Don’t EVER Say That Again! Our List of the Worst Buzz Words in Education

By John Wolfe and Rita Platt

We HATE some of the latest buzz-words in education.

Don’t get us wrong, we love teaching and learning. We consider ourselves to be open to new ideas and we act accordingly where change is concerned. We often stay up most of the night talking (and sometimes arguing) about issues in educations. Oh, yeah, we’re “edu-dorks” to the extreme.

But we HATE these buzz word (and phrases) and here’s why.

Research-based:

Founded on an accumulation of facts that have been obtained by research.

This term is used to sell or support every possible program or opinion. It has become meaningless. For those of you, who like us, really read copious amounts of education research we challenge you to do two things: 1.) Don’t say “research-based” or “research-supported” unless you have the actual research in hand! 2.) When someone tells you that something is “research-based” ask them to show you the research.

Oh, it’s going to make some folks mad, but, for heaven’s sake, don’t say something is “research-based” if you can’t produce the evidence that it is.

Rigor:

Instruction, schoolwork, learning experiences, and education expectations that are academically, intellectually, and personally challenging.

We like that definition. What we don’t like is what it’s come to mean. Rigor too often is code for arbitrarily defined expectations that seem to be intentionally placed above a child’s actual ability. Rigor has replaced the infinitely better concept of ZPD and for the life of us, we cannot understand how we teachers have allowed this to happen. Rigor should be defined based on an individual’s learning needs. But it is not. Stop supporting this corrupted education meme. Stop saying “rigor!”

Fidelity

Faithfulness to obligations, duties, or observances.

As all practicing teachers know, what it really means is “follow the script” or “do” the program exactly as intended. First, if we consent that our students are individuals and as such have differing needs, the idea that we would buy a program or a curriculum and teach it with “fidelity” is an egregious one at best.

Second, it’s a great excuse to blame teachers when so-called reform efforts don’t work. IE: The new reading program showed no effects? The teachers didn’t use it with fidelity!

Gross.

Career and College Ready

The content knowledge, skills, and habits that students must possess to be successful in post-secondary education or training that leads to a sustaining career.

Hollow phrase. Read our diatribe against it here. Or don’t read it and suffice it to say that there aren’t many great careers to get ready for and college costs a small fortune.

Those are the most irksome works and phrases we know these days.

What education-related terms do you hate? Are there terms you like?

Please share in the comments!

* Unless otherwise noted, all definitions come from Google.

Rita Platt (@ritaplatt) is a Nationally Board Certified teacher. Her experience includes teaching learners of all levels from kindergarten to graduate student. She currently is a Library Media Specialist for the St. Croix Falls SD in Wisconsin, teaches graduate courses for the Professional Development Institute, and consults with local school districts.

John Wolfe is a teacher on special assignment for the Multilingual Department at the Minneapolis Public School District. He has worked with students at all levels as well as provided professional development to fellow teachers. His areas of expertise include English Language Learners, literacy, and integrated technology.