Determining Essential Learnings
or Essential Outcomes
September 14, 2010
The Four Key Questions of PLC’s
1. What is it we expect our students to learn?
2. How will we know when they have learned
it?
3. How will we respond when they don’t learn?
4. How will we respond when they already
know it?
We must be explicit about question #1
We clearly define what it is we expect
students to know. Clear learning goals are a
necessity if we expect all students to learn.
Our work with Lisa Carter and TIA tells us that
we should construct learning objectives stated
in measurable terms.
In order to create clear learning goals for
students, teachers must first clearly define
what it is we want students to learn.
Goals for Essential Outcomes…
• Grade- or department level teams identify the
essential learning outcomes for each course or
grade level. This answers the question, “What is
it that students need to know and be able to do?”
• Essential learning outcomes are the 8-10 “big
ideas” per semester-long course or the 16-20 “big
ideas” per a year-long course that are most
important for students to be able to know and
do.
Because we can not teach everything…
• …in this age of information, a key to establishing a
curricular focus is to make sure the curriculum focuses
on significant learner outcomes.
• One difficulty secondary teachers often complain
about is the amount of curriculum they “have to”
cover. The irony, however, is much of what is being
taught in classrooms includes a lot of small facts rather
than the important “big” ideas.
• One way out of the coverage trap is for teams of
teachers to step back and define and identify what is
really and truly important for students to know and be
able to do.
Essential Learnings/Power Objectives
Step By Step
• Step 1: You decide the absolutely essential
objectives
• Step 2: Team consensus
• Step 3: Check for vertical alignment
• Step 4: Sequence and pace objectives
Step 5: Refine these essential learnings
into specific types of learning targets
Product
Skill
We must use
knowledge,
reasoning and
skills to
produce a
final product
Behavioral
Reasoning
Knowledge
Using one’s
Some
demonstrations knowledge to
knowledge,
are important.
solve a
facts or
One must use
problem,
concepts must
knowledge
analyze,
be learned
and reasoning
compare,
outright or
to perform
contrast,
retrieved via
skillfully
synthesize,
reference
deduce or
materials
evaluate
By defining as product, skill,
reasoning or knowledge…
…we move beyond simple declarative or
procedural knowledge to a greater
refinement of the specific skills or
behavior we will accept as evidence of
learning.
….and the next step of building common
assessments is made easier
The Process of Determining Essential
Learnings is to insure…
• Each member of our team or who teaches our course or
grade level is exceptionally clear on the intended outcomes
of our course in general as well as the specific outcomes of
each unit.
• We have to identified the prerequisite knowledge and skills
needed to master the intended outcomes of the course or
unit.
• We have to identify strategies and instruments to assess
whether students have the prerequisite knowledge and
skills.
• If they do not know how to multiply…we can not teach
division. Therefore, for students who do not have the skill
we must provide a means to deliver that instruction.
The Process of Determining Essential
Learnings is to insure…
• We also have to agree on how to best sequence the
content of the course to help students achieve the
intended outcomes and to help us monitor their progress.
• We have aligned the outcomes of our course to state goals
and to high stake tests such as the SAT, ACT and
EOC’s/EOG’s.
• We have agreed on the criteria we will use in judging the
quality of student work in key areas of our course such as
writing, speaking, and projects.
• We have taught students the criteria we will use in the
judging the quality of their work and have provided them
with examples.
Here’s why…
“Teachers are most effective in helping all
students learn when they are clear regarding
exactly what their students must know and be
able to do as a result of the course, grade level
or unit of instruction.”
(p. 51 Learning By Doing)
Learning by Doing
• See pages 46-59 of Learning By Doing.
• It outlines and explains the process and reasoning behind the effort to
define the essential learnings.
• “Vision on, pressure off.” After the work, this makes it easier because we
have a clear target or picture of where we are heading in our course, in
our schools, and our classrooms.
What we teach
Standard Course of
Study
“The Common Formative
Assessments match the Essential
Learnings”
Common
Formative
Assessment
Course
outline/pacing
guide
Essential
Learning