IEP Goals

Are your child’s goals adequate and appropriate?

Where to Begin

• Appropriate goals begin with an current appropriate evaluation that provides data on the students strengths and needs.

You need to know where you areBefore you can figure out where you are going.

Once we have good evaluation information we can develop a present level of academic and functional performance. It should be detailed, clear and descriptive. The PLOP should give us a “snapshot” of the student.

Present LevelRemember…

The present level of academic achievement and functional performance sets the stage for developing IEP goals!

Present Level

DO NOT use the student’s exceptionality to explain how the disability affects involvement/progress in the general curriculum!–Example of what NOT to write:

Marcus’ learning disability affects his progress in the general curriculum.–Example of what to write:

Marcus’ weakness in applying strategies, such as making inferences and making complex predictions, affect his progress in comprehending sixth-grade literary materials.

IEP Goals• Need to be measurable -- how will you know when it is

mastered?• Need to make sense• Should be tied to general curriculum • Based on the student’s assessed needs• Must be individualized to the student. One size does not fit all• A student should work on several goals at a time• Must be changed if the student is not learning.

No goal should last forever!

Tied to the General Curriculum

There must be a connection between the general curriculum objectives and this student’s IEP goals and objectives.

The IEP Team must decide what the student will learn about each subject the class is studying.

The IEP Team must decide which and how many general curriculum objectives the student is expected to know.

The IEP Team must make general curriculum objectives functional and meaningful for this student.

3 Basic Questions

When writing IEP goals, ask:

Is it meaningful?

Is it done as a natural part of the day?

Is it tied to the general curriculum?

Annual Goals

Annual goals are expectations based on assessed special education needs. Annual goals are reasonably achievable within one calendar year.

Developing Annual Goals

• If a large number of needs are identified in the present level, the IEP Team must consider how each need impacts the students’ progress in the general education curriculum.

• Select the need that has the greatest impact on progress, and develop a goal to address that need.

Developing SMART IEP Goals

• Specific – based on the student’s Present Level of Academic Achievement/Functional Performance

• Measurable – progress is objectively determined at frequent data points

• Achievable – realistic, related to the most critical needs

• Results-oriented –developed with a standards’outcome in mind

• Time-bound – clearly defined beginning and ending dates

Specific

• SMART IEPs have specific goals and objectives. Specific goals and objectives describe each behavior and skill that will be taught, and define each skill or behavior in ways that are observable and measurable.

Measurable

• SMART IEPs have measurable goals and objectives. Measurable goals and objectives

• allow you to assess the child’s progress. When you use measurable goals and

• objectives, you know when a goal is reached and when a skill is mastered. If you

• establish a goal to lose 25 pounds, you will use scales to measure your progress.

• Achievable – realistic, related to the most critical needs

Realistic and Relevant

• SMART IEPs have realistic, relevant goals and objectives. SMART goals and objectives address the child’s unique needs that result from the child’s disability.

Time-limited• SMART IEP goals and objectives are time-limited. This

enables you to monitor progress at regular intervals.Assume your child is learning to type. Here is a SMART goal

for typing:• At the end of the first semester, Mark will touch-type a

passage of text at a speed of 20 words per minute, with no more than 10 errors, with progress measured on a five-minute timed test.

• At the end of the second semester, Mark will touch-type a passage of text at a speed of 40 words per minute, with no more than 5 errors, with progress measured on a five-minute timed test.

Goals have five components 1. resources , conditions or supports

needed to accomplish the expected level of performance

2. present level of performance, or behavior;3. direction of change;4. the expected annual ending level of

performance or Criteria; and5. The evaluation procedure

Measurable Annual Goals•Learning outcome (needs to be observable)•i.e. what the student is expected to learn.

•Condition (under which the outcome will occur)•e.g. particular environment or activities, particular equipment/materials, particular assistance.

•Criterion (to measure if the goal has been achieved)•e.g. percentage correct, time limit, level of accuracy, level of assistance.

Example of Goal

Jacob will read 90-110 words of connected text per minute with 100% accuracy at the end of 36 weeks as shown by teacher observation and collection of data.

• The student (Jacob)• Will do what (read 90-110 words per minute)• To what level or degree (100% accuracy)• Under what conditions (connected text)• In what time frame (end of 36 weeks)• Evaluated how (teacher observation and data)

Annual Goals

Remember…!– The IEP goal is NOT the content

standard– The IEP goal is part of a plan to

make the content standards immediate and specific for the student

ANNUAL GOAL CHECKLIST1. Is the goal clear and understandable?

A. not vague?B. avoids educational jargon?C. not too specific?

2. Is the goal positively stated? 3. Is there at least one goal for each area of need stated in the

PLEP? 4. Can the goal be justified on the basis of the information in the

PLEP? 5. Is the goal practical and relevant to the student's academic,

social, and vocational needs? 6. Is the goal practical and relevant when the student's age and

remaining years in school are considered? 7. Does the goal reflect appropriate growth within the instructional

area? 8. Can the goal be accomplished within one year?

THE STRANGER TESTThe Stranger Test refers to goals and objectives for students that are described

in a fashion that a person unfamiliar with the student could read the description and understand it. Because various persons involved in the implementation of a student's educational plan may interpret a construct such as "hostility" differently, it is necessary to describe student behavior in terms that would pass the Stranger Test. For example, if a student's goal was to decrease "hostility," a stranger might interpret it as hits, kicks, bites others while the student's team may have meant verbal threats or profanity directed toward peers. On the other hand, the stranger might interpret "hostility" as any instance of hitting, whether or not it was provoked, while the teacher might have meant only unprovoked hits. If the teacher had defined "hostility" for the stranger as "each instance of an unprovoked hit," where "unprovoked" means that it was not in retaliation for a physical or verbal attack from a peer, both the stranger and the teacher would be likely to obtain the same results, since they would both be looking for the same thing.

THE DEAD MAN’S TEST• The question posed by the dead man's test is this:

Can a dead man do it? If the answer is yes, it doesn't pass the dead man's test and it isn't a fair pair; if the answer is no, you have a fair pair. For example, suppose that you wanted a fair pair target behavior for "swears at peers." Let's say that you came up with the target behavior "does not swear at peers." Does this pass the dead man's test? No. A dead man could refrain from swearing at peers. What would be better? How about "speaks to peers without swearing"? This passes the dead man's test because a dead man does not have the power to speak.

Changes to Goals

• Sometimes even a well written goal will be too easy or too hard.

Progress monitoring and data will show when this is true.

When this happens the goal should be amended