Developing Competency Based SMART Professional Development Goals

Video Transcription

Hello there, and welcome. We've talked about developing SMART goals in the past. But in this lesson we'll take a closer look at them in the context of competency based professional development. So let's get started

It helps me to think about SMART goals as a road map to where you want to end up. In the case of this lesson, the destination is the attainment of your professional growth goals in order to improve your practice. I strongly recommend using the following steps when developing SMART goals for your professional development or growth plan. Let's go through them.

The first step is to begin at the end. You need to know what your collaborative teams outcome will be. Next, as a team, define what needs to be done in order to reach the outcome. These are the statements that eventually will be turned into your goals. Then, we drill down even deeper, and for each statement ask the question, what specifically do we want to accomplish, and what actions are needed to get us there? This step actually represents the S in SMART for specific.

Now that you've determined your goal, you need to figure out how you will monitor and measure the attainment. M for measure. Next, you ask the question, is the goal attainable? This may involve some thoughtful discussions with your colleagues. I've seen teams disagree on this, and have had to seek outside advice to help negotiate some common ground. As we have learned in the past, the R has two purposes, both of which are listed here. First, why is this goal relevant? And next, who will be responsible for carrying out the actions?

The last step is to determine how long the work to complete the goal will take before it can be measured, and adjusted to any of your actions if needed. You can certainly set checkpoint dates along the way to help keep you on track.

Now we will go through the process of developing a SMART goal that's related to a professional development outcome with a specific example. Here's the scenario, a fifth grade teacher's professional growth plan is to improve her questioning and discussion strategies. That's the outcome. The SMART goal is, by the end of the second quarter she wants to increase the number of deeper-level questions, and provide more time for student-to-student interactions.

First, we check if it's specific. To learn and implement deeper-level questioning, and to increase the use of discussion strategies effectively. Next, is it measurable? She'll keep a journal based on what she reads about the topic, and will document the number of lessons she includes this in her practice.

Next, is it attainable? It is. By participating in the book study group on the topic with the collaborative team, and also observing and scripting one another. Is it relevant? This goal is reflected in domain 3b, using questioning and discussion techniques, and 3c, engaging students in learning. And is it timely? Is there a timetable? She states by the end of the second quarter.

So to summarize this lesson, we reviewed what makes a SMART goal smart. That it's specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. We were then able to take that information, and then apply it to an example of a fifth grade teacher's goal for professional development. In this lesson you are exposed to one example of a SMART goal template. Conduct an online search for more. There are many variations that might interest you. You'll also be interested in the additional resources section that come with this presentation. You'll discover useful ways to apply what you've learned here. Each link includes a brief description, so you can easily target the resources that you want. Thank you so much for watching. Have a great day. We'll see you next time.