{"id":20646,"date":"2019-08-19T11:49:54","date_gmt":"2019-08-19T15:49:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/?page_id=20646"},"modified":"2020-02-19T15:02:04","modified_gmt":"2020-02-19T19:02:04","slug":"learning-goals","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/learning-goals\/","title":{"rendered":"Learning Goals"},"content":{"rendered":"

What are Learning Goals?\u00a0<\/span><\/h1>\n

Learning goals define what proficiency looks like in concise, student-friendly language. While educators may break down the goals into different sized learning targets or progressions, w<\/span>hat is crucial is that students understand what they are learning and that they are able to make it relevant to their lives.<\/b>\u00a0 Explicit, measurable, transferable learning goals empower students to have greater ownership over their education. Teachers communicate learning goals by posting learning targets and\/or sharing learning scales, single-point rubrics, or checklists. They use learning goals to design (or co-design) assessments, instruction, and checks for understanding along the way.<\/span><\/p>\n

Why it\u2019s important:\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Learning goals are essential to proficiency-based planning.\u00a0 If we don\u2019t know, clearly and explicitly, what we want students to learn, how we will know how to plan instruction, design assessments, and measure progress?\u00a0 Learning goals define the beginning and the end: they focus teacher planning, student learning, and assessment.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Goals need to be introduced and referred to so students can articulate what they are learning and are conscious of what they should know, understand and do to demonstrate proficiency.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To create meaningful learning goals, we unpack the teacher-centered language of proficiencies, standards, and performance indicators to describe what proficiency looks like from a student perspective. The student-centered language of learning goals provides clarity and transparency so that we can design clear instruction and measure student progress.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Schools and districts clearly state what is important for all learners by making public the learning goals all students will master. Learning can then be extended into and supported by the community.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a proficiency-based system, learning goals enable student voice and choice. Learning can be tailored to needs, interests, strengths when we\u2019ve created and shared clear proficiency goal language and encourage students to approach the how, when, and where to meet the shared end goal. Clarity enables flexible pathways toward a shared outcome.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How it fits into the proficiency-based education ecosystem:<\/h3>\n

In proficiency-based learning environments, <\/span>learning goals <\/b>provide criteria for proficiency (or mastery).\u00a0 Educators use them to design and measure student success on the <\/span>summative assessment(s). <\/b>\u00a0Learning goals guide the teacher and the learner as they create and navigate <\/span>meaningful instruction<\/b>, including flexible learning pathways and differentiated instruction.\u00a0 And <\/span>formative assessments<\/b> provide checkpoints on the way to meeting learning goals, allowing both learners and teachers to fine-tune the instruction and the educational experiences needed to deepen the knowledge and skill development necessary to meet the goals.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What learning goals look like in practice:\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Let\u2019s say you\u2019re an 8th-grade social studies teacher in Vermont designing an upcoming Global Citizenship unit with a focus on geography. You want to ground your unit in students’ lived experiences. Many of them\u00a0 produce maple syrup<\/a> with their families and have been talking about how climate change may impact this process. Some are deeply involved in the ski industry and have concerns about how shifts in climate may affect snowfall. And a few families are farmers, these students have expressed an interest in how climate change might change farming in Vermont.<\/span><\/p>\n

You decide to focus your unit on the impact climate change is having on Vermont\u2019s environment and culture.\u00a0 For your unit, you select both content and transferable skill proficiencies and performance indicators:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Content Proficiency<\/b>–\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Geography<\/span>: Students use geographic inquiry and reasoning to propose solutions to local, national and global issues. (Category- Geographic Representations: Spatial Views of the World)<\/span><\/p>\n

Performance Indicators<\/b>–\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Construct maps to represent and explain the spatial patterns of cultural and environmental characteristics. (D2.Geo.1)\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/td>\n
Transferable Skill Proficiency-\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Informed & Integrative Thinking<\/span><\/p>\n

Performance Indicators-<\/b><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Apply knowledge from various disciplines and contexts to real life situations.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

    From these performance indicators, you unpack the knowledge, understanding, and skills students will need to demonstrate proficiency. Goals are often written as \u2018I can\u2019 statements that define what students will do to demonstrate this knowledge, understanding, and skills.<\/span><\/p>\n

    One way that educators (and students!) go about this is by creating a KUD: identifying what students will Know<\/strong> (vocabulary, facts), Understand<\/strong> (concepts), and Do<\/strong> (skills). Quick tip: a dictionary and thesaurus can help you identify the real meaning embedded in the indicators and <\/span>help you select precise verbs<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0 Here is the KUD we created for these performance indicators:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
    Know<\/b><\/td>\nUnderstand<\/b><\/td>\nDo<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    \n
      \n
    • Map features<\/span><\/li>\n
    • Legend<\/span><\/li>\n
    • Cultural characteristics – how humans use the land<\/span><\/li>\n
    • Environmental characteristics- land features<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n
    		\n
      \n
    • Maps can be used to represent different types of information<\/span><\/li>\n
    • There are relationships between environment and culture<\/span><\/li>\n
    • Map features and legends allow us to interpret a map<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n
    		\n