Suggested Methods for the Identification of Critical Goals. PDE Working Papers, Manual Two.

A method for determining a school district's ranking of its educational goals, making use of board of education, administration, faculty, and community attitudes toward local needs, is outlined in this document. Written for use in Pennsylvania districts, the manual is designed to serve in conjunction with the state's Educational Quality Assessment (EQA) School Report. The basic steps in the method outlined are (1) form a district committee to (2) report on relationships between district goals (based on EQA goals) and curriculum, (3) have a school committee rank the goals, (4) identify important goals at the district level, (5) produce final priority ranking of the goals, (6) have the faculty and administration review the final ranking, and (7) identify critical goals and write a final report. Appendices outline the basic techniques for assessing the relationships between goal rankings (correlation coefficients) and provide a Q-sort process for indentifying goal priorities that can be used by those unfamiliar with the EQA report or the rationale behind selection of Pennsylvania's Ten Goals of Quality Education. (Author/PGD)