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Criteria for Designing and Reviewing a Programme of Inquiry

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Criteria for Designing and Reviewing a Programme of Inquiry

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Criteria for Designing and Reviewing a Programme of Inquiry

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NSTA - National Science Teaching Association

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The Topics are in tables by Grade Band, and then further broken down into columns of Life Science, Earth & Space Science, and Physical Science. The Engineering Design topic is located at the end of the respective grade band.

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UNESCO: International Technical Guidance on Sexuality Education

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UNESCO: International Technical Guidance on Sexuality Education

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What are the National Arts Standards? A process that guides educators in providing a unified quality arts education for students in Pre-K through high school Read More

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Shape - National Physical Education Standards

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Shape - National Physical Education Standards

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POI Data - Concepts, ATLs, Learner Profile

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POI Data - Concepts, ATLs, Learner Profile

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ES Writing Units and POI Connections SY24-25

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Inside the Classroom: Reflection and Goal Setting with Personalized Learning at Ross Elementary

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Teach: Student Goal Setting and Reflection

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Teach: Student Goal Setting and Reflection

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Teach: Student Goal-Setting and Reflection

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Goal-setting and reflection - a process that builds expertise in learning and teaching (UDL)

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Goal-setting and reflection - a process that builds expertise in learning and teaching (UDL)

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My students and I discuss goals a lot. We talk about what they need to learn and why they need to learn it. We break goals down into steps and talk about how to monitor progress along the way. We have discussions about goals as a whole class, in small groups, and I also meet with individuals as students may be taking different pathways toward meeting the same goal. Over time, through a gradual release approach, students take on a more active role in setting and managing their goals. Goal setting isn't only important for my students to help them become expert learners; it is also an essential part of the process of improving my practice. In addition to managing the learning goals of every student in my classroom and facilitating a learning environment that equips every student to meet them, I continually set goals for myself as I embark on the journey of implementing UDL.

I have found it helpful to set manageable goals, reflect on progress, and adjust along the way as needed. I select one or two goals early in the school year and document them in my Professional Growth Plan (PGP). When selecting goals, I consider the CAST UDL Guidelines and the areas in which I can adjust my practice to implement UDL more fully. Depending on the requirements of your organization's PGP, documenting goals can make one consider how UDL implementation aligns with school or district improvement plans, what resources are needed, and the observable criteria to determine whether or not goals have been met. When a goal has been met, it could be replaced by a different goal, or one could choose to develop the goal more fully and set new criteria to increase proficiency within a given area.

As teachers learn to set goals, create and follow a plan to meet goals, and reflect on progress along the way, we can also intentionally design lessons that model and teach these skills to our students, and in doing so we are implementing practices that are based in the UDL Guidelines. Following is an example of how a single checkpoint in the UDL Guidelines (8.1 - Heighten salience of goals and objectives) can be used to guide the implementation of UDL in an elementary school classroom:
Sample goal and action plan - phase 1
Goal: Increase student awareness of curriculum outcomes by heightening the salience of goals and objectives throughout instruction (CAST UDL Guidelines - checkpoint 8.1)

Action plan:

Display learning goals in student-friendly language and refer to them often

Discuss goals with students in whole class, small group, and individual contexts and document student progress

Offer opportunities for students to reflect on progress toward meeting goals

Resources needed:

Time to collaborate with grade level team to develop bank of goals written in student-friendly language in all subject areas

Area in classroom to display learning goals in student-friendly language

Template for conferring notes to document student progress

Evidence of achievement:

