Teacher Development: Teacher Goal Setting

Overview
Teacher Goal Setting is an important component of a teacher’s development. Goal setting is designed to focus teachers
and coaches on developing and mastering discrete skills that will impact a teacher’s overall performance, and in-turn,
student achievement.

By setting good goals in the beginning of the year and tracking progress toward those goals, teachers can focus on
improving a few specific, high-impact skills rather than trying to improve everything at once.

Teacher development is the most important lever schools can invest in to improve student achievement. Teachers and
coaches will use the goal setting process as one strategy to improve teacher practice. Teacher goals should be
complimented by continuous feedback, open and honest dialogue, and additional opportunities for teachers to learn
and grow through large and small group professional development. All of these pieces work together in order to help
teachers develop and grow.

Table of Contents
Overview............................................................................................................................................................................... 1
What goals should a teacher set? ………….........................................................................................................................2
What makes a good goal? ………………..............................................................................................................................2
When should teachers and coaches start the goal setting process?.................................................................................3
Process for Teacher Goal Setting...........................................................................................................................................3
Student Outcome Goals………….....................................................................................................................................3
Professional Learning Goals: ………… .............................................................................................................................6
Additional Resources:............................................................................................................................................................8
Foundational Professional Learning Goals…..................................................................................................................8
Resource for using excel-based Student Outcome Goals Tool …. .................................................................................9

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 Teacher Development: Teacher Goal Setting
What goals should a teacher set? return to top
The practice of teaching is complex and broad. As such, teacher goal setting should be differentiated based on an
individual teacher’s needs and in partnership with the teacher’s coach. At the same time, we have found that setting
goals that really drive improvement involve three areas: student outcomes; professional learning goals; and personal
priorities. As we have worked with teachers and schools who are able to drive significant progress in student
achievement and personal effectiveness, we have learned what we believe to be best practice within each of these areas
and further information on each is included herein. To that end, teachers, in concert with their coach, and in the
context of their school, will set goals in the following areas:

1. Student Outcome Goals – Teachers will work
with their school teams to set student
outcome goal(s) for each grade and subject
they teach.
2. Professional Learning Goals – Teachers will
set a minimum of 1 professional learning goal.
 Tied directly to the most important thing – RESULTS!
 Tied to state test / regents test results (and ideally to the school’s 1-
year goals) where possible. Summative assessments (e.g. IA5, EOY
exams) or other outcome metrics may be used in subjects where state
test / regents tests are not available.
 Tied to performance goals for specials classes.
 Teachers will set student outcome goals for each grade and subject
they teach.
 Answer the question: “What are the 1 or 2 instructional practices
that are highest priority for me to improve in order to meet my
student outcome goals?
 These goals are aligned to the AF Essentials rubric
 Teachers will set a minimum of 1 professional learning goal.

3. Personal priorities – This category is optional.  Personal priority goals are goals that indirectly impact a teacher’s
success or happiness. These could include goals that promote or
encourage personal sustainability, or goals around performance related
to professionalism (i.e. attendance, interactions with peers, non-
teaching related duties).
 This category is optional depending on teacher/coach feedback.

What makes a good goal? return to top

Goals should be long-term goals: Throughout the year, teachers and coaches track progress toward goals and make
adjustments to goals based on data and evidence collected.

Goals should be SMART: The SMART framework is used to help guide successful goal setting. When creating a goal, it is
helpful to think through these criteria:

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 Teacher Development: Teacher Goal Setting
Specific Who, what, where, when, which, why

Measureable Goals are quantifiable and can be measured

Amibitious and High

Highest lever tomaximize student achievement for that teacher
Impact
Aligned to best practices and research, aligned to school
Relevant priorities, aligned to team priorities

Time-Bound A clear end or target date

When should teachers and coaches start the goal setting process? return to top

 Deadline for all teacher goals to finalized and entered into AF Platinum : October 1, 2012
 Returning Teachers: The goal setting process with returning teachers can begin as early as summer teacher
training. Teachers and coaches should use the previous year’s data and evidence to prioritize areas of growth
and set goals.
 (Professional Learning Goals Only) First Year Teachers & Teachers New to the Network : We recommend waiting
to set professional learning goals until you are able to observe the teacher in their classroom. This will provide
you with some evidence to help prioritize the highest impact areas for a teacher. We have identified
foundational professional learning goals that are a priority for all beginning and developing teachers to master.
You can modify these goals as needed, however, we’ve found them to be a successful starting point and critical
for teachers to master before moving on to other goals. See the “Foundational Professional Learning Goals”
section below for these goals. Student outcome goals can potentially be done separately, since they are more
dependent on how the students did in the prior year assessments.

