RSA 2: S.M.A.R.T. Goal Creator

http://www.rcoe.k12.ca.us/leadershipInstitute/smart_goal/index.php

The establishment of goals is one of the most important aspects of establishing a “results oriented” culture.  Results-oriented goals provide a PLC with the focus and direction that it needs to help all students succeed.  To ensure that goals are truly “community” goals, they must include team goals that are linked to school goals as well as school goals that are linked to district goals (DuFour, DuFour, Eaker, & Many, 2010).  This requires that all members of the PLC have some say in the goals, but also that the goals are structured in a way that they can actually provide measureable and actionable results.  One of the best ways to do this is to utilize “SMART” goals, which DuFour et al. suggest are “essential to achieving results” (p. 172).

Unfortunately, developing SMART goals can be a confusing process for those who are new to the process.  Not only do poorly-conceived SMART goals provide little guidance for an organization, they also provide little in terms of useable “results.”  Luckily, teacher John Rose (n.d.) created the “S.M.A.R.T. Goal Creator,” an online application that can help educators better understand the components of SMART goals and how to piece those components together to produce results-oriented goals that can provide valuable information for a PLC.  While a simple application, it can quickly orient educators to the SMART goal process.

This resource would be especially useful for PLCs that are just starting out, or for beginning teachers who need to become familiar with SMART goals.  For well-established PLCs, this website could be used to produce district, school, and team goals that are uniformly formatted so that educators at all levels can quickly and easily interpret the PLC’s expectations and its measures of success.

DuFour, R., DuFour, R., Eaker, R., & Many, T.  (2010).  Learning by doing: A handbook for

professional learning communities at work (2nd ed.).  Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.

Rose, J. (n.d.).  S.M.A.R.T. goal creator.  Retrieved from

http://www.rcoe.k12.ca.us/leadershipInstitute/smart_goal/index.php

RSA 1: Evaluating School-Based Management: A Tool for Team Self-Review

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Collaboration in teams is obviously one of the most important aspects of a highly functioning PLC.  DuFour, DuFour, Eaker, and Many (2010) discuss several ways that teams can be structured, as well as strategies to enhance the effectiveness of those teams by clarifying expectations, goals, operating norms, etc.  It is no secret that collaborating as a team on something that can be highly personal, such as teaching, can be a challenge, and that poorly-functioning teams can bring the PLC process to a screeching halt.

One aspect of working as a team that is not addressed by DuFour et al. is how to assess the functioning of the team itself, not just the goals and values that a team produces and shares.  Turnbull (2005) proposes a self-reflection checklist that can be used by team members “to evaluate the degree to which their values align with those of the school community as a whole and as a result increase the transparency of team decision-making and improve team accountability” (p. 74).  Her “values inquiry checklist” can be used as a tool for teams to evaluate their similarities and differences, allowing them to identify both areas of great importance to the team and areas of concern regarding team dynamics that must be addressed.   As a diagnostic tool, a checklist (modified for the specific mission of the group) can be administered on a regular basis to quantify how the team changes over time and to determine if the team is functioning efficiently and with purpose.

The use of a modified version of Turnbull’s checklist to evaluate the recommendations of DuFour et al. regarding team collaboration may help to diagnose problems and streamline the PLC process.  Such a checklist provides a “semi-quantitative” assessment approach that complements the team building processes and techniques advocated by DuFour et al.  It only seems appropriate that, in a PLC process guided by student data, there should also be some data that correspond to a team’s ability to collaborate.

DuFour, R., DuFour, R., Eaker, R., & Many, T.  (2010).  Learning by doing: A handbook for

professional learning communities at work (2nd ed.).  Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.

Turnbull, B.  (2005).  Evaluating school-based management: A tool for team self-review. 

International Journal of Leadership in Education, 8(1). 73-79.