IEP Process

IEP Goals and Objectives

Measurable annual goals are descriptions of what a child can reasonably be expected to accomplish within a defined amount of time with the provision of special education (specially designed instruction) and related services. When selecting areas of need to address through annual goals, the IEP team’s focus should be on determining goals from the needs identified in the present levels.

Measurable annual goals must be related to meeting the child’s needs that result from the child’s disability, to enable the child to be involved and progress in the general curriculum. In addition, they must meet each of the child’s other educational needs that result from the child’s disability. Annual goals are not required for areas of the general curriculum in which the child’s disability does not affect the ability to be involved and progress in the general curriculum. The annual goals included in each child’s IEP should be individually selected to meet the unique needs of the individual child. The goals should not be determined based on the category of the child’s disability or on commonly exhibited traits of children in a category of disability. For children with disabilities who take alternate assessments aligned with alternate achievement standards, a description of benchmarks or short-term objections must be included.

There is a direct relationship between baseline data, the needs identified in the present levels of performance, and the measurable annual goal. Because the present level assessment data provide baseline data for the development of measurable annual goals, the same measurement method used to collect baseline data and establish present levels of performance must also be used in setting the annual goal.

Well-written measurable annual goals should pass the “Stranger Test.” This test involves evaluating the goal to determine if it is written so that a teacher who does not know the child could use it to develop appropriate instructional plans and assess the child’s progress.

To continue to the next step in the IEP Process: Reporting Progress on IEP Goals and Objectives, click Next below.