Goals Based on a Comprehensive Evaluation    

Effective goals come from a thorough understanding of how a child is functioning in different environments over the course of a typical day. A child’s academic performance and daily functioning is summarized by the PLAAFP statement. To determine those present levels, an IEP team must conduct a holistic evaluation.

A holistic evaluation often includes the following: 

• diagnostic assessments to identify which conditions may be affecting a student; 
• functional and adaptive behavior assessments to shed light on how disability affects learning in different settings; 
• developmental and achievement assessments to show which skills a student has mastered, and which skills need support; 
• rating scales that allow parents to share their observations; 
• interviews with the student and family about their background, routines, and activities, along with their concerns and priorities for student outcomes; 
• review of available school and health records; and 
• discussions with general education teachers, special education teachers, and other health and educational specialists who know about the student’s daily life. 

Comprehensive evaluations are about so much more than diagnosis and eligibility for services. They set baselines against which you can measure progress. They clarify the strengths and needs that will be the focus of the student’s IEP goals. And they reveal what motivates and interests the student. That’s the information you need to write strong goals.  

Visit WPS to learn more about trusted, validated assessment tools to help you conduct a holistic evaluation, including early development, achievement, adaptive behavior, speech and language, neurodevelopmental conditions, mental health support, and more.  

 

 

 

Goals That Consider the Student in Context

To write a truly individualized goal, you will need to consider the fullness of a child’s lived experience. That includes the student’s personal and cultural background. In a November 2024 guidance letter, the U.S. Department of Education noted, “It is critical that we better understand student behavior, including how students’ lived experiences, such as peer pressure, poverty, social media, discrimination, and trauma, may impact behaviors that interfere with learning in the classroom” (U.S. Department of Education, 2024). 

 

Culture

When a student’s goals are culturally responsive, learning can become a rich and rewarding experience for students and their families. Writing such goals can also be fulfilling for educators. It’s an opportunity to understand a student’s perspective, and it’s a chance to learn more about our own attitudes, beliefs, and expectations—especially when it comes to disability.

Culturally responsive goals take into account many aspects of a child’s experience, including:

personal and family history  exposure to multiple languages  areas of personal interest and background knowledge  cultural beliefs, norms, and traditions

personal strengths that enrich learning and relationships  varied ways of thinking and communicating  physical capabilities and skills  all aspects of a child’s identity, including disability

For example, reading goals can build vocabularies in multiple languages. They can also enable students to read, talk, and write about characters who share aspects of their identity or history. Such goals can be both educationally and culturally meaningful.  

These questions may help you to build goals that incorporate a student’s cultural background:  

• Does the goal support the child and family in following cultural practices and traditions that are meaningful to them?
• Does the goal reflect the family’s values and priorities?
• Does the goal validate the family’s definition of success?
• Does the goal allow the student to build on life experiences and interests? 

 

 

Goals That Affirm Neurodiversity  

School are hubs of human diversity: neurotypical and neurodivergent students, students with all sorts of abilities and disabilities, students who speak different languages, students who love sports, video games, musical theater, books, music, the great outdoors—the whole gamut. The goals we write should affirm their uniqueness.

If you’re writing goals to support a neurodivergent student, it’s important to start by understanding what the day is like for that student. What activities are important to the child? What supports would improve the child’s enjoyment of school and other settings? What goals do the child and family want to achieve?

A growing body of research suggests that neurodivergent ways of thinking and behaving are part of the natural variation of human experience. For that reason, practitioners and educators have been moving toward goals that value neurodivergent characteristics, rather than aiming to “cure” neurodivergence or “reduce” neurodivergent traits. Many advocates, families, and professionals are avoiding goals that make neurotypical behavior the standard for all children.

Here are a few areas where neurodiversity-affirming goals may be beneficial.

• Play. Neurodivergent students play in many ways, some of which may not look like the style of play a neurotypical child enjoys. For example, an autistic student might prefer to play in solitude, to play parallel with peers, or to play with specific types of toys or games. A goal that asks a neurodivergent student to “play with peers in a socially appropriate way” is vague and open to multiple interpretations. It also suggests that neurodivergent ways of playing are inappropriate, and that neurodivergent children should learn to play the same way other students do (Hull et al., 2022).

• Social skills. Some goals suggest that all children should communicate and interact in a neurotypical way. Such goals often focus on compliance and may result in students working to hide autistic characteristics (Burke et al., 2024). For example, a goal that requires a neurodivergent student to use eye contact while communicating could lead to dysregulation and anxiety. Complying with this neurotypical social skill may cause a student to camouflage how eye contact really feels. In the same way, goals that focus on using an “appropriate tone of voice” or copying neurotypical facial expressions can make it harder for neurodivergent students to communicate authentically.

