Information on Michigan academic standards and instructional resources.
Responsible for providing final decisions in administrative appeals to MDE.
Learn more about the MDE office responsible for providing leadership in curriculum and instruction that provides students with greater choices to prepare for success.
Resources for educator certification, recognition programs, evaluation, and workforce research.
Resources related to financial and pupil accounting and auditing.
Options available for Michigan students that provide unique learning opportunities.
Food & Nutrition Programs
This MDE office provides resources and technical assistance in physical education, sex education, health education, behavioral, emotional, mental, and social education as well as safety, discipline, and transportation.
Resources for programs and initiatives that support school improvement efforts.
Resources for supporting special education in Michigan.
Michigan has an innovative and comprehensive system of assessments to measure student achievement in learning our state content standards.
Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)
Search is currently unavailable. Please try again later.
The web Browser you are currently using is unsupported, and some features of this site may not work as intended. Please update to a modern browser such as Chrome, Firefox or Edge to experience all features Michigan.gov has to offer.
A student learning objective (SLO) is a measurable, long-term academic goal, informed by available data, that a teacher or teacher team sets at the beginning of a course for all students or a subset of students. SLOs are focused on the most valuable learning that is to take place in a course. They are specific and measurable goals that are based on student data and aligned to curriculum standards.
SLOs are one way to measure the academic growth of students. They also provide a way of personalizing learning for students and of helping teachers improve instruction. Education legislation in Michigan states that student growth and assessment component of a teacher’s evaluation may include the state student growth and assessment measurement standards and a local student growth assessment.
Some of the reasons the SLO process is used so widely are because SLOs are:
Early research on the SLO process shows promise. In one study, teachers reported that the SLO goal-setting process helped them become more focused on student achievement and data use. As a result, the teachers employed more evidence-based practices (Slotnik, Smith, & Liang, 2013).
In evaluations of SLO implementation, teachers reported that the SLO process provided them with the opportunity for data use; they reported that the SLO process was an empowering aspect of their evaluations and they engaged in their evaluations more actively after SLO implementation (Donaldson, 2012; New Teacher Project, 2012).
Evaluation in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools showed significantly higher multi-year growth rates in reading (13%) and mathematics (12%) between students of teachers in schools using SLOs and students of teachers in the non-SLO comparison schools.
Findings from a four-year study show that elementary, middle, and high school students whose teachers had high quality SLOs outperformed their peers on state and national standardized tests. (The final summative report for Denver’s landmark performance-based initiative).
Some states and districts across the country currently use SLOs in an effort to measure student progress and improve instruction. A review of publicly available documents found that 35 states have policies or recommendations related to the use of SLOs in their educator effectiveness systems.
There are four types of commonly used SLOs. Each covers a unique group of students.
Teachers of any grade and subject who seek to measure the academic growth of their students might benefit from the use of SLOs.
In an effort to ensure alignment and integration of the use of SLOs with other initiatives, the SLO process follows and is linked to Michigan’s MICIP, which includes data analysis, goal setting, goal refinement, and evaluation. Although the school improvement process focuses on the goal attainment of the entire school, SLOs are specific to the content a teacher is responsible for teaching. In this way, SLOs can serve as an extension of the school improvement process.
Although the use of SLOs as a measure of student growth is not required, the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) has consulted with other states and districts to gain useful information about SLO implementation. To that end, MDE will provide documents, such as an SLO checklist, template, and an SLO decision-making guide that can be used to help implement SLOs at the local level. MDE also will provide resources for training and support.
Although the following list is not exhaustive, the websites can provide complementary information about the use of SLOs in states and districts around the country.
For more information about the use of SLOs in Michigan, please contact: MDE-EdEvals@Michigan.gov.
Donaldson, M. L. (2012). Teachers’ perspectives on evaluation reform. Washington, DC: Center for American Progress. Retrieved from http://www.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/TeacherPerspectives.pdf.
New Teacher Project. (2012). Summer report: Creating a culture of excellence in Indiana schools. Indianapolis, IN: Indiana Department of Education. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED565841.pdf.
Slotnik, W. J., Smith, M. D., & Liang, G. (2013). Focus on Rhode Island: Student learning objectives and evaluation. Boston, MA: Community Training and Assistance Center. Retrieved from http://www.ctacusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/FocusOnRhodeIsland.pdf.
