The ART of Setting Student Growth Targets

2 Min Read  •  SLO

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but student growth targets are a BIG topic of conversation in schools right now.

If you’re in the arts, this may feel as though you need to create something affecting you and your students without a lot of support.  How many of you have actually seen an example of an SLO/SGG/SGO (all acronyms for Student Learning/Growth Objectives) for your arts area?

We noticed many arts-focused educators have questions about this process. As do many leaders trying to support these educators in their schools.  That’s why we created an online resource all about Student Growth Goals.   It’s totally focused on providing examples of SLOs specifically tailored to ARTS teachers.  We share fully-developed SLO examples for Visual Art, Music, Dance and Drama.  And if you’re looking for sample assessments and templates, you can always check out our online class, Assessment for Makers.

As a preview, I wanted to share with you a sample resource that we’ll be covering.  This also happens to be one of the biggest questions we receive: how do you develop a target for your arts SLO?

Here’s an infographic to help you work through that process: The Art Of Student Growth Targets

You’ll notice that there are two types of targets: mastery and growth.  This is an important distinction and will guide your entire intention for crafting the SLO to be authentic to your arts classroom.  Additionally, you’ll see that we are providing you with examples for each type of target in both a whole group or a specific small group.  That’s because some states are requiring educators to create an SLO that measures every child they teach (and some of you have over 900 students!), while others allow you to choose a specific group to focus upon within your target.  We wanted to show you how to do this, no matter what your situation, in a target that is both manageable and provides some stretch for your students.