Process for Teacher Goal Setting

Student Outcome Goals: return to top
This process will look different from school to school based on how the school leader decides to engage the school team
in goal setting. School leadership teams should determine and drive the development of individual student outcome
goals. We recommend that teacher teams and school leaders work collaboratively to unpack school goals and translate
them into individual student outcome goals. Teacher teams should feel shared ownership over student outcome goals
and work collaboratively to set and achieve these goals.

 Student outcomes goals are the focus for the teacher.  They should live with the teacher and their coach in
coaching meetings but also in the teacher’s classroom.

 These goals are connected to the school’s 1-year goals.  Therefore, if all reading teachers hit their goals, the school
hits or exceeds their reading goal for the year, and more importantly, scholars are on track to climbing up the
mountain to college.

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 Teacher Development: Teacher Goal Setting
 Student outcomes goals should act as collective classroom goals where scholars are also striving to exceed them. 
As a general rule, we should be pushing scholars past basic proficiency and aiming for advanced measures, as these
are the more reliable indicators of college readiness.

Note: Though a teacher may set a goal for less than 100% of scholars to achieve at the proficient level on a state
assessment, it is not recommended that teachers advertise that goal to scholars publically. For example, it might be
demotivating to a group of scholars to say, “85% of us will pass the state test.” Some scholars who may self-identify that
they are part of the 15% who aren’t expected to pass which will be de-motivating. Alternatively, a teacher may rally
scholars around individual student learning goals or a more generic goal. For example, the teacher might say, “100% of us
will meet our individual learning goals.”

Steps Examples
1. Analyze and set ambitious (and feasible) student outcome goals: Possible data/evidence sources:
School Leader works with teacher teams (grade level/subject level) or 1. State test or regents results
individual teachers to analyze students' past achievement data (IA 2. Running record/reading data
data, grade book, student work, F&P, state tests), set individual 3. IA data
student goals and then create classroom outcome goals.  For teachers 4. Grade books
with goals embedded in the AF Report Card, goals should add up to 5. Student or parent survey data
meet or exceed the overall school AF Report Card Goals in their grade 6. Student work samples
and subject area. (Resource for using excel-based Student Outcome
Goals Tool)

This should be pressure tested against the AF Report Card goals targets and
the school wide targets.

2. Monitor Progress: Teacher and coach discuss and determine the right Some highly effective ways to assess progress
benchmarks and how they will monitor progress toward this goal include but are not limited to:
throughout the school year: “What are the metrics we will use to 1. IA data
2. State assessments
measure progress toward this goal at the mid-year? “
3. Grade book
4. Teacher-made assessments (summative and
formative)
5. Student work samples

3. Determine Supports: Teacher and coach discuss the types of supports Some highly effective supports include but are not
that will help the teacher meet this goal: “What will my coach and I limited to:
1. Co-planning
work on to improve my practice and meet this goal?”
2. Modeling & practice
3. Observation & feedback
4. Video taping
5. Real-time coaching

4. Finalize and Enter: Teacher goals, benchmarks, and supports will be Find user guides for AF Platinum here.
entered into AF Platinum under the “My Goals” tab. AF Platinum is
Achievement First’s online system for setting and tracking goals, and
for viewing/tracking all Teacher Career Pathway metrics.

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 Teacher Development: Teacher Goal Setting
5. Determine how to communicate, invest and rally scholars around the Some ideas to communication and invest scholars:
big goal 1. Student-teacher conferences to
communicate learning goals
2. Have a public goals board (100% of scholars
will reach personal learning goals.)
3. Monitor scholar progress towards goals in a
public place (i.e., F&P growth board)
4. Scholars track mastery of content standards
in each unit

Example Student Outcome Goal:

Student Outcome Goals
80% of students are proficient or
better on ELA state test and 15%
of students are advanced on ELA
state test
What are the metrics we will use to
measure progress toward this goal at the
mid-year?
 65% scholars are 75% or higher on IA 1
 70% of scholars are 75% or higher on IA 2
 75% of scholars are 75% or higher on IA 3
 75% of scholars are writing a 5 paragraph
essay scoring at least of 3 on the writing
rubric
What will my coach and I work on to
improve my practice and meet this
goal?
 Coach to review summative and
formative assessments for each unit
 Coach and teacher work collaboratively
to review grade book and monitor
scholar progress between IA cycles
 Coach and teacher review scholar work
each unit to ensure strong aim, activity,
exit ticket alignment

Example for subject with no standardized test (history or science)

75% of my scholars will earn 80%
or better on each of my rigorous
summative unit tests.
Fewer than 5% of my scholars
will earn lower than 70% on each
of my rigorous summative unit
tests.
 Each summative assessment will be
analyzed on its own.
 Where goals have been met, key success
factors will be identified and replicated.
 Where goals were not met, key
roadblocks will be identified and new
strategies put into place.
 Coach or content expert to review
summative assessments with teacher
and provide feedback on rigor and
questions.

Coach and teacher work collaboratively
on calendar of objectives to successfully
teach content to mastery before test.
 Coach and teacher review weekly lesson
plans to drive quality, alignment, and
mastery.

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 Teacher Development: Teacher Goal Setting
Professional Learning Goals: return to top
Professional Learning Goals should be the highest impact action to ensure that all scholars meet their goals. This goal is
a means to an end – the end being the student outcome goals. The teacher and coach should make this goal live in their
coaching practice but it should not be the only thing that the teacher and coach work on throughout the year and does
not need to be a focus every week (See informal observation section.)

Professional Learning Goals should be aligned to the AF Essentials rubric:

 The rubric creates a common language and quantifies inherently qualitative data. This makes it a measurable
goal, and leverages the hundreds of hours of work that went into quantifying great teaching.
 Using the essentials creates automatic benchmarks in formal and informal observations to check progress to
goal. Since the entire rubric is filled out for formal observations, often by outside observers, the coach and
teacher can follow-up on the priority goals they have selected to check progress to goal. Additionally, observers
are strongly encouraged to use the rubric to rate the essentials of focus during informal observations and to
provide feedback about how the teacher can drive their practice around those specific essentials. This should be
doable since the entire rubric doesn’t need to be filled out for informal observations.

Steps Examples
1. Analyze and set ambitious (and feasible) professional learning goals : Possible data/evidence sources:
Teacher and coach reflect on student outcome goals and performance 1. TCP lesson observation data
to date using multiple sources of data and ask:  “What are the 1 or 2 2. Informal observation evidence
instructional practices that are highest priority for me to 3. Lesson or unit plans
improve in order to meet my student outcome goals? 4. Student survey data
2. Teacher and coach discuss the potential highest-priority learning goals, 5. Student work samples
looking first at mastery of the suggested “foundational goals.” (See list
6. State test or regents results
of “Foundational Professional Learning Goals” below.)
7. IA data
3. Teacher and coach agree on 1-2 high-priority professional learning
goals and outline the success criteria for meeting this goal and the 8. Grade books
support needed to meet this goal.

4. Monitor Progress: Teacher and coach discuss and determine the right Some highly effective ways to assess progress
benchmarks and how they will monitor progress toward this goal include but are not limited to:
throughout the school year: “What are the metrics we will use to 1. Informal Observation Feedback
2. Collecting targeted data during informal
measure progress toward this goal at the mid-year? “
observations
3. Student work samples

5. Determine Supports: Teacher and coach discuss the types of supports Some highly effective supports include but are not
that will help the teacher meet this goal: “What will my coach and I limited to:
1. Co-planning
work on to improve my practice and meet this goal?”
2. Modeling & practice
3. Observation & feedback
4. Video taping
5. Real-time coaching

6. Finalize and Enter: Teacher enters goals, benchmarks and supports are Find user guides for AF Platinum here.
entered into AF Platinum

7. Determine how to keep this goal alive throughout the school year. Some ideas to keep goals alive in teacher-coach
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 Teacher Development: Teacher Goal Setting
conversations:
1. Standing agenda item once a month
2. Teacher and coach keep real-time feedback
in AF Platinum between step-backs

Example Professional Learning Goals:

