This school sets goals at four levels – schoolwide,


grade level, classroom and individual student – to


ensure shared ownership of learning and results.


M 12 Leadership


y son’s favorite pastime is one shared by many of to- day’s youth – playing video games. We sat together as


he played his newest game, and as he maneu- vered the character through a whole host of obstructions, he told me he had set himself a goal of making it all the way through the cur- rent level. To accomplish this goal, according to him, he needed to improve his ability to fly the rocket through the roadblocks that were set up either to distract him from reaching his goal or else make him crash. He could recall his high score in the


game, the improvements he had made in his skill level and his next steps toward improv- ing his skills. More importantly, he could articulate which specific skills he was good at it, and which parts of the game were dif- ficult for him. His excitement about his des- tination was not just about the end result of moving to a new level, but that he had con- trol over achieving that result. His path for success was clear to him.


Both districts and individual schools


have a very clear set of goals and skills for their students to achieve and master. In fact, except in rare cases, districts and schools develop very detailed goals they wish to pur- sue. In most cases, unfortunately, only the teachers and staff at a particular school or district-level office are aware of the roadmap. And yet, we know that true transformation in schools can only happen when there is a clear target that is known and owned by those who are implementing the goal and to those who are striving to achieve it.


Setting goals that make a difference Goal setting also provides a very impor-


tant strategy for building a culture of shared leadership. One of the core challenges at every school is determining how to meet each child’s needs and who at the site makes that determination. Goal setting is about


By Rich Newman


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