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THIS ISSUE: Writing
Better IEP Goals Dear
Arizona Promising Practices Subscriber, Welcome
to another online addition of the Arizona Promising Practices forum.
For those new to this service, each issue, which will now be sent to
you on a regular basis, will focus on: (1)
Recommended National Education websites; and (2) One
promising practice article in condensed form. We welcome your
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future topics (these will be wide ranging so if nothing in this
update interests you, hold on for future editions!) The
Arizona Promising Practices Forum and website, www.azpromisingpractices.com
is a FREE resource of the Arizona Department of Education. In
this issue of the Promising Practices Forum we have been asked to provide
information about writing better IEP Goals. This practical guide
will help you build IEP goals that work. National Website of Importance: If you are looking for an online resource that addresses the needs of special education students, check out www.schwablearning.org which provides material for both parents and educators of special needs students. Promising Practice Research and Tips How to Write IEP Goals IEP
Goal Writing
Goals are all part of
writing the Individualized Education Plan-Program (IEP). More
importantly, writing good goals that meet the specific child's need
are critical to the process. A large number of educational
jurisdictions tend to use SMART goals which stand for: ·
Specific ·
Measurable ·
Achievable ·
Relevant ·
Time Limited Using SMART goals
makes a lot of sense when writing your IEP goals. After all, well
written goals will describe what the child will do, when and how
he'll do it and what the time frame will be for achieving it. When writing goals, keep the following
tips in mind: Be very specific about the action. For instance: raise his/her hand for attention, use a classroom voice, read the pre-primer Dolch Words, complete homework, keep hands to him/herself, point to I want, I need augmentative symbols. Then you need to provide a time frame or location/context for the goal. For instance: during silent reading time, while in the gym, at recess time, by the end of 2nd term, point to 3 picture symbols when something is needed. Then decide what determines the success of the goal. For instance: how many consecutive periods will the child remain on task? How many gym periods? How fluent will the child read the words - without hesitation and prompting? What percentage of accuracy? How often? What to Avoid A vague, broad or general goal is unacceptable in the IEP. Goals that state will improve reading ability, will improve his/her behavior, will do better in math should be stated much more specifically with reading levels or benchmarks, or frequency or level of improvement to attain and a time frame for when the improvement will occur. Using "will improve his/her behavior’ is also not specific. Although you may want behavior improved, which specific behaviors are targeted first along with when and how are a critical part of the goal. If you can remember the meaning behind the acronym SMART, you will be prompted to write better goals that will lead to student improvement. It's also a good practice to include the child in setting goals if appropriate. This will ensure that the student takes ownership over reaching his/her goals. Make sure you review goals regularly. Goals will need to be reviewed to ensure that the goal is 'achievable'. Setting a goal too high is almost as bad as not having a goal at all. Some Final Tips: ·
Include any curricular
modifications. If the curriculum states that the goal is to count to
50 and you state count to 10, this is a modification. ·
Include any curricular
accommodations. This will include things like: scribing, a quite
setting to take tests, assistive technology etc. ·
Provide any support staff
that will be involved in the IEP ·
Indicate materials and or
resources to be used ·
Most importantly, make sure
the IEP is based on priorities for the student. |