Chapter 3: Academic Standards and Objective-Writing

It was the third week of school. Ms. Masterson was discussing climate change and was happy that this concept aligned with several state standards. She was prepared with charts, graphs, and visual aids to support students’ understanding of climate change. The school principal stepped into her classroom to observe the lesson. Ms. Masterson was excited to be observed during a lesson in which she felt prepared and ready to engage students. Upon the completion of the lesson, the principal asked the class, “So why is it important to learn about climate change?” This was met with blank stares as students looked at Ms. Masterson, hoping she would respond. Finally, a student raised his hand and said, “I mean, it seems important, right? Like something we should know about?” Ms. Masterson realized at this moment that she had neglected to do a key thing prior to beginning instruction.

The process of effective lesson planning consists of the alignment of standards, objectives, assessments, and instruction. Based on what we know about learning, it is important to approach lesson-planning by adhering to the following steps:

1. Familiarize yourself with your state’s standards, as well as national content-focused standards.
2. Determine needs of students based on assessment data.
3. Determine the appropriate Knows, Understands, and Dos (KUDs) for your students, based on standards and needs that are identified from collected data.
4. Determine the mode(s) in which students will express their knowledge and understandings, ensuring that they are aligned with standards.
5. Design lesson procedures that engage students, differentiate by needs and strengths, and that ensure alignment to standards and your pre-established KUDs.
6. Employ high-yield instructional models and strategies.

This chapter focuses on the alignment of standards and objectives, and is followed by chapters that discuss the processes of aligned assessments and instructional procedures. This chapter is designed to help with the next two rows of our guiding lesson template, which are highlighted below.

Lesson Plan Template

Principles of Learning

Teaching is complicated and multi-faceted. While teachers may focus on how to teach a lesson, until it is fully understood what is to be taught, the how goes by the wayside. Much research has been conducted on the process of learning and what makes learning endure. Below are several theoretical principles about how students learn and how that learning is sustained over time:

1. As students become exposed to new concepts, their thinking will change to accommodate the new information and attach it to schema, or prior knowledge (Donovan & Bransford, 2005; Estes, Mintz, & Gunter, 2011; Jensen, 2005).
2. Students may be more adept to learning some curricular areas than others (i.e. a student who excels in reading but struggles with math concepts).
3. Newly taught skills must be taught more than one time in order for students to attain them. New skills should be linked to students’ schema in order for the learning to be retained (Estes, Mintz, & Gunter, 2011; Willingham, 2009).
4. In order for learning to last, it must be authentically applied to real life contexts by students. The learning of rote memorizable facts will not endure (Estes, Mintz, & Gunter, 2011; Marzano, 2003; Willingham, 2009).
5. Metacognition (students’ thinking about their thinking) promotes learning that endures (Estes, Mintz, & Gunter, 2011; National Research Council, 2000).
6. Risk-taking is important in the sustainment of new learning. Encourage students to make mistakes, learn from them, and then change their approaches/theories. Ensure that risks are seen as a challenge, but not a threat, in order for students to take part in this process (Caine & Caine, 1994).
7. Every student is different and has different strengths and needs. A later chapter in this text reviews differentiation and the importance of proactively planning for the strengths and needs of each student, rather than relying on reactive re-teaching or remediation.

The first step in designing impactful learning experiences is the understanding of instructional standards, followed by the setting of goals and objectives that align with those standards. This chapter provides a review of instructional standards, as well as approaches to the writing of goals and objectives and the necessity of alignment of each of these.

Instructional Standards

A common misconception among the general public is that state or national objectives are the same as the high-stakes tests that students take at the end of certain grade levels. The state of Virginia has Standards of Learning, also called SOLs. Most other states use the Common Core State Standards, or CCSS. Educational standards are the learning goals for what students should know and be able to do at each grade level. Education standards, such as CCSS or SOLs, are not a curriculum. Standards serve as the foundation for goal-setting, objective-writing, and lesson planning.

