SMART Goal Setting Good morning. Today we will be taking an in-depth look at the Teacher Performance Evaluation System, or TPES for short. As you can see from the logo, it is based on the Stronge Evaluation System. This model is based on the extant research related to the qualities of effective teachers. Introduce Moodle: to reference pgs. 14-21 throughout presentation. Pg. 70-78 SLO forms

Dual Meaning of the SLO Acronym Building Administrators – School Learning Objectives Goals established by the building principal, but are focused at the school level. Teachers – Student Learning Objectives Academic growth or attainment goals for the entire classroom or a targeted population within a classroom/grade level Established by individual teachers or teams of teachers

Purposes of Student/School Learning Objectives Focus on student results Explicitly connect teaching and learning Improve instructional practices and teacher performance Serve as a tool for school improvement Briefly review the purposes of Student Learning Objectives with participants. The purposes of Student/School Learning Objectives are to: Focus on student results Explicitly connect teaching and learning Improve instructional practices and teacher performance Serve as a tool for school improvement

Things effective teachers do... plus one! Assess students to determine their instructional levels and clarify their academic needs. Set instructional goals for students. Design strategies and identify resources to address identified needs. Monitor and assess student progress throughout the school year and adjust instruction accordingly. Work cooperatively with colleagues to share professional expertise. Formalize this process so that the teacher’s effectiveness can be documented and acknowledged! This slide is to show that SLOs are not “one more thing.” Effective teachers are already doing most of these things. The SLO process just formalizes it.

Student/School Learning Objectives Definition Student/School Learning Objectives (SLO) are detailed, measurable goals for student academic outcomes to be achieved in a specific period of time (typically an academic year), informed by analysis of prior data, and developed collaboratively by educators and their evaluator.

Submit SLO for Approval SLO Process Review Student Data Identify Student Population Identify SLO Interval Identify Evidence Sources to Measure Growth Establish Goals for Student Growth Determine Strategies and Supports Determine and Write SLOs Step 1: Prepare the SLO Step 2: Submit SLO for Approval Step 3: Collect Evidence As you saw yesterday, these are the four major steps of developing student/school learning objectives. There are several decisions that must be made during the first step. This presentation and associated activities will focus on the actual writing of SLOs. Step 4: Review and Score

SLO process more than just the SMART Goal Let’s take a look at the “Selection and Approval” form. Refer to electronic version in moodle – Pgs. 14- 21

SLO Evidence Sources Evidence sources come in two distinct “buckets” Evidence sources for initially determining problems/areas of need (diagnostic/initial diagnostic data) Evidence sources for measuring achievement of student outcomes goals The first bucket will be larger and draw from a wider assortment of data.

What Makes SLOs SMART? Specific Measurable Attainable Results-based The SLO is focused on particular key areas of need. Measurable An appropriate instrument/evidence source is selected to assess the SLO. Attainable The SLO is within the teacher’s control; is realistic, but rigorous. Results-based The SLO focuses on relevant outcomes; progress can be monitored. Explain that SMART SLOs help teachers to write SLOs and administrators to evaluate them. The SMART acronym stands for: Specific Measureable Appropriate Realistic, but Rigorous Time-bound Specific: One content area or specific knowledge and/or skills in that content area. Needs of groups of learners. Measurable: An appropriate instrument or measure must be chosen to measure the achievement of the SGO. Depending on the nature of the pre-assessment, it could be a test, a rubric, a portfolio, etc. Attainable: Is it realistic? Is it within the teacher’s/principal’s control to affect change? Results-based: Can progress toward the goal be monitored? Time-bound: Is the SLO contained to a single school-year or course? It is very important to ensure that the amount of progress expected is realistic to the timeframe of the course and the actual amount of time that the instructor is with the student Time-bound The SLO is contained within a specified time period.

How SMART is this goal? Objective Statement: During the school year, all ninth grade physical education students will improve performance by 75% on each of the Fitness-Gram (pacer test, curl-ups, trunk lift, push ups and the sit and reach) subtests. A good objective statement is one that is… Specific Measurable Attainable Results-based Time-bound Based on Mason’s data and the objective statement, how SMART is his objective? Specific: Measureable: No—how can you measure “productive members?” How will he measure how they analyze their primary and secondary source documents? Attainable: No—we don’t have a clear idea of what he is trying to do Results-based: No—we don’t know how he will measure progress Time-bound: Yes—within current school year. An improved SLO might be: During this school year, 100% of my students will improve in analyzing primary and secondary source documents. Each student will increase his/her ability to analyze documents by one level on the district rating rubric. In this case, it is important to decide what to do with students who have hit the ceiling of the rubric at the beginning of the year. There are usually two options for this: a teacher can either chose to move students forward to the next year or level’s work (accelerate the curriculum) or use the same curriculum but at a higher cognitive level (going deeper). In this case, the teacher chose to accelerate the curriculum for these students—but ultimately it is up to the teacher to determine how he or she will continue to challenge the top tier of students. Does this goal create any confusion? If so, how might you adjust ?

