Improving Clear Learning Goals

Making Learning Goals into Learning Targets that are

Standards Based

Group Norms• Start and end on time• Put cell phones off• Be respectful of all comments• Everyone participates

Our Job…To show you how to take Assessment for Learning and use it to sharpen our focus on what our students learn, how they learn it, and how they are assessed.

We will do this by…

1. Reviewing how we generate targets.2. Introducing you to ways of linking targets

to activities and summative assessments.

3. Sharing examples of formative and summative assessments that focus on learning targets.

4. Sharing examples of student opportunities to demonstrate target mastery that allows them to take ownership of their learning.

Why do you visit the doctor?

Classroom Assessment for Student Learning

• Assessment of Learning– Summative, documents individual or group achievement,

occurs after learning, sorts students into groups, primary motivator is threat of punishment or promise of rewards

• Assessment for Learning– Formative, promotes increase in achievement, occurs

during learning, help teachers diagnose and respond to student needs, primary motivator is the belief that success in learning is achievable.

» Classroom Assessment for Learning, p. 33

What do we want to assess?• Start with the end in mind.– What do we want students to know and do?– Sources :POS and CCD

• Turn those documents into manageable chunks of information– Take standard and break into the learning pieces that

when put together form the scaffolding for performance of the standard

– Knowledge, Skills, Reasonings, Products• These are the pieces that give your instruction

direction and you want to assess

How close can you get to the target?

Kinds of Learning Targets• Knowledge- the facts and concepts we

want students to know. • Reasoning- students use what they know to

reason and solve problems. • Skills-Students use their knowledge and

reasoning to act skillfully. • Products- Students use their knowledge,

reasoning, and skills to create a concrete product.

• Dispositions- Students’ attitudes about school and learning.

3.5

Student Friendly Learning Target Example

• Standard: SC-07-4.6.2 Students will: – describe the transfer and/or transformations of

energy which occur in examples that involve several different forms of energy (e.g., heat, electrical, light, motion of objects and chemical).

– Explain, qualitatively or quantitatively, that heat lost by hot object equals the heat gained by cold object.

Student Friendly Learning Target Example

1. I can give examples of energy.2. I can give examples of energy transfer. That means

when energy is moved from one object to another.3. I can give examples of energy transformations.

That means when energy is changed from one form to another form.

4. I can describe the exchange of energy between hot objects and cold objects.

3.2

3.1

Using Targets for Post-Assessment Development

• Matching the assessment method to the type of target.

• Determining adequate sampling size.• Assessment format considerations:

open response vs. multiple-choice, time constraints

• Quality of questions, information value of incorrect answers

Working Group Discussion• How do you determine the questions

that are on your assessments?• What is the benefit, if any, for

common summative assessments?Look through your materials and

discuss with your table.

How do I know my instruction is “good”?

• The students seem to enjoy the activities?• I think they understand it?• When I get back their unit test results?• When the state test scores arrive?• By the number of parent compliments or

complaints?• What my peers/administrator say about me?

Web quest Activity

Formative Assessments• Assessments conducted during learning to

promote, not merely judge or grade, student success

• Provide information to teacher and student on student performance.

• Supplies opportunities to make mid-course corrections to learning experiences.

Research on Feedback• Quality of feedback matters. Specifically

descriptive ,criterion-based feedback is better than numerical scoring or letter grades.

• Emphasis on the importance of learning leads to greater learning vs. looking good or being compared to others.

• Descriptive feedback that focuses on strengths and weaknesses is most effective

» Classroom Assessment for Learning, p. 40

Re-testing

• Students have received summative assessment results by target

• Identify targets needing improvement• Work on target practice in preparation for re-

testing• Re-test only over identified targets• Evaluate results, rinse, and repeat!

Summary of Targets and Assessments

• Learning targets form the backbone of instruction and assessment program

• LT allow for focused development of pre- and post-assessments

• LT give clear direction to selection and development of instructional activities

• LT provide students with clear learning goals and a format for organized feedback on their performance

Assessment• Formative – Tied to how student is doing on a particular

target– Use to identify growth areas and show how to

close the mastery gap– Generally not included in grading of target

mastery• Summative – Includes assessment items for all targets in a

unit– Diagnoses strengths and weaknesses of

student– Provides road map for attaining target mastery– Determines current performance on targets

Today’s Take Home Message• Learning targets inform students and teachers

specifically what the learning intention is• They can be used as a basis for instructional design

and assessment formulation• Formative and summative assessments should

provide feedback to all parties on how to improve understanding

• Students should be given multiple opportunities to develop and show mastery of learning targets