In many contemporary schools, goals exist in name only. Goal statements may be written down and filed away, but the goals themselves are not an integral part of the school culture. They do not drive, motivate, or energize individuals within the culture. Student writing gains, not hours spent on the computer, would be the determinant of success. Specific goals provide a basis for rational decision making, for ways to organize and execute their instruction.
Specific goals enable teachers to gauge their success.
Specific goals promote professional dialogue. Specificity also promotes the measurability of a goal. He argues that the collaborative development and monitoring of learning goals characterizes schools where teachers and students are committed to improving performance. In schools where instructional goals facilitate the provision of regular feedback to teachers and students, incremental improvement results. In one school district where continuous improvement is a reality, each school is limited to no more than two improvement goals, one of which is a student learning goal.