STUDENT LEARNING
OBJECTIVES (SLOs)
Orientation Module
© Pennsylvania Department of Education
Goal & Objectives
Goal:
Design ● Build ● Review student learning objectives
(SLOs) for use in guiding instruction and determining
student mastery and/or growth as part of Pennsylvania’s
teacher effectiveness system.
Participants will:
1. Review each component used in the SLO process,
including the role of high-quality performance
measures.
2. Examine tools and techniques available to teachers and
principals.
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Tool Organization
Training
•
•
Describe the procedures within each of the three phases
(i.e., Design, Build, & Review)
Provide examples and information about a process
Templates
•
Assist in developing customized material
Resources
•
Supplements the core training materials
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Tool Organization (cont.)
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SLO Design Coherency
GOAL STATEMENT
PERFORMANCE MEASURE
RATING
PERFORMANCE INDICATOR
ALL STUDENTS
FOCUSED STUDENTS
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Training Resources
SAS is the PDE website (www.pdesas.org) containing:
• Pennsylvania content standards and other helpful PDE developed
material
• a downloadable SLO training “packet”, including SLO Models
• links to Research in Action’s (RIA) training platform, Homeroom
Homeroom is RIA’s web-based learning platform
(http://www.ria2001.org) containing:
• on-line training materials, including the SLO Process Template
• downloadable SLO training files
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• links to the SAS portal
Assessment Literacy Series vs.
Student Learning Objectives
I need to…
Start from scratch
Only build a performance
measure
Only complete the SLO Process
Template
SLO
Process
Series-PA
X
Assessment
Literacy
Series
X
X
X
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Outline of the Orientation Module
Orientation
SLO Process
Phases
ALS
Techniques
Design
Build
Review
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Student Learning Objective
PDE’s Definition: A process to
document a measure of educator
effectiveness based on student
achievement of content standards.
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Terminology
Assessment Literacy
• The skills, knowledge, and concepts associated with sound
assessment practices, including the critical review of quality
evidence.
Goal Statement
• Narrative articulating the “Big Idea” upon which the SLO is
based.
Standards
• Targeted content standards used in developing SLOs, which
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are the foundation of performance measures.
Terminology (cont.)
Rationale Statement
• Narrative providing reasons why the Goal Statement and the
targeted content standards address important learning.
Blueprint
• Visual depiction of the relationship among key SLO
components.
Performance Measure
• An assessment tool used to measure the knowledge and
skills acquired by students.
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Terminology (cont.)
Performance Indicator
• Statement of the expected level of achievement on each
performance measure.
Elective Rating
•
Comprise four levels of performance:
• DISTINGUISHED, PROFICIENT, NEEDS IMPROVEMENT,
and FAILING.
• Reflect an “expectations continuum” established by the
educator prior to the evaluation period and then
examined at the end of the evaluation period.
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SLO Process Phases
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Guiding Principles
SLOs should:
1. Represent student performance in a specific course/content
area taught by the educator.
2. Align to a targeted set of content standards that represent
the depth and breadth of the goal statement.
3. Contain results from only high-quality performance measures
collected in an equitable, verifiable, and standardized
manner.
4. Use metrics based on two time-bound events/data collection
periods and/or summative performance with defined levels
of achievement.
5. Include performance indicators linked to performance
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measures.
SLO Process Phases
The SLO process contains three (3) phases:
I.
Design (ing): thinking, conceptualizing,
organizing, discussing, researching
II. Build (ing): selecting, developing, sharing,
completing
III. Review (ing): refining, checking, updating,
editing, testing, finalizing
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SLO Process Phases
DESIGN
• Thinking about what content standards
to measure
• Organizing standards and measures
• Discussing collective goals with
colleagues
• Researching what is needed for a high
quality SLO
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SLO Process Phases
BUILD
•
•
•
•
Selecting the performance measure(s)
Developing targets and expectations
Completing the template
Sharing the draft materials with other
colleagues
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SLO Process Phases
REVIEW
• Checking the drafted SLO (including the
performance measures) for quality
• Refining measures and targets
• Editing text and preparing discussion
points/highlights for principal
• Finalizing materials
• Updating completed SLO with
performance data
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Summary
The Orientation Module• Shared the conceptual framework,
resources, and tools associated with
the SLO process.
• Discussed the phases and guiding
principles used in creating student
learning objectives.
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