Hi. My name is Ashley, and today's lesson is titled Goals, Outcomes, and Benchmarks. In today's lesson, we'll look at the difference between goals, benchmarks, and outcomes. We'll review how outcomes are determined in a professional development plan. Lastly, we'll define and look at examples of benchmarks.
What is the difference between goals, benchmarks, and outcomes? Goals, benchmarks, and outcomes are similar, but have distinct differences. They are each important pieces to having an effective professional development or professional improvement plan. Goals are the targets the teacher plans to achieve as a result of coaching. This is the task that the teacher wants to meet. Benchmarks are steps toward achieving the goal, and outcomes are the results of the goal being achieved.
Here's an example. My goal is to have all of my students writing at the proficient level by the end of the school year. I give students a baseline, where I notice some students are novice writers. Throughout the year, we do many writing assignments and lessons to strengthen students writing abilities. At the end of every nine weeks, students submit a writing assessment.
The first assessment was the baseline, so I would hope that in the second assessment, or benchmark, students' writing would be at the developing stage. By the third nine weeks, students' writing should either still be developing or at the proficient level. So at the final assessment, students will be at the proficient level. The outcome of the goal is at the end of the year, where students reach the proficient level in their writing.
So as you can see, goals, benchmarks, and outcomes are similar in that they work together and they are pieces of the improvement and development plan. How are outcomes determined in a professional development plan? Objective student achievement data is used to guide professional development planning. Using this data helps set priorities for professional development. The data also demonstrates that both professional development and instructional coaching impacts student performance if implemented correctly.
Effective professional development and instructional coaching can enhance the teacher's performance and teaching practices, which increases students' ability to meet objectives, as measured by standardized assessments. There are at least two ways student achievement data can be used to guide and support teachers through professional development. Student data may give insight on areas where students are not achieving. This will allow the teacher and coach to brainstorm solutions and other approaches to teaching the material.
Student data is also used to identify areas of instructional difficulties for teachers. With instructional coaching, group or individual data-- though, the individual data is more helpful-- can be used to establish a baseline and pinpoint student outcomes.
What are benchmarks? Benchmarks are steps that lead to the goal. They could be short, medium, or long term. The benefits of benchmarks is that it allows the teacher to see if progress is being made as a result of the development plan. It is also used to improve instruction. If a teacher notices that students are not making progress, then the teacher can discover other strategies to enhance instruction. Therefore, it increases student achievement.
Here's some best practices for developing benchmarks. Coaches and teachers should work collaboratively. This gives them the opportunity to review student progress by analyzing formative and summative assessments. The coach and teacher also assess the teacher's progress in reaching the goal.
Benchmarks should be designed to demonstrate continuous movement toward the goal. Benchmarks should be measurable, and they should be aligned with the goal and outcome. For example, I want 96% of my fifth grade students to pass the reading standardized assessment that is given at the end of the year.
At the end of every nine weeks, we take a quarterly assessment. I would hope that in the first quarterly assessment, at least 70% of students will pass, 80% in the second assessment, 90% in the third assessment, and, finally, 965 on the final state assessment. So, in other words, benchmarks are steps or small targets that are used to reach the main goal.
Let's recap what we have discussed in today's lesson. We found that goals, benchmarks, and outcomes are similar, but also very different. Goals are targets that are being met. Benchmarks are steps to the goal, and outcomes are the result of the goal being achieved. Student achievement data is used to determine outcomes and can be used to enhance teacher performance.
There are benefits to using benchmarks. Benchmarks help teachers observe progress being made and allow teachers to reflect on instructional improvements. Think of goals you currently have or have made in past professional development or improvement plans. Identify the benchmarks and outcomes.
To dive a little deeper and learn how to apply this information, be sure to check out the Additional Resources section associated with this video. This is where you'll find links targeted toward helping you discover more ways to apply this course material.
Overview
(00:00 - 00:11) Introduction
(00:12 - 00:29) What Will You Learn Today?
(00:30 - 02:09) What is the Difference Between Goals, Benchmarks, and Outcomes?
(02:10 - 03:29) How are Outcomes Determined in a Professional Development Plan?
(03:30 - 05:12) What are Benchmarks?
(05:13 - 05:49) What Did You Learn Today?
(05:50 - 06:16) Reflection
High-Impact Collaborative Planning: Using Job-Embedded, Teacher-Driven Professional Development to Achieve SLCP Goals
This presentation examines the importance of teacher collaboration as part of the professional development process.
https://www2.ed.gov/programs/slcp/2011progdirmtg/cptpresent.pdf
Plan, Do, Study, Act: A Professional Development Model
This article from the Center for the Collaborative Classroom explores the use of PDSA as a professional development model.
https://www.collaborativeclassroom.org/blog/2012/10/10/plan-do-study-act-a-professional-development-model
Learning to Learn From Data: Benchmarks and Instructional Communities
This article examines the importance of focusing on data to engage in instructional improvements.
http://education.illinoisstate.edu/downloads/casei/benchmarks_learningcommunity.pdf
Using Data to Guide Instruction and Improve Student Learning
This article from SEDL examines the importance of using student data to inform decisions in schools and professional learning.
http://www.sedl.org/pubs/sedl-letter/v22n02/using-data.html