Setting Goals with Feedback

Barbara McSwain
May 18, 2009

As the final quarter of the school year approaches, a question a district/school or classroom may want to ask is, "What are our goals for next year?"

Mike Schmoker (1999) notes, "Goals themselves lead not only to success, but also to the effectiveness and cohesion of a team" (p.24).

It is imperative that 2-3 goals be set yearly. High expectations for all students, regardless of their backgrounds in receiving supplemental educational services, are paramount in the school effectiveness research. The literature has consistently stated that students rise to the occasion when we set the bar high. These high expectations with clear goals should be communicated to the students at the very beginning of the school year and repeated throughout the year. It is important for students to be a part of this process. Students need to set learning goals. They need to be accountable for their part in the learning process.

One of my favorite memories of last school year was a walk-through visit at Dixieland Elementary in Polk County, FL. The principal, Debbie Henderson, is an outstanding leader. Dixieland was recognized in the Spring of FY 08 as a LEARNING-FOCUSED Preferred School for Leadership, with an emphasis on support, monitoring, planning and classroom application.

I was joined on the walk-through by district personnel, academic coaches, the principal and the assistant principal. As we stepped out of one classroom, a student stopped the assistant principal, Mary Dwight, and whispered a question. Dwight smiled and whispered an answer, and the student responded with a nod.  Immediately, outside the classroom, Henderson asked what the child needed. Dwight responded, "She wanted to know if you were still going to meet with her regarding her goals today. She is worried that you will not have time because we have visitors in our school."

I was not surprised when Henderson said to Dwight, "Please continue with our classroom visits. I will catch up in a minute. I need to reassure her that I will meet with her today!" This is the type of leadership and focus that is needed for goal setting. Everyone is involved in the process, including students. Researched-based instruction, with goals and feedback, serves as the primary focus every day! 

Students must receive feedback throughout the learning process. Bangert-Drowns, Kulik, Kulik, & Morgan's research has referred to this as formative assessment as opposed to summative assessment that occurs at the end of a learning period. In the United States, summative assessments are conducted yearly. Often, results are not received until much later and the teachers no longer have the same students. Very little is done with these summative results to change instruction. Many researchers feel that the appropriate and systematic use of formative assessment holds the key to greatly improving student achievement.
 
LEARNING-FOCUSED assessment prompts distributed throughout the unit/lesson design serve as formative assessment(s) that allow for immediate feedback to the students. In 1999 Schmoker referred to "rapid results" as critical to providing a foundation of success on which to build within the first year. Schmoker recognized that school improvement takes time. However, he also realized that students, teachers and administrators who are accustomed to failure need to know what success "looks" and "feels like." Goal setting with feedback is essential to that process!
 
What are the goals for your school/district for FY 09? What are the students' goals?  When will you talk about goal setting? When will you schedule time for reflection meetings with feedback? 
 
See the Project Implementation section of the LEARNING-FOCUSED Strategies Model Notebooks (Parts 1 - 4)  for more information.