A couple of years ago, I got all excited about a framework for persuasive paragraphs and essays I'd learned about on an accreditation visit to another school. I came back to my school all ready to launch it in my own classroom, only to discover that our state tests no longer required "constructed responses", so nobody but the Language Arts teachers cared about paragraphs anymore.
I rolled my eyes, and taught my students to recognize and use stance and supports anyway. Then the Common Core standards came along, and I said, "Guess what! I'm already doing this!"
But you'll enjoy what Alfie Kohn has to say about rigor:
http://www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/edweek/feelbad.htm
