The term “rigor”, used by education reformers, is one of the worst (as if there can be a ‘worst’) parts of Common Core as it is used and misused throughout our country.

Rigor – the bigwigs tell me – means to encourage a sense of challenge so that children learn at higher levels; it means to create an environment in which students achieve more; it means to use teaching techniques that engender higher quality learning.

That’s not awful. High quality learning is a good thing. It’s what every parent and every teacher wants for every child.

BUT

What ‘rigor’ has come to be defined as, is stricter structure, less namby-pamby self-esteem building, more and more and more and more testing, and extremes in developmentally INAPPROPRIATE practice, especially for children from birth to age 8.

Little children are having nervous breakdowns, good teachers are leaving the field, and parents are having to become hard-core political activists to assure their babies of 20 minutes a day for recess and 15 minutes a day to eat their lunches in a way that does not make them vomit.

Yes, we want high quality learning. Yes, we want challenge. Yes, we want ‘smarter’ children who will become successful adults with good jobs. But not at the expense of our children’s physical, mental, and emotional health.

Let’s see some ‘rigor’ from our school boards, our administrators, our state and federal legislators. Let’s make them sit for 6 hours without moving their bodies. Let’s give them 15 minutes for lunch. Let’s test them on all the facets of their job descriptions, then grade them with a big fat F if they don’t do well. And if they don’t pass the test, let’s tell them they are failures and their families will be disappointed in them and the people they ‘serve’ will not be able to keep their jobs and feed their babies.

For God’s sake – the idea of rigor is good, just as the basic idea of Common Core was good until greed grabbed it and test makers started sniffing personal profit and power-hungry  legislators stopped listening to educators.

If we must add an ‘R’ word to Reading, ‘Riting, and ‘Rithmetic, can we say RESPONSIBLE Learning? REALISTIC Learning? Learning that includes RISK?

Really. Rigor Reeks.