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Session 3. SMART Targets, Indicators and the One-Page Plan
Objective. Set a SMART target from a baseline, choose leading and lagging indicators, and write a one-page improvement plan with owners, dates and a realistic time budget.
A plan that cannot be read in one minute is rarely followed. In this session you turn a theory of change into a number, a date, a few early signals and a page that a busy teacher can use. You will also count the real cost in minutes, because plans usually fail on time, not on ideas, and check that the target cannot be reached by a trick.
Key ideas
Start from a baseline in pupils
- A target needs a starting point. Write the baseline as a percent and as a number of pupils: 74% of 90 Grade 8 pupils is 67 pupils at mark 3 or above.
- With small groups, two or three pupils move the percent by two or three points. A change that small may be natural variation (see course 11.6), so set targets in pupils too.
- Write down the source and the date of the baseline, such as 'Term 1 marks, entered 20 November'. Without them, nobody can repeat the measurement later.
A SMART target for a school
- Specific: which pupils and which skill. Measurable: a number and the source that will show it. Achievable: a size of change that the school has some reason to expect. Relevant: tied to the priority and the theory of change. Time-bound: a date.
- Example: 'By the end of Term 3, at least 72 of the 90 Grade 8 pupils (80%) reach mark 3 or above in the school's common maths test, from 67 now.' Names pupils, number, source, baseline and date.
- Aim for a stretch you can defend, not for 100% or 'the best in the region'. Targets are about pupils' learning, never a score for a named teacher.
Leading and lagging indicators
- Lagging indicators confirm the result late: term marks, a national test. Leading indicators move early and weekly: absences counted on Fridays, an exit ticket, how many teachers ran the new task.
- Choose about three indicators for one priority: one lagging and two leading. Define each in one line: what is counted, from where, by whom and how often.
- Use a paper tally sheet that a class teacher fills in two minutes. If an indicator needs a new report or extra staff, choose a simpler one.
A one-page plan with no extra staff
- The page holds: priority, baseline, SMART target, theory of change, three or four actions (what, who, when, how many minutes), indicators, review dates, who is involved, risks and the 'we will stop' list.
- Use meetings that already exist, such as the pedagogical council or subject methodological association, if your school has them. Count minutes: a plan that asks each teacher for more than about 15 extra minutes a month is likely to stall.
- Start small and check delivery early. Plan review points at 30 days and each term, and decide who looks at the leading indicators and what they do when the numbers are off track.
Two kinds of indicator
Leading
Early and weekly
- Absences counted on Fridays
- Exit tickets correct
- Teachers who set the task
Lagging
Late and confirming
- Term marks
- Common test at term end
- National-type test summary
Setting the size of the target
Look at the last three years of the figure before you choose the target. If Grade 8 maths at mark 3 or above has moved between 69 and 72 percent, a target of 74 is inside the usual range and proves little; a target of 78 to 80 is a real stretch. Set a floor and a stretch ('at least 75, hoping for 80') so that the school learns from either result.
Do not rely on one average. State what happens to the pupils who start lowest, for example 'and no class falls below 70 percent'. Critics of SMART goals note that they can become a box-ticking exercise or be too rigid for long journeys; keep the target tied to the theory of change and review it at fixed points rather than defending it at any cost.
Check delivery before you look for effect
Guidance on school implementation, such as the EEF's, treats how a change is carried out as seriously as which change is chosen. A common problem is that the new practice is only half delivered, so a weak result gets blamed on the idea. Leading indicators let you test delivery first: how many teachers set the task this week, how many pupils did the exit ticket?
Only when delivery is good do the lagging indicators say something about the idea itself. Put a delivery measure and a pupil measure side by side on your page, and agree in advance what you will do if delivery is low (fix the timetable, give more support) and what you will do if delivery is good but pupils do not move (revisit the theory).
Examples from the classroom
How big a stretch in Namangan?
Scene. A Namangan school wants a target for Grade 8 maths. The last three years at mark 3 or above were 69, 72 and 70 percent. Aziz, the deputy, says a target of 72 would show nothing. The team writes: 'At least 75 percent of 90 pupils (68 pupils), hoping for 80 percent (72 pupils), by the end of Term 3; no class below 70 percent.' They know what to learn from 75 or from 80.
Insight. A target set against the usual range, with a floor and a stretch, tells you whether something really changed.
Friday tally in Fergana
Scene. Malika's Grade 9 team chooses a leading indicator for Monday attendance: each class teacher writes on a small paper slip, every Friday, how many pupils were absent on Monday. It takes two minutes. The deputy adds up four slips in five minutes and puts the number on a hand-drawn chart in the staff room. In three weeks the team sees that attendance is rising slowly and keeps going.
Insight. A leading indicator on paper that takes minutes lets the team steer while the term is still running.
Nine actions become four
Scene. A Samarkand school's first plan has nine actions. Dilnoza adds up the minutes per teacher per month: about 55. The head says that is too much for twelve teachers. They keep the four actions that fit the theory of change: shared explain tasks, a monthly 15-minute check at the methodological association, a Friday tally and an exit ticket. The plan now asks for about 15 extra minutes per teacher.
Insight. Counting minutes before launch protects the plan from collapsing under its own weight.
Common pitfalls
- Setting a target without looking at how much the figure normally moves from year to year.
- Writing targets about teachers' behaviour only, with no change in what pupils learn.
- Asking every teacher for a long list of extra tasks, so that the plan stalls in the second month.
- Judging the idea before checking that the action was really carried out.
From Weak Targets to a One-Page Plan
- Open the Activity Kit. Pairs (10 min): in Table A, work out the baseline in pupils for three SAMPLE Grade 8 classes. Then calculate what happens to the percent if two more pupils reach mark 3. Decide what size of target is worth setting.
- Pairs (15 min): rewrite the four weak targets in Table B as SMART targets, using the baselines in the Kit. Check each against Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound.
- Trios (15 min): for the Session 2 priority, choose one lagging and two leading indicators. Fill Table C: what is counted, from where, by whom, how often, and the paper tool.
- Trios (15 min): fill the one-page plan skeleton in Table D with your target, theory of change, three or four actions with who, when and minutes, review dates and a 'we will stop' line. Add up the minutes per teacher per month.
- Second short activity (10 min): the red-pen test. Swap plans with another trio. Their only job is to ask: 'How could we hit this number without helping a single pupil?' Write down each answer and add a safeguard to the plan.
- Alone (5 min): write your school-based task from the Kit and the date you will test your draft plan with a colleague.
Your facilitator will guide you through this activity in the session.
Questions to discuss
- Which weak target was hardest to rewrite, and what information was missing to make it SMART?
- How many minutes does your plan ask of each teacher per month, and is that honest?
- What did the red-pen test find that you had not seen?
Reflect
- Which target in your school has no baseline, or no date?
- What indicator would tell you in three weeks, not three terms, that the plan is working?
- What existing meeting could carry this plan so that you add no new meetings?
Try it tomorrow
- Find the last three years of one figure at your school and write the usual range beside it.
- Write one SMART target with a floor and a stretch for your priority, in pupils and in percent.
- Add up the minutes your draft plan asks of each teacher in a month and remove one action if it is over about 15.
Further reading and links
A good plan fits on one page: a baseline, a SMART target, a few indicators that move early, small actions with owners and dates, and a test of how it could be gamed.