Individualized Education Program (IEP) Goals: The Basics
Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings give you and the school a chance to work together to design an IEP for your child with learning disabilities who's been determined eligible for special education. The goals for academic achievement and functional performance set for your child are the core of the IEP. As a parent, you play an important role in developing these goals.
What Are Goals?
Goals represent what you and the other IEP team members think your child will be able to accomplish in his area(s) of disability-academic, developmental, and functional-in a year's time. Annual goals must be written in measurable terms. Here is an example:
Sample IEP Long-Term Goal in Reading*
Given randomly selected passages at the third-grade level, J. R. will read aloud 115 words correct per minute, by the end of the year (or in 35 weeks), as measured by a valid curriculum-based measurement.
*From the National Center on Student Progress Monitoring at www.studentprogress.org.
To the degree practicable, both the specially designed instruction used to achieve the goals, and the evaluation tools used to measure your child's achievement, should be research based.
A Note on IEP Goals and Academic Content Standards
To meet the requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), all states must set rigorous standards for student achievement in reading, math, and science, and test students using assessments that are aligned with your state's academic content standards, which define what children must know and be able to do at each grade level. Since your child will be tested based on these standards, it would seem logical that formulation of his IEP goals would be based on them, particularly if your child has a deficit in reading or math. As a parent, you can play a role in making sure that your child's IEP goals are aligned with these academic content standards, even if your child may not reach the standards for his grade level in a single academic year.
How Are Goals Developed?
The IEP team develops academic and functional goals based on your child's present level of performance. Reports from you and the teachers, as well as evaluations and performance on state assessments, provide the basis for deciding areas to focus on for your child. In addition, your state's academic content standards for your child's grade level can serve as a reference point for setting goals for your child. (See box above.) If you prepare some ideas before the meeting, you'll feel more comfortable participating in the process.
Goals must relate directly to the areas of need identified in the present level of performance. They should be prioritized in order of greatest need and be stated in objective, measurable terms.
Your child needs to understand what his goals (and objectives or benchmarks, if any) are. As he gets older, he should be involved in developing them, as well. The more he is aware of what he's working on, the better his buy-in, and the greater his chances of achieving the goals.
How Many Goals Are Enough?
Often IEPs include too many goals. This can be confusing to you and the teachers and put unrealistic expectations on your child. To keep the number manageable, consider setting one goal for each "big" area of concern, for example, basic reading skills, reading comprehension, math calculation, or study skills.
Who Carries Out the Goals?
The type of goals the team writes determines who will carry them out — the special education teacher, general education teacher, or support person (for example, speech/language pathologist) responsible. Often, a team works together, for example, the special and general education teachers and the speech/language pathologist may work to help your child improve skills in reading comprehension.
