Essential Academic Work
by Tom Spencer

Classical educators have done much thinking, discussing, and writing about the content that a classical education requires. However, in addition to content, there are other academic issues that impact student achievement. Since these issues have not been clearly identified or defined, it should not surprise us to find that classical schools differ on these matters. What are these topics? How do they relate to classical and Christian education? What word or phrase best describes them? These are questions that require our consideration.

In “educationese,” these academic topics are referred to collectively as “academic rigor.” College, high school, and even elementary educators often describe their programs as rigorous. This phrase, academic rigor, is frequently used to describe programs for “gifted and talented” students. Robert Sawyer, in the Journal for the Education of the Gifted, wrote that “academic rigor represents a stress on the content, rather than the methodologies used, within courses that are conceived as essential education.” Others have written that academic rigor is associated with student participation in “a real search for real knowledge.”

Academic rigor is an efficient term. It is a short phrase that refers to a variety of academic standards. Usually, academic rigor pertains to both the focus of instruction and the standards to which students are held accountable. It has become a shorthand way for schools to tell parents and communities that they expect more of their students than other schools do. Should we use this phrase “academic rigor” to discuss issues related to student achievement in schools? Consider the definition of rigor. Rigor means strictness, inflexibility, rigidity, or extreme hardship. It comes from a Latin word that literally means stiff, as in rigor mortis. Rigor is the wrong word to use to address issues of instruction and expectations of students. We need another word or phrase.

The Latin word for education literally means “to draw out” something from a student. As classical educators trying to repair the ruins, we should require much of our students. Some work is essential. Therefore, in the place of academic rigor, let us use “essential academic work.” In addition to teaching some specific subjects, classical education should be characterized by schools that require essential academic work from the students.

Essential academic work is comprised of instruction that furthers the development of skills in our students, appropriately challenges the mental capabilities of the students, and requires the student to work diligently throughout the school year. The constant, daily practice of teaching lessons that meet these criteria should be a part of every classical school. Typically, some lessons are useful in developing skills, while others aren’t. In a classical school, because we are striving to teach the tools of learning, there should be many more of the former lessons and far fewer of the latter. Teachers are usually pretty adept at finding material to fill an entire class period. It is altogether a different task to recognize the skills students need and then plan lessons that develop those abilities. Too often, lessons introduce material to the student but do not help students develop or practice new skills.

Skills that should be taught to students during the three stages of the Trivium include reading, writing, math computation, ordering information for truth, strength, and validity, and the five canons of rhetoric. (These are style, memory, delivery, invention, and arrangement.) Lessons that develop these skills are part of essential work. Lessons that don’t develop these skills, aren’t.

There are clues that are associated with a lesson that is composed of essential academic work. Essential work involves writing in complete sentences - writing that is read and reviewed for spelling, for grammar, for content, and for style. Essential work involves reading. Essential work involves reading material that pushes the ability level. Essential work involves reading essays, novels, and poems that are models of good writing. Essential work is demonstrated through public speaking, in a class play, in a speech meet, or in a class presentation.

Essential academic work is not ensured by assigning reading in a textbook and the assignment of written fill-in-the-blank questions based on the reading. These practices might be effective in introducing and identifying grammar, but they may not require much real work. Such a lesson could be useful as a basis for additional work, thus being profitable in the long run.

Some classical schools require more work of their students than others do. I suspect that there are two reasons for this. First, the schools that require more of their students have been willing to challenge assumptions about modern educational philosophy and modern standards of education. They consistently ask “why?” or “why not?” or “who says?” Second, and perhaps most important, some classical educators have an appreciation for the history of education. As a result of this interest, these educators have studied the academic achievements of American students in an earlier era. They realize that, recently, expectations for student achievement have been set too low. This trend has been referred to as “dumbing down.” If academic standards have in fact been “dumbed down,” it makes sense that we now have to “smarten up” our expectations to regain what has been lost. This is important as we write new curriculum. If we are ignorant of history, we will not be able to perceive our current historical situation with its associated strengths and weaknesses.

This leads to a discussion of the second aspect of essential academic work. This requires that we set expectations for academic achievement at a level that challenges the thinking abilities of our students. Think about the definition of work. Work in school requires that our students fully exert their mental (or physical) powers. We must not merely teach students at a level that is traditional or common. Setting the bar at some height just because others set the bar there simply is not good enough. Rather, we must assess the capabilities of our students and plan lessons that meet and expand their intellectual ability. In a school that requires essential academic work, the curriculum is a good match for the capability of most of the students in each grade. This does not mean that all students will earn high grades. It does mean that most, if not all, of the students can learn the material. Learning will be measured through testing, with students required to achieve some predetermined level (for example 70%) of perfect knowing and understanding.

How then does memorization fit into this picture of essential academic work? Is rote memorization academic work? Is it essential? Yes, memorization is work. Yes, memorization is essential. According to the Sayer’s vision for classical education, we should spend the most time on memorization when students are young. It is then that students are best able to memorize facts and speeches and dates. We ask students to memorize facts so that they can use this information to solve other, more complex problems later. We also recognize that there is some information that one must know, and it is best if one can simply memorize this information (like multiplication tables, state capitals, or the parts of speech).

How does this definition of essential academic work affect the pace of our curriculum planning? According to our definition, essential academic work requires the student to work diligently throughout the year. Our pace should be based on our understanding of the work that students may normally accomplish in a year’s time. This assumes that we enroll a typical range of students. Diligent work assumes that class time is spent productively and is not wasted. If we take two years to cover a topic, when others take one, we need to ask ourselves why. There might be good reasons. Perhaps we are asking students to study a greater than normal number of subjects. This then would be a good reason not to cover the material as fast as others do. However, without a reason such as this, we need to reexamine the amount of work we expect from our students. We certainly need to be willing to ask ourselves hard questions.

Essential academic work is not simply a function of hours of work. Lessons can be academically essential without causing students to be overwhelmed and discouraged by the sheer volume of work. In fact, essential work and delight appropriately go together. Students will find delight in the satisfaction of hard work that produces the fruit of understanding.

Standardized tests currently in use in our country do not effectively measure essential academic work. The tests typically measure a student’s acquisition of grammar, not his ability to write or think or speak. National tests used in England and France might be more effective in measuring essential work. They include a large writing sample, not merely a set of multiple choice questions. Standardized tests currently in use in the United States have also undergone the same “dumbing down” process that the curriculum has gone through. In time, we will need to revise these tests as we have revised our curriculum.

We still have work to do. We need to continue to challenge our assumptions about what students can learn. This may result in some trials along the way. Some parents may think that their children are being asked to do more than they are capable of doing. Other parents will compare the grades of their students against those of students in schools that do not teach or require academically essential work. Parents will worry that lower grades will hurt opportunities for scholarships or college admission. We have to be methodical and thorough as we set new goals for our students. The “dumbing down” of our national curriculum and lowering of our academic expectations did not happen overnight, and it will take a concerted effort over time to get back to where we ought to be. However, this is a task that can and must be done. We can teach our students to work. They can work hard and take delight in what they have learned.

Tom Spencer is the High School Principal at Logos School in Moscow,Idaho, a founding member of the Association of Classical and Christian Schools.
To find out more about ACCS, go to http://www.accsedu.org. LCA has been a member of ACCS since its founding in 1999.