Develop a Set of Shared Summative Reading Goals
Key Concepts
Summative goals differ from formative goals.
Summative goals reflect the end result, the ultimate outcomes of an endeavor. As the Oregon Literacy Framework states, a summative reading goal is “an overarching, comprehensive goal that represents desired performance at key points in time” (e.g., end of the school year) (G-5). For example, Oregon’s summative reading goal for all schools is, “Students read at grade level or higher each academic year, no later than in grade 3, and that they progress at grade level or higher in reading across the instructional areas throughout their school year” (G-6).
Formative goals, in contrast, represent progress (stepping stones) toward summative goals. A student who does not meet formative goals will need additional assistance in order to meet summative goals. As the Oregon Literacy Framework states, formative reading goals are “used to determine whether students are on track for meeting the comprehensive goal of reading at grade level” (G-5).
Engage all stakeholders in the goal setting and goal attainment process. Make goals transparent, provide roles for all stakeholders in support of the goals and strive for collaboration and accountability in goal attainment.
There are many stakeholders in the effectiveness of a school’s reading program, and all should be engaged in knowing and understanding the goals and in supporting attainment of those goals. School leaders must make reading goals and results widely known and transparent. They should enable stakeholders to support goal attainment and should hold themselves and others accountable for doing their part to assure that students succeed.
Focus on community-wide commitment and plan for sustainability.
Develop a culture of shared responsibility in which staff: (a) demonstrate commitment to improving student outcomes, (b) collaborate to make instructional decisions, and (c) acknowledge and celebrate successes. Actively seek involvement of parents and other community members in the school’s literacy efforts and communicate progress on the school’s reading efforts to community stakeholders.
Establish and prioritize summative reading goals at each grade level. Keep goals “front and center” in the minds of all school staff.
Goals are critical to student success. If we make them widely known, make their attainment a high priority, and keep them in front of us throughout the school year, they can guide us to enabling higher levels of achievement for our students. Goals should be differentiated by grade, but should be similar in purpose.Set summative goals which are “strong” and rigorous, yet not out of reach.
Goals must focus on student outcomes, not just on processes. Goals must require effort and not be too easily attainable (i.e., they should not be trivial). They should be rooted in the school’s mission, cause us to plan our program thoughtfully, and cause our students to strive for higher achievement. They should provide both a vision of what is possible and the motivation to fulfill that vision.Make summative goals specific, observable, and measurable.
In order for goals to provide guidance, motivation, and a measure of success, they must be specific (easy to understand and well-defined), observable (progress and goal attainment must be noticeable to an observer or via a test), and measurable (such that one can quantify how close one is to achieving the goal and when the goal has been achieved). There is no ambiguity about what, exactly, the goal is. Simply put, good goals include:• Who (e.g., a group of students at a given grade level)
• Will do what (e.g., score at a given level or above on an achievement measure; make a certain amount of progress over previous period)
• At what level (level of achievement or amount of progress should be clearly stated)
• By when (usually by the end of the school year).Use goal-related benchmarks, grade-level standards or data from successful schools with comparable demographics and similar academic challenge to set ambitious and achievable summative reading goals for your school.
Several sources provide possible guidance when seeking to set ambitious reading goals. Established benchmarks or state grade level standards can provide a starting point. Schools similar to yours that are achieving at higher levels can provide another perspective. Choose a source that provides rigorous, yet reachable goals, knowing that it might take more than one year to reach the goal you want your students to achieve.It is possible for schools with poor reading results to reach ambitious reading improvement goals. Academic challenge need not limit reading achievement growth.
Academic challenge can affect a school’s reading results, but it is possible for schools with poor reading results to reach ambitious reading improvement goals. Academic challenge often depresses reading achievement levels, but need not limit reading achievement growth. “Academic challenge” can be defined in terms of the barriers to achievement that are related to certain demographic characteristics, such as poverty or language differences. Challenge levels cannot be used to make excuses or cast blame for low achievement. When we focus more on growth in reading achievement and less on absolute achievement levels, and when we develop and deliver a reading program that is up to the challenges it faces, most students can show impressive reading growth and reach ambitious reading goals.Consider using progress monitoring assessments of reading as reading outcome measures in grades K-2 if standardized outcome assessments are not available in those grades.
Many states or districts do not use a standardized reading outcome measure in grades K-2, instead beginning such testing in grade 3. Yet it is extremely important to have a way to gauge the effectiveness of your primary grades’ reading program. Without such a measure, it is quite possible—even quite likely--that many students will fall through the cracks and move through this critical period of their education without learning to read well. Thus, if a school does not use a standardized reading outcome measure in grades K-2, we recommend that they (a) use periodic progress monitoring assessments in reading instead and (b) summarize the results at the classroom level, grade level, and school level for an indication of reading program effectiveness in the primary grades.Oregon K-12 Literacy Framework provides broad summative goals.
The Oregon K-12 Literacy Framework provides broad summative goals for Grades K-12 on Page G-6 and more specific ones for Grades K-2 on Page G-10. Though not reproduced here, details about how those goals are to be measured are included in that document.
Schoolwide: ALL students should read at grade level or higher each academic year, no later than in grade 3, and should progress at grade level or higher in reading across the instructional areas throughout their school career.
Grades K-3: All students should be on track to read at grade level or higher in grade 3. (Specific essential elements of reading in grades K-2 – phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency and, in some cases, reading comprehension and vocabulary -- should be addressed with specific summative and formative goals as outlined in the Oregon Literacy Framework starting on Page G-10.)
Grades 4-12: All students should be proficient readers of grade-level content. Here, proficiency is defined as “(a) efficient application of foundational grade-level reading skills, and (b) application of grade-level strategies and skills necessary to read proficiently across the instructional areas.”
Professional Development Presentation
Apply the Concepts
Practice Activities
1. Refine Your Goals
• Who (e.g., a group of students at a given grade level)
• Will do what (e.g., score at a given level or above on an achievement measure; make a certain amount of progress over previous period)
• At what level (level of achievement or amount of progress should be clearly stated)
• By when (usually by the end of the school year).
Work in partners or as a small group to critique and, if appropriate, improve one or more of your school’s existing summative reading goals according to the specifications above. (If you are not aware of, or do not have access to, your school’s goals, individually write 1-2 summative goals, then exchange papers or work in partners or small groups to critique and, if appropriate, improve them).
