B. Goals and Objectives

       Selecting and stating clear long-term goals and measurable short-term objectives provides both teacher and students with a focus for learning. Effective teachers begin planning by selecting and stating goals and objectives. They then select appropriate materials, strategies and methods, and evaluation techniques to teach and measure the accomplishment of the objectives that lead toward accomplishment of goals. When students are informed of the goals and objectives, they become aware of what the teacher expects them to accomplish. Both teaching and learning are more effective when goals and objectives are appropriate for the learners and stated in clear and measurable terms.

        A long-range goal is the destination, or what you want students to be able to do over a long period of time. Goals are broad, long-range aims, that are difficult, if not impossible, to measure. National and state standards represent goals. The school district may also have broad goals for the system as a whole. One such example may be that graduates of the school system will be productive members of society. Another example of a goal that is more limited is a goal for 10th grade taken from the Alabama Course of Study for Social Studies: The student will be able to trace the development of early English settlements."

       Classroom teachers may write goals of their own, but there are several sources of goals and objectives that are essential for Alabama classrooms.

        Although textbooks may include goals and objectives, they should not dictate what is taught nor how it is taught. If the goals and objectives are consistent with those found in the sources listed above, this indicates that the textbook is aligned with appropriate goals and objectives. If they do not support the goals and objectives in any of the sources listed above, other text or resource materials should be utilized that do align with accepted sources of goals and objectives.

        To enable students to reach long-range goals, the effective teacher breaks down each goal into specific, measurable short-term objectives. A goal for this module is that the participant will be able to write and select well written, appropriate instructional objectives for his/her students. This is a broad target, so measurable objectives must be developed. While goals and objectives can focus on social, developmental, and affective outcomes, the focus of this module is on cognitive goals and objectives, those most related to student academic achievement.

        Most long-range goals require that several objectives are met before the goal can be accomplished. For example, the long-range goal for 10th grade in the Alabama Course of Study for Social Studies cited previously, (The student will be able to trace the development of early English settlements. ) is followed by a list of objectives to be met before the goal is met. Those objectives include:

        Good objectives have four characteristics: they are student centered; they state an outcome and not an activity; they are measurable; and they are clear.

Student centered

        Good instructional objectives tell what the student is expected to know or be able to do at the end of the lesson or unit of study. Each statement should begin with the phrase "the student will be able to" or have this phrase implied. Example 1 below is student centered, while Example 2 is teacher centered and would not be acceptable.

Outcome, not an activity

        Good instructional objectives tell what the student is expected to know or be able to do at the end of the lesson or unit of instruction. As such, the statement is future-oriented and describes an outcome, not a learning activity. In the preceding examples, both are future oriented. Example 3 below does not meet this condition. Rather than specifying an outcome, it cites an activity in which the student will participate. We can rewrite this as an outcome, as shown in example 4. By writing it this way, you have already determined how you will assess the students' knowledge; i.e., with a map activity in which the students name the continents and locate them on the map.

Measurable

        Good instructional objectives can be measured. The verb used in an objective is very important. Some verbs are particularly vague. Notice the verbs in the objectives in examples 5 and 6.

        The verbs make some of these objectives difficult to measure. We cannot open up the student's head and look inside to see if the knowledge is there. Therefore, we must be careful to use verbs in our objectives that are measurable by watching a student perform, listening to a student, or analyzing student work.. Consider the difference between the original objectives 5 and 6 above, and the way we have reworded them below to make them measurable.

Clear

        Well written objectives are also clear in describing the outcome. The objective should be understandable to the teacher, students, administrators and parents. Consider Example 9.

        While we have used a descriptive verb (compare), we have been less than specific about what it is that we want the student to compare. Do we want the student to talk about the physical size of the people in the tribes, average life span, what type of food they ate, size of families, the time frame in which they flourished, or in what part of the country? Different students may compare different tribes on different variables due to our lack of precision in stating the objective.

        Always choose the wording of your objectives very carefully. The objective of the lesson should be a guide for everything you do within the lesson as well as a guide to how you will assess mastery of the subject matter. Make sure the verb matches what your students will do for practice and on your assessment. We can clarify our objective.

        We have used the same verb as in Example 9, compare. That is a great verb to use if the students will learn about the food, clothing and shelter of three Native American tribes, recall what they have learned, and actually compare the information about the three tribes. The comparison could be done individually or in small groups, on paper or verbally, on a pre-made chart, or by another means, as long as the information about the different tribes was compared by the students. (This also helps us plan instruction because we are targeting food, clothing and shelter of three tribes. While we may cover other material, these topics are mandatory.) Note that we have actually added a verb in Example 10, contrast, to gain even more precision. Comparison calls for identification of similarities. Contrast requires identification of differences. We decided we wanted both, and the students need to know that.

By content

        Goals and objectives must be placed in a logical order depending on the content material to be covered. For example, sentence structure must be taught before students can write a paragraph or letter. The teaching of mathematics follows a logical order. Until a student has mastered addition and subtraction, the introduction of multiplication and division will not make sense.

        Particularly in the lower grades, but throughout the grades, the season of the year must also be taken into consideration. Kindergarten and 1st grade teachers should teach each of the seasons within that season. A young child will have difficulty remembering what winter is like in the middle of August. Proper sequencing will make the content more relevant.

Before testing

        In order to sequence goals and objectives effectively, the teacher should become aware of the objectives that may be tested on the standardized tests (SAT9 or other). These are noted in the Alabama Courses of Study. These objectives should be taught before the tests are given each spring. In preparing students for the High School Exit Exam it is extremely important to cover all exam objectives before the test is administered.

        No matter how well thought out the sequencing of the objectives has been, the effective teacher will sometimes realize that some or all students in a class are just not ready for a particular objective. If all students need prerequisite knowledge or skills, instruction for that objective will be delayed until the prerequisites have been mastered. If some students in the class aren't ready for the new content, the effective teacher will provide them with the resources and instruction needed to "catch up", even while moving forward with the other students in the class. Sometimes, individualizing instruction requires different objectives for different students at a particular point in time.

To facilitate curriculum integration

Know your students before you write goals and objectives

        Every student we teach is different. Because of this, each student has different needs. Students differ in developmental levels, ability, achievement levels, interests and learning modalities. An effective teacher keeps specific learners in mind as goals and objectives are developed. Special Education students in all programs will have an Individual Education Plan developed by the student's I.E.P. committee. That plan serves as a start point for more detailed planning.

        As previously mentioned, you may have some goals and objectives for individual students and for groups of students, in addition to or in place of those for the class as a whole. More information on accommodating individual differences can be found in other modules in this series.

        We must remember that we are teaching and testing at more than the "knowledge" level, so our objectives must address higher order thinking as well. Whether using a framework based on Bloom, Gagne, or others, we should strive to include objectives and instruction at multiple levels. To ensure higher order thinking, objectives need to be written that require students to use processes or develop products that require those kinds of thinking; e.g., application, analysis, synthesis, evaluation, and problem solving.