I Need Help Finding Appropriate Proposed Goals

The problem with copying goals from one student’s IEP to the next is that nearly every child has different areas of weakness and skill levels. Don’t get me wrong as it is very likely some districts reuse the same goals over and over again for different students, but we think IEP goals should be specific to the child at issue.

We like to outline the areas of weakness for which the student needs a goal and then use that outline at the IEP meeting to discuss potential goals. To do this, first, we would review the latest testing and assessments, making a list of any areas that have a lower-than-average result for a possible goal.

Just to be clear, we are not making general category lists like “reading, math” but are looking at specific skills. So, under a reading heading, we would list the areas of weakness such as phonological processing, fluency, comprehension, etc. We would do the same under a math heading by detailing the skills with which the child is struggling such as math facts, calculation, order of operations, solving equations, word problems, and so on.

Second, we would add to that list any areas of weakness pointed out by the parents and the teachers and identify anything the student is struggling with in school or at home, whether academic, speech, focus, social, or emotional. We always encourage the parent to ask the teacher(s) before (preferably a few weeks before) about their concerns for the student and areas of weakness. Ideally, the parent would have a conversation with the teacher in this regard, take notes during or right after the meeting, and add the relevant areas to the list.

Third, we would look at report cards, progress reports, and reading levels along with in-class reading level assessment results, math level assessment results, etc., and add to the list any areas of weakness revealed through a review of such information. We would also seek input from any outside tutors or therapists and gather any data they might have to support their findings.

As a parent advocate, you must get into the details and research the grade level skills expected of your child (by asking your child’s teacher, looking at the common core standards followed by the district, etc.) and use objective data to assess where your child stands. If you do not know or understand exactly what your child needs, it is very unlikely the IEP team will have a such an understanding. It takes work, a lot of it, and it is unlikely anyone else on the IEP team has the time and dedication to put in the effort so the parent must put in the effort.

Fourth, now that there is a list detailing the student’s areas of weaknesses, we would want to see whether there are any duplicates or areas that should be grouped together for a goal. Once we do that, we would start researching goals online. It is much easier to look for proposed goals online when you know what you need and then you can modify them accordingly. For instance, we might google “IEP goals for visual processing” or “IEP goals for phonological processing” and start to familiarize ourselves with the different options. After looking around a bit, we might then choose the ones we think are most appropriate for this student and modify them accordingly based upon our student's present levels and what we think would be appropriately challenging objectives. We would write down why we like the selected goals, so that we can explain why we are proposing such a goal at the IEP meeting, and include any data and reports identifying the area of weakness. The proposed goal, along with baselines, can then be presented to the IEP team in an intelligent and rational way.

If a student is using a program at school that we approve of, for instance, if she is dyslexic and is using the Barton Reading & Spelling, we might look for related goals from the Barton program itself. Some programs, such as Barton, have appropriately designed goals. Or, if we expect the child to get through a certain number of levels in the reading program being used by the next IEP date, we can use the skills in those levels to come up with a good proposed goal.

If we cannot find what we feel are appropriate goals, we might look at all the common core skills required for a child in, for example, math and determine which correspond with her areas of weakness. If we can’t figure out how to write an appropriate goal, we might instead share with the IEP team the identified areas of weakness, along with the objective data supporting those areas, and then point out the corresponding common core skills and ask them to come up with a related goal as a team. As such a goal is discussed, the parent will want to make sure that the goal can be measurable by objective independent data (and not written in a way that allows by some teacher to say in a year that she met her goal without having to point to objective data/evidence but written in a way that allows progress to be charted).

Goals take work. The most important thing is to come up with appropriately challenging goals to use as a draft or baseline while at the IEP meeting. It is unlikely the district will just agree to all your goals, so you will have to remember it is a negotiation and you might have to ask questions such as:

Why don’t you like this goal?

Can you suggest a different goal that addresses my concern that ...?

Can we agree it is an area of weakness based on Y?

Why don’t you think a goal is necessary in this area as it is my understanding visual processing skills are needed to be successful in math, are visual processing skills not required to access math or any other areas of her education?

Be willing to compromise on the wording, and maybe even be willing to group a couple of goals into one goal when appropriate. But, do not compromise when it comes to making sure the goal is objectively measurable (can be charted).

If a parent goes into an IEP meeting and demands that a whole list of goals are included in the IEP, it is likely the demand request will not be well received by the team. So, we suggest that parents propose the goals in a positive, friendly and cooperative manner. For instance, "I noticed my child has an area of weakness in X area and this was supported by Y assessment or the teacher’s observations as discussed with me on Z date. I would like to discuss the need for a goal in that area and I even have a proposed one we can start with and review and revise as a team."