An academic program is rigorous when there is:
depth and integrity of inquiry: Many teachers have expressed concern that there is too much curricular material to “cover” and not enough time to teach it in. Academic rigor implies that sufficient time be devoted to a topic or unit of study and that students would have an opportunity to explore it in depth, developing questions as they go along.
sustained focus: Some students may need assistance and training to persevere on a given subject so that there would be the opportunity to study a topic in depth.
suspension of premature conclusions: Our nature is to find confirmation for our hunches, and this tendency often limits our possible conclusions. Academic rigor suggests that we train students in their individual work and research to continue to search for the one exception that disproves the hypothesis.
continuous testing of hypotheses: Even after being certain that our hypotheses are supported by evidence, we need to continue to test and re-test in different situations and under different circumstances.
Robert Harrell on the Department of State:
1. Any time a curriculum or scope and sequence is planned so that a certain number of chapters in textbook are covered, it is not rigorous because it falls into the trap of “too much curricular material to ‘cover’.” TCI allows for depth and integrity of inquiry; it is therefore more rigorous than a course in linguistics (which is merely onerous).
2. Worksheets and constantly changing activities do not require sustained focus; in fact, they are a perfect matrix for not only catering to but perpetuating short attention spans. TCI requires students to sustain focus as they participate in the class discussion in the target language, a truly rigorous undertaking.
3. Providing students with “rules of grammar” at the outset is the precise opposite of suspension of premature conclusions because learners are presented with the conclusions before they have even encountered the content (language). By encouraging students to form their own conclusions about what is correct language through prolonged exposure (and sustained focus) to it, TCI is obviously far more rigorous than other methods.
4. Having been provided with conclusions (i.e. “rules of grammar”), students have no opportunity to test their hypotheses because they have failed to develop any; instead this entire aspect of rigor has been excised from the curriculum in favor of onerous exercises with the result that students fail to become critical, creative thinkers or lifelong learners. TCI encourages students to be critical in comparing their language with the correct language they hear and read, be creative by figuring out how to express their ideas, opinions, needs, wants, etc. with the language they have acquired, and be lifelong learners through knowing how languages are acquired apart from sitting in a classroom.
As the Department of State website points out, these students, parents, and administrators have confused “rigorous” with “onerous” to the detriment of all concerned.