Using Learning Objectives Effectively: Enhancing Student Proficiency and Curriculum Congruency

The major emphasis in education for the 21st century is on data driven accountability measured by student performance on standardized testing. National and state expectations require students to demonstrate mastery of curriculum objectives. Instructional objectives are the focus of the building principals to show measurable student progress. The improvements are evaluated based on data and monitoring of the curriculum.

The third choice of the required reading that I read for my internship is Fair Isn’t Always Equal written by Rick Wormeli. This book is written to help schools and school districts transform their standard grading on assessments and homework to a standards based grading system. The book reasons why schools should look to change to a standard’s based grading system, and the benefits and the amount of information that this type of grading can give us about our students. Not only does this book give the benefits of the grading, it discusses ways to rewrite tests, how to use attendance and effort to give grades, and how to differentiate instruction and assessments to get a true picture of our students and their knowledge of the materials. Wormeli uses quotes from teachers and educational leaders in the different section of the book that have opposite views of standards based grading and the process they used to get to where they are at. This book was assigned to me to read over summer break to begin to prepare us for the change in grading formative assessments using standards based rubrics and the reasons why the change in necessary to truly see if students are learning.

Today’s education system is challenged with creating and incorporating the most effective and meaningful methodological and conceptual curriculum designs to date. One of the key challenges is to design curriculums that facilitate understanding, retention, and generalization (Bulgren, Deshler, & Lenz, 2007, p. 121-122). However, there is no single way to overcome these challenges due to the variances and complexities within each content area. These, along with the demands of meeting high stakes testing, and the endless revolving door of performance standards, places teachers in a constant state of turmoil as they seek to create coexistence between student achievement and rigorous and challenging standards. One strategy being implemented

As schools were faced with these daunting expectations to meet standards, state agencies, school boards, and administration all had to re-evaluate current practices, not only in the form of what should be taught, but how it should be taught (Performance Evaluation Advisory Council, n.d.). In more appropriate terms,

“Common Core State Standards Initiative” is a result of the “Standards and Accountability Movement” which began in the 1990s in the United States. This particular branch of education reforms was geared towards expectations of learning at each grade level. The Standards and Accountability Movement not only brought attention on what students were expected to learn, but on teachers as well – focusing on how teachers were to implement lessons and able to teach for student achievement which would be measured in

She discusses a clear definition and different styles of objectives, assessments, rubrics, activities, and many other lesson components intended to help other new teachers find a start for lesson planning. She focusses a lot on objectives, how to create and effective objective that will shape the entire lesson and some examples of effective verses ineffective. For support she quotes and pulls information Bloom’s Taxonomy as well as other people’s works in educational advancement. Taxonomy is useful when, “… trying to articulate what you want students to be able to do as a result of learning the material in a lesson or unit,” states Reeves on page

The purposes of standardized tests are to instruct decision making, establish program eligibility, evaluate course goals, evaluate program goals, and examine external curriculum. When a teacher gives and assesses a standardized test, they gain information about their students that helps them realize what concepts they have learned according to the agenda for the subject at hand. If the assessment is performed in a sensible amount of time and given according to the directions, this purpose should be fulfilled; however, it is a common belief that standardized tests do not work well in establishing where a student stands in a specific curriculum. The test uses a general curriculum that is the basis for the tests

To remediate this, we contracted with the Achievement Network to help us connect the standards to a curriculum and plan for a more fluid instructional delivery that would improve the assessment outcomes. They provided us a structure that laid out the Common Core Standards of assessed skills that included a scripted curriculum and instructional activities outlined in their guidelines. Students are making growth towards attainment. However, only 9% of the student population have met grade-level proficiency targets. Teachers are feeling that they are harshly judged because 30% of their evaluation is based on students meeting proficiency.