  Instead, consider goals that improve a student’s ability to communicate in a way that meets the student’s needs. Some researchers say conventional social skills training may not be healthy for neurodivergent students. It’s important to acknowledge, however, that some families do ask for social skills training for their child. Clear communication with families will help you decide the best direction for each child.

• Repetitive behaviors. Goals that aim to reduce “stimming” and other autistic behaviors that aren’t harmful may weaken or eliminate coping strategies that help neurodivergent students deal with stress or sensory overload. Repetitive behaviors may be more likely in settings where autistic students can’t access information or objects that interest and engage them (Mottron, 2017). It may be more effective to create goals that strengthen a student’s ability to recognize problems, identify feelings, give or refuse consent, and advocate for their own needs.

• Language development. Building speech and language skills is often the focus of IEP goals. There is some debate about goals that focus on speech patterns such as echolalia, gestalt language, and hyperlexia in neurodivergent children. In the past, goals often focused on decreasing or eradicating these types of speech.

  But some research suggests that language development may happen differently in autistic children. Traits like echolalia can be a highly functional cognitive or communication strategy. They may be part of a natural language developmental trajectory for that child. For that reason, it is not always appropriate to try to eliminate neurodivergent speech and language patterns (McFayden et al., 2022).

• Self-determination and self-advocacy. Whenever possible, students should be allowed to identify the goals that matter most to them. Goals that support a student’s ability to recognize, communicate, and advocate for their own needs can be powerful for neurodivergent students. Goal setting, planning, establishing boundaries, and problem-solving are skills that may help students build their ability to exercise their own agency and to function in varied settings (Tomaszewski et al., 2020).

 

 

 

 

 

What Does the Law Require? 

IEP goals are held to high standards. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), along with numerous federal, state, and local agencies, have established requirements that address both the process and content of goal-writing. One major requirement to keep in mind as you begin: Goals must be directly linked to the needs identified in the PLAAFP statement of the IEP.

Under federal regulations, IEPs must contain “a statement of measurable annual goals, including academic and functional goals designed to meet the child’s needs that result from the child’s disability to enable the child to be involved in and make progress in the general education curriculum; and meet each of the child’s other educational needs that result from the child’s disability” (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 2007).

Detailing every requirement relevant to IEP goals is beyond the scope of this guide—but we can provide an overview and some basic principles to inform your process.  

 

A Multidisciplinary IEP Team

Federal law requires IEPs to be created by a multidisciplinary team, including people with expertise and training in the child’s areas of need.  For students ages 3-21 years, IEP teams must include parents/caregivers, a general education teacher, a special education teacher or provider, a school district official, and any other professionals whose expertise is needed. Getting the right members on a team ensures the best opportunity to complete a thorough evaluation, write appropriate goals, and plan services and supports.

The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), and the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) have issued a joint statement on the importance of multidisciplinary collaboration in IEP goal-writing. In the statement, the organizations highlight the benefits of a team approach. Professional collaboration can:

• facilitate information-sharing across professional roles; 
• provide an opportunity to clarify who is responsible for each process; 
• encourage connections between academic and functional goals; 
• allow team members to build on each other’s work; and 
•  promote simplified data gathering and progress monitoring (ASHA, 2022). 

 

Collaboration With the Child & Family  

When deadlines are tight and caseloads are heavy, we look for efficiencies to make the most of our time. While it’s a mark of respect to arrive prepared for IEP goal-writing meetings, it’s equally important to avoid predetermination.

Courts and administrative officials have said that when we make decisions about students’ goals without family input, we deny families their right to participate in creating their children’s education plans. Parents should have an opportunity to describe their child’s experience, explain their concerns, and share in identifying which learning goals would be most meaningful. Here are ways you can collaborate authentically.  

 

Parent Contributions

Not every parent feels equally comfortable participating in the IEP process. For some, language or cultural differences create barriers. Others may feel intimidated by speaking freely in a room of educators and practitioners. And for those who may have had their concerns and ideas overlooked in education or health systems, a reluctance to participate may stem from exhaustion or mistrust.

Steps you take now may help lower barriers and rebuild trust. The suggestions below aren’t a fix for systemic problems. They are acts of respect and kindness that may make parents feel more welcome.

• Be open to unconventional meeting times and locations if meetings conflict with family work schedules or cause transportation problems.   
• Meet parents at the door, welcome them, and walk with them to the meeting room.  
• Make sure everyone has the same size chair and arrange chairs in a way that doesn’t suggest the school is on the opposite “side” from the family.  
• Leave plenty of time for questions at each stage of the process.

