Learning Targets,
Change Rationale
The Task at Hand
► Challenging
times call for people to step
forward - try new things, lead new
innovation, look at the world in a “fresh”
light
Education - a changing
landscape
Senge (1990)
► Perhaps
for the first time in history,
humankind has the capacity to create far
more information than anyone can absorb,
to foster far greater interdependency than
anyone can manage, and to accelerate
change far faster than anyone’s ability to
keep pace (Senge, p. 69).
Xerox’s CEO – David
Kearns
“ Schools are admirably suited to
the economy & culture of the
1950s and spectacularly unsuited
to the high-tech future of the next
century”
Education - a changing
perspective
► Traditionally
- two things separated
education from the “real world” of business
 Profit
 Competition
What will the world look like?
►Interactive
technology – anytime/
anywhere
►Evolving workplace
►Globalization – adaptability, flexibility,
critical thinking, ‘systems thinking’understanding
Begin with the end in mind!
► What
is the reality we’re preparing our
students for?
► Change must begin at the top
► What innovations or changes in structure or
practice are we modeling to accomplish the
goals for this new “reality”?
Times have changed
► In
this age of “accountability” – we must
turn a “profit” and we now have competition
► http://www.flvs.net/
Operational Definitions
What is effective instruction?
What is ineffective instruction?
Learning Targets & Standards
► Goals,
objectives, & targets
► Standards
► Sources of learning targets & standards
► Criteria for selecting targets & standards
► Types of learning targets
Learning Targets
► Commonly
thought of as: Goals, objective,
competency, standard or expectation
Goals
► Broad,
general statements that cover a
block of instructional time
► Lay groundwork for specific learning
objectives
► May be closely related to defining the
mission of a school or school system
► Ex: Learning to think critically - citizen
Objective
► Usually
more specific statement of student
performance - to be demonstrated at the
end of an instructional unit
 Global objective
 Instructional objective
Global Objective
► Often
goal
interchanged with the definition of a
Instructional Objective
► Intended
learning outcome
► Specific, observable, and measurable
► Begin with action verbs (state, define, list,
etc)
► Specific behavior, audience, criterion, and
condition
► May be stated in general terms
Standards Based Education
► National/State
standards have been
developed for most content areas
► Content Standards - Statements about what
students should know, understand, and be
able to do
► Performance Standards - level of proficiently
to be demonstrated
Criteria
► May
be called scoring criteria, rubrics, or
scoring guidelines
► Key - what is excellence in comparison to
simple proficiency
► Establishing rubrics, expectations and
sharing them with students is helpful
Expectations
► Communicate
the level of performance you
think they can demonstrate
► Based upon student’s previous
achievement, aptitude, motivation, etc
► Differentiate instruction and have
understanding of level of performance
Types of Learning Targets
► Knowledge
and Simple Understanding
► Deep Understanding
► Skills
► Products
► Affective
Knowledge and Simple
Understanding
► Student
mastery of substantive subject
matter and procedures
► Some simple recall and mastery of basic
facts
► More than rote memory - implies some level
of understanding or application
Deep Understanding & Reasoning
► Use
of knowledge to solve problems
► Problem solving, critical thinking, analysis,
synthesis, compare/contrast, higher order
thinking
Skills
► Requires
student to perform - demonstrate
use of skill - significantly different than just
knowing the right answer to a question
► There is an assumed background skill
involving procedures that must be
effectively performed
► Presentation, speaking a second lang.
Products
► Samples
of student work - demonstrate the
ability to use knowledge
► Project, portfolio, artwork, etc
► Performance based assessments are
examples of how product learning targets
are measured
Affective Learning Targets
► Include
emotion, feelings, beliefs - different
than cognitive learning
► Hope to develop positive affect - positive
attitude towards school, proper motivation,
► Character ed
Sources of learning targets
► Bloom’s






Taxonomy
Knowledge
Comprehension
Application
Analysis
Synthesis
Evaluation
Sources of learning targets
► Professional
Preparation - TEP, Certification
► Textbooks - provide objective - usually don’t
go far enough
► Professional organizations
► State Department (alsde.edu)
► Local systems (curriculum maps, etc)
Criteria for Selecting Learning
Targets
► Grade
Level
► Represent all types of learning from recall to
application
► Teacher, school, system, and state goals
should be included in targets
► Should be challenging, yet feasible
► Current, motivational, applicable