Robert J. Marzano - Designing & Teaching Learning Goals & Objectives

Copyright 2009 by Marzano Resources

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ISBN: 978-0-9822592-0-7 (paperback)

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Marzano Resources would like to thank the following reviewers:

Gloria Alter

Adjunct Associate Professor

Beloit College

Beloit, Wisconsin

Judy Beemer

Literacy Coach

Junction City High School

Junction City, Kansas

Heidi Legg Burros

Adjunct Assistant Professor

University of Arizona

Tucson, Arizona

Katy Lapp

Lecturer in Education and Supervisor for Secondary Student Teachers

Colorado College

Colorado Springs, Colorado

Baytoram Ramharack

Social Studies Department Chair and Teacher

Elmont Memorial High School

Elmont, New York

Sharon Roemer

Curriculum and Instruction Administrator

Lucia Mar Unified School District

Arroyo Grande, California

Marcia Sewall

Lecturer

University of California

San Diego, California

Heather Sparks

Eighth Grade Math Teacher

Taft Middle School

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Visit MarzanoResources.com/classroomstrategies
to download reproducibles from this book.

Dr. Robert J. Marzano is the cofounder and CEO of Marzano Resources in Denver, Colorado. Throughout his forty years in the field of education, he has become a speaker, trainer, and author of more than thirty books and 150 articles on topics such as instruction, assessment, writing and implementing standards, cognition, effective leadership, and school intervention. His books include: Designing and Assessing Educational Objectives, Making Standards Useful in the Classroom, and The Art and Science of Teaching. His practical translations of the most current research and theory into classroom strategies are internationally known and widely practiced by both teachers and administrators. He received a bachelors degree from Iona College in New York, a masters degree from Seattle University, and a doctorate from the University of Washington.

Designing and Teaching Learning Goals and Objectives is the first in a series of books collectively referred to as The Classroom Strategies Series. The purpose of this series is to provide classroom teachers and building and district administrators with an in-depth treatment of research-based instructional strategies that can be used in the classroom to enhance student achievement. Many of the strategies addressed in this series have been covered in other works such as The Art and Science of Teaching: A Comprehensive Framework for Effective Instruction (Marzano, 2007), Classroom Management That Works (Marzano, Marzano, & Pickering, 2003), and Classroom Instruction That Works (Marzano, Pickering, & Pollock, 2001). Although those works devoted a chapter or a part of a chapter to particular strategies, The Classroom Strategies Series devotes an entire book to an instructional strategy or set of related strategies.

Designing clear learning goals and objectives is a staple of effective teaching. We might even say that goal setting is a necessary condition for effective teaching. If teachers arent sure of instructional goals, their instructional activities will not be focused, and unfocused instructional activities do not engender student learning. As straightforward as this might sound, designing and teaching goals and objectives takes insight into the nature of content and the nature of learning. Designing and Teaching Learning Goals and Objectives addresses the research, theory, and practice regarding the design and use of effective goals.

We begin with a brief but inclusive chapter that reviews the research and theory on goal setting. Although you might skip this chapter and move right into those that provide recommendations for classroom practice, you are strongly encouraged to examine the research and theory because it is the foundation for the entire book. Indeed, a basic purpose of Designing and Teaching Learning Goals and Objectives and others in The Classroom Strategies Series is to present the most useful instructional strategies that are based on the strongest research and theory available.

Because research and theory can provide only a general direction for classroom practice, Designing and Teaching Learning Goals and Objectives (and each book in the series) goes one step further to translate that research into specific applications for the classroom. It is important to note, however, that individual teachers must make necessary adaptations to meet the unique needs of their students.

Designing and Teaching Learning Goals and Objectives can be used as a self-study text that provides an in-depth understanding of how to design and teach classroom goals and objectives. As you progress through the chapters, you will encounter exercises. It is important to complete these exercises and then compare your answers with those in the back of the text. Such interaction provides a review of the content and allows you to examine how clearly you understand it.

Designing and Teaching Learning Goals and Objectives may also be used by teams of teachers or by an entire faculty who wishes to examine the topic of designing and teaching learning goals in depth. When this is the case, teacher teams should do the exercises independently and then compare their answers in small group and large group settings.

Before addressing the research and theory on goals and objectives, it is useful to consider the issue of terminology. The terms goals and objectives have been used by different people in different ways. For some, the term goal applies only to the overarching purpose of curriculum, and the term