Professional Learning Goal What are the metrics we will use to
measure progress toward this goal at
the mid-year?
Example 1: “I will maximize student  Overall growth over time on Ratings on
learning by creating and sustaining a AF Essentials Rubric – 7a (esp.
focused classroom, consistently using Consistency with School-wide Discipline
the Behavior Management Cycle (set System, High Behavioral Expectations,
clear directions, narrate the positive, Clear Expectations, Positive Framing,
give immediate corrections) to get to and 100%)
100%. This will be evidenced by solid-  Informal Observation Feedback (During
exemplary ratings (3-5) on all rows of informal observations, teacher has 3 to
Domain 7: Classroom Culture.” 1 ratio of positive and corrective
responses to scholar behavior)
 Observation Data on Student Actions
after Teacher Directions (# scholars
with pencils down after teacher
directions)
 Analyzing literal script of teacher
comments from lesson
Example 2: “By June 2013, I will  By January 2013, I will earn 3s on ‘‘2a:
improve scholar learning by effectively Quality of CFU,’ ‘6b: Accountability &
executing active learning strategies to Variety,’ and ‘6b: Scholar Engagement’
better engage scholars in the aim. This on at least 75% of my informal &
will be evidenced by a 4 on ‘2a: Quality formal observations.
of CFU,’ ‘6b: Accountability & Variety,’
and ‘6b: Scholar Engagement.”
What will my coach and I work on to
improve my practice and meet this
goal?
 Modeling from coach and strong
teachers, then practicing the skill.
 Lots of observation and feedback with
data on teacher use of the Behavior
Management Cycle and impact on
student behavior /focus
 Co-planning crystal clear “”What to Do
statements for directions
 Video teacher and discuss how she’s
using or not using the cycle at
different moments together
 Real-time coaching (colored cards for
when to narrate positive, etc)
 Coach reviews lesson plans for
engagement strategies
 Try two new engagement strategies
between September and December
 Coach observes for these specific
rubric rows in informal observations at
least 2 times per month

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 Teacher Development: Teacher Goal Setting

Additional Resources:

Foundational Professional Learning Goals return to top

The following goals are for new and developing teachers. Teacher should master these goals before moving on to other
goals. Teachers and coaches should feel free to modify these goals and the measures as they see fit.

Foundational Goals
Classroom Management/Culture: I will maximize student learning by creating and sustaining a focused classroom,
consistently using the Behavior Management Cycle (set clear directions, narrate the positive, give immediate
corrections) to get to 100%. This will be evidenced by solid-exemplary ratings (3-5) on all rows of Domain 7: Classroom
Culture.
Top Quality Written Work: My students will improve the quality of their thinking and written work if I sharpen my vision
for top-quality student work, set clear expectations for top-quality work through strong visual anchors, and give regular,
targeted feedback on student work.  This will be evidenced by strong ratings (4-5) on Essential 3b: Top-Quality Student
Work and by analyzing students’ written work with a writing rubric or vision of excellence.
Great Aims and Alignment: I will maximize student learning by ensuring I plan a strong aim (bite-sized, measurable,
standards-based, part of logical sequence, at the right level of rigor for my scholars) and align the instructional activities
to that aim. This will be evidenced by strong ratings (4-5) on Essential 1: Great Aims and by mastery data on students’
daily and weekly assessments.  
Daily Assessment and Use of Data: I will be able to focus student learning, ensure mastery, and adjust my instruction to
meet student needs by writing strong aims-aligned exit tickets (or other daily assessments) and using that data to
diagnose areas of scholar understanding and misunderstanding to inform my upcoming instructional planning. This will
be evidenced by strong ratings (4-5) on Essential 2b: Daily Assessment, and by mastery data on students’ daily and
weekly assessments.
Top Quality Oral Responses: My students will improve the quality of their thinking and speaking if I consistently plan
exemplar top quality student oral responses into my lesson plans, and then push students to meet those expectations
through asking for evidence, insisting right is right,  using no-opt out and other techniques. This will be evidenced by
strong ratings (4-5) on Essential 3b: Top Quality Student Work.
Intro to New Material: My students will master new material because I thoughtfully plan and clearly deliver my
introduction to new material through an effective think-aloud, model or explanation of key points. This will be evidenced
by strong ratings (4-5) on Essential 4b: Effective and Efficient Delivery (Intro to New Materials and Explanation of the
Aim) and by data from students’ daily, weekly and interim assessments. (Note: this does not apply to lessons that are
inquiry based)
Content Knowledge: My students will master essential content and skills because I deeply understand the 3-5 core
content and skills in my subject area; the common misunderstandings; and the most effective ways to clarify student
confusion. Note: specify the 3-5 core areas of content knowledge that need to be understood. This will be evidenced by
strong ratings (4-5) on Essential 4b: Effective and Efficient Delivery (Explanation of New Material) and Essential 4a:
Evidence of Planning (Accuracy and Misunderstandings).

