Deciding on Priority Goals for Student Learning

The “logical” starting point for school improvement is to determine the goals of learning and to achieve a workable consensus around them.  As a first order of business, schools engage continuously in the process of clarifying their core values—those matters that call forth their deepest passions, commitments, and caring responses.  Values come first and foremost, even before their technical representation in learning goals, standards, and assessments. Achieving value clarity and consensus, however, is a great accomplishment in a school because value conflicts and ambiguity are the norm.  Ambiguity over core values is often useful in submerging conflicts and keeping the peace.  But the cost is correspondingly high. Without value clarity and consensus, organizations have lost one important basis for productive action.  

A second crucial matter concerns focus.  More effective schools avoid the trap of trying to include too many learning goals, spreading effort too thinly across too many things.  Particularly in schools serving poor and minority students, schools must concentrate learning very tightly around a core set of objectives.  This does not mean basic skills alone.  In fact, the idea is that all students should be engaged with broad and deep learning goals including, for example, reading comprehension as well as decoding, conceptual as well as procedural knowledge of mathematics, and inquiry oriented approaches to science.  So in achieving focus, consensus is needed on a core set of challenging academic goals that schools can reach with their students
 
A third issue concerns the meaning of “consensus.”  Does this mean that all teachers must agree all the time?  Such a standard sets the bar too high.  Yet consensus does include substantial numbers of teachers and other stakeholders (e.g., parents) in a school.  At the same time, a school cannot allow a resistant minority to impede progress, holding the majority hostage.  Leaders work to build a viable consensus within the school community, bringing along those who dissent or encouraging them to leave the community.  Further, leaders take care not to create a false consensus that papers over fundamental disagreements; or impose a hasty “consensus” on a faculty, engendering passive resistance and resentment.   Genuine consensus requires that real disagreements among faculty are surfaced and discussed.  Tensions between the need for genuine dialogue and debate on the one hand and timely consent as the basis for collective action on the other—are managed skillfully throughout the continuous improvement cycle.

Priority goals for student learning should be based on state and district mandates as well as any additional goals that are highly valued by the school community. These goals for student learning, behavior and engagement can be compared with results of the KEYS survey related to shared values and beliefs about teaching and learning to deepen discussion of the goals and assumptions about the feasibility of attaining them. School-specific goals that are important to some members of the school community, but not most, should be marked for additional consideration. Benchmarks, i.e., specific targets for assessing progress toward meeting priority goals for student learning should be identified.

To learn more about goal setting, CLICK HERE. [links 3a1, 3a2, ] However, examining the resources available on this point may be more productive after a preliminary analysis of the KEYS survey data.

To learn more about consensus building and developing effective teams:

F. Newmann,(2007) Achieving High-Level Outcomes for All Students: The Meaning of Staff-shared Understanding and Commitment, Chapter 3 in The Keys for Effective Schools book. Newmann identifies why shared values and high expectation for students are essential to school effectiveness.

J. D. Bamburg, (1994), Raising Expectations to Improve Student Learning, available at http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/educatrs/leadrshp/le0bam.htm

W.D. Hawley & G. Sykes (2007) Continuous School Improvement, Chapter 10 in The Keys to Effective Schools book.  This essay argues that clear goals and a relentless focus on student performance are essential to and drive continuous improvement in student learning.

K. Leithwood, et al., (2004) (PDF)  How Leadership Influences Student Learning, Leithwood and his colleagues summarize the basics of successful leadership including working with staff to set a clear vision of priorities and ways of reaching those goals.

B. Portin, et al. (2003) (PDF) Making Sense of Leading Schools: A Study of the School Principalship. This study identifies the core tasks of effective principals, including their role in fostering shared commitments to high standards of student achievement.

To learn more about improving communication in meetings, CLICK HERE. [Link 3a4]

To learn about dealing with conflict in group decision making situations, CLICK HERE [link 3a5]

Tools for Goal Setting

• Link 3a2 is p. 1.8, Part 2, Facilitators’ Guide
• Link 3a3 includes p. 114 of the Action Guide, p.111 of the AG, pp. 3.3-3-14 of the FG, Part 2,
• and J. Vincenzo & F. Ricci, (1999), Group Decision Making: A Tool Kit for Schools, Washington, DC: National Education Association, pp. 95-96
• Link 3a4
• pp. 5.2-5.3, Part Two of the FG
• Link 3a5
• pp. 5.4-5.23, Part Two of  the FG