Source: Globe, Clker, http://bit.ly/1CVSonk; Thinking Person, Clker, http://bit.ly/1EmDSQV; Meeting, Pixabay, http://bit.ly/1LwNL6o; Success, http://bit.ly/1ehjf3p
Hello there, and welcome. SMART goals are an important component to organizational improvement. And in today's lesson, we will look at the importance of reflecting and revising them and go through an example of doing just that. Let's get started.
Let's start by setting up a scenario. A school district is looking at the end of year data and notices that there was a significant gap in growth rates of students who are below the standard in math and those that are above the standard in math. It appears that students whose baseline performance was above the standard showed less growth over the course of the year. So the district has asked administrators to pass this information along to teachers and encourage them to create goals to address the issue.
A group of fifth grade teachers comes together and decides to leverage the use of technology to help their highest students grow. They conduct research and understand that it's simply not about giving students more screen time but providing them with quality instruction, practice, and motivation. They decide move toward a blended model approach with their classes. That means some instruction will be delivered online through videos and tutorials and more in-class seat time will be spent on application and exploration of content.
The fifth grade teachers will begin the year in September by flipping one math lesson per week and use the class time to enrich the learning of students who have already exceeded the standard by providing them with authentic math-based projects instead. Growth data will be reviewed in January.
What you see here is the first draft of a SMART goal. Come January, the midyear data shows that the growth rate of students who began the year above the standard is indeed getting closer to that of the growth rate of those who did not. The gap is closing and the data reveals that they are on track, so the fifth grade team decides to reflect and revise their goal.
You might want to pause the video here to read the two statements closely. As you can see, a few tweaks have been made in the revision-- including the dates and the number of flipped lessons. They have also added the fact that they will work collaboratively to prepare the lessons.
Let's go ahead and make sure that this goal is SMART. The goal specifically states that teachers will flip two lessons per week. Completion of this can be measured by viewing the number of lessons posted. It's attainable, particularly now that the teachers will be sharing the workload. The goal is relevant in that the students targeted are the ones whose growth is trying to improve and the fifth grade teachers are the ones responsible for it in the timetable set for the remainder of the school year.
The next step is crucial and should be visited multiple times over the course of a year, and that is to conduct a plus minus delta on what's working, what's not, and what the team can change to make it better. This reflection will guide future revisions to the SMART goal. This is what the plus minus delta chart might look like for this scenario. You might want to pause here and read it through.
Revising is a good thing, and in no way does it reflect poorly on earlier versions of your plan or goals. You need to start somewhere, and those previous attempts help you grow. Here is a very popular image that has been floating around on social media that speaks to learning and how messy it can get for students at any age.
In our example, the midyear data told us what we were doing was working and that we needed to do more of it. Also, by using a plus minus delta, it helped the team tweak the SMART goal going forward. In this example, for instance, the next version of the goal may have something in it that offers some flexibility during shorter school weeks. Overall, the entire process of revising the SMART goal can be looked at as a learning experience. In this case, the educators are learning what works to improve our students' achievement.
Let's take a moment to reflect on today's learning. We set up a fictional scenario and played out the process of writing a SMART goal, looking at the data, and reflecting on that SMART goal by using a plus minus delta.
And now, for today's Food for Thought, pull out a goal that you've read and try to make it SMART. If you need help, look online for some examples. And 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.
Thanks for watching. We'll see you next time.
(00:00-00:14) Intro
(00:15-00:42) The Scenario
(00:43-01:35) Team Goal
(01:36-01:54) Mid-year Data
(01:55-02:41) Revision
(02:42-03:06) Plus/Minus/Delta
(03:07-03:56) Reflecting and Revising
(03:57-04:34) Summary/Food For Thought
8 Strategies for Achieving SMART Goals
This article reviews SMART Goal achievement strategies, including the importance of reflection in achieving SMART Goals.
http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/8-strategies-for-achieving-smart-goals.php