Robert Marzano on Being Clear on Learning Objectives

(Originally titled “Targets, Objectives, Standards: How Do They Fit?”)

In this Educational Leadership column, author/consultant/researcher Robert Marzano notes there is confusion about what the terms learning targets, instructional objectives, learning goals, outcomes, educational objectives, and standards mean and how they fit together. Here are his suggestions on how to get clarity:

• Agree on a consistent set of terms. Ideally everyone within a district uses curriculum vocabulary the same way.

• Start with objectives for each curriculum unit. These are clear statements of what students should know and be able to do by the end.

• Break the objectives into a learning progression. This helps teachers give students feedback on how they’re progressing. For example, in a health unit on assertiveness, the progression might include:

• Using specific refusal skills in a real-life situation and reporting the outcome.
• Using specific refusal strategies such as not hesitating, looking the person in the eye, keeping responses short and clear, and speaking respectfully.
• Describing why refusal skills are especially important for teenagers.
• Explaining basic terminology – peer pressure, personal responsibility, group dynamics.

• Use the learning progression to establish daily targets. These flow naturally from a well-articulated progression – although targets can take more than one day and don’t necessarily have to be taught in the same sequence as the learning progression.

• Translate daily targets into student-friendly language. For example, “I can say no to someone without them getting mad at me.”

“Targets, Objectives, Standards: How Do They Fit?” by Robert Marzano in Educational Leadership, May 2013 (Vol. 70, #8, p. 82-83), www.ascd.org

From the Marshall Memo #484