 

Authentic Questions

We can co-create genuine partnerships with parents by grounding IEP goals in the authentic, everyday experience of the family. Here are some questions we can ask to understand parent and caregiver perspectives on their child’s needs.

• What are some of your daily routines? Which ones does your child like and not like?
• When your child doesn’t like a routine or activity, how do they let you know?
• What activities do you and your child like to do at home? 
• What outdoor or community activities do you and your child enjoy?
• What do you see as your child’s biggest personal strengths?
• Who does your child spend time with regularly?
• What are some of your most important concerns or priorities?
• What do you think would benefit your child most right now? 

 

Read more about how to create trusting connections with parents here.  

 

Ambitious, Measurable, and Meaningful Goals   

The law requires IEP goals to be ambitious.  In 2017, the U. S. Supreme Court clarified what families should expect from their child’s IEP. It isn’t enough to aim for minimal improvement every year, the Court explained. Instead, IEPs must be “reasonably calculated to enable the child to make progress appropriate in light of the child’s circumstances” (Endrew F. v. Douglas County Sch. Dist., 2017).  An IEP needs reasonable yet challenging goals if a student is to make meaningful progress.

The law also requires IEP goals to be measurable. That means the goal should specify the criteria for success and/or quantify the amount of progress the student should make. Knowing how you plan to measure progress will help you write the goal.

The National Center for Intensive Interventions (NCII) recommends three options for determining how much academic progress is appropriate for a student.

• Many reliable, validated progress-monitoring assessments provide mid-year and year-end benchmarks you can use to set academic goals and track growth. Other assessments are designed to enable progress-monitoring, either with separate test versions or through growth scores. Of course, grade level benchmarks may not be right for every student. For example, a pre-set benchmark might not be suitable for a student who is currently performing well below grade level. Still, you may be able to use the tool to set a benchmark that’s better aligned to the needs of your student.

• Some assessments also provide information on National Norms for Rate of Improvement. These charts enable you to see how much progress students typically make toward learning a skill (such as spelling or counting) in a specific period. You can use these national norms to see whether a student is progressing as quickly as other students at the same grade level. Students learn at different rates, depending on where they started and other factors, so national norms may not be the best strategy for every student or every skill. You may also be able to use district or school norms to help you determine what a challenging goal for the year should be. Calculating a goal based on norms is usually done with an equation such as this one:

  (Rate of improvement) × (Number of weeks) + (Student’s baseline score) = GOAL

   

• For some students, especially those whose present levels are well below grade level, it may be more realistic to set a goal using an intra-individual framework. This approach relies on a student’s own growth rate. You can calculate that rate using the median of a student’s previous scores, then use that growth rate to predict where a student should be by the end of the IEP period.

  For this method, you will need 6 to 9 previous scores. Here’s the basic process:

  1. Separate the student’s scores into three groups.

  2. Find the median score in each group.

  3. Subtract the median of the third group of scores from the median of the first group of scores (median 3 – median 1). Then divide by the total number of data points (scores), less one. The formula looks like this:

  median 3 – median 1

  total # of scores – 1

  = Student’s rate of change (slope)

   

  4. Multiply the student’s rate of change (slope) by 1.5.

  5. Multiply the result from step 4 by the number of weeks in your plan.

  6. Add the result from step 5 to the median of the last group of scores (student’s baseline). The result is the student’s goal.

 

It takes practice to feel confident in setting goals using the intra-individual framework. You can find practice examples in NCII’s Strategies for Setting High-Quality Academic Individualized Education Program Goals, Version 2 (2022). 

If you use benchmarks, norms, or progress rates to set an ambitious goal, it’s important to translate these criteria into observable behaviors and skills so that students, parents, and teachers understand exactly what the student must do to meet the goal. Stating only that a student will achieve a certain percentile rank or reach a certain level in an instructional program does not provide a clear enough picture of the skills that will be taught and measured. 

When it comes to setting behavioral goals, the process may look a little different, but the guiding principles are the same. Behavioral goals should be related to needs stemming from the student’s disability. They must enable the student to participate more fully in the general curriculum. They must be ambitious, and they must be measurable.

IDEA does not specify which method to use to set a student’s goals. Your school district or state education agency may require particular methods for measuring progress and defining success. Which method you select will be determined by the needs of your student, the nature of the goal, and the student’s potential for growth. 

 

Adherence to Procedural and Substantive Guidelines   

School districts and state educational agencies usually have timelines that dictate when each part of the IEP process must happen. In many cases, these requirements are more stringent than those in the IDEA. Carefully following the procedural requirements can help ensure that students in your care are provided with a free and appropriate public education.  

 

 

 

How Should a Goal Be Written?

