Copyright © 2012 Assessment and Accountability Comprehensive Center & North Central Comprehensive Center at McRel

Background on Learning Goals and Success Criteria

Copyright © 2012 Assessment and Accountability Comprehensive Center & North Central Comprehensive Center at McRel What are Learning Goals? Slide 1 Learning goals reflect the learning teachers expect students to achieve in an instructional sequence (e.g., one lesson).

Copyright © 2012 Assessment and Accountability Comprehensive Center & North Central Comprehensive Center at McRel What Experts Say About Learning Goals Specific learning goals focus students’ attention and feedback that is directed to them. The goals and associated feedback include information about the criteria for success in attaining them. (Hattie & Timperley, 2007) Slide 2

Copyright © 2012 Assessment and Accountability Comprehensive Center & North Central Comprehensive Center at McRel Content Area Learning Goal Goal Statements in Language Understandable to Students Art Understand that visual and tactile qualities of materials can be matched to design intentions “At the end of this lesson, you will understand how you can choose materials by their look and feel to create the design you want.” Physical Education Understand the health benefits of physical activity (e.g., good health, physical endurance) “Today, we’re going to explore reasons why being active is good for you.” Career and Technical Education Understand that business decisions can be made by using information systems to select, manipulate and process data in meaningful ways “Using the information from spreadsheets, graphing programs and other computer applications can provide data to help businesses make decisions.” Spanish Understand and use the cultural norms for greetings and departures, based on time of day, people involved, and formality of the context “Yesterday, we learned about how to greet people in Spanish, based on the time of day, people involved and where you meet them. Today, we’ll learn how to say goodbye, again based on the time of day, people involved and where you are located.” Learning Goals: Examples Slide 3

Copyright © 2012 Assessment and Accountability Comprehensive Center & North Central Comprehensive Center at McRel What Experts Say About Learning Goals Specific learning goals focus students’ attention and feedback that is directed to them. The goals and associated feedback include information about the criteria for success in attaining them. (Hattie & Timperley, 2007) Slide 4

Copyright © 2012 Assessment and Accountability Comprehensive Center & North Central Comprehensive Center at McRel What Experts Say About Success Criteria Success criteria allow students to compare the actual (or current) level of performance with the standard or learning goal. (Sadler, 1989) Slide 5

Copyright © 2012 Assessment and Accountability Comprehensive Center & North Central Comprehensive Center at McRel Content Area Learning GoalSuccess Criteria Art Understand that visual and tactile qualities of materials can be matched to design intentions Explain your choice of materials Describe how the qualities of the materials helped you create your design Physical Education Understand the health benefits of physical activity (e.g., good health, physical endurance) Explain the health benefits a typical student your age would gain from regular participation in a physical activity of your choice; include the duration (number of times each week, number of minutes needed each day) and different types of activity (drills, skill development, endurance, strength) needed for health benefits, as well as the health benefits (weight loss, muscle tone, etc.) that would be realized Career and Technical Education Understand that business decisions can be made by using information systems to select, manipulate and process data in meaningful ways Analyze a spreadsheet and summarize the findings Use the information to answer questions and make business decisions Spanish Understand and use the cultural norms for greetings and departures, based on time of day, people involved, and formality of the context Greet people, using culturally appropriate norms, based on the time of day, the number of people, and the formality of the context Take leave of people, using culturally appropriate norms, based on time of day, the number of people, and the formality of the context Slide 6 Success Criteria: Examples

Copyright © 2012 Assessment and Accountability Comprehensive Center & North Central Comprehensive Center at McRel Importance of Learning Goals and Success Criteria: Teacher Focus on learning (not activity) Increase teacher understanding of what is to be learned Focus on learning rather than on “covering” the curriculum Help teachers to determine where students are in their learning Slide 7

Copyright © 2012 Assessment and Accountability Comprehensive Center & North Central Comprehensive Center at McRel Slide 8 Importance of Learning Goals and Success Criteria: Students Increase focus on learning Support development of a learning culture Can improve quality of work Greater ownership of learning as responsibility shifts from teacher to student Opportunities for self- assessment

Copyright © 2012 Assessment and Accountability Comprehensive Center & North Central Comprehensive Center at McRel Complete one of the two graphic organizers (Handout or Handout 3.1.2) to reflect on your understanding of the terms “Learning Goal” and “Success Criteria.” Continue to add information and clarification to your graphic organizer throughout this module. Doing so will help you reflect on your deepened knowledge and understanding of the terms. Plan to share your graphic organizer throughout this module and learn from others. Consolidate Your Learning Slide 9 Copyright © 2012 Assessment and Accountability Comprehensive Center & North Central Comprehensive Center at McRel