As special education teachers, one of our most important tasks is choosing the perfect IEP goal for our students. That process can be incredibly overwhelming though. Here are my three simple steps for selecting the perfect IEP goal.
Step 1: Assessment
In my opinion, assessment is key to writing the best IEP goal possible. Not only do we need this information when we sit down to write a Present Level of Performance, but we also need them to determine that goal.
When it’s time for me to assess students, I grab a clipboard that contains SO many assessments. I don’t use all of them for each student, but I like to have them handy regardless. For example, if I give students decodable words and they zip through them faster than I can keep up, they likely have a strength in memorization. By having nonsense words handy, I can quickly assess their decoding abilities.
Find assessments that work well with the skills that you typically need to assess based on your students academic abilities and goals.
Step 2: Anecdotal Notes
I encourage special education teachers to write as many anecdotal notes as possible. These can really help guide you to the goal or goals that your students need. How quickly did a student read or complete math problems? Did they reverse letters? Were they chatty? Did you give multiple prompts or examples? Did they count on their fingers? Did they seem to know answers verbally, but writing the numbers slowed them down?
What atypical things are you noticing?
These notes should be included in their present level, and they can also help you decide on a goal for the upcoming year.
Step 3: Select a Progress Monitoring Assessment
One mistake that special education teachers make all the time is writing a goal that is SO difficult to measure later. When you choose the assessment NOW, you know that it will be easy to assess later.
Nothing is worse than sitting down to assess a student for the first time and realizing that you made your own life harder.
When you’re writing that goal, choose an assessment and write the goal to match! You can customize the goal from there.