Learning goals in student-friendly language are visible in the classroom

Students can locate and explain posted goals

Students can discuss personal goals and reflect on their progress

Conferring notes reflect discussions with students about progress and next steps

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Reflecting on progress toward meeting a goal is an ongoing process. Upon having met this goal, new goals could be added to continue to develop this checkpoint if desired. In addition to continuing the practice of displaying learning goals in the classroom in student-friendly language, one could further engage students by having them state the goals aloud at the beginning of the lesson. This can be executed in different ways. In my elementary classroom it is a class job and students take turns to be the "goal reader" each day. One could further heighten the salience of goals and objectives throughout a lesson by having goals visible on activities and assessments. We can also intentionally create opportunities for students to reflect on their progress toward meeting goals (with questions designed to encourage student reflection for guided discussions, interviews, and exit slips). Following is an example of a possible next phase of implementing this checkpoint:
Sample goal and action plan - phase 2
Goal: Continue to increase student awareness of curriculum outcomes by heightening the salience of goals and objectives throughout instruction (CAST UDL Guidelines - checkpoint 8.1)

Action plan:

Display learning goals in student-friendly language and have students refer to it often

Display learning goals in student-friendly language on activities and assessments

Offer opportunities for students to reflect on progress toward meeting goals through the use of guiding questions/prompts (i.e. pair and share, exit slips, interviews)

Resources needed:

Area in classroom to display learning goals in student-friendly language

Time to edit documents (activities, assessments) to include learning goals

Time to collaborate with colleagues to create a bank of questions/prompts that guide student reflection toward meeting goals in a variety of contexts

Evidence of achievement:

Learning goals in student-friendly language are visible in the classroom. Students can locate and read the goal at the beginning of a lesson

Learning goals are visible on activities and assessments

Students discuss progress toward meeting goals with teacher and peers, and record written reflections on exit slips

Guiding questions/ prompts are in use

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One could continue to dive deeper into this checkpoint. Other practices that can heighten the salience of goals and objectives throughout instruction may include but are not limited to, teaching students to formulate goals, how to break down larger goals into smaller goals, involving students in co-constructing criteria for assignments, presenting rubrics to students before completing work so they are made aware of the expectations in advance, or involving students in the creation of rubrics. One could opt to tackle this checkpoint in its entirety or move onto another area of interest and return to this one when ready to develop it more fully. It really depends on the interests of each educator and their desired approach to implementing UDL.

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Goal-setting and reflection - a process that builds expertise in learning and teaching

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My students and I discuss goals a lot. We talk about what they need to learn and why they need to learn it. We break goals down into steps and talk about how to monitor progress along the way. We...

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5 Ways to Create Goal Directed Expert Learners in your Classroom Today (Podcast)

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5 Ways to Create Goal Directed Expert Learners in your Classroom Today (Podcast)

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5 Ways to Create Goal-Directed Expert Learners in your Classroom Today

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Use these tips to take your classroom to a place where students are goal-oriented, strategic, expert learners. How teachers can create expert learners.

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Goal Setting Videos for Elementary Students in 2022

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Check out these engaging and informative goal setting videos for elementary students! They are great for 1st-5th grade kids!

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As a teacher, you regularly think about goal setting for students. From improving skills and meeting standards to being kind and putting the darn caps back on the glue sticks, there's always something to strive towards. Have you tapped into the power of setting goals with students, though? Research spanning decades shows that setting students goals improves both motivation and achievement. Goal setting encourages a growth mindset. It also supports the development of skills students need to be prepared for their future careers.

There's no shortage of teachers doing innovative work around goal setting for students. We've compiled some of our favorite resources into this handy guide for you.

What is a goal, anyways?

For younger students, you may need to start by distinguishing between a goal and a wish. I wish for a giant bowl of ice cream every evening around 8 PM, but my goal this year is to stay hydrated by drinking 100 ounces of water each day. Sigh. A read aloud like Froggy Rides a Bike by Jonathan London can help make this distinction clear. Froggy wishes he could own a cool trick bicycle, but his goal is to learn to ride a bike-which it turns out he's able to achieve with persistence and despite a few classic "more red in the face than green" moments.

For all students, it's helpful to share books that portray goal setting. In early elementary grades, Peter's effort in Whistle for Willie by Ezra Jack Keats is a classic example of persistently working towards a specific goal. Squirrel's New Year's Resolution by Pat Miller presents a nice variety of goals, from learning to read to helping someone each day. However, upper elementary and middle school, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, Young Reader's Edition by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer chronicles William's work to relieve his village from drought. It includes the sub-goals he works towards along the way, such as researching viable solutions and figuring out how to build a windmill.