Common Core State Standards

The Common Core State Standards are a set of high-quality academic standards in mathematics and English language arts/literacy (ELA). CCSS standards outline what a student should know and be able to do at the end of each grade. The standards were created with the goal of ensuring that all students graduate from high school with the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in college, career, and life, regardless of where they live. Forty-three states, the District of Columbia, four territories, and the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) have voluntarily adopted CCSS. CCSS represent a shift in education policy, serving to maintain consistent expectations of what students are learning in K-12 classrooms, regardless of where they live.

Virginia State Standards of Learning

Teachers in Virginia use Standards of Learning (SOLs) rather than CCSS. The Commonwealth of Virginia did not adopt CCSS because of the large investments of money and time in developing the Virginia SOLs, standards they believe to be of the same high quality as the Common Core standards. According to the Virginia Department of Education website, “The Standards of Learning (SOL) for Virginia Public Schools establish minimum expectations for what students should know and be able to do at the end of each grade or course in English, mathematics, science, history/social science and other subjects.” All K-12 standards can be found on the VDOE’s K-12 Standards & Instruction page, and are separated out by grade and content areas.

Additionally, the VDOE website offers a curriculum framework for each content area, which serves as a companion document by defining the identified content knowledge, skills, and understandings. The Curriculum Framework is not meant to be an entire curriculum, but rather, it provides additional guidance to school divisions and teachers as they develop their local programs of studies appropriate for their students. It assists teachers in lesson planning by identifying essential understandings, defining essential content knowledge, and describing the intellectual skills students need to use. This supplemental framework delineates in greater specificity the content that all teachers should teach and all students should learn. The concepts, skills, and content spiral; teachers should note each grade level builds skills that carry to the following grades. Each grade level within the Curriculum Framework builds from kindergarten through grade 12, creating a comprehensive instructional tool, which is designed to prepare students for success in future postsecondary education and the workplace.

Other sources of standards may include:

• Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
• National English/Language Arts Standards (NCTE)
• National Math Standards (NCTM)
• National Social Studies Standards (NCSS)

Why are Goals and Objectives Important?

Once a teacher has determined which standard(s) will be the focus of a lesson/unit, it is important to develop targeted, specific learning goals and objectives. Goals and objectives keep teachers from teaching “spaghetti” lessons, ones in which multiple ideas or concepts are tossed “against the wall” with the hope that some stick. These are key decision points in teaching in which learning targets are articulated and shared with students. Clearly defined goals and objectives allow lessons to be focused and intentional rather than shallow and less meaningful.

Instructional goals and objectives allow teachers to design lessons with specific learning targets in mind. Clear learning targets improve the chances of student learning. The clarity of instructional goals and objectives is a critical piece of instructional design. Well-written goals and objectives align with standards and provide clarity to students about what the learning expectations are. Two common approaches to the writing of goals and objectives are the Audience, Behavior, Condition, Degree (ABCD) approach and the Knows, Understands, and Dos (KUDs) approach.

ABCD Objectives

One method that can be useful when writing a learning objective or outcome is the  Audience, Behavior, Condition Degree (ABCD) method (Heinich, et al., 1996). This method considers:

1. Audience: Who are your learners (who will be doing the performance)?
2. Behavior: Describe the task or behavior using action verbs — be sure it is something that can be heard or something that is observable.
3. Conditions: Under what conditions (what tools, aids or reference materials can the learner use? Are there things that they won’t be able to use?)
4. Degree: To what degree of mastery — how well must it be done (speed, accuracy, quality, etc.)?

Below are some example objectives which include Audience (A), Behavior (B), Condition (C), and Degree of Mastery (D). Note that ABCD objectives do not necessarily need to be written in ABCD order. In fact, the condition often precedes the audience in ABCD objectives. The importance is on the inclusion of each of the four components of the objective, not the order of them.

Students will write a summary of an assigned reading that includes discussion of plot, characters, and climax.

Students will describe the steps in planning factual investigation in legal research, including identifying and formulating relevant legal theories, generating alternative solutions and strategies, applied to a hypothetical case.

Take a moment to review your state standards. Review the curriculum frameworks, if available. Select a content standard and align it with an ABCD standard. Who is your audience? What do you wish for them to accomplish (behavior)? Under what conditions will your audience be able to achieve the behavior(s)? To what degree of success do you expect of your audience in order to determine mastery?

