Why Should I Bring Proposed Goals Into An IEP Meeting?

There are different theories about whether to let the district write crummy IEP goals, which of course makes it much easier for the lawyers to help you down the road, or whether a parent should ensure that the goals are appropriate for the upcoming IEP year. Each case is different so we cannot answer the bigger question of whether a parent should leave the district goals alone or work with the IEP team toward creating appropriate goals. 

In the event a parent decides to work with the district on the goals, we always suggest the parent brings draft goals into the IEP meeting. We like draft goals for two reasons. First, the meetings are stressful and a parent can get distracted quite easily, so having draft goals on hand allows the parent to have an ideal to work toward during the IEP goal discussions. Second, the draft goals serve as a reminder of the areas of weakness the parent has identified for discussion with the IEP team. 

As we all know, the energy of IEP teams differs from year to year and team to team. So, in some instances, a parent may have a good relationship with the reading teacher and can share proposed reading goals with her before the IEP meeting. At the end of such a one-on-one discussion, the reading teacher may agree to include the parent’s goals in the IEP. This means the parent does not have to negotiate the goals with the entire IEP team during the meeting. Maybe this only works with one or two teachers/providers and the rest present their goals at the IEP meeting. Other times, all of the parent’s draft goals are presented at the IEP meeting. 

If a parent is presenting draft goals at the IEP meeting, it might work as follows: The district presents its reading goal(s) and, as they do, the parent may suggest a few edits with explanations for the same. For example, if the district has only proposed a reading comprehension goal and the parent has a draft comprehension goal, the parent would use her draft goal as a baseline to suggest edits to the district goal or may even ask the team to adopt her goal instead. We like parents to share their reasons for editing or substituting the goal and to do so in very a friendly and detailed way. In this regard, such edits are usually about making sure the goal is appropriately challenging for the year ahead and that progress will be measured in such a way that it can be charted.

After the team agrees upon and finalizes the district-proposed goals, the parent might note that there are some areas of reading weakness not addressed by those goals and then specify the areas of weakness along with supporting data. The parent might add that she has some proposed goals in these areas that she would like the team to discuss and consider. It might go something like: “Before we move away from the reading goals, I would like to propose several more reading goals, one for each component of reading that my child struggles with but has not been proposed or discussed yet.” The parent would detail the components for which the goals are proposed (phonics, phonemic awareness, vocabulary, fluency, and/or comprehension) and detail the child’s present levels.

If the district objects, we like the parent to ask why they would object to a goal for each component of reading that the child struggles with when each area is required for progress. We might even have the parent point out that the IDEA has delineated 5 components of reading to include (1) phonemic awareness; (2) phonics; (3) vocabulary development; (4) reading fluency, including oral reading skills; and (5) reading comprehension strategies. (There is more information on these components at https://www.parentcenterhub.org/amends-to-idea-essa-fact-sheet/). Then, a good follow-up question for the district might be why would it not permit a goal in each area of reading identified by the IDEA. With a bit of friendly nudging or sharing of the exact nature of the student’s weakness in these components, we have seen many IEP teams come around. We certainly do not accept any objection on the ground that there are too many reading goals, because success in each component of reading is required for reading progress.

Of course, if the parent is proposing and editing goals, the parent should already know the child’s present levels (a pre-IEP meeting with the teachers/providers to get latest reading or math assessment results is always informative). Private progress monitoring is helpful in this regard too. If not, the parent might ask for the district to assess any or all of the student's present levels in the missing components of reading and to adjourn the meeting until that information is collected. And, once the present levels are in hand, the parent will use such information to create “SMART” draft IEP goals. (Learn more about smart IEP goals at https://www.understood.org/en/articles/how-to-tell-if-your-childs-iep-goals-are-smart)

As a specific discussion example, let’s assume the child is in fourth grade and has a reading fluency weakness, resulting in an ability to read 24 correct words per minute at the start of school. According to the Reading Rockets Fluency Norms (https://www.readingrockets.org/article/fluency-norms-chart-2017-update), the average fourth grader reads 94 correct words per minute in the Fall and the average fifth grader reads 121 correct words per minute in the Fall. We would use such a norm as a guide on which to base our draft fluency goal.

Using such information, the parent would explain to the IEP team that the child has a reading fluency weakness and only reads 24 correct words per minute but according to fluency norms (have the chart on hand to share with the team) other students her age are reading at 94 correct words per minute and will be reading at a rate of 121 correct words per minutes the following year. The parent would then add something to the effect that “So, I think an appropriate fluency goal would be 'By [the next IEP date], the student will read at a rate of 121 correct words per minutes measured by teacher assessment and observation (or the DIBELS).'” 

If a district member of the team claims the parent's goal is too ambitious, the parent may agree to negotiate on the number of correct words per minute to include in the goal. But, in doing so the parent should know the fourth-grade fluency norms as well, for the parent does not want to negotiate so far down that the student is not closing the gap with her peers. We also suggest the parent consider the more ambitious the goal, the more services required. So, a very ambitious goal might require IEP service sessions 3 to 4 times a week for 50 minutes each rather than only 2 times a week. By the way, this is a SMART goal because it is easily measurable, progress can be charted and there is no need to rely on a teacher’s best guess in determining whether the student met the IEP goal next year.

We would continue in such a way until each component of reading, and related area of weakness, is addressed by a goal. As the IEP team moves through the other IEP goal areas, such a math, OT, SLP, etc., we would continue to interject and propose additional goals at the appropriate time after the district presents its goals in that area. We are very friendly the entire way through and, when the district disagrees, we ensure we have them verbalize why this area of weakness does not deserve a goal through friendly questioning and try to bring them around.

For instance, we might suggest "learning one skill a year in math does not seem as if it is appropriately challenging or will help to close the gap with her peers. Can you explain how this one math goal, with a focus on this one skill, will help her close the math gap with her peers?" Or, we may ask the math specialist how many service minutes or sessions would be required to teach this skill, why do you think this one skill is an appropriately challenging math goal for an entire year, or wouldn't it be more appropriate to develop multiple math skills over the course of the next year to close the gap with her peers? We love to reference the grade level common core requirements in math when discussing math goals. And, if a district member of the team suggests the team can develop a new math goal after the student meets the one at issue, we prefer parents request appropriately challenging math goals in the first place.

When time becomes an issue, we suggest that parents note that the right goals are so important to ensure progress and that they are happy to schedule another meeting to finish the IEP goals. Sometimes, the parent might even suggest they can work on the goals offline with specific teachers before the next meeting.