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Goal Setting to Increase Student Academic Performance

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Goal Setting to Increase Student Academic Performance

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Goal-setting Practices that Support a Learning Culture

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Goal-setting Practices that Support a Learning Culture

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Goal-setting practices that support a learning culture - kappanonline.org

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Having students set their own goals and monitor their progress is most effective when teachers are able to create a culture, rather than following prescriptive steps.

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Gathering Evidence: Making Student Learning Visible

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Gathering Evidence: Making Student Learning Visible

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27 Easy Formative Assessment Strategies for Gathering Evidence of Student Learning

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27 Easy Formative Assessment Strategies for Gathering Evidence of Student Learning

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A few years ago, I came across "10 assessments you can perform in 90 seconds" by TeachThought and really enjoyed the formative assessment strategies they outlined. Using formative assessment strategies in class during instruction-or "simple assessments," as they call them-is easy and provides the instant feedback teachers need to identify which learners need more help and adjust their instruction and lesson plans accordingly. Visit the blog above to get more detail on the following techniques:

1. New Clothes

2. Dos and Don'ts

3. Three Common Misunderstandings

4. Yes/No Chart

5. Three Questions

6. Explain What Matters

7. Big Picture

8. Venn Diagram

9. Draw It

10. Self-Directed Response

Combining these 10 with 10 others we've blogged about in the past gives teachers 20 great formative assessment strategies for checking on student learning. Be sure to click through to learn more about these formative assessment strategies.

Want more? Here are seven more strategies you can use to elicit evidence of student learning.

1. Entrance Tickets. We've blogged about and explained the Exit Ticket, so why not have an Entrance Ticket? Here, the teacher asks a question at the start of a lesson, and students write their responses on index cards or strips of paper. Answers are used to assess initial understanding of something to be discussed in that day's lesson or as a short summary of understanding of the previous day's lesson. The teacher designs the lesson around the fact that information on student learning will be coming in at the start of the lesson and can be used to improve the teaching and learning in that lesson. Be sure to write the question so it is easily interpreted and analyzed, allows time for you and/or the students to analyze the responses, and leaves space for you to adjust the lesson, if needed.

2. Keep the Question Going. With this formative assessment strategy, you'll ask one student a question and then ask another student if that answer seems reasonable or correct. Then, ask a third student for an explanation of why there is an agreement or not. This helps keep all the students engaged because they must be prepared to either agree or disagree with the answers given and provide explanations.

3. 30-Second Share. With this strategy, students take a turn to report something learned in a lesson for up to 30 seconds each. Connections to the learning targets or success criteria are what you'll be looking for in the language used by the student. Make this a routine at the end of a lesson so all students have the opportunity to participate, share insights, and clarify what was learned.

4. Parking Lot. This is an underused strategy for students and one that can surface questions before learning, as well as during and after. This tool also offers an anonymous place for questions that may be directly related to the content or tangential to the current topic and provide insight into student thinking. Simply save a spot on your whiteboard to write down ideas or questions that aren't completely relevant in the moment but should be revisited later.

5. One-Minute Paper. This might be considered a type of exit ticket as it is typically done near the end of the day. Ask your students, either individually or with a partner, to respond in writing to a single prompt. Typical prompts include:

Most important learning from the day and why

Most surprising concept and why

Most confusing topic and why

Something I think might appear on a test or quiz and why

3-2-1. At the end of the learning, this strategy provides students a way to summarize or even question what they just learned. Three prompts are provided for students to respond to:

3 things you didn't know before

2 things that surprised you about the topic

1 thing you want to start doing with what you've learned

Assessment Reflection. This strategy is a post-assessment reflection completed individually first and then shared in a small group. After an assessment, the teacher provides a list of questions so learners can reflect on their assessment experience. During group discussion, ideas are collected as new information to support students to better prepare for and engage in future assessments. Consider the following or similar questions. You might also use strategies such as Plus, Minus, Interesting, or Plus/Delta.

How engaged were you with this assessment? Why?

What did you feel most confident about? Why?

What did you do that led to your success or confidence?

What was the most difficult part of this assessment? Why?

What would you do differently next time?

What was the most confusing? Why?

What do you know about the topic that the assessment didn't allow you to show?

