Set and Meet Classroom Goals Using the SMART Strategy

A SMART goal is a framework for defining objectives, where each goal is specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART). Follow this method to establish clear, attainable goals that hold you accountable to a deadline. SMART goals are useful in all professional sectors and industries, as well as in your personal life and in education. Using this framework will help ensure that you are working toward clearly defined goals that you can execute by a deadline.

So how do you create a SMART goal? Consider the following 5 criteria while thinking about what you want to achieve.

• Specific: what do you want to accomplish? What specific outcome do you want to achieve?
• Measurable: how will you measure your success? What type of data will you include? How will you evaluate it, and how frequently will you check?
• Attainable: do you have all the necessary skills and resources to achieve this goal? If not, can you obtain them?
• Relevant: is this goal aligned with your other goals, or the overarching goals of your team or organization?
• Time-bound: what is the timeframe for achieving this goal?

To create a SMART goal, decide what you want to accomplish, and then address each component of the SMART acronym. Make sure that your goal centers on an outcome, not a practice or set of behaviors. A SMART goal should, in the end, achieve something.

Learning how to frame goals as SMART goals and being willing to adjust them to get SMARTer is an important skill that can help every student get off to a better start and have a better school year, this year and into the future. Here is a practical example, starting with a typical (but not especially SMART) goal: “I will do better on my report card in the next marking period.”

Here is a way to make it SMARTer: “In the next marking period, I will get at least a C on all my math tests, and at least a B on most of my quizzes and homework assignments.” But it’s not SMART yet because it has no action plan or benchmarks. Here is a pretty SMART goal: “In the next marking period, I will take careful notes and review them at least two days before tests and quizzes so that I can ask the teacher questions about what I don’t understand. I will do my math homework before I do things with friends, and when I hand it in, I will ask the teacher about anything I am not sure about. When I get anything wrong, I will make sure to ask the teacher, or one of my classmates how they got the right answer.”

It’s not easy to write SMART goals. This skill takes time to develop, and it’s especially important to have in place for students at the secondary level. A goal is an outcome, something that will make a difference as a result of achieving it. It can’t be too ambitious to be out of reach, but also not so simple that it does not challenge. A goal has to be realistic with a stretch, requiring effort and focus to achieve it. That’s why goals need timeframes and measurable action steps along the way so that students can keep track of progress and make adjustments as necessary.

Allison Green
Boston Tutoring Services