When we talk about a ‘rigorous course’ in something, it’s a course that examines details, insists on diligent and scrupulous study and performance, and doesn’t settle for a mild or informal contact with the key ideas.” Robert Talbert, associate professor of mathematics and computing science, Franklin College, Franklin, Ind. TEACHERS on RIGOR
Adding rigor to the curriculum cannot be achieved by moving standards, benchmarks and course requirements around, although those are the first things policymakers think to do. “A personal example from my classroom: I used to teach instrumental music to middle-schoolers as I was taught: rehearse-rehearse-perform.
He is the author of “Next-Generation Career and Technical Education in New York City” (July 2008), a 68- page report in which the words “rigor” or “rigorous” appear 49 times.1Rigor, Betheil said, “is a lost concept in many classrooms.”
More often than not, academic rigor does not refer to a single class, but a number of them within a student’s schedule. Rigor is more than just “how difficult a class is” however, and even more than “how hard a student has to work to earn a good grade.”
Colleges will always look and emphasize a students' grades. For this reason, Unweighted GPA is arguably considered the most important number in college admissions. It purely demonstrates a student's performance in their classes without taking into consideration the rigor of course.
Schools having a holistic approach to admissions consider course rigor and grades in specific classes more critical than the overall GPA (Grade Point Average). They want to see that students take the most rigorous course load that they can responsibly handle while staying mentally and emotionally healthy.
Course rigor, or strength of curriculum as it's sometimes known, helps complete a student's “academic narrative.” It essentially refers to how challenging the course material is that a student chooses to take (note that it doesn't necessarily indicate how challenging the course is for a particular student, just that ...
By Allison WignallLast updated on August 18, 2020. Simply put, rigor is the academic or intellectual challenge of a class. The more difficult the class, the more rigorous it is. More often than not, academic rigor does not refer to a single class, but a number of them within a student's schedule.
You can think of a rigorous course load as the one that represents the most challenging track available at your high school.
UCs do look at courses you take in senior year and take the rigor into consideration when evaluating you for admission; but as long as you maintain satisfactory grades (typically an unweighted B average, with no non-passing grades, is sufficient), your performance in your senior year courses will not affect your ...
In other words, there is no one deciding, defining scale for “rigor”. What admissions officers will agree upon is that students should take the most challenging course load that they can do well in, while still having enough time to show the deep and passionate involvement in activities that the colleges seek.
So most colleges and universities use course designations, such as Honors or AP, as a shorthand. The idea is that the more courses you take with an Honors or AP (or similar) designation, the higher your rigor.
Academic Rigor refers to a certain standard of excellence that professors and administrators expect of their students. These standards are made sometimes made clear to students through examples, instruction and rubrics. Sometimes these standards are less defined.
What is rigor in mathematics? Rigor doesn't just mean “harder” or “more difficult.” Rigor in math teaching means focusing with equal intensity on students' conceptual understanding, procedural fluency, and ability to apply what they know to real-world, problem-solving situations.
A rigorous curriculum is an inclusive set of intentionally aligned components—clear learning outcomes with matching assess- ments, engaging learning experiences, and instructional strategies—organized into sequenced units of study that serve as both the detailed road map and the high-quality delivery system for ...
What is Academic Rigor and Why is it So Important? Simply put, rigor is the academic or intellectual challenge of a class. The more difficult the class , the more rigorous it is. More often than not, academic rigor does not refer to a single class, but a number of them within a student’s schedule. Rigor is more than just “how difficult ...
Rigor is more than just “how difficult a class is” however, and even more than “how hard a student has to work to earn a good grade.”. In essence, a rigorous class prepares the student by teaching them (and having them exercise) skills useful in school, the business world, and in life.
Essentially, they’d rather see you take a few more challenging classes than a variety of more standard ones. If you can, focus on the area you’re interested in studying in college.
However, there are other ways to include rigor in a schedule. Dual-enrollment classes are college-level ...
Rigor is essential in school and life. Cultivating our students’ desires to challenge and push their intellect and abilities is what leads to powerful learning experiences. There are no prescribed formulas to increasing rigor.
It describes the result of work that challenges students’ thinking in new and interesting ways. Promoting rigor in the classroom requires expectations and experiences that are academically, intellectually, and personally challenging.
Let’s look at how to cultivate a culture of rigor in the classroom. 1. Start by Building Strong Relationships. The relationships we have with students play a significant role in their investment in our classes . Students won’t work for teachers they don’t like. This doesn’t mean we need to try and be friends or “act cool” with students.
A rigorous curriculum is, at heart, a balancing act. You should take the most challenging courses that are within your ability to handle. At the same time, you should pace yourself so that you're not too overwhelmed by the challenge.
Your transcripts should show how you've taken full advantage of the challenges available to you at your school—but always within reason, of course. This means that you should take progressively more difficult classes in each topic each year rather than jumping from intro class to intro class.
The general idea is to show that you're intellectually prepared for college-level studying, and that you've developed a habit of guiding yourself toward increasing challenges. This demonstrates grit, resilience, perseverance, and a mature work ethic.
According to the National Association for College Admission Counseling's (NACAC) 2017 State of College Admission Report, 52% of schools surveyed ranked strength of curriculum as considerably important in admissions.
So if you're a science whiz, you might consider diving more deeply into calculus, biology, or physics. If you're into the social sciences, you can take economics and psychology at high levels, even at the expense of taking AP Physics.
As it turns out, exposure to a rigorous curriculum in high school is a better predictor of academic success in college than the education level of your parents is, or even your test scores, class rank, and GPA are. And the best place to show that you've been exposed to a challenging curriculum is through your transcript.
Colleges are looking for students who push themselves, are intellectually curious and are interested in learning. More demanding courses are a reflection of this. However, what a student should take depends on the student. What a student must be careful to do is not overreach.
In other words, there is no one deciding, defining scale for “rigor”. What admissions officers will agree upon is that students should take the most challenging course load that they can do well in, while still having enough time to show the deep and passionate involvement in activities that the colleges seek.
Colleges like to see students challenging themselves. So the direct answer is: A ‘B’ in an honors course is better that an ‘A’ in regular. A ‘B’ in an AP course is better than the ‘A’ in honors. Colleges are looking for students who push themselves, are intellectually curious and are interested in learning.
1. What is academic rigor and why is it so important? 2. Why is it good for students to struggle? 3. What do academic rigor and productive struggle look like in the classroom? 4. Why is rigor so hard to achieve in lessons? 5. What is a rigorous task? 6. How do resources support productive struggle? 7.
In The Power of Student Teams (2019), Michael Toth and David Sousa define academic rigor as:
I mentioned that students need autonomy from the teacher as they learn. There are many reasons why it’s good for students to struggle, but the short answer I’ll focus on here is that students need to routinely have productive struggle in order to foster a growth mindset.
Productive struggle is embedded in most of our adult brainstorming sessions. I’m sure you can recall the last time you engaged in problem-solving, tested your thinking, or debated your ideas.
Academic rigor is so hard to achieve because tasks are often not set up for productive struggle.
A task is what the student does to produce evidence of progress toward the learning target.
Figure 1. The process for planning out a direct line from standards to student evidence for an academically rigorous task.