Dig in

All 27 of these formative assessment strategies are simple to administer and free or inexpensive to use. They'll provide you with the evidence of student learning you need to make lesson plan adjustments and keep learning on target and moving forward. They'll also give your students valuable information so they can adjust their learning tactics and know where to focus their energies.

If you're not quite sure where to get started, the following discussion questions can help.

Questions for teachers

How do you use formative assessment data to inform instructional decisions?

How can formative assessment strategies foster a learning environment of collaboration and engagement?

How do formative assessment strategies elicit evidence of student learning?

What is one strategy you could try tomorrow and why?

How do you use formative assessment data to drive school-wide instructional academic decisions?

How can you model formative assessment strategies in staff meetings, PLCs, and meetings with teachers?

What are three formative assessment strategies you could bring to your teachers and staff? Why do you feel these would be most effective at your school?

To learn more, visit the Formative Assessment Archive for Teach. Learn. Grow., and get more formative assessment tips and tricks in our e-book "Making it work: How formative assessment can supercharge your practice."

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27 Easy Formative Assessment Strategies for Gathering Evidence of Student Learning

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All 27 of these formative assessment strategies are simple to administer and free or inexpensive to use. They provide the teacher with the evidence of student learning needed to make lesson plan adjustments and keep learning on target and moving forward.

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Video: Empowering Students to Own the Assessment Process

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Video: Empowering Students to Own the Assessment Process

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Empowering Students to Own the Assessment Process

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Grading and Reporting for Educational Equity

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Grading and Reporting for Educational Equity

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Grading and Reporting for Educational Equity | Great Schools Partnership

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Download this tool as a printer-friendly PDF The purpose of a grading system is to give feedback to students so they can take charge of their learning and to provide information to all who support these students-teachers, special educators, parents, and others. The purpose of a reporting system is to communicate the students' achievement to ...

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In this Padlet, you will find multiple resources and information relating to specific topics within classroom assessment.
As you use and read each resource, you may provide comments or rate the resource provided.

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Social & Emotional Learning (SEL)

When middle and high school students set short- and long-term goals, they can see a path to the success they hope for.

"If we did all the things we are capable of, we would literally astound ourselves."
-Thomas Edison

I learned that quote from Wendy Beth Rosen's Self-Smart. Taking it seriously, Wendy suggests some areas where students'-and adults'-self-assessments can lead to greater accomplishments and personal satisfaction. Many distractions and challenges in our lives threaten to throw us off our path, or keep us from knowing what our path is. Setting explicit goals for success and tracking our progress toward them is a way to increase our chances of finding the success we hope for.

I'd like to share a method of goal-tracking that can be used by students and educators in ongoing ways, as well as at specific points when they're experiencing uncertainty or setbacks. These also have value for promoting positive mental health in school.

Setting and Tracking Goals

1. Academics

2. Social life

3. Sports and exercise

4. Healthy eating

5. Family and community

6. Hobbies and interests

7. Screen time

8. Long-term plans

Middle and high school are particularly important times for students to become consciously aware of and intentional about key choices: what they're putting into their bodies; how the way they are spending their time helps them reach their larger purposes; who they're spending their time with; and what they're doing to contribute to their families, schools, and communities.

At the beginning of the school year and at each marking period, students in middle and high school should record in a journal their goals in these eight areas:

In working with middle school students, for example, I have seen them set goals ranging from "eating better food at lunch" to "being a great guitar player" to "being an NBA star." In all cases, we want to help students be clear about their goals (in the first case, "to be a healthy person") and to set realistic short-term goals on the way to their long-term goal (for the guitar and basketball players, finding time for regular practice with feedback). For these students, and all students, goals provide anchors, especially valuable in high winds and rough seas.

All of the eight areas of life above matter, and academic success is related to all of them. Having a way to separate them, document progress, and create priorities is important. Students need help to be successful even when they have positive aspirations. A sure way to not succeed is trying to make progress in too many areas at once, so help students find one, two, or three areas to prioritize for a marking period. Revisit these priorities with them and see if follow-up goals need to be set in these areas or if new areas should be prioritized. Keeping to no more than three at a time is vital, because even if we might need to change in eight areas, we can't track that many. Slow and steady wins the race.

Tracking also helps ensure that a given area is not neglected. When we see that things might have been neglected, we can make some adjustments.

