Student Growth Goal Setting
Student Growth Goal Setting is where TPEP evaluatees create learning goals for their students and align those goals to the state's Student Growth rubric criteria (C3, C6, C8). This page explains how goal setting works, how goals relate to rubric criteria, and how prompts guide the process.
How Goal Setting Works
The evaluatee creates one or more student growth goals and then writes criterion alignment narratives explaining how each goal connects to the rubric. Goals and criterion alignments are separate — a goal describes what the teacher wants to achieve, while the alignment narrative explains how it connects to a specific rubric criterion.
The Goal Setting Process
- Create goals — The evaluatee writes at least one student growth goal
- Align to criteria — For each goal, the evaluatee checks which rubric criteria (C3, C6, C8) the goal addresses
- Write alignment narratives — For each criterion, the evaluatee explains how their goals relate to that rubric component
- Respond to prompts — If the district has configured prompts, the evaluatee answers them
- Submit for review — The evaluatee submits goals for evaluator review
- Evaluator reviews and approves — The evaluator reviews goals, provides feedback, and approves
The evaluatee decides how many goals to create. There is no maximum — create as many as needed to address your students' learning needs. The only requirement is at least one goal.
Goals
A goal is the teacher's own learning goal for their students. Each goal has:
- Goal statement — A free-text description of the learning goal
- Criterion checkboxes — Which rubric criteria (C3, C6, C8) this goal addresses (Comprehensive only)
- Evaluator feedback — The evaluator can provide feedback on each goal
How Many Goals?
It's up to the evaluatee and evaluator to decide on the right number of goals. Some evaluatees write one broad goal that covers all criteria, while others write separate goals for different student populations or subject areas.
| Approach | Example |
|---|---|
| One goal, all criteria | "Improve argumentative writing across all classes" — checked C3, C6, C8 |
| Multiple goals, distributed | Goal 1: "Improve writing" (C3, C6) / Goal 2: "Collaborative learning" (C8) |
| One goal per criterion | Goal 1 (C3) / Goal 2 (C6) / Goal 3 (C8) |
Any approach is valid as long as all required criteria are covered.
Criterion Alignment
Each rubric criterion (C3, C6, C8) has a criterion alignment section where the evaluatee writes a narrative explaining how their goals address that criterion. The system creates these sections automatically based on the evaluation type.
| Evaluation Type | Criterion Alignments Created |
|---|---|
| Comprehensive | 3 — one each for C3, C6, C8 |
| Focused (e.g., Focus C3) | 1 — only the focused criterion |
Each criterion alignment shows:
- Rubric component header — e.g., "SG 3.1 — Establishing student growth goal(s)"
- Alignment narrative — Where the evaluatee explains the connection between their goals and this criterion
- Linked goals — Badges showing which goals are aligned to this criterion
- Evaluator feedback — The evaluator can provide feedback on each alignment
:::info Goals and Alignments Are Separate A goal describes what you want to achieve. An alignment narrative describes how that goal connects to the rubric. You write goals first, then explain the rubric connection in each alignment section. :::
Comprehensive vs. Focused
| Feature | Comprehensive | Focused |
|---|---|---|
| Number of goals | At least 1 (no maximum) | At least 1 (no maximum) |
| Criterion checkboxes | Shown — C3, C6, C8 | Not shown (single criterion is implicit) |
| Criterion alignments | 3 (C3, C6, C8) | 1 (focused criterion only) |
| Coverage requirement | All 3 criteria must be covered across goals | Only the focused criterion |
| Scoring | SG 3.1, SG 6.1, SG 8.1 | Only the focused SG component (e.g., SG 3.1) |
Comprehensive Coverage Requirement
In a Comprehensive evaluation, the evaluatee's goals must collectively cover all three criteria. Not every goal needs to address all three — the evaluatee distributes coverage as makes sense for their situation.
| Goals | C3 | C6 | C8 | Valid? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goal 1: C3, C6, C8 | Covered | Covered | Covered | Yes |
| Goal 1: C3, C6 / Goal 2: C8 | Covered | Covered | Covered | Yes |
| Goal 1: C3, C6 / Goal 2: C3 | Covered | Covered | Not covered | No |
Submission is blocked until all criteria are covered.
Prompts in Goal Setting
Districts can configure prompts to guide the goal-setting process. Prompts appear in two scopes, each placed where it's most relevant:
| Prompt Scope | Where It Appears | Example Use |
|---|---|---|
| General | Top of the Goals tab, across all goals | "Describe your overall approach to student growth this year" |
| Criterion Alignment | Inside each alignment section, after the narrative | "How will you measure progress toward this criterion?" |
General prompts are answered once. Criterion Alignment prompts appear under each relevant alignment section.
Prompts are managed the same way as observation conferences. District Admins, School Admins, and evaluators can all create prompts at their level, and evaluators can create local prompts for a specific evaluatee. See Using Prompts for more about the Prompt Bank.
Evaluator's Role
The evaluator reviews the evaluatee's goals and provides feedback before approving.
Before Submission (Draft)
While the evaluatee is working on goals:
- The evaluator can send prompts to the evaluatee
- The evaluator can see the evaluatee's work if the evaluatee shares the Goals tab
- The evaluator can provide feedback on goals and alignment narratives (visible to the evaluatee when shared)
After Submission (In Review)
Once the evaluatee submits goals for review:
- The evaluator can code evidence from goal statements, alignment narratives, and prompt responses
- The evaluator can score rubric components (if in the correct workflow state)
- The evaluator can provide feedback and then approve or return goals to draft
Evaluator Prompts
The evaluator has a Prompt Setup sub-tab where they can:
- View and select prompts from the Prompt Bank
- Create local prompts for this evaluation only
- Send prompts to the evaluatee
Workflow
Student Growth Goal Setting follows the formal completion workflow:
- Draft — Evaluatee creates goals, writes alignment narratives, responds to prompts
- Submitted (Waiting for Review) — Evaluatee submits; evaluator reviews, scores, provides feedback
- Approved — Evaluator approves; goals are locked
- Evaluatee Review — Evaluatee views and acknowledges approved goals (formal mode)
- Locked/Sealed — Goals are finalized
See How Workflows Work for the complete workflow details including unlock requests.
:::warning Goal Setting Must Be Complete Before Achievement Student Growth Goal Achievement is blocked until Goal Setting is approved and locked. The evaluatee cannot begin documenting achievement results until their goals are finalized. :::
Related Topics
- Using Prompts — How prompts work and the Prompt Bank
- Scoring in eVAL — Student Growth scoring and the Impact Rating
- Focused Evaluations — How focused evaluations affect goal setting
- How Workflows Work — Formal and simple completion workflows