Curriculum & Scope and Sequence
While a teacher's use of learning goals and objectives can be effective, system-wide adoption and implementation will add to its effect. After curriculum designers and teachers have deconstructed individual standards into learning goals, they can discuss and map out the yearly amount and listing of the goals. I would advise using a Google Doc to have multiple teachers writing the learning goals directly into the single-year strand breakdown. They may want to hold off on numbering all of the goals until the have them in the order they want.
Marzano (2009) provides some guidance on the amount of goals for yearly targeting: "...you can see that over the course of a year a teacher can probably accommodate about 45 learning goals--and maybe more" (p.79). This implies that if the course designs less than 45 learning goals during the first stage of developing learning goals than the rest should be carried over from a neighboring subject or as "noncognitive goals" (Marzano, 2009, p. 82). Foremost, this may be a good spot to utilize cross-curricular planning. Perhaps the history class designs 28 learning goals and can now assist the same students in mastering reading informational texts and writing argumentative essays. They could then work with the ELA department to design the commonalities between how students experience the understandings and procedures of those standards.
Marzano (2009) provides some guidance on the amount of goals for yearly targeting: "...you can see that over the course of a year a teacher can probably accommodate about 45 learning goals--and maybe more" (p.79). This implies that if the course designs less than 45 learning goals during the first stage of developing learning goals than the rest should be carried over from a neighboring subject or as "noncognitive goals" (Marzano, 2009, p. 82). Foremost, this may be a good spot to utilize cross-curricular planning. Perhaps the history class designs 28 learning goals and can now assist the same students in mastering reading informational texts and writing argumentative essays. They could then work with the ELA department to design the commonalities between how students experience the understandings and procedures of those standards.
One defining characteristic of a classroom organized around learning goals is that students progress in their competence throughout a unit of instruction and throughout the year for each learning goal. This is possible because the teacher has provided a scale for each learning goal that lends itself to tracking knowledge development.-marzano
Teacher Tracking Students
Because learning goals are predetermined by the scales, it becomes much easier for teachers to know exactly where students stand given a specific learning and now have more of a cycle for how students can receive extension and intervention activities. If a student worked successfully at a level 2 activity, they can now be open to try a level 3 activity and so on. If your school is considering or already transitioned to mastery-based grading, then using a curriculum based on 0-4 mastery provides a linear similarity in the activity level then mastery level then "grade" level.
Student Self-Tracking
Students can better track their own growth and progress, which now transfers multiple math skills and emphasizes metacognitive reflection. With a simple reporting of student work on a 0-4 scale, students can track their growth and progress on a number line graph or bar graph, as well as determine reasons and actions taken to increase the overall mastery. It is important to note that this is not the amount of questions they got right or a percentage but an assessment or snapshot of the student's level of mastery of the target. This also promotes more progress monitoring and goal setting for all students. They can assume based upon how they are growing, the most likely increase of scores given the same rate.
Marzano, R. J. (2009). Designing & teaching learning goals & objectives. Bloomington, IN: Marzano Research Laboratory.