The Handbook for the New Art and Science of Teaching. Robert J. Marzano
Targets and Scales
Once you’ve spent the time and energy creating the scales, you must use them as a foundation for instruction; otherwise, that precious time has been wasted. For example, for a lesson with brand-new content, you might plan your lesson to first focus on score 2.0, which would be considered the daily learning target. Once you’ve established that the students are able to successfully meet this goal, move up to the set learning goal of score 3.0 content.
Of course, to effectively implement targets and scales, you must be sure that students understand the learning progressions. Introduce or review the concepts of learning targets and proficiency scales in a general way before relating them directly to the content they’ll need to master. You may also consider using past student work to exemplify each level of the scale. Throughout instruction, relate assignments and activities back to the learning target or scale to help students absorb these concepts and become fluent in their use.
Consider extending your use of targets and scales by putting them in the students’ hands. Ask students to set goals based on a target or scale. Or, ask students to describe how their actions contribute to their mastery of the target. Another option is to have students determine for themselves where they are on the scale and what they need to do to get to the next level.
Creating Student-Friendly Scales
In this strategy, the teacher asks students to translate the scale into student-friendly language. After explaining the target, simpler (2.0), and more complex (4.0) learning goals, the teacher divides the students into groups of three or four to write out their own versions of each of these levels. The teacher then compiles the students’ suggestions, presents the rewritten scale to students for feedback and comments, and revises as necessary.
The benefits of this strategy are twofold. First, the students’ responses help the teacher to better identify the students’ understanding of both the target and the scale. Second, students are better able to internalize the learning progression having done this work rather than just viewing the scale on a whiteboard or poster.
Figure 1.3, based on Robert J. Marzano’s (2006) work in Classroom Assessment and Grading That Work, shows student-friendly wording of each score on a proficiency scale.
Source: Marzano, 2006.
Figure 1.3: Example of a student-friendly proficiency scale.
Identifying Individual Student Learning Goals
The teacher asks students to identify and record a personal learning goal that interests them and that relates to the teacher-identified learning goals. Students state their personal learning goals using the following formats.
When this unit is completed, I will better understand ________________________.
When this unit is completed, I will be able to ________________________.
Instead of creating a proficiency scale for their personal goals, students can use the following generic scale to examine their progress.
4 = I did even better than the goal I set.
3 = I accomplished my goal.
2 = I didn’t accomplish everything I wanted to, but I learned quite a bit.
1 = I tried, but I didn’t really learn much.
0 = I didn’t really try to accomplish my goal.
Figure 1.4 (page 12) can provide your students with guidance in setting and tracking their personal learning goals.
Figure 1.4: Student progress chart.
Visit go.SolutionTree.com/instruction for a free reproducible version of this figure.
Monitoring Element 1
Specific student responses and behaviors allow the teacher to determine whether this element is being implemented effectively and producing the desired effects.
• Students can describe how they have progressed on a scale.
• Students can explain the learning goal for the lesson.
• Students can describe how their current activities relate to the learning goal.
• Students can explain the progression of levels of performance on the scale.
Use this list to monitor student responses to element 1.
To monitor your own use of this element, use the scale in figure 1.5 in combination with the reproducible “Tracking Teacher Actions: Providing Scales and Rubrics” (page 23). As with other proficiency scales, level 3 or higher is the goal.
Figure 1.5: Self-rating scale for element 1—Providing scales and rubrics.
The following examples describe what each level of the scale might look like in the classroom.
• Not Using (0): A teacher does not typically articulate learning goals in her class. When she does, she does not embed those goals in a scale.
• Beginning (1): A teacher posts a learning goal embedded in a scale but does not review the goal or scale with his class or explain how daily assignments relate to the learning goal.
• Developing (2): A teacher has established a routine for using learning goals and scales. At the beginning and end of each lesson, she describes how the content in the lesson relates to a specific part of the scale. However, the teacher does not make sure students understand how to use the scale and isn’t sure if the routine is having an impact on students’ understanding of their progress.
• Applying (3): A teacher presents learning goals and scales and asks his students to translate scales into student-friendly language. He leads students in defining unfamiliar terms then puts them into small groups to generate specific, action-oriented descriptions of each level of the scale. He monitors each group to make sure each student understands the scale and the concept of a learning progression. Once the students have an understanding of the learning goals and scale, the teacher checks to ensure that students can describe how the scale relates to classroom activities.
• Innovating (4): A teacher has had a great deal of success introducing and using proficiency scales with her class. However, some students who are English learners are having difficulty understanding the different levels of knowledge depicted in the scale. To help ensure that these students can use the scale, the teacher asks a friend of hers to translate the scale into the students’ native language, which in this case is Spanish. She also pairs monolingual Spanish speakers with students who speak both Spanish and English when discussing the various levels of the scale.
Element 2: Tracking Student Progress
An effective educator facilitates tracking student progress on one or more learning goals using a formative approach to assessment. Research has shown that feedback—making students aware of their progress toward learning goals—is associated with an increase in student achievement (Bangert-Drowns, Kulik, Kulik, & Morgan, 1991; Bloom, 1976; Haas, 2005; Haller, Child, & Walberg, 1988; Kumar, 1991; Lysakowski & Walberg, 1981, 1982; Tennenbaum & Goldring, 1989; Walberg, 1999). Feedback is particularly effective when accompanied by clear goals and when given frequently (Bangert-Drowns, Kulik, & Kulik, 1991;