Chapter 1

    The central theme throughout Chapter 1 of Rigor by Design, Not Chance by Karin Hess was how to develop a classroom framework where deeper learning is at the forefront. Deeper learning is achieved when students are engaged in their own learning. For students to take charge of their own learning, teachers must help students develop college-career-readiness (CCR) skills. These skills include communication, critical thinking, study and organizational skills, metacognition and reflection, academic perseverance, transfer, disciplined inquiry, elaborated communication, and creative-productive thinking (Hess, 2023). Additionally, teachers must help students build mental schemas to build off of their prior connections (Hess, 2023). Another roadblock in education is the many misconceptions about rigor and deeper learning. Thus, teachers must understand the need for more clarity about the depth of knowledge levels and rigor. Crucially, all levels of depth of knowledge are equally important, and cognitive rigor means thinking through many perspectives (Hess, 2023). To actively engage students to learn deeply, the teacher's role has to shift from director to facilitator to coach constantly (Hess, 2023). Overall, teachers have to be deliberate in building their framework to help students have the skills to deepen learning.
    I found the idea of student academic perseverance, specifically, the roles of the students and teachers regarding academic perseverance to be very interesting. In my experience, students often can feel detached from the content and lose motivation to learn. The article, “Academic Perseverance, Class Attendance and Students’ Academic Engagement: a Correlational Study” by Okubanjo Anthony Oluremi discusses the importance of students attending class (Oluremi, 2014). The article addresses the correlation between class attendance and academic perseverance. The research found when students attended class regularly; they had more academic perseverance (Oluremi, 2014). Additionally, students should be “involved in all academic activities going on in their classes in particular and in the school in general” (Oluremi, 2014, p. 139). However, the article also mentions that teachers need to make classes engaging. Teachers can engage students “through classroom reward structure” (Oluremi, 2014, p. 135). Also, teachers can engage students by providing safe and positive relationships with each student (Oluremi, 2014). Thus, it is the student's and teacher's responsibility for the student to be academically persevering.
    In the book and article, there were connections about academic perseverance. The book and the article address that the teacher must help students build academic perseverance. Both sources explain the importance of the teacher's responsibility to create engaging and relevant lessons while also creating a positive relationship with the students (Hess, 2023: Oluremi, 2014). The student's role regarding academic perseverance depicted in the book was to develop intrinsic motivation (Hess, 2023). However, the article explains specific ways for students to develop academic perseverance, for example, by actively engaging in academic activities (Oluremi, 2014). Therefore, academic perseverance is an essential aspect of teaching.
    Both sources allowed me to understand the importance of student academic perseverance. Teachers can help students build academic perseverance by providing engaging lessons. However, the lessons can only be considered engaging if they are rigorous. Through both sources, I have learned that rigorous lessons will help students become engaged, which in turn can help students develop academic perseverance.

References

Hess, K. (2023). Rigor by design, not chance. Association for Supervision and Curriculum   

           Development (ASCD).

Oluremi, O. A. (2014). Academic perseverance, class attendance and students’ academic 

           engagement:  A correlational study. European Journal of Educational Sciences, 1(2), 

           133-140.