Originally the Standard Based Assessment exam was used from 2012 to 2014 in order to evaluate the students’ proficiency on content-based material ( ). Just last year a new testing method, the Alaska Measures of Progress testing in the areas of mathematics, reading, and writing was adopted ( ). The shift from the Standard Base Assessment to the Alaska Measure of Progress was the Department of Education desire to have students prepared for secondary education or work placement expectations set for in the statement. The Alaska Measure of Progress exam are drastically different in questioning, scoring, achievement definitions, and score parameters then the preceding testing assessment ( ) This lack of comparison leaves the educators in a glitch as they try to educate their students in content-based material without having reliable proficiency testing results. As of this writing the educator will only have the snapshot of last year’s results to direct, guide, and implement their teaching strategies to facilitate the learning process in the classroom. However these test results scores are presently being debated in open forum to the public to set cutoff scores for the four categories in which the student will show proficiency ( ) . So without adequate guidance the teacher is hampered in their efforts to educate a diverse

Since the beginning of the Common Core State Standards discussion, I have shifted from opposing to supporting. Although initially, I was against adopting the CCSS due to the influence of critical articles and news in the media and comments from other teachers fighting common standards, I converted to become a proponent as I used literacy around me to read, listen, think, and rethink the value of common core across content area, grade levels, and state boundaries. Being a teacher with a major in Special and Early Childhood Education, writing outlines of goals and objectives is the method and framework I utilize to organizing my lesson plans and the syllabus. Two factors that influenced me from con to pro-Common Core

Currently, instructors are pressured by state education department to adjust school curricula to meet the expectations of the standardized test. Educators alter the curriculum to “match the [standardized] test” (“How Standardized”). Therefore, instructors are limited and classroom instruction is focused around test preparation for the annual standardized test. Teachers are forced to abandon their creative lessons and “teach the test,” or concentrating only on the material that will be evaluated (“How Standardized”). This frequently involves taking multiple choice tests that are formatted identically to the standardized test and only memorizing facts, formulas, and items included only on the standardized tests (“How Standardized”). Even though test scores may improve, students are not learning how to think critically and perform better in other subjects that are not on the test (“How Standardized”). Instructional time is limited in the other subject areas such as science, social studies, music, and art. Instructors feel “handicapped” and plead to state officials abandon these standardized tests for the sake of the “quality of the instruction in American schools” (Zimmerman 206). School curricula are being modified only to prepare students for a single test, not for education the students need in the future.

“Our educational goal [is] the production of caring, competent, loving, lovable people” . The students found in the schools across the United State are the future of America. They are the doctors, teachers, business people, lawyers and many other roles, that will be out in the workforce in the years to come. What they learn in school will impact them immensely; it is the responsibility of a teacher to give students the best education in order to ensure the common good of the future. It is essential for students to not only learn content matter, but also the skills to enable them to participate in a democracy. Due to standardized testing, the emphasis of education has become on score and rankings rather than learning. A standardized test does not look at the whole student, the scores provided are on a very narrow aspect of education. In the classroom, there are countless ways for teachers to assess the student as a whole person not as just a score. Standardized tests scores should not be the sole criteria for determining a student’s academic achievement.

It is very important for teachers to align their curriculum goals with state standards. Ideally, completing classroom assignments should lead students to meeting classroom objectives. Furthermore, classroom objectives should help a student develop and meet state standards. Using Pennsylvania academic standards, I clarified my instructional goals. I created classroom objectives that are reflective of the information in the Video Basics text. Then I used these objectives to develop my performance task assessment. Below is a table that highlights the alignment between Pennsylvania academic standards, classroom objectives, and the performance assessment.

The ever evolving world of education calls for constant reflection and revision of processes and protocols in a school district. With the implementation of No Child Left Behind, the seed of standard based teaching took root and developed into greater endeavors like the Common Core Learning Standards. As each state has adopted these standards, teachers and students are becoming more aware and accustomed to using the standards every day in the classroom. In moving with this natural progression comes the notion of standards-based reporting and communication with parents.

“Collaboratively examining students learning and performance allows teachers to engage with their content standards, design and critique assessments and plan instruction” (Fisher, 2005. p. 11). Simply glancing over state standards is not providing students with quality instruction; therefore, students are not able to take their learning to a deeper level of understanding.