Reviewing Physical Education Teacher Example Aspect of the Goal Statement Yes or No - Recommendations Specific Yes-the population of students and the areas of physical fitness are identified Measurable Yes-through pre and post-test data in each subtest of the Fitness-Gram growth can be measured Attainable ???-probably not, this seems like an unrealistic amount of growth to be made in one year’s time Results-based Yes-it is focused on student growth on the Fitness-Gram Time-bound Yes-identified the current school year as the time interval

Revised Teacher Goal Original: During the school year, all eighth grade physical education students will improve their performance by 75% on each of the Fitness-Gram subtests. REVISED: During the school year, all eighth grade physical education students will improve their performance by 20% on each of the Fitness-Gram subtests. (pacer, curl-ups, trunk lift, push ups and sit and reach)

Teacher example: Welding SMART goal Objective Statement: 85% of the student population “T” joint weld test using 7018, 1/8. The students will need to master the overhead fillet (4F) weld in order to have a better than average chance of passing the welding certification. A good objective statement is one that is… Specific Measurable Attainable Results-based Time-bound Based on Mason’s data and the objective statement, how SMART is his objective? Specific: Measureable: No—how can you measure “productive members?” How will he measure how they analyze their primary and secondary source documents? Attainable: No—we don’t have a clear idea of what he is trying to do Results-based: No—we don’t know how he will measure progress Time-bound: Yes—within current school year. An improved SLO might be: During this school year, 100% of my students will improve in analyzing primary and secondary source documents. Each student will increase his/her ability to analyze documents by one level on the district rating rubric. In this case, it is important to decide what to do with students who have hit the ceiling of the rubric at the beginning of the year. There are usually two options for this: a teacher can either chose to move students forward to the next year or level’s work (accelerate the curriculum) or use the same curriculum but at a higher cognitive level (going deeper). In this case, the teacher chose to accelerate the curriculum for these students—but ultimately it is up to the teacher to determine how he or she will continue to challenge the top tier of students. Does this goal create any confusion? If so, how might you adjust ?

Example SLO: Science In the current school year, all students will make measurable progress in science basic knowledge and inquiry application using a district-developed multiple choice and performance assessment. All students will score at least ½ of the score needed to make a 100% on the post-assessment (for example, a student scoring a 70% on the pre-assessment should score an 85% on the post-assessment). Additionally, students scoring an 80% or above on the pre-assessment will complete self-designed independent projects each quarter using the Application and Inquiry rubric from our district middle school. This is an interesting example of a SLO that meets the SMART criteria and is based on progress towards mastery. The formula seems intimidating at first, but is actually quite easy to use. Suppose a student got a 60. What would she need to get to 100? (40). Divide that in half. (20) Now add to the original 60. (80). That’s the score she needs to meet the SLO on the post-assessment. Now let’s try with a score of 30. How many more points are needed to get to 100? (70). Divide that in half. (35) Add to the original 30.” (65) That is the final score needed on the post-assessment for a student who scored a 30 on the preassessment. What are the advantages of a SLO like this? It really meets the needs of ALL students by having different growth expectations. You can also use an Excel spreadsheet to quickly determine how much students need to gain on their post-assessment without having to do a bunch of math. [(100 – Pre-assessment) x 0.5] + Pre-assessment = SLO [(100 – 70) x 0.5] + 70 = 85

Example SLO: Marketing/10th-12th Grade 80% of the students in my Marketing class whose baseline assessments indicate below proficiency levels (minimal and Basic) will improve to proficient level in addressing costs and benefits associated with a marketing plan in both their writing and oral presentations as measured by the writing rubric and performance rubrics. See DPI SLO Toolkit Repository for the example including all seven steps of the approval and acceptance form. Here is a sample SMART Art Goal

Key Decision: Are all students expected to make the same amount of growth, regardless of where they start? OR B. Should differentiated goals be set? Growth is not linear – how much you grow depends on where you start from- Tiered targets are more appropriate – must be good rationale for all students to make equal amount of growth

Major Types of SLOs Whole Group Tiered Individual Program (educational specialists) School There are several types of SLOs: Whole group SLOs Tiered SLOs Individual SLOs Program SLOs (for educational specialists, such as media specialists, coaches, nurses, etc.) School level objectives Depending on the circumstance these types of SLOs could also be used for a team. On the next slide, we will look at how to determine which SLO type to use.

Whole Group SLOs Data suggest that students come with relatively similar readiness levels for the content being taught. For outliers (exceptionally low or exceptionally high performing students), individual SLOs may need to be developed. Whole group SLOs work well with assessments that use percentages or rubrics. These SLOs make the most sense when the data suggests that students come with relatively similar abilities or background knowledge. Examples of subject areas that often fit this type of SLO include foreign languages, some career and technical education classes, some sciences or histories. One thing to keep is mind is that for students who scores are outliers (either exceptionally low or exceptionally high in comparison to other scores), individual SLOs might need to be developed for those students to ensure that they are challenged appropriately.

