In the field of education, few words are used as frequently or as imprecisely as “rigor.” It is often used to signal academic excellence or high achievement. Yet in practice, rigor has come to represent a narrow set of expectations rooted in speed, volume, and traditional measures of performance, creating a false binary: Students are either “high achieving” or they are not.

Having educated and led students with learning differences for over 25 years, I know this construct is far too reductionistic and unfair. It privileges one type of learner, one pace of learning, and one way of demonstrating understanding while overlooking the intrinsic motivation, imagination, and depth of growth that I witness each and every day in Carroll students who learn differently. Rigor, as it’s commonly defined, tells an incomplete story about what meaningful success truly looks like.

If schools are committed to serving as many students as possible, we must ask harder questions: How do we define achievement? How do we define success? How do we measure growth? What skills are most essential to develop in students? And what outcomes are we trying to elicit?

The Role of Process in Deep Learning

At Carroll, we place as much value on the process of learning — the deep knowledge and critical skills that develop steadily, unrushed — as we do on the ultimate achievement or outcome. Process-based learning values:

• Accumulating a deep well of knowledge
• Understanding over memorization of material
• Interdisciplinary thinking and connection-making
• Critical thinking and problem solving skills 
• Engagement with productive struggle

Central to this work is thoughtful instructional design and educators’ ability to frequently loop back and reinforce previously learned content while advancing to higher-level concepts. Progress accelerates when appropriate and slows down when necessary. 

Process-based learning is also reflected in individualized, responsive practices that meet students where they are. At Carroll School, we call this GEC’ing — giving every child what they need most — such as in our Targeted Cognitive Intervention; educators ensuring that lessons are presented and student work is evaluated in accessible, flexible ways; and classroom pacing that allows students ample time to answer questions and process their thoughts without the pressure to rush ahead.

Fortitude: A Powerful Reframe 

Central to process-based learning is fortitude.

At a 2025 conference on inclusion and belonging, hosted by AISNE (the Association of Independent Schools in New England), award-winning young adult author Jason Reynolds spoke about the power of “fortitude.” 

Fortitude, he explained, is getting knocked down and deciding to get back up again not because you don’t like to fail, but because you know you are capable of so much more. It is the internal conviction — an enduring belief — in one’s own capacity to grow even when the going gets tough. “Fortitude comes from your gut,” emphasized Reynolds.

This single, potent word — fortitude — challenges the inequity around traditional notions of success and achievement, and the skills we so often prioritize around them. For students who learn differently, especially, fortitude offers a more equitable and expansive way to understand achievement.

It also embodies students’ robust educational experience at Carroll. Challenge is expected, but students learn to trust in themselves — and their educators, who walk side by side with them — to work through it. Along the way, their critical thinking skills, internalized learning strategies, self-awareness, persistence, and confidence flourish — qualities that are among the strongest predictors of success in long-term educational and life trajectories. 

Redefining What It Means to Reach the Summit 

A focus on process does not diminish the importance of outcomes. Academic outcome data informs instruction, sharpens interventions for our students, and deepens educators’ understanding about how students learn. Outcome data also allows educators to see how well students are grasping material so they can adjust methods or curriculum as necessary.

Placing too great an emphasis on results — the destination — overlooks the rich knowledge and self-discovery that develops along the journey, including the relationships that develop between educators and students and the ways in which those relationships activate student growth and potential. When you ignore the journey, you exclude the multitude of students for whom steady, tenacious progress — no less demanding in scope — is how they learn best.

Think of a mountain climb. Some climbers focus on the end goal, measuring success only by how quickly they reach the summit. Others move steadily, pacing themselves and pausing to rest or admire the wildflowers and scenic views. They understand that preparation, endurance, confidence, and adaptability are what makes the ascent possible.

In education, fortitude sustains the climb. When schools reimagine rigor through a lens of fortitude, achievement becomes more inclusive, meaningful, and enduring.