greetings from DPI The Objective: Student Learning in the Arts
Julie Palkowski, Fine Arts and Creativity Education Consultant, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction
We’re coming to the end of the school year; however, I’m hoping I can move your thoughts to 2014-15. Within the upcoming school year, Wisconsin public schools will be fully implement-
ing the Educator Effectiveness System (EE). This system was created through the “collaborative efforts of state professional education organizations, educator prepa- ration programs, the Governor’s office, and the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.” (WI DPI, 2014) This group identified elements of a performance- based system, which is intended to focus on improving student learning by building the capacity of educators. This pursuit is not unique to Wisconsin, but is also being implemented across the nation. The details for how to improve both student learning and instruction are tailored differently by individual states. Wisconsin’s Educator Effectiveness System was developed by and for Wisconsin educators. Details of the Wisconsin Educator Effectiveness System are available online.
“The purpose of the Wisconsin Educator Effectiveness System is to improve student learning by supporting the continuous improvement of educator practice through a performance-based evaluation.”
(WI DPI, 2014)
The Wisconsin EE system is completing its two-year pilot this spring. The system is slated for implementation statewide this fall. The over arching components in place for the Wisconsin EE System will be the construction and use of Student Learning
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Objectives (SLOs) and Professional Prac- tice Goals (PPGs). These components are related. The Students Learning Objective is the goal focused on a learner’s develop- ment, whereas the Professional Practice Goal looks to improvements within an educators work to support learners. Both can work in harmony with one other. The Educator Effectiveness System involves using multiple measures at multiple points in a designated time period for both the Student Learning Objectives and the Pro- fessional Practice Goals. This article will focus on Student Learning Objectives.
“SLOs are detailed, measure- able goals for student academic growth to be achieved in a speci- fied period of time (typically an academic year) developed collab- oratively by educators and their evaluators.”
SLO Info Brief
What Are Student Learning Objectives (SLOs)? SLO has two meanings depending on who is using it within the Educator Ef- fectiveness System. Principals design SLOs focused on school learning goals, whereas teachers create SLOs focused on student learning within their classroom. SLOs are goals for learner growth, set collaboratively between teachers indi- vidually or in teams, with their building administrators. The Wisconsin Educator Effectiveness System outlines that teach- ers and principals will each write two SLOs in the 2014-2015 school year. The SLOs may align to Wisconsin Academic Learning Standards, 21st Century Skills, district or building goals and initiatives. SLOs are written as SMART goals (Spe- cific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time bound.)
Go to the online version of WSM to easily access hyperlinked content within this article.
Districts Can Have All Staff Focus On a Specific SLO Goal For example, if a district wishes one of the SLOs to be focused on literacy, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruc- tion strongly encourages the integration of “disciplinary literacy” to be used. This means teaching all content areas by build- ing knowledge, experiences and skills using reading, writing, listening, speaking, thinking critically and performing in a way that is meaningful within the content area. For music, we utilize informational text in the form of notation, symbols, imagery, numbers, auditory cues, and words. (For additional information about informa- tional text and Disciplinary Literacy Tools in the Arts, visit the January 2014 WSM article, Fine Arts PD Site and Tip Sheet.) Talk with your district about the exciting ways to support student learning in music using the tools of “Disciplinary Literacy” for an SLO.
How Do I Create an SLO?
The first step is to get to know the skills and knowledge of the students in front of you. From this initial review of skills, criti- cal learning needs will emerge, along with the specific set of students within your class that require attention in these areas. The initial review of skills may include, but is not limited to, a learner participating in the following assessment activities:
• Music listening test
• Verbal, written or demonstration of knowledge and application of musi- cal terminology and notation/ symbol definitions
Continued on page 14 April 2014
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