The importance of setting student outcome goals in reading:

2. The importance of settingstudent outcome goals in reading: • Goals represent desired outcomes or targets toward which to strive. • Goals shape our instructional effort and guide us toward our intended outcomes. • Attainment of strong reading goals makes future school success more likely. • Failure to attain reading goals puts students at-risk for future struggles in both school and work.

3. Types of student reading goals: Summative and Formative Goals • Summative goals address reading outcomes: • All students will read at grade level or higher each year, no later than grade 3, as measured by the OAKS assessment. • All students in grades 4-12 will be proficient readers of grade level content across the instructional areas.

4. Types of student reading goals: Summative and Formative Goals (continued) • Formative goals address progress toward the longer term goal of reading at grade level or above: • Formative goals should be set for the skills that need to be achieved by a certain point in time (e.g., by the end of a grade). • Thus, formative goals and the benchmarks that define them will differ by grade.

5. Clear goals include… • Who (e.g., a group of students at a given grade level) • Will do what • score at a given level or above on an achievement measure • make a certain amount of progress over previous period • At what level (level of achievement or amount of progress should be clearly stated) • Bywhen (usually by the end of the school year) Including each of these components in a goal statement operationally defines the goal and makes it easier to measure progress toward its attainment.

6. Examples of clear goals: • At the spring benchmark assessment, all kindergarten students will be able to read randomly- presented CVC pseudo-words at a rate of 25 correctly-produced letter sounds per minute. • In the fall of grade 2, all students will be able to orally read grade-level text at a rate of 44 correctly-read words per minute. • At the spring screening assessment, grade 6 students will be able to orally read grade-level text at the rate of 160 correctly-read words per minute.

7. “Strong” Goals • Goals are “mission-focused” (not trivial). • Goals are derived from the school’s vision for success. • Goals focus on valued outcomes(not just processes). • Goals are prioritized and remain in focus over time.

8. “Strong” Goals (continued) • Ambitious, yet attainable • Clearly defined and measureable • Easily understood and transparent to all stakeholders • Differentiated • Grade level differences in goal-setting • Student’s varying skill levels in goal-setting • School-wide similarities in goal-setting

9. Student reading goals should be based on one or more of the following: • Norms on a measure of reading achievement • Criteria or benchmark scores • Progress made toward a standard (e.g., AYP) • Level reached by a higher-performing group of students with comparable demographics • Curriculum content mastered (curriculum maps)

10. Basis for outcome goals by grade spans • Grades K-2: • Standardized achievement test (if used) • Progress monitoring measure (if test not used) • % of students at benchmark levels • % of students demonstrating mastery on skills from reading curriculum map • Grades 3-12: • Standardized achievement test

11. Sample Curriculum Map

12. Sample Progress Monitoring

13. Sample Benchmark Goals (DIBELS 6th edition)

14. Setting goals for achievement levels vs. achievement growth • Achievement levels may differ from school to school as a function of “academic challenges.” However… • Achievement growth should not be be limited or excused by academic challenges. • All students can reach ambitious reading goals.

15. Setting Goals at the Beginning of the Year • Outcome Goals • Adequate Progress Goals • For each grade level • For each group (e.g., “some-risk students”) • Progress Monitoring Goals • For each grade level • For individual students You have to know what you want to get it. -Gertrude Stein

16. Setting Goals at the Beginning of the Year • Outcome Goals • Summative • Adequate Progress Goals • Summative (if at end of year) • Formative (if during year) • Progress Monitoring Goals • Formative

17. Outcome Goals • Schoolwide (not individual) goals • Outcome measurements vary from state to state. • Outcome goals are generally established by minimum state expectations. • Outcomes measured by performance relative to normative or criterion standards. • Outcome goals should be set for all skills considered critical for each grade level.

18. Adequate Progress Goals • Schoolwide (not individual) goals • “Adequate Progress” is a term used to describe groups of students’ progress along the achievement continuum. • Goals can be set for each grade level and for each level of student status at the beginning of the school year (grade level, some-risk, high-risk).

19. Progress Monitoring Goals For grade level and some-risk students: • Schoolwide goals are set once group performance is compared to school standards as well as established benchmark scores.

20. Progress Monitoring Goals cont’d. For High-Risk Students: • Individual goals are set. • Grades K and 1 • Set goals to achieve “Grade Level” status. • Grades 2 and 3 • If Grade Level status is not reasonably attainable, set goal to move to “Some-Risk” status at student’s grade level at the end of the year.

21. Setting Progress Monitoring Goals 3rd Grade Example Established Benchmark Goal 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 Average Peers Goal Line Option 2 - High Risk Student Option 1 - High Risk Student Words Correct Per Minute X X X Baseline Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May

22. Collaboration Engage stakeholders as you set goals and as you work to attain those goals.

23. Engaging stakeholders in setting, working toward, and attaining goals: • Identify stakeholders. • Identify messages and needs. • Decide on communication methods and schedule. • Deliver your messages and solicit involvement and feedback. • Be responsive to stakeholder’s interest, questions, and suggestions.

24. Conclusion • “Students able to read at grade level or higher are likely to accomplish key learning objectives in grades K-12. They are more likely to learn successfully in their classes, and they are more likely to perform well on state assessments that test how well students understand the content of the state standards. Formative goals provide valuable information about whether students are on track to meet the summative goal. When students have not met a formative reading goal, it is critical that schools use that information to improve reading instruction.” (OLF, pg. G-12) • Goals are something for students to strive for, but they are also a means for schools to evaluate instruction and make changes that will help students succeed. Goals motivate students to learn, but give schools something to learn from.