Essentialist programs are academically rigorous, for both slow and fast learners. The report A Nation at Risk reflects the essentialist emphasis on rigor. It calls for more core requirements, a longer school day, a longer academic year, and more challenging textbooks. Moreover, essentialists maintain that classrooms should be oriented around the teacher, who ideally serves as an intellectual and moral role model for the students. The teachers or administrators decide what is most important for the students to learn and place little emphasis on student interests, particularly when they divert time and attention from the academic curriculum.
Essentialist teachers focus heavily on achievement test scores as a means of evaluating progress.
Reflecting the essentialist emphasis on technological literacy , A Nation at Risk recommends that all high school students complete at least one semester of computer science. Essentialists hope that when students leave school, they will possess not only basic skills and an extensive body of knowledge, but also disciplined, practical minds, capable of applying schoolhouse lessons in the real world.