Writing Measurable Goals
I travel to a lot of districts to teach educators how to use Datability Web and, even though my goal is to teach features, I inevitably get asked the question, “How do I write a good goal for (fill in the blank)?. Truth be told, it’s something I struggle with as well. As special educators, we usually understand what our children need but it’s often hard to put it into a measurable bite-sized nugget. Personally, I subscribe to the S.M.A.R.T methodology, which stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. A quick google search will bring up many videos on this methodology. I think the key is to get granular with what you’re trying to teach and figure out the real issues that you’re trying to correct. For example, is your student’s inability to do algebra really because they are unable to solve for x or is it because they don’t have the time management skills necessary to study. And don’t even get me started on essay writing
2 COMMENTS
Writing good goals, especially S.M.A.R.T ones, is indeed very challenging, but it is essential, not just for the teacher to understand and assess, but for tue studebt to know what they are supposed to be working on. Breaking things into smaller measurable benchmarks helps, because they will feel a small “win” with each achieved goal. How many of us make checklists of Things To Do? We feel accomplished as we knock out each item amd check it off.
Agreed. It’s often tough to get to the real skills. When I first started teaching, we were required to come up with a goal and then develop benchmarks breaking down the skills for each goal. I feel like that made it easier to conceptualize.