Workbook 2.3: Writing Your Aim Statement
William R. Penuel and Melissa Campanella
Writing Your Aim Statement
By William R. Penuel, adapted by Melissa Campanella
To prepare for this activity (suggested):
Note: Aim statements are similar to SMART goals in that they are measurable and intended to be achievable and time-bound. Aim statements also specify who is responsible for contributing to the achievement of the aim. We have adapted our approach from the approach to developing aim statements developed by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. You can find examples of aim statements for medicine here. |
Protocol:
Step 1 – Get Familiar with Aim Statements
First, review the characteristics of aim statements. These are that aim statements:
- Focus on where there is collective energy and will to grow
- Identify people and resources needed to grow in that direction
- Specify a target for improvement (linked to a measure)
- Name system actors and components that need to change to improve coherence and equity
Next, annotate the sample aim statements below for each characteristic.
| Sample 1
Our state will strengthen curricular resources provided to school-based teams to focus on fewer ideas in greater depth as part of instruction, in collaboration with science and CTE departments at both the state and district level so as to reach all students. We’ll increase the number of teachers who say they focus on a few core ideas in depth in a year by 25% across all student groups, while feeling no more anxious about “covering” all the content they require. |
Sample 3
Our state team will provide information and resources to district teams for creating and piloting three-dimensional assessments to integrate with existing curricula and support teachers in focusing science instruction on ideas in depth, in collaboration with district science coordinators, lead science teachers, and district assessment coordinators. We’ll increase the number of districts who have 3D assessment items on their district assessment by 25%. |
| Sample 2
Our state team will work with professional development providers, scientists, and museums to identify phenomena of interest to rural, low-income students in different regions to integrate with existing curricula that will result in a 10% increase in the number of these students who see science as relevant to their lives. |
Sample 4
Our state network will support 100 preservice elementary school teachers in understanding ways to integrate local (immediate) cultures to make meaningful connections in science through a partnership with our local university to provide a two week summer workshop on recognizing the science behind everyday events. The “everyday science” workshop will be offered twice in summer 2017 for clock hours or credit. |
After annotating, reflect:
- Which sample aims statements are missing characteristics?
- What difference does it make when an aim statement has all of the characteristics above?
Step 2 – Draft Your Aim Statement
To get started, consider:
- What is the most pressing issue of equity in your context? (Think about tying back to the facets of equity in the Framework)
- What speaks to you now, given what you’ve heard and what you know?
Then, write down an aim statement that:
- Defines what you hope to accomplish and for whom (e.g., “Eliminate differences between African American and White students’ aspirations to science careers”)
- Defines what actors and what strategies are needed to accomplish the aim (e.g., “District leaders will change policies and adopt culturally relevant curriculum, and teachers will participate in professional development and change instructional practice”)
- Specifies by when and how much (e.g., “By 2022, this means changing the percent of African American students who say they expect to pursue a science related career in 8th grade from 5% to 20%”).
| [Work with your team to write your Aim Statement here] |
Revisit your draft. Does it…
- Focus on where there is collective energy and will to grow?
- Identify people and resources needed to grow in that direction?
- Specify a target for improvement (linked to a measure)?
- Name system actors and components that need to change to improve coherence and equity?
If not, how might you consider revising it?
Step 3 – Go Deeper [Coming Soon]
Conduct focus groups to gather data to help you revise your aim statement. OR
Write a problem statement to accompany your aim statement.
References:
Institute for Healthcare Improvement. (2020). Science of Improvement: Setting Aims | IHI – Institute for Healthcare Improvement. http://www.ihi.org/resources/Pages/HowtoImprove/ScienceofImprovementSettingAims.aspx
Handout: Facets of Equity Evident in A Framework for K-12 Science Education
Chapter 11: Equity and Diversity
Create more equitable representation in STEM fields of women and African Americans, Latinxs, Native Americans.
One aspect of equity pertains to broadening participation in STEM professions in fields. Progress toward this goal might be evident among K-12 students if increasing percentages of students from underrepresented groups say they expect to go into a STEM field. (p. 278)
Remedy the injustices visited on entire groups of American society that in the past have been underserved by their schools.
As a result of being underserved, many students’ opportunities to pursue high-prestige careers in science and engineering have been limited. Justice as defined here pertains to equalizing opportunity to pursue STEM careers. (p. 278)
Present science to students as a cultural accomplishment.
Science and science practices themselves are dependent on changing cultural contexts, power relationships, value systems, ideologies, and perceptions of human needs. Approaching science from this perspective can facilitate student engagement for students from non-dominant communities.[1] (p. 284)
Encourage students to use informal or their native language and familiar modes of interaction to learn science.
An important part of culturally inclusive science teaching is making room for students to build from the ways they speak about and experience their worlds in classroom communication. This approach not only helps them engage with phenomena and problems from the start; it also helps affirm who they are. (p. 285)
Build on prior interests and identity.
Interest is critical for learning, and identity and learning are intertwined. Because students from underrepresented groups’ interest in science tends to decline more in the middle grades, building on interest and identity can be a strategy for promoting equity. (p. 286)
Draw on the cultural funds of knowledge from students from non-dominant communities
Students bring rich experiences and knowledge bases from their families and communities that can be resources for classroom teaching and learning in science. Doing so helps students build from what they know and see connections between everyday life and science. (p. 287)
Make the diversity of science and engineering visible to students in instructional materials, assessments, and materials that prepare teachers to implement the vision of the Framework.
All too often, few acknowledgments are made of the specific contributions of members from diverse cultures to scientific and technological enterprises in representations of content presented to both students and teachers. Developing examples, units, and assessments that feature the diversity of science and engineering can help students see how people like them have contributed to science. (p. 288)
Make assessments fairer by allowing for multiple modes of expression.
Often our assessments limit what students can accomplish. These include students identified with disabilities. They also include students who are emerging multilinguals can actually accomplish. Allowing students to express what they know on assessments can make assessments fairer. (p. 289)
Sources of Inequity Identified in Chapter 11 (pp. 280-281)
- Unequal opportunities to learn linked to a student’s socioeconomic class, racial or ethnic group, gender, language background, disability designation, or national origin
- Limited out of school opportunities for those least able to afford it
- Lack of material resources needed for high quality science teaching
- More out of field and uncredentialed teachers in schools that serve high percentages of students at risk of low academic performance
- Effects of accountability pressures to improve reading and math scores limiting time for science at the elementary level in schools where students have low test scores
- As Appendix D of the NGSS clarifies, “The dominant group(s) does not refer to numerical majority, but rather to social prestige and institutionalized privilege. This is particularly the case as student diversity is increasing in the nation’s classrooms. Even where the dominant group(s) is the numerical minority, the privileging of their academic backgrounds persists. In contrast, non-dominant groups have traditionally been underserved by the education system. Thus, the term “non-dominant” highlights a call to action that the education system meets the learning needs of the nation’s increasingly diverse student population.” See also Gutierrez & Rogoff (2003). ↵