Clarify and Share Learning Goals
(Adapted from Leahy, S. Lyon, C. and Wiliam D. (November 2005). Classroom Assessment: Minute by Minute, Day by Day. Educational Leadership, ASCD.)
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Low achievement is often the result of students failing to understand what teachers require of them (Black and Wiliam, 1998). Many
teachers address this issue by posting the state standard or learning objective in a prominent place at the start of the lesson, but
such an approach is rarely successful because the standards are not written in student-friendly language.
Teachers in our various assessment for learning projects have explored many ways of making their learning goals and their criteria
for success transparent to students. One common method involves circulating work samples, such as lab reports, projects, answer
justification, or written reports that a previous year’s class completed, in view of prompting a discussion about quality. Students
decide which work samples are good and analyze what’s good about the good ones and what’s lacking in the weaker ones. Teachers
have also found that by choosing the samples carefully, they can tune the task to the capabilities of the class. Initially, a teacher
might choose four or five samples at very different quality levels to get students to focus on broad criteria. As students grow more
skilled, teachers can challenge them with a number of samples of similar quality to force the students to become more critical and
reflective.
ACTIVITY:
Learning Goal: Understand that learning goals need to be clear, useful, and accessible to the learner.
Success Criteria: I can critic learning goals written by others.
DIRECTIONS:
1. Read through the two handouts “Characteristics of Good Learning Goals” and “Sample Learning Goals then do the following:
2. Rate each learning goal as “+”, “-“, or “=” on each of the three Characteristics of Good Learning Goals (clear, useful, and
accessible). A “+” would indicate a strong learning goal, “-” indicates a weak learning goal, and “=”indicates a so-so learning
goal.
3. Compare your responses with others in your collaborative learning team. Justify your answers.
4. Re-write a learning goal you rated as weak.
5. Write a learning goal for a current lesson.
6. Share and collaboratively critic a learning goal written for a current lesson.
LI_ClarifyLearningGoals
Adapted from Source: Leahy, S. Lyon, C. and Wiliam D. (November 2005). Classroom Assessment: Minute by Minute, Day by Day. Educational Leadership,
ASCD.
Characteristics of Good Learning Goals
Good learning goals should be clear, useful, and accessible to students.
Clear
A clear learning goal …
…focuses on what will be learned in this lesson, as distinct from what students will do in the lesson. The first step in achieving clarity
is for the teacher to identify what students should know, understand, or be able to do by the end of the lesson. A clear learning goal
can be explicit, straightforward, and understandable to a teacher while being difficult to communicate to students.
…is “lesson-sized.” A clear learning goal isn’t trivial, but it isn’t huge, either. In general, learning goals should reflect the amount of
learning you expect students to accomplish in a single lesson. Depending on the information you collect at the end of the lesson
regarding the students' mastery of the learning goal, you may decide that students need more time for practice, and you can then
apply the learning goal to the next lesson, homework, or a follow-up project.
Useful
A useful learning goal …
...focuses on concepts in which knowledge is used rather than focusing on imparting knowledge. Information in the form of lists,
discrete pieces of knowledge, and characteristics is easily forgotten. When skills are developed and concepts are mastered, they will
remain long after a list is forgotten.
…is generalizable across more than one context. Because a concrete context is more tangible than an abstract learning goal, children
are more likely to focus on the context for learning, rather than the more general learning. If the learning goal is free of context, it
can illustrate to students that there are many reasons or situations for learning the concept. For example, one teacher had the
learning goal “Students will understand the impact of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).” When the learning goal
was separated from the context it became apparent that the learning goal for this lesson would be better expressed as “To
understand the impact of free trade agreements and associations on the world economies” with one context being NAFTA and
LI_ClarifyLearningGoals
Adapted from Source: Leahy, S. Lyon, C. and Wiliam D. (November 2005). Classroom Assessment: Minute by Minute, Day by Day. Educational Leadership,
ASCD.
others being the Group of Three (Columbia, Mexico, & Venezuela), the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), the World Trade
Organization (WTO), etc. By the end of the lesson students need to know more than the details of one or more of these
agreements. They need to understand how any agreement of this type can impact the local, national, and international economies
and that different kinds of agreements may have different effects.
Accessible
A learning goal that is accessible to students…
…is written in age appropriate language – student-friendly language. For students to understand what they should be learning, they
must understand the language used in the learning goal. Aim to use simple language and to include a clear rationale
…uses words that place the focus on learning and student mastery. You may begin the learning goal with “We will understand that,”
“We are learning to,” or “We are learning to be able to.” Try to avoid expressing learning goals in terms of the activities students
will participate in as the vehicle for learning.
…is not equivalent to the state standard. Many schools and districts require teachers to write the state standard, essential concept,
progress indicator, or other formal language that addresses that day’s learning on the board for each class period. Typically this
language is too global for one lesson and can also be difficult for students to understand. If this is the case in your school or district,
you should still translate the standard or essential concept into age appropriate language, relate it to the specific lesson, and call
attention to it at the start of the lesson.
LI_ClarifyLearningGoals
Adapted from Source: Leahy, S. Lyon, C. and Wiliam D. (November 2005). Classroom Assessment: Minute by Minute, Day by Day. Educational Leadership,
ASCD.
1) ...be able to recognize multiples of 2, 5, and 10.
2) ...understand that the actions of humans have both positive and negative effects on the environment.
3) ... learn to design and write up an experiment with a clear hypothesis, method, data, and conclusion.
4) ... learn to be familiar with characteristics of a good story.
5) ... learn to solve counting problems and justify that all possibilities have been enumerated without duplication.
6) ...understand that using descriptive words and phrases are useful for effective characterization.
7) ... be able to complete all 20 questions on pp. 54-56.
8) ... learn to identify the terms translucent, transparent, and opaque with objects in nature.
9) ...be able to read the first act of MacBeth.
10) ...understand how diet affects health.
11) ...be able to perform a piece of music as a group.
12) ...understand that when information is consistent with other sources it is more dependable.
LI_ClarifyLearningGoals
Adapted from Source: Leahy, S. Lyon, C. and Wiliam D. (November 2005). Classroom Assessment: Minute by Minute, Day by Day. Educational Leadership,
ASCD.
Access
ible
Useful
We will…
Clear
SAMPLE LEARNING GOALS