The Power of SMART Goals: Using Goals to Improve Student Learning

The Power of SMART Goals shows readers how to transform their schools into places where every student is meeting and exceeding standards by shifting thinking to a focus on results. When goals are not used to prioritize efforts and resources, which in turn focuses behavior, people naturally return to the daily list of urgent problems, issues, crises, and new initiatives, ending each day feeling overwhelmed by the sheer volume of activities. Furthermore, goal setting is rarely used at the classroom level to improve rates of learning, even though they are powerful in improving achievement. This book s premise is that by implementing SMART (Strategic and Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Results-based and Time-bound) goals, educators have the ability to transform their schools and classrooms into places where each and every student meets and exceeds standards. Before educators can embrace SMART goals, however, they must first focus their thinking on results. The authors present several frameworks for adult and student goal-setting and then discuss: the barriers to goal-setting and monitoring; how to keep goals alive through supportive systems, policies, structures, and skill-building; the role of assessment in goal-setting; the power of goals to improve curriculum, instruction, and assessment; the role of professional development practices in goal-setting and improvement; how to build capacity for goal-oriented thinking; and case studies from real schools that are turning challenges into opportunities for learning and improvement.