Clear Learning Targets
How to deconstruct the standards!
Developed by Regional Teacher Partnerswith the PIMSER P-12 Math and ScienceOutreach
Research-based Strategies
5 Research-based strategies thatsignificantly improve student learning:
Sharing criteria (clear learning targetswith success criteria)
–Questioning
–Feedback
–Peer assessment
–Self-assessment
Students who can identify whatthey are learning significantlyoutscore those who cannot.Robert J. Marzano
Clear Learning Targets
•Individually, drawthe front of a penny.
•Include as manydetails as you canwithout looking atone.
•Do not compare witha partner untilinstructed.
What’s the Target?
Learning/Achievement Targets
Statements of whatwe want students tolearn and be able todo.
“Teachers who truly understandwhat they want their students toaccomplish will almost surely bemore instructionally successful thanteachers whose understanding ofhoped-for student accomplishmentsare murky.”-W. James Popham
How do Learning Targetsconnect to our assessmentpractices?
PURPOSE
TARGET
ACCURACY
EFFECTIVE USE
STUDENT
INVOLVEMENT
DESIGN
EFFECTIVE
COMMUNICATION
The Challenge….
How can we useassessments to help thestudent believe that thetarget is within reach?
CLEAR TARGETS
Assess what?
What are the learning targets?
Are they clear?
Are they good?
Are the student learning targets stated and easy to find?Are the student learning targets focused—are there toomany?Are they clear?Are they appropriate?Do the stated learning targets reflect a bigger plan to coverall important learning targets over time?
Educators & Studentsmust be able to answer……
•Where am I going?
•Where am I now?
•How can I close the gap?
•How will I know I’m getting there?
•How can I keep it going?
Is this a Target?
What do you think?
•Complete a senior project
•Build a bird Feeder
•Use a band saw safely
•Analyze a lab report
•Construct a diorama
A Mathematics Example
•Math
•Decimals
•Page 152 in the book
•Going on a decimal hunt
•Read decimals and put them in order
Subject
Topic
Assignment
Activity
LearningTarget
The single most common barrier tosound classroom assessment is theteachers’ lack of vision ofappropriate achievement targetswithin the subjects they aresupposed to teach.Rick Stiggins
Learning Targets
•Knowledge
•Reasoning
•Performance/skills
•Products
Knowledge Targets
Mastery of substantivesubject content wheremastery includes bothknowing andunderstanding it.
Knowledge Examples
•Identify metaphors and similes
•Read and write quadratic equations
•Describe the function of a cellmembrane
•Know the multiplication tables
•Explain the effects of an acid on abase
Reasoning Targets
The ability to useknowledge andunderstanding tofigure things outand to solveproblems.
Reasoning Examples
•Use statistical methods to describe,analyze, evaluate, and make decisions.
•Make a prediction based on evidence.
•Examine data/results and propose ameaningful interpretation.
•Distinguish between historical fact andopinion.
Performance/Skill Targets
The development ofproficiency in doingsomething wherethe process is mostimportant.
Performance/Skill Examples
•Measure mass in metric and SI units
•Use simple equipment and tools to gatherdata
•Read aloud with fluency and expression
•Participates in civic discussions with theaim of solving current problems
•Dribbles to keep the ball away from anopponent
Product Targets
The ability to createtangible productsthat meet certainstandards of qualityand presentconcrete evidenceof academicproficiency.
Product Examples
•Construct a bar graph
•Develop a personal health-related fitnessplan
•Construct a physical model of an object
•Write a term paper to support a thesis
Clear Targets
Clear targets help us:
•Recognize if the formative assessmentadequately covers and samples what wetaught.
•Correctly identify what students know/don’tknow, and their level of achievement.
•Plan the next steps in instruction.
•Give meaningful descriptive feedback tostudents.
Clear Targets (continued)
•Have students self-assess or set goalslikely to help them learn more.
•Keep track of student learning target bytarget or standard by standard.
•Complete a standards-based report card.
