Learning Targets: Helping Students Aim for Understanding in Today's Lesson

by Connie M. Moss, Susan Brookhart

In Learning Targets , Connie M. Moss and Susan M. Brookhart contend that improving student learning and achievement happens in the immediacy of an individual lesson--what they call "today's lesson"—or it doesn't happen at all. The key to making today's lesson meaningful? Learning targets. Written from students' point of view, a learning target describes a lesson-sized chunk of information and skills that students will come to know deeply. Each lesson's learning target connects to the next lesson's target, enabling students to master a coherent series of challenges that ultimately lead to important curricular standards. Drawing from the authors' extensive research and professional learning partnerships with classrooms, schools, and school districts, this practical book

- Situates learning targets in a theory of action that students, teachers, principals, and central-office administrators can use to unify their efforts to raise student achievement and create a culture of evidence-based, results-oriented practice.
- Provides strategies for designing learning targets that promote higher-order thinking and foster student goal setting, self-assessment, and self-regulation.
- Explains how to design a strong performance of understanding, an activity that produces evidence of students' progress toward the learning target.
- Shows how to use learning targets to guide summative assessment and grading. Learning Targets also includes reproducible planning forms, a classroom walk-through guide, a lesson-planning process guide, and guides to teacher and student self-assessment. What students are actually doing during today's lesson is both the source of and the yardstick for school improvement efforts. By applying the insights in this book to your own work, you can improve your teaching expertise and dramatically empower all students as stakeholders in their own learning.

Genres: Education, Teaching, Nonfiction, School, Leadership

220 pages, Paperback

First published June 28, 2012

Reviews

[Meg · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m a little torn in my opinion if this book. This was required reading for the leaders in my school district this year so I’ve been engaging in discussions to process the ideas in the book. Overall, I think the book helped me rethink how I plan “today’s lesson,” being more cognizant of guiding students to take ownership of their own learning. I’m just a little skeptical about what implementation will look like across my school and district - is this just a new fad or will the work we put in have lasting impact on our teaching and learning?

[Erika Reynolds · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was required reading at my district, but I did take some key ideas away from it. I have a better understanding of what learning targets are and how to use them effectively whereas before I just used them because they are part of my teacher evaluation. This book didn’t provide many strategies or ideas to implement in the classroom, but rather focused on giving a clear framework for learning targets. It’s not the most exciting professional development book I’ve ever read, but it is informative and useful.

[Brenda Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great PD book on how to set up learning targets for kids and how to help them take ownership of their learning

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book clearly explains learning targets. It is very focused on the topic. Moss and Brookhart don't suggest that a learning target should be just posted on the board. It can be represented as an image or in language. More importantly, the student needs to understand the learning target as much as the teacher. It is a partnership; student and teacher working together to show mastery through a performance of understanding.

Moss and Brookhart even offer a theory of action to guide their beliefs:

The most effective teaching and the most meaningful student learning and achievement happens when teachers design the right learning target for today's lesson and use it along with their students to aim for and assess understanding.

As I stated, the authors stay close to the subject of the book. So why not five stars? The Action Tools. I felt they were too complex for a school to focus on and employ with fidelity. For example, the Learning Target Lesson Planning Process Guide is ten pages long. That is too long. Maybe these forms work at a district level collaboration, but I struggle to see the practicality in a single building or classroom.

[Tracey · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author describes Learning Targets; to me, they are the Specific Learner Outcomes from about 10 years ago which I have continued to use. What was nice to read was that I am doing so much of what is mentioned in the book, an affirmation that I have been adapting, progressing, moving forward through the years, and not stagnating! I read a lot of "National Board" approaches to teaching in this book, as well. This indicates to me that we, the education field, are moving in line with our ideas, not creating more different directions to try.

Ideas I gathered from reading (these may or may not have been explicitly stated):
Provide effective feedback
Don't allow one-shot opportunities to learn, and not improve abilities
Teaching is not a one-person show with your class as the audience
Less is more
Grades are for indicating learning of objectives, not points collected from completing class work, homework or extra credit
Writing skills should NOT affect grades in any subject area, other than the writing subject area.
Be planned
Include students in the planning

[Meighen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Several books discussing ways to shift to the CCSS have identified ways to select learning targets and their value to student learning. This book adds to the knowledge base in delving much more deeply into the topic of learning targets. According to the authors, developing learning targets means identifying the "reason to live" for that day and that lesson, within a broader context of the unit. There is a focus on content knowledge, thought processes (as defined by Bloom's or Webb's DOK), and performance objectives. The process defined by these authors is detailed and thorough, and they make a strong case for its effectiveness. However, a group that is only beginning to encounter the standards might find the process tedious. Might be most useful for groups who have a solid grasp on basic learning targets and who are now looking to refine their approach. Includes good discussion about "feeding forward" and the impact of timely feedback and formative assessment on student self-efficacy.

[Jeffrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

In some ways I hated Learning Targets. There are some writing style issues that grate on every nerve I have. To the authors I say (because I know they are paying attention to my Goodreads reviews), "Stop calling a classroom lessons 'today's lesson.' Please."

My raw literary nerves notwithstanding, every teacher in America should be required to read and discuss this book. When I first chose my star rating for this book, I gave it four stars because of its ability to annoy the snot out of me, but as I am thinking about how important it is, I have changed it to five stars.

Every time I read the phrase "today's lesson" I wanted to throw something, namely the book. However, I will be reading this one again because it is changing my pedagogical practices. There is too much to consider in just one reading.

[Mr. Holt · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this isn't pleasure reading material, it offers a fitting perspective on a new way of looking at best teaching practices. The idea of making what it is we need the students to be able to do, learn, and know by the end of our grade very apparent to the students is not a novel idea, but certainly one that is often overlooked. What does engagement look like? Students need to be doing and showing that they are meeting the learning target or goal for the class. They also need to be aware of it themselves and how it fits into the bigger picture of the unit and beyond. It took me too long to get through because it wasn't a fun action-packed story, but it was pertinent and valuable. I suggest it to those looking to further their learning and understanding of educational pedagogy and teaching.

[Paula Lyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the first half of this book. It adds performance objectives to a normal learning target, so that both the teacher and the student know what the learning looks like. That's exciting and it's explained very well. Unfortunately the second half is all about how every teacher needs to deconstruct every standard, plan every lesson, write the test and graph the data daily. This is not possible and it's depressing.

Read the first half though.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the way the author takes learning objectives and turns them into learning targets making the learning targets more student centered. This is a great practice and will help facilitate student learning.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a lot of new ground is covered here, but still a worthwhile read for the seeking to understand them more.

[J. S. Seebauer · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you want more information about breaking down instructional goals into student-engaged learning, this is a great source for you.

[Sherri · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting way for promoting change within a school from the top down by focusing on daily learning targets for student achievement.

[Joanne Kelleher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Helpful in differentiating between objectives/aims and learning targets.

[Wes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. Really explains why the change produces results. Not a waste of time.

[Kristi · Rating 4 out of 5]

ASCD book - they always publish something to think about...