The main point of setting goals is to help students take realistic steps to achieve them. Many educators find that using the SMART format -goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely-is practical and reasonable, and keeps students on track.

When Can This Happen?

This kind of journaling is ideally suited to advisory or extended home room periods. Advisory periods are supposed to focus on the whole child, and the eight areas provide broad coverage. Journaling also fosters communication between advisory teachers and those who focus on these areas in schools, including subject area teachers, "specials" teachers (including health and physical education teachers), and staff running extracurricular activities. In addition, the advisory period can be used for pair and group problem-solving to help overcome obstacles students face as they pursue their goals.

One way to help students achieve their goals is to pair them up to help one another with goal-setting and monitoring. Students see each other in various school contexts and can be helpful outside of formal class time.

Having communal, whole-class conversations about goal-setting creates a new mindset in students and fosters cooperation and mutual improvement because students' goals are not solely their responsibility. We all get better when each of us gets better. So there is an expectation that goals set will be shared-perhaps with classmates and certainly with other teachers. (This expectation of sharing should ensure that personal goals related to family issues stay out of these conversations, as they require more professional and confidential follow-up.)

A helpful way to introduce the journaling is to ask students to reflect on the opening quote from Edison, taking a position as to whether they agree, disagree, or are not sure about it, and why. Have students share their rationales in small groups and then share out with the larger class. Ensuring that students understand they have more potential than most of them realize is a critical preliminary step to making goal journaling an authentic activity for them.

The Same Goals Are Useful for Adults

This activity is also relevant for adults. Educators have a lot on their plates, and having a way to make sure that one's learning, family, health habits, interests, and long-term plans are front of mind (even if not always front of action) keeps us grounded.

Devoting regular time in professional learning communities and faculty meetings to discussing goal-achieving strategies can provide a power morale boost in schools. In particular, discussing long-term plans can stimulate broad faculty collaboration to shape the school. And sharing with students that you're doing the same thing you ask them to do makes it more likely that they'll value the activity.

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When middle and high school students set short- and long-term goals, they can see a path to the success they hope for.

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You are here:

Schools have more evidence about what students know and can do than ever before - achievement data, attitudes, engagement, behaviours, and environmental factors that influence learning. The challenge is to use that evidence to enhance teaching and learning.

The topics in this section cover the fundamentals of gathering evidence (including the types of evidence available), and assessment strategies, tools, and processes.

It is essential that teachers have easy access to all relevant information about students so that they can use it to enhance teaching and learning. It may be necessary for school leaders to:

conduct a "stocktake" on the range of evidence available within the school

review the accessibility of that information

consider staff professional development on accessing that information.

Gathering evidence topics

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Schools have more evidence about what students know and can do than ever before - achievement data, attitudes, engagement, behaviours, and environmental factors that influence learning. The challenge is to use that evidence to enhance teaching and learning. The topics in this section cover the fundamentals of gathering evidence (including the types of evidence available), and assessment strategies, tools, and processes.

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Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.

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How Does Using Formative Assessment Empower Students in their Learning?

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How Does Using Formative Assessment Empower Students in their Learning?

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As teachers, we have benchmark goals for almost everything.
"Students should be reading on ___ level by the end of ___ grade," "Students should be reading ___ words per minute," ".... know __ letters/ sounds by __" ".... know addition and subtraction facts to 10, 20...."
These goals may be helpful to us as teachers, but do they mean anything to students?
The answer is often a resounding no.
If students aren't part of the goal-making process, they won't be as invested in their learning.

Students Work Harder Towards Goals They Set!

When students participate in setting their own goals for learning, they work harder to meet these goals. Here are some more benefits of student goal-setting:

1. They are excited to work towards meeting their goals. What better motivation than getting to choose which areas you want to improve on?

2. Sets a clear focus. It's much easier to focus on organizing one room in your home than say, planning a kitchen renovation, installing a pool, and landscaping all at once. Learning to read can be very overwhelming to students because it involves so many different aspects- decoding, comprehension, fluency, etc. Having students focus on specific goals makes this task a little easier to approach.

3. Increases confidence. Instead of having the same goals as everyone else and feeling defeated if they don't succeed, students can make individual goals they can meet.