Knows, Understands and Dos

In order to have effective, impactful instruction, it is important that teachers begin with clear learning goals. According to Wiggins and McTighe (2011), authors of Understanding by Design, effective curriculum is planned backwards through a three-stage design process. These are desired results (overall goals), evidence (how we determine acquisition of learning), and learning plan (procedures). Starting with the end goal(s) in mind is paramount to instruction that yields enduring learning.

Dr. Carol Tomlinson (2003) recommends that these goals be written in the format of Knows, Understands, and Dos, or KUD (Kumpost, 2009). The Know goal represents procedural knowledge and facts, such as recalling the steps of multi-digit multiplication or the date of Abraham Lincoln’s death. The Do goal represents skills that are transferable to other contexts. Dos often begin with an action verb, such as “write a persuasive essay” or “solve multi-step word problems.” The Knows and Dos are typically the easier parts of the KUD to write, as they are cut and dry. The Understand goal represents the “meat” of the learning. It answers the question, “Yes, but what is the point?” Understands are the big ideas, the large conceptual takeaways, the answers to the essential questions that guide learning and teaching.

Table 3.1 provides examples of instructional KUDs.

Table 3.1:  Examples of Instructional KUDs

Lucid instructional objectives provide clear targets for instruction. Learning objectives should be unambiguous and do not leave learning “to chance.” Without predetermining the “ends,” student learning is difficult, if not impossible, to assess. Once a teacher has determined the learning goals and objectives, the determination of assessment and instructional procedures is not left to chance, but is provided a clear pathway.

Alignment of Standards and Objectives

When writing goals and objectives, it is important to ensure alignment with the standard(s) that have been selected for instruction. Alignment is the process of ensuring that curriculum and assessments are consistent with enabling students to attain the knowledge outlined in the identified standards. This means that teachers need to ensure that the goals and objectives for the lesson plan are in sync with the selected standard(s).

For example, if a teacher’s guiding state standard is to ensure that students will accurately depict story elements, an aligned objective may be, “When provided with a text on their instructional level, students will be able to orally identify the characters, setting, plot, climax, and theme of the story.” When the standards and goals/objectives of a lesson are aligned, the students stand a far greater chance at mastering the skill(s) being instructed.

On the other hand, when there is not alignment amongst the goals, objectives and standards of a lesson plan, the lesson may become disjointed and muddled. Alignment in a lesson plan ensures that all the components are working together to support student success. If you start with aligned standards, goals, and objectives, you will set your students up for learning that endures.

Revisiting Ms. Masterson

So what was Ms. Masterson’s mistake? By now, you likely realize that she had neglected to set objectives for the lesson. Engaging lessons are great, but if they lack a purpose, it’s akin to having a boat on the water without an anchor. Goals and objectives anchor each lesson and provide students with deep understandings so that they are able to make connections and recognize WHY they are being instructed on specific concepts. The WHY is just as important as the WHAT.

References

Caine, R., & Caine, G. (1994). Making connections: Teaching and the human brain. Addison-Wesley.

Donovan, M., & Bransford, J. (Eds.) (2005). How students learn history, mathematics, and science in the classroom. The National Academies Press.

Estes, T., Mintz, S., & Gunter, M. (2011). Instruction: A models approach. Pearson Education

Heinrich, R., Molenda, M., Russell, J., & Smaldino, S. (1996). Instructional media and technologies for learning. Merrill.

Jensen, E. (2005). Teaching with the brain in mind (2nd ed.). ASCD.

Kizlik, B. (2003). How to write effective behavioral objectives. Adprima.

Kumpost, J. (2009). Understanding the understands in KUDs. differentiationcentral.com

Marzano, R. (2003). What works in schools? Translating research into action. ASCD.

National Research Council. (2000). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school. Committee on Developments in the Science of Learning. The National Academies Press.

Tomlinson, C. (2003) Fulfilling the promise of the differentiated classroom: Strategies and tools for responsive teaching. ASCD.

Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (2011). The Understanding by Design guide to creating high- quality units. ASCD.

Willingham, D. (2009). Why don’t students like school? A cognitive scientist answers questions about how the mind works and what it means for the classroom. Jossey-Bass.