Classifying Learning Targets
•Lay out the four learning target category cards—Knowledge, Reasoning, Performance/Skill, andProduct—in a row in that order.
•Sort the learning target example cards accordingto which kind of learning target it is. Lay thesecards in columns under the appropriatecategory.
•When you have finished, walk around and lookat what other groups have done.
Classifying Learning Targets
•What were some considerations for howyou classified the samples you had?
•Is it always clear how to classify astatement from the standards? Why orwhy not?
QUESTION
What is the difference between a
STANDARD
and a
TARGET?
An Example
•STANDARD: An excellent golf swing
•TARGETS:
–Proper placement for feet (stance)
–Proper grip while maintaining stance
–Swing A, B, C (3-parts to swing)
•ACTIVITIES:
–Watch videos of great golfers and imitate theirstance
When should these be
added and/ordeveloped?
“By setting out clearly in their own mindswhat they wanted the students to learn,the teachers would be in a position to findout what the ‘gap’ was between the stateof students’ current learning and thelearning goal and to be able to monitorthat ‘gap’ as it closed.”
--Assessment for Learning: Putting it into Practice
Deconstructing Standards
Are the Standards Clear?
•Can your content standards stand alone and beused as learning targets or do they need to bedeconstructed or ‘unpacked’?
•Deconstruction involves taking a standard andbreaking it down into manageable learningtargets—Knowledge, Reasoning,Performance/skills, and/or Products—so thatstudents and teachers can accurately identifywhat students should know and be able to do.
Standard/Benchmark:
Produce writing to communicate with different audiences for a variety of
purposes.
Type: KnowledgeReasoningSkillProduct
Learning Targets:
What are the knowledge, reasoning, skill, or product targets underpinning the standard?
Knowledge
Targets
Skill
Targets
Reasoning
Targets
Product
Targets
Know what a
sentence is
Understand concept
of word choice
Distinguish the uses or
meanings of a
variety of words
(word choice)
Hold a pencil correctly
Print letters correctly
according to DN methods
Space words
Use lines and margins
correctly
Stretch out sounds in words
to create a temporary
spelling of the word
Write sentences
with varied
beginnings.
FIRST GRADE
Creating Targets for “Driving aCar with Skill”
What knowledge will students need to demonstrate theintended learning?
What patterns of reasoning will they need to master?
What skills are required, if any?
What product development capabilities must theyacquire, if any?
Driving a Car with Skill
Knowledge
Know the law
Read signs and understand what they mean
Reasoning
Evaluate ‘am I safe’ and synthesize information totake action if needed
Skills
Steering, shifting, parallel parking, …
Products
(not appropriate target for standard)
Practicing DeconstructingStandards
•Find a partner
•Look at the STRONG example
–How would this help teachers?
–How would this impact student learning?
•Look the WEAK example
–Would this be beneficial to teachers?
•In order to deconstruct effectively, whatskills/knowledge are needed?
Let’s Do a Think Aloud
•Examine the standards given.
•Think about what knowledge, skills, reasoning,or products students will need in order to meetthat standard.
•Start with the skills column, then move tounderstanding, and lastly to core content.
•Do not think of how you will teach the standardor how you will assess it, ONLY about whatstudents will need to know and be able to do.
•Let’s do this together!
Working within a group of 3
•Using the standards you have been given,deconstruct into K, R, S, and P targets.
•Refer back to your verb sheet to help youcategorize and the strong model as anexample.
•When finished, join another trio andcompare your work.
Group Debrief
D
How did the processfeel?
What is the value ofgoing through thisprocess?
What support materialsare needed to facilitate theprocess?
Without Clear Targets We Can’t DoAny of the Following…
•Know if the assessment adequately covers andsamples what we taught.
•Correctly identify what students know and don’tknow and their level of achievement.
•Plan next steps in instruction.
•Give detailed, descriptive feedback to students.
•Have students self-assess or set goals likely to helpthem learn more.
•Keep track of student learning target by target orstandard by standard.
•Complete a standards-based report card.