4. They learn about themselves as learners. When I lesson-planned my first years of teaching, I spread out my books on the dining room table and tried to tackle all of it in one sitting. It was overwhelming and I'd waste hours with very little headway. After reflecting, I realized I work better in a room away from distractions (and food), planning one subject at a time, and with deadlines. Some people work better when they set a reward for themselves. Setting goals can help students learn which habits will make them successful.

5. You can hold them accountable. If a student isn't working hard, you can remind them of the goal they set for themselves and ask them if what they're doing will help them to achieve it.

6. They learn life skills! Goal-setting, planning, reflecting, and problem-solving are all parts of everyday life and learning to do these effectively will benefit students throughout their whole lives.

Students CAN set their own goals

It may seem daunting to think of kindergartners and first graders setting their own goals (I can already hear 5-year olds saying they will read 10 chapter books in a day!), but it is possible with some guidance! Read my post on Goal-Trackers to see how easy it can be!
3 Important ideas for Goal-Setting
Lucy Calkins makes a great analogy in her Launching the Reading Workshop unit, in which she likens reading to running. She explains that a person doesn't just wake up one day and run a full marathon without preparation. A runner makes an end goal and plans out the steps to get there, often setting smaller, realistic goals. Maybe they start by running 1 mile on the first day, 2 miles the next day, timing themselves and reflecting on what helped or hindered them. They might discover a certain pair of shoes helps them run more comfortably, running on a certain terrain helps build their stamina, etc.
I can relate to this. I tried to run a 5k without the proper preparation. I came in dead last.
Thankfully, my friend -and hero- Krista stayed with me for motivation and to lessen my humiliation.

Just like a runner works toward their goal of completing a marathon in steps, making revisions along the way, students can also plan the steps they will take towards reaching their goals. It's important to talk these through, so that children don't get discouraged if they don't meet their goals right away.

I always like to use the house organization analogy because it is real for me and I'm able to speak about it authentically (I am so not a runner!). To help them relate, I also use a video game analogy. They wouldn't expect to beat all levels of a video game the first time they play it! They also wouldn't give up right away, so I remind them that if they don't have success the first time, they just need to think about what they could do better next time!

Here are some ideas on helping your students set their own goals:

Goal-setting looks different depending on grade level and subject area. Here are some ideas:

Formal goal-setting sheet: Students can write out a goal, as well as steps they'll take to get there. This can be further broken down to include goal dates for each step.

Post-its on Anchor chart: Create an anchor chart for a subject area- reading, for example: Discuss possible areas of improvements and ask students which area they can focus on. Students can write their goals on a post-it note and add to chart (you can also write them for emergent writers). Revisit this chart to check in with students on their progress. You may want to give them a little slip to keep on their desk as a reminder. Use this chart to group students by goals and have them collaborate on ideas to meet their goals.

Goal slips: I use these goal slips from my Sight Word program to help students set their own goals for learning sight words. They choose how many words they will master by a certain date. We brainstorm some ideas of how they can get there: study their word rings at home for 5 minutes a day, work with a partner during center time to test them on their word list, read their personal word walls 3 times a week, etc.

I also use these Sight Word Sticker Cards to help kids keep track of their progress with sight words. Students color in or place a small sticker in the boxes as they master each word.

What Can Students Set Goals for?

Pretty much anything! Here are some ideas:

Number of sight words/ letters/ sounds to master

How much time they need to read a passage accurately

Any aspect of writing- including more details, making sure to use proper punctuation, adding feeling...

Reading more books in a new genre

Giving a book a chance before abandoning

Doing their homework every night

Even daily routines, like unpacking and ordering lunch daily without needing a reminder!

As you can see, you can have students set all kinds of goals! Start with one area you want to see student improvement in and work on that first. Don't try to have students set goals for every area right away! For a resource on helping your students set and keep track of their goals, read about my Goal-Trackers here.
After all, small steps are part of goal-setting!
I'd love to know what you think of these ideas. Are there any you can implement in your classroom? What else would you add? Comment below and let me know!

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As teachers, we have benchmark goals for almost everything. "Students should be reading on ___ level by the end of ___ grade," "Students should be reading ___ words per minute," ".... know __ letters/ sounds by __" ".... know addition and subtraction facts to 10, 20...."