Week 5: Chapter 5: How Intentional Design Fuels Deeper Learning

 I was immediately struck by how frequently "rigor" in schools is viewed as a badge, something to add to, turn up, or hope pupils would become used to, when I first came across Hess's work. Hess contends in Rigor by Design, Not by Chance that this strategy completely misses the mark. She maintains that rigor ought to be deliberate, thoughtfully designed, and sensitive to the needs of students. Rigor should be a design challenge rather than a default option. How can we create learning settings that foster deeper thinking, transfer, and student agency? 

Hess reframes rigor not as more work or higher difficulty, but as complexity, depth, and discipline of thinking. She reminds us that many common myths get in the way: that rigor equals more content, or that it’s about making every assignment harder. Instead, rigor is about designing opportunities for students to reason, make meaning, wrestle with ideas, and engage thoughtfully with concepts. It is about scaffolding growth, not simply demanding more from the students who are already ready. One of the book's main conclusions is that in order to effectively construct rigor, we must make students' thinking transparent and flexible. Assessments need not to be final judgments; rather, they ought to be instruments and windows into students' thoughts that enable us, as well as the students, to modify, review, and develop. Hess states that when evaluations show what students are thinking, help us find them on a learning continuum, and create feedback loops that empower the learner, they become actionable.

In real life, Hess provides a set of steps that assist us in creating designs that promote deeper learning. These include posing challenging, increasing-level questions; assisting students in developing thought-guiding schemas; carefully scaffolding such that support is progressively reduced; creating challenging assignments that encourage transfer; and including metacognition and reflection to help students understand their own thought processes. Dr. Karin Hess Hess's treatment of these as interconnected components of a cycle in which evaluation, instruction, and reflection reinforce one another rather than as separate strategies is what makes it so effective. This is aptly shown by a story from the Searle Center's commentary: Hess contends that rigor is built on participation on an emotional, behavioral, and cognitive level. Cognitive challenges may appear foreign or harsh if there is no emotional connection—students may not recognize the significance or care about the concepts. Therefore, engagement—rather than merely complexity—must be included in the design for rigor.

This means that instead of asking, "How hard can I make this?" a teacher should ask, "How deeply can I structure the question so students think?" It include reviewing assignments, discussing student ideas, and incorporating feedback-rich cycles of growth for a school.


Hess, K. (2023). Rigor by design, not by chance: Deeper learning by design. ASCD. 

https://www1.ascd.org/blogs/how-to-create-assessments-that-drive-learning?utm_source


Comments

  1. Cindy Parker EDM 517September 28, 2025 at 6:46 PM

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  2. Cindy Parker EDM 517September 28, 2025 at 6:49 PM

    Jordan, I really appreciate how you reframed rigor as a design challenge rather than a badge of difficulty. That distinction feels essential, especially since, as you noted, the myths of “more work equals more rigor” still linger in so many classrooms. Hess (2023) makes it clear that rigor is about creating conditions where students wrestle with ideas in meaningful ways, and I think your focus on scaffolding and transparency of thinking captures that beautifully.

    What stood out to me in your post was your attention to the emotional dimension of rigor. Hess reminds us that engagement must be cognitive, behavioral, and emotional for learning to be sustained (Hess, 2023). I see this in music education when students compose or improvise: unless they feel emotionally invested in their creation, the complexity of the task can feel more like a burden than an opportunity. When they do connect, however, their depth of thinking and ownership often surprise me.

    Your reflection makes me wonder: if rigor truly depends on emotional as well as cognitive engagement, how might schools need to rethink assessment practices so that feedback not only guides thinking but also sustains motivation and agency?

    References

    Hess, K. (2023). Rigor by design, not by chance: Deeper learning by design. ASCD.

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  3. Dr. Beth Walsh-MoormanSeptember 30, 2025 at 3:48 PM

    I think you are so right that our past understanding of rigor was often inequitable and really just about breadth over depth.

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  4. Morgan WitteOctober 5, 2025 at 11:18 AM

    Hi Jordan,

    I hope you are having a relaxing weekend! Thank you for mentioning Hess' belief that rigor is not simply adding more work for students to complete. Rigor is a complex way of thinking that all students can achieve when educators intentionally design it. I have been pondering the question your posed at the end of your post. As educators, it is very easy to get lost in all of the things we are being asked to do each day with curriculum, parent communication, etc. I sometimes find myself going through the motions of rushing through one part of our day to make sure we stay on track with district pacing guides. As I have been reading Hess' work, it has forced me to slow down and think about if I am truly designing tasks that can develop my student's thinking. The main part of this for me, is finding time to hear all student's ideas, while also giving them actionable feedback. I am happy to say that will some tweaks in our schedule, I have made time for these very important tasks. Thank you again for your thoughtful post!

    Morgan

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