1. How to Write Measures and Goal Statements
Arizona Western College
Reshaping Assessment
Facilitators:
Professor Martha Martinez
&
Michelle Thomas (TRIO Programs)
August 13, 2019

2. The SMART Process to Writing Measures and Goals
When writing goals and measures, keep them SMART:
Specific. Use specific rather than generalized language.
Measurable. Be clear in the objective about what will be changed and by how much.
Achievable. Be realistic about what can be achieved in terms of the scale/scope of what is being done, the time and resources available.
Relevant. Sometimes called “reasonable” or “realistic.” Measures and goals should be reasonable and be relevant.
Timebound. Be clear about the timeframe of your measures/goals.

3. Course Goals and Measurable Learning Objectives
Description
Example
Course Goal / Learning Outcome
describes broad aspects of behavior which incorporate a wide range of knowledge and skill
Upon completion of this course the student will have reliably demonstrated the ability to use the conventions of grammar when creating paragraphs.
Measurable Learning Objectives
tend to describe specific, discrete units of knowledge and skill can be accomplished within a short timeframe
Given a paragraph of ten sentences, the student will be able to identify ten rules of grammar that are used in its construction.
Benchmark: 95% of the students will identify ten rules with an 80% or better accuracy on the given paragraph.

4. Programs Goals
Program goals/outcomes describe what you want a program to do or accomplish rather than what you want students to know, do or value. Example Develop and expand the KEYS’ web page in order to increase student access to program information and services.