Many state education agencies and school districts have laws, regulations, forms, and frameworks that spell out what an IEP goal should contain. These substantive guidelines are critical to providing a free and appropriate public education to your students. You can explore state IEP laws and regulations in the 50 State Survey of Special Education Laws & Regulations here.

The strategies below are often embedded in professional guidance, laws, and regulations. 

 

To Fit the Individual

The Internet offers a vast assortment of goal banks containing prewritten IEP goals. In addition, the number of AI tools that generate goals based on curriculum standards has exploded in recent years.

While these tools can be useful if you’re brainstorming, you and your IEP team are ultimately the best source of individualized goals for your students. Your interpretation of assessment results, the trust and openness you have built with your students and their families, and your own professional judgment cannot be replaced by automation—even in the interest of saving time. Experts note that the potential for bias in AI-generated goals and the legal risks involved in relying on them, for now, outweigh the convenience they provide.

It may also seem like a time-saver to repeat or tweak the same goals as those in the student’s last IEP. While last year’s goals may have been appropriate at the time, they don’t consider a student’s growth. They may also be based on outdated evaluations of a student’s present levels. It’s a better idea to write a student’s goals without relying on pre-created language.  

 

To Build Skills

The purpose of annual goals is to increase a student’s ability to “be involved in” and to “make progress in” the general curriculum. Yet, strong goals do more than restate the general curriculum standards. Standards describe the developmental trajectory that all students typically follow within a curriculum area. Good goals, by contrast, address the skills this student needs to access or progress within the curriculum.

In addition, standards often address broad areas of knowledge, such as reading comprehension—which is comprised of many separate skills. To individualize a goal for a certain student, it’s important to link curriculum standards to the strengths and needs you identified through the student’s comprehensive evaluation. You’ll need to analyze the components of a standard, then isolate the specific skills this student needs to make meaningful progress.  

 

To Follow a SMART Framework

Goals generally follow the tried-and-true SMART formula, meaning they are written to address the following: 

 

 

The SMART acronym describes the qualities of an effective IEP goal. Let’s take a closer look at the elements that should be present within an IEP goal.  

 

To Focus on the Observable 

Strong IEP goals focus on skills and behaviors that an objective individual could observe. Internal cognitive states such as “understanding” or “knowing,” and emotional states such as “calm” or “enjoyment” can mean different things to different people.  The same is true of vague terms such as “satisfactory,” “successful,” and “age-appropriate.” Value-based terms such “respect” and “kindness” are also open to interpretation. For that reason, these terms aren’t considered observable or measurable.

Often, goals state a general direction for change, such as “improving,” “reducing,” or “increasing.” Terms like these need to be clarified. To make a goal more specific, measurable, and observable, it’s important to point out what the student will do to show that a skill has improved, reduced, or increased.

In Developing Educationally Meaningful and Legally Sound IEPs, authors Mitchell Yell, David Bateman, and James Shriner suggest several ways of measuring success, including these:

accuracy  fluency rates

response times  rubrics

The performance criteria you select should be based on the nature of the task. For example, the word “accuracy” doesn’t really apply to writing tasks. But you could use a rubric that addresses the desired elements of an essay instead. It’s also good practice, the authors say, to specify how many times a student must achieve the criteria, so it’s clear the student can perform the task consistently over time (Yell et al., 2022).  

 

To Identify Conditions & Supports  

Once you’ve singled out the tasks to be measured and set the performance criteria, you’ll need to describe the supports you’ll provide the student, as well as the circumstances under which the student will show their learning. Conditions typically include:

• materials the student will use in performing the task, such as grade-level texts; 
• accommodations the student will receive in performing the task, such as small group participation or extra time; and 
• tools the student will use in performing the task, such as calculators, keyboards, assistive communication devices, or graphic organizers.

Conditions often begin with words and phrases like “Given…” or “When provided with…” 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An Invitation 

Writing strong goals is like every other teaching skill: Study and practice lead to better results. Fortunately, there are a number of available resources to guide you in the learning process.

• Iris Center at Vanderbilt Peabody College: Developing High-Quality Individualized Education Programs (learning modules) 
• National Center on Intensive Intervention: Strategies for Setting High-Quality Academic Individualized Education Program Goals 
• National Center on Intensive Intervention: Strategies for Setting Data-Driven Behavioral Individualized Education Program Goals 
• National Association of Special Education Teachers: Determining Measurable Goals in an IEP 

The clinical and educational professionals at WPS offer trusted, expert guidance in assessment tools for both initial evaluations and progress monitoring. And WPS ProLearn®, our hub for professional development and continuing education, offers live and on-demand webinars on a range of engaging topics.   

Watch Julie Weatherly, Esq reviewing special education law on demand, on your schedule.