How are mission, student objectives, and curriculum connected?
29/07/09 13:37 Filed in: Define
Mission Achievement
You’re considering developing student
objectives (schoolwide learning outcomes).
Before doing so, you’d like to get clear on the big
picture. You’re wondering, “How are mission, student
objectives, and curriculum connected? Is there a
framework that connects these?”
Yes! The MOSAIC framework helps you connect mission, student objectives, and curriculum:
Mission: A school mission statement is a 15- to 25-word statement that identifies the school, its purpose, and possibly its constituency. Here’s an example: Christian Academy in Japan, a school for the children of evangelical missionaries working in Japan, equips students to impact the world for Christ.
Objectives (also known as student objectives, expected student outcomes, schoolwide goals, and expected student learning results): Student objectives define your school mission in terms of measurable student learning. An example of a student objective is, “Communicate through writing, speaking, reading, listening, graphs and charts, and the arts.”
Standards define what students must achieve within a given subject in order to achieve the student objectives (and consequently the mission). If your student objective is, “Communicate through writing, speaking, reading, listening, graphs and charts, and the arts,” one of your English standards might be, “Create clear, purposeful texts.”
Assessments are ways students show their achievement of the standards (and consequently the student objectives and mission). Assessments include writing, projects, presentations, labs, and discussion. An example of a unit assessment for 10th graders is, “Write a 750-word persuasive essay on the following: What is wrong with the world? Support your answer with references to the Bible and to stories we studied during this unit.”
Instructional strategies are ways teachers prepare students for assessments. For example, when students are preparing to write their 750-word essays on “What’s wrong with the world?”, they could brainstorm their ideas in small groups before writing their rough drafts.
Children: In class, teachers teach children (not course content). They help children prepare for assessments so they can demonstrate achievement of the standards, and, consequentlythe student objectives and mission.
*This blog entry is part of a 7-part series:
Yes! The MOSAIC framework helps you connect mission, student objectives, and curriculum:
- Mission
- Objectives
- Standards
- Assessments
- Instructional strategies
- Children
Mission: A school mission statement is a 15- to 25-word statement that identifies the school, its purpose, and possibly its constituency. Here’s an example: Christian Academy in Japan, a school for the children of evangelical missionaries working in Japan, equips students to impact the world for Christ.
Objectives (also known as student objectives, expected student outcomes, schoolwide goals, and expected student learning results): Student objectives define your school mission in terms of measurable student learning. An example of a student objective is, “Communicate through writing, speaking, reading, listening, graphs and charts, and the arts.”
Standards define what students must achieve within a given subject in order to achieve the student objectives (and consequently the mission). If your student objective is, “Communicate through writing, speaking, reading, listening, graphs and charts, and the arts,” one of your English standards might be, “Create clear, purposeful texts.”
Assessments are ways students show their achievement of the standards (and consequently the student objectives and mission). Assessments include writing, projects, presentations, labs, and discussion. An example of a unit assessment for 10th graders is, “Write a 750-word persuasive essay on the following: What is wrong with the world? Support your answer with references to the Bible and to stories we studied during this unit.”
Instructional strategies are ways teachers prepare students for assessments. For example, when students are preparing to write their 750-word essays on “What’s wrong with the world?”, they could brainstorm their ideas in small groups before writing their rough drafts.
Children: In class, teachers teach children (not course content). They help children prepare for assessments so they can demonstrate achievement of the standards, and, consequentlythe student objectives and mission.
*This blog entry is part of a 7-part series:
- How can you define what it takes to carry out your school's mission?
- Are student objectives right for you and your school?
- What's developing student objectives look like?
- What questions should you consider before developing student objectives?
- What makes good student objectives good?
- What are some reasons for developing student objectives?
- How are mission, student objectives, and curriculum connected?