A great picture book option for older students is Sixteen Years in Sixteen Seconds: The Sammy Lee Story by Paula Yoo. This title is a biography of a diver who set and reached many goals, both physical and academic, along the way to becoming an Olympian.

Be SMART about it

Helping students hone their goal setting skills makes it more likely they will meet them. SMART goals have been a popular tool for years and many teachers have successfully implemented versions of this practice with their students. Consider these tactics:

Unpack the goal-setting process with students

SOURCE: Scholastic Top Teaching Blog

This lesson plan from Scholastic includes a free downloadable poster and graphic organizer. We love the brainstorm activity and interactive whiteboard sort for distinguishing specific and vague goals. These could easily be adapted for younger students based on the examples you choose.

You can also check out our free goal-setting printable here.

Start small

SOURCE: 3rd Grade Thoughts

This blog post from 3rd Grade Thoughts includes a simple-but-powerful anchor chart and a straightforward system for students to publicly identify short-term goals. Students in this classroom work on " WOW goals " to be completed "Within One Week."

Encourage nonacademic goals, too

In this lesson plan about character-based goals, students work with partners to discuss goals related to specific virtues such as respect, enthusiasm, and patience. They make specific plans to upgrade their behavior and evaluate their own progress.

Don't stop now: keep track and reflect

Raise your hand if you sometimes add items to your to-do list just for the satisfaction of crossing them off. Progress monitoring systems are motivating, and they are a crucial component of goal-setting work. Consider:

Visual tracking systems

SOURCE: The Brown Bag Teacher

This post from The Brown Bag Teacher describes a star chart for keeping track of filled-out reading logs. This system displays progress in a concrete way and could easily be adapted to other goals.

Goal-setting apps

There's an app for that! This roundup of goal setting and tracking apps from Emerging Ed Tech gives you plenty of options for taking that to do list up a notch.

Sharing assessment data with students

This video from EL Education demonstrates how teachers can make the assessment data you're collecting anyways more meaningful to students. This teacher discusses DRA data with students to help them reflect upon their progress and establish updated goals.

It's time to celebrate!

Who doesn't love a chance to be recognized for an achievement? Acknowledging students' attainment of goals is an important component of classroom goal setting. Consider these ideas:

Make celebration a habit

Nurture a "hooray" classroom culture by adopting the perspective of teacher Kevin Parr, who noticed an uptick in student motivation when he simply made a daily effort to provide more nonverbal and verbal recognition.

Recognize students in writing and in public

Send students "Happy Mail", as described by Responsive Classroom. Use written awards or notes to give individualized and authentic positive feedback and publicly share them for added recognition.

Introduce fun classroom traditions

If your school allows balloons, we love Dr. Michele Borba's suggestion to put small rewards-or reward "coupons"-inside balloons and write a goal on the outside of each one. Make a big deal out of popping a balloon when a goal is met.
How do you go about goal setting for students in your classroom? Come and share in our WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group on Facebook. Plus, check out this goal-setting bulletin board kit.

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How to Do Goal Setting With Your Students This School Year

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As a teacher, you regularly think about goal setting for students. From improving skills and meeting standards to being kind and putting the darn caps back on the glue sticks, there's always something to strive towards. Have you tapped into the power of setting goals with students, though?

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& Fun Goal Setting Activities for Children

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& Fun Goal Setting Activities for Children

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7 Fun Goal-Setting Activities for Children

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Research shows that children learn best when they’re playing and enjoying themselves at the same time. Fun experiences increase levels of endorphins, dopamine, and oxygen, all of which promote learning. Here are 7 fun goal-setting activities that can make it more enjoyable (and more effective) for your child.

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Consolidated Notes from POI Review May 4, 2025

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If you have any feedback from the POI Review and ES Goals - Self Directed Learning Sessions please add them below. Thanks!