The old saying goes — “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” That which comes too easily to us is not valued over the long term. The same is true in education. For most people, the teachers that are remembered later in life are the ones who were challenging. That doesn’t mean that they were nasty and unreasonable. They assigned things to students which seemed hard to manage, but they walked the process with them and coached them along the way until students were able to do something they never thought they could complete…all because a teacher had faith in them.
TeachHUB.com, a product of the K-12 Teachers Alliance, points out that rigor is “that fine line between challenging and frustrating a student.” The focus is on clear standards with higher-level expectations. However, rigor doesn’t happen in the first moment of student engagement; it must be built.
Students and teachers engage in a partnership. Of course, the partnership is led by the teacher because children will aim low if given the chance. They do understand that good work takes effort and that the product will be worthwhile, but, in general, they do not opt for extra effort. It must be enticed. First, the teacher must demonstrate belief in the potential of each learner through actual evidence — remembering their work (or lack of it and encouraging them, since they can do better), pointing out a quick fix on an assignment AND that the student knew the technique already and had just not employed it yet, or asking a series of increasingly complex questions so that a class collectively constructs better-quality content than they had been aware that they could. That’s the long answer. The simple answer is that a teacher doesn’t accept mediocrity from students.
Granted, some students face personal, physical, and cognitive challenges which make things difficult for them which are easier for others to complete. A teacher, — perhaps aided by a counselor, family, or academic coach — but primarily a teacher, is needed to construct a learning task which promotes student growth by stretching beyond currently-recognized abilities. It’s worth pointing out that relying on an AI to plan a lesson at a particular grade level, in a one-size-fits-all fashion, isn’t going to serve the purpose. It takes the experience and adaptability that come with human interaction to customize the right learning task and the right scaffolds for students, especially those who are navigating a unique educational landscape. Scaffolding and guiding do not mean giving one student a pass and making the work hard on others; it focuses on differentiation. Few people would walk into a restaurant and find that everyone was ordering the same meal. Each person is different and chooses what will appeal to and enhance their life at the time. Why should education be any different?
In authentic learning, some preparatory learning experiences can be based on a similar experience for the whole class. However, it is likely that each student will not only be selecting an autonomous pathway, but will need some guidance on unique preparatory material in order to reach a level of excellence in their final product. This might involve guidance in apps to use or primary sources of information or other content which is unique to each student’s exploration. A teacher guiding students in an authentic assessment must tackle interdisciplinary needs in order to push students toward the level of rigor which will yield a successful achievement of their objective.
Pushing Harder
Rigor involves some sweating and stretching. Not every student wants to take the hard path. What happens when a student claims to be done well ahead of schedule and submits a mediocre product?
- Don’t accept it. In some cases, a child might be aiming low and abdicating responsibility for their work by calling it done when it clearly is not. One strategy is to let it go for today and revisit it tomorrow for fresh perspective. Be strong. Don’t take inferior work.
- Return to the rubric. Walk through it together and identify places which don’t meet the highest level on the rubric for the assignment. In this way, it seems like an opportunity for the student to make revisions before getting a final grade.
- Pre-grading can be humbling for students. Sometimes a student will insist that the work is done, even after a day, even after looking at the rubric. Without doing anything formal, show the student how the mediocre work looks from a grading standpoint. From there, it is a matter of logic to use remaining class time devoted to the project to enhance the product for a better grade. As a back-up plan, sharing the situation with parents can help to motivate a better effort.
Look at assignment specifications and rubric language to embed guardrails to help to minimize these easy outs. Adding that students must have a certain number of meetings with their experts or produce three product prototypes before selecting the single solution will take students down the path of better process and more rigor. If the architecture of the project requires certain elements, students can’t submit their work without complying with all facets of the task.
Excite Curiosity
This is where partnership becomes amazing on both sides of the table. Even teachers who didn’t get into the profession for the elixir of seeing a student learn something new and get excited about it have been “hooked” on that treat over time. In my Civil War research project which requires that students create a unique research question, conduct primary source research, create an infographic display of their research and present it to a classroom of questions, I recall a student who heard about ironclads (submarines) in class and decided to explore “how ironclads changed American history.” He became distressed when he read about the Battle of Hampton Roads (basically a long battle ending in a draw) in a secondary source which summarized everything. He got bored. He wanted to change his question and do something else. I asked him to answer three questions for me, one of which was how ironclads originated. He returned and told me that they were regular battleships which had iron plates covering their hulls to make them stronger and less vulnerable to shelling. How much firepower could they resist? That was a harder question to answer. I pointed out that that was part of it, but not the whole story. I dropped the word “turtle,” but he didn’t know what it meant, so he went looking again. That one opened the flood gates. When he presented to the class, his infographic showed the schematic drawings (primary sources) of a Revolutionary War submarine called the Turtle, which was unsuccessful and led to the death of its occupant, then the ironclads, which represented significant advancements in submarine engineering. Then he showed modern submarines which, although they grew in size, complexity, technology, and construction techniques, were clearly grounded in the “advanced” design of the Civil War era. He even pointed out that the key challenges of submarine engineering (propulsion, breathable environment, and weight) were the same as in the original design, but that each attempt was an innovation. His presentation lasted longer than was required. His infographic was excellent. Better yet, his commitment to persistence was strengthened for his next challenging task by the rigor of his pursuit on this assignment. I didn’t give him answers; I just gave him more questions.
Gaining Rigor
Back to that TeachHUB comment: challenge vs. frustration. Everyone has become frustrated in a search for information gone astray. The Google search key words aren’t working. The sites are unproductive. It’s just not fun anymore. This is the cautionary part of authentic assessment guidance for teachers.
When assigning authentic assessment with classes, it’s not a matter of them going on their merry way to do the work and leaving the teacher in class to reorganize the supply cabinet. Teachers have to circulate and inquire to assure that the tasks of students really are in that “sweet spot” which reflects rigor, but not frustration. Though few people drive a manual transmission, there is a knack to working the pedals with enough brake and enough gas at just the right timing when using the clutch to have a smooth shifting experience. It’s that Goldilocks arrangement of not too hard and not too soft, but just right. Experienced teachers know this skill with students.
Monitoring appropriate rigor in authentic assessment requires alertness, an intolerance for taking the easy path, and a vision for excellence. Any teacher loves that expression from a student when they have learned something new and gained confidence in their abilities. That doesn’t happen when they take it easy or play it safe.
Teacher Takeaways
Authentic assessment takes on rigor when teachers refuse to accept sub-standard submissions, push for high-level thinking instead of easy solutions, and ask questions to extend the exploratory process.
TeachHUB Team. What is academic rigor and what do we do with it? K-12 Teaching Alliance. TeachHUB.com. 6 Mar 2014.
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