How to Improve Students' IEP Goals

Writing standard-based goals can be tough.

Writing accurate, specific, measurable goals can be even tougher.

I'm here with tips that will have you writing some kick butt goals this school year.

Let's take a look...

This "old goal" isn't terrible.  It has measurements, right?

Yes, the student must improve his reading fluency by 75%, but the goal is lacking a definitive measurement for what the classroom teacher should specifically be looking for.

So what does this new goal look like?

One of this student's greatest oral reading struggles is the rate at which he processes words.  In the new goal, I was sure to include how many WPM I want him to read, and how many breaks I want him to take during that minute.

In my report where I discuss my PLOPS, I am sure to include his current levels of performance for both these measurements so that the school teacher next year will understand where he is starting...and where we would like to see him end up by the following academic year.

Here are two excellent resources you can use to help you write better standard-based goals.

1. www.goalbookapp.com: I love this website for writing my goals.  They are aligned to the CCSS, and allow for a lot of customization and flexibility for choosing appropriate supports for your students. 
2.  Allison from Speech Peeps - Goal Writing Tutorial: Allison does an excellent job explaining how to write standard-based goals.

Looking for other ways you can be prepared for your IEPs this year?  You can read my series all about staying organized for IEP Season.  Click on the image below to read more!