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 Teacher Development: Teacher Goal Setting
Resource for using excel-based Student Outcome Goals Tool return to top

What is the purpose of the excel-based Student Outcome Goal Setting Tool?
The excel-based Student Outcome Goal Setting tool helps teachers look at individual student historical performance to
set end of year goals for each student. As teachers set end of year goals for each student, the tool quantifies goals for
each class the teacher teaches. In addition, the tool helps to ensure that individual student goals roll up to meet or
exceed grade level goals set on the 3 year goal setting tool.

How do we use the excel-based Student Outcome Goal Setting Tool?

Setting Up the Process:

 Because the Student Outcome Goal Setting tool aligns teacher goal setting with grade level goal setting, teachers
who teach the same grade and subject should meet together to complete this teacher goal setting tool.
 Prior to or during the setting of goals, teachers should enter their names next to the scholars they teach in order to
roll up student goals into class/teacher level goals. If teachers teach multiple classes and would like to see goals for
each class they teach, they should enter in the teacher for the class as “Last Name-Class Name” (ie. “Thompson-
Tufts”) so the tool can group together the goals for scholars in each class.

Setting Scholar Goals:

Note: For this example we will walk through the steps for a Connecticut school. Proficiency levels are
L1-L5 (L5 being advanced). New York schools can follow the same process, but the proficiency levels
are labeled L1, L2, L2.5, L3, and L4.

1. Ground your work in the school goals:

 Look at your school’s goals. Enter these into the summary page under
school goals. This will help you monitor if you’ve set individual
student goals appropriately.

Filter based on Set student goals

2012 Prof. Level using historical data

2. Assign student goals in batches using historical data:

 Filter for students who were at L5 in SY11-12, those students should remain L5.

 Now filter for students at L4 in SY11-12, look across at their past scores. Who could move to a L5? At the
end, will we meet or exceed the EOY goal? All others will remain L4.

 Next, filter for students at L3 in SY11-12, look across at their past scores. Who could move to a L4? At the
end, will we meet or exceed the EOY goal? All others will remain L3.

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 Teacher Development: Teacher Goal Setting
 Filter, filter for students at L2 and L1 in SY11-12, look across at their past scores. Who could move to a L3?
At the end, will we meet or exceed the EOY goal? All others will remain L2.

 Now step back and skim the list of all students. Did you set an ambitious goal for each student?

Caution—
 Students should not stay in the same buckets year to year; we should be seeing them move up the proficiency
bands.
 Some students will move more than one proficiency level from year to year.
 Be aware of the unintended consequences of providing a disproportionate amount of support to scholars who
are closer to proficiency. You will want to think about how you differentiate
for all students in your classroom.

3. Compare student goals to schools goals:

 The summary page will roll up the counts of students in each of the
proficiency bands and the percentages for your school.
 Compare how your individual student goals compare to your school
goals. The color coding can make this easy.
 Green is equal to or greater than school goal
 Yellow is close to school goal
 Red is below school goal
 If individual student goals don’t match school goals, go back and refine
your list.

How will teachers and coaches know if they have done this well?

Beyond setting individual student goals, teachers should use this process as way to reflect on what their instruction will
need to look like to achieve these goals. To better understand their incoming scholars, teachers can use the historical
test information in conjunction with data from IAs in Athena, reading benchmark assessments, and other pieces of
student work from previous years to look for trends in student strengths and areas for growth. Teachers should also
consider what it means for scholars to reach these goals in terms of the content that they will need to master and the
quality of work that they will need to produce in order to plan backwards for how to support students in reaching these
goals. Teachers who have done this work thoroughly should be able to answer the following questions:

• Who are the students who need to move into a higher proficiency level, but you’re not sure how to get them
there?

• What does your picture for end of year student work look like for students at proficient, mastery, and advanced?

• What standards will be most critical in moving students across proficiency levels? How successful have you been
in the past at helping students to demonstrate mastery of those critical standards?

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