate the rust removal tip. You came in very handy on my screen door! But I’ll stick with my new love.

From Jan: Rigor and Homework

Parents around the district at all levels have expressed concern about the amount of homework and the quality of homework that is sometimes required of their students.  They have concerns that what is being asked of students feels like busy work. 

We would do well to pause and consider carefully what we are assigning our students and how much we are asking of our students (and often their families).

• Does the work involve a rigorous process?  (Not just more work or faster work)
• Is it worthy work?  
• Is it authentic work, deeper work, or engaging work?

If the answers are yes, homework can be valuable and rigorous.  If not, we should rethink what we are asking students to do outside of our classrooms.

  

From Phil: Relevance and Student Talk

Next fall, Kylene Beers and Bob Probst are joining us on the first teacher work day.  They are two of my educational heroes.  Several chapters in their most recent book, Reading Nonfiction, fit nicely with today’s topic.  The first is called “Rigor and Relevance,” and the second is “Classroom Conversations.”

My favorite books end up
with lots of highlights
and sticky notes.

Since the focus of their book is on reading, Beers and Probst write about text, but you can add or task to their words below, and their wisdom about rigor will make just as much sense.  From Beers and Probst:

Rigor resides in the transaction between the reader and the text [or task].  It is achieved not simply by selecting a challenging text [or task], but rather by deepening the reader’s engagement with the text [or task].

Beers and Probst say the key to rigor is deepening the student’s engagement, and the key to deepening engagement is whether or not the text—or task—has relevance to the student.  The route to relevance for students involves powerful classroom conversations.  Students must do the talking, the questioning, the thinking.

Beers and Probst make a distinction between talk to check understanding (which is primarily monologic/teacher talk) and talk to create understanding (which is primarily dialogic/student talk).

I used my highlighter notes from the two chapters to create the chart below about the connections between Rigor and Engagement/Relevance/Student Talk in the classroom.

Rigor: What it Is	Rigor: What it is NOT
Students asking questions of the teacher and of each other	Teachers asking most or all of the questions
Students making connections to other learning	Teachers telling students about the connections to other learning
Students reading, discussing, and analyzing text	Teachers summarizing reading for students
Students bringing energy and effort to the text or task: A questioning stance	Students accepting text at face value: little or no questioning of the content or purpose of the text or task
Students wanting to take on difficult texts or tasks, wanting to learn more about a topic, and wanting to explore beyond the expectations of the teacher	Teachers assigning difficult texts or tasks, pushing advanced curriculum to lower levels, and/or accelerating coverage of material
Students working on relevant texts and tasks—not just interesting texts and tasks	Students working on texts and tasks that may or may not be interesting, but are not relevant
Student talk to create understanding: Dialogic talk between students is a regular and predominate part of instruction	Student talk limited to checking understanding: Primarily Monologic talk from teacher and students
Students involved in work that challenges their thinking in new and interesting ways	Students involved in work based in a single-perspective or approach

I would love to hear from you.  Send me your ideas for what Rigor Is and What Rigor is NOT.

Have a great week, HSE.  We hope your days are filled with rigor and with love.

Your HSE Teaching and Learning Team

• Jan Combs, Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning
• Stephanie Loane, Director of Elementary Education
• Tom Bell, Director of Special Education
• Jeff Harrison, Director of Educational Technology
• Phil Lederach, Director of Secondary Education