Getting Down to Business with SLOs: Working to Develop High Quality SLOs

With a year of student learning objective (SLO) implementation under our belts, many are eager to get the SLO process underway in the 2013-2014 school year.  As teachers look over class rosters and determine the content areas for SLO development, administrators throughout the Cattaraugus-Allegany Region are hard at work looking at the qualifications of a high quality SLO. 

Why SLOs? Many grapple with this question as they start off yet another school year. As a part of the Regents Reform Agenda, or Race to the Top initiative from New York State, districts are required to implement a multi-faceted system in an effort to prepare students for college and careers. One component of helping our students achieve success is the effectiveness of our teachers and building leaders. Through a 100-point evaluation system, not only are teachers asked to demonstrate their performance in an evidence-based observation, but they are also being asked to model how their students show growth over the course of the academic year. Enter student-learning objectives. 

Last school year, many teachers were new to this idea of learning objectives for their students, but as we enter year two, there are several things teachers and administrators should consider when developing SLOs. For one, are all teachers, across all content areas considering how the Common Core Learning Standards can be embedded in their course content? Social Studies teachers shouldn’t just be honing in on the standards associated with their units of study, but rather, should also be considering how writing an argument, or speaking and listening tasks, could play a key role in their course, and in their SLO as well. New York State’s Common Core Learning Standards for both ELA and Math have cross-curricular connections, and teachers should be considering that as they begin with year two of SLO implementation. 

Another aspect of SLO development our teachers and building leaders should consider is that of the baseline data that is collected to set growth targets for our students. Should we be looking solely at a pre-assessment score, or should there be other data points that help us to set realistic targets for our vast array of students? Many question the value of a pre-assessment, as it may not set a clear picture of where our students can grow. Consider this in addition to a district-approved pre-assessment: gather multiple data points on a student or students to gauge where students have the potential to grow. An Earth Science teacher may take into consideration student scores on the Grade 8 NYS Science Assessment, in addition to their grades in a living environment course. They may also look at final exam grades from previous science courses. Math courses and prior assessment scores could also be taken into consideration. The more data we have on our students, the more prepared we are to make an educated prediction as to where a student can grow to over the course of the school year.

Student Learning Objectives are not meant to question the level of effectiveness of a teacher, but rather are used to model the true impact a teacher can have on a student’s learning in an academic year. We want our students to show growth in their learning, and what better way to model that growth than tracking their academic successes in a school year.

For those looking for additional resources on the development of high quality SLOs, consider checking out the student learning objectives page on EngageNY (http://www.engageny.org/resource/student-learning-objectives). Collections of webinars and sample SLOs have been added to assist teachers in the second year of SLO implementation.