Example Baseline Data Spanish I Assessment Number of Students Looking at this data, we can see that all students scored between 0-30 percent on their baseline data. If students’ background information also suggests that abilities are similar enough, it might be appropriate to use a whole group SLO. Percent Correct

Example SLO During the course of this school year, 100% of students will make measurable progress in Spanish I as measured by the district-developed assessment. All students will improve their pre-assessment score by 65 percentage points on the post-assessment. This is an example SLO for a whole class. All students are capable of improving their score by 65 points. Moreover, 65 points improvement would get all students at or near proficiency, with some students scoring in the advanced range.

Example Spreadsheet Student Baseline score Growth Objective Needed Final Score Student 1 65 Student 2 Student 3 Student 4 Student 5 2 67 Student 6 4 69 Student 7 Student 8 6 71 Student 9 10 75 Student 10 Student 11 12 77 Student 12 Student 13 14 79 Student 14 Student 15 18 83 Student 16 20 85 Student 17 22 87 Student 18 24 89 Student 19 28 93 Student 20 30 95 This is an example of how a teacher can easily keep track of what the students scored, how much they need to grow, and their needed final score.

Tiered SLOs Data suggest that students come with relatively diverse readiness levels for the content being taught. For outliers (exceptionally low or exceptionally high performing students), individual SLOs may need to be developed. On the other hand, tiered SLOs may be more appropriate when the class has students with diverse readiness levels. As in group SLOs, for students with exceptionally low or high scores in comparison to the other students, individual SLOs might need to be developed for those students to ensure that they are challenged appropriately.

Example Baseline Data U.S. History Assessment Number of Students This is an example of a history assessment in which the range of scores was Novice to Exceeding. A whole group SLO would not be appropriate for this data as students need to make different amounts of progress in order to make or be near proficiency, and because not all students can move up one level. Achievement Levels Primary sources comparative analysis District-developed rubric for high school students

Example SLO During the course of this school year, all students will make measurable progress in U.S. History as measured by the district-developed primary sources comparative analysis rubric for high school. Students will improve their scores as follows: Students scoring at the Novice and Developing levels on the pre- assessment will improve to the Proficient level on the post- assessment. Students scoring at the Proficient level on the pre-assessment will improve to the Exceeding level on the post-assessment. Students scoring on the Exceeding level on the pre-assessment will have their pre-assessments re-scored using the College and Professional level rubric, and will improve their scores by one level on the post-assessment. This is an example tiered SLO. Note that the SLO still applies to all students in the class, but divides them into the three tiers suggested by the baseline data. It is generally suggested to use two to four tiers. Remember that if any student scored either exceptionally low or exceptionally high, it might make sense to write an individual SLO for that student. In this case, the teacher had to decide what to do with students who had hit the ceiling of the rubric at the beginning of the year. There are usually two options for this: a teacher can either chose to move students forward to the next year or level’s work (accelerate the curriculum) or use the same curriculum but at a higher cognitive level (going deeper). In this case, the teacher chose to accelerate the curriculum for these students—but ultimately it is up to the teacher to determine how he or she will continue to challenge the top tier of students.

Example Spreadsheet Student Baseline score Needed Final Score Novice Proficient Student 2 Student 3 Student 4 Student 5 Student 6 Student 7 Developing Student 8 Student 9 Student 10 Student 11 Exceeding Student 12 Student 13 Student 14 Student 15 Student 16 Exceeding/College: Novice College: Developing Student 17 Exceeding/College: Developing College: Proficient Student 18 Student 19 Student 20 Exceeding/College: Proficient College: Exceeding This is an example of the spreadsheet with rubric-based data. Once again, we can see that the students’ current baseline levels are defined, as well as their needed final score based upon the objective.

Individualized SLOs Used for smaller groups of students with a variety of readiness levels and background knowledge. Acceptable amounts of progress are often dependent on students’ historical academic performances. In some cases, it makes the most sense to write individual SLOs for students. In this case, it tends to work best with smaller groups of students that come to the class with a variety of abilities or background knowledge. How much progress is acceptable will often be dependent on students’ historical academic performances. In the case of students with disabilities, these individual SLOs might be similar to IEP goals.

Considerations for Students with Disabilities Does the student’s disability affect the student’s ability to reach the SLO? What has been the academic history of the student up to this point? What types of instructional interventions have been provided to the student in the past? There are some things to consider when working with students with disabilities to set SLOs. All of these should be considered with the help of the teacher of special education when considering SLOs for students with disabilities. Does the student’s disability affect the student’s ability to reach the SLO? In some cases, students have disabilities that affect their ability in most or all subjects, but in other cases their disabilities are very specific to one set of skills. What are been the academic history of the student up to this point? If the student has been making typical progress each year, just because the student has an IEP does not mean that the student MUST have an individualized SLO. This can also be important when considering HOW MUCH progress a student will make. A student might be several years behind…but if that student has been making less than half a year’s worth of growth for several years, even making a year’s worth of growth might be a rigorous goal. What types of instructional interventions have been provided to the student in the past? For instance, is this the first year that the student has actually received services? If so, we might expect the student to make more progress than he or she has traditionally made.

SLO Readiness Identify what students are supposed to know and be able to do in their time with you as the classroom teacher. Assess where they are in their baseline abilities as they relate to those skills. Assess their periodic growth over the time they are with you.