Goals MUST:
- Be directly related to the student’s ability to participate in his/her educational program, assisting the child to be more independent within his/her routine.
- Involve a team process between disciplines in order to allow goals to be addressed throughout the student’s program.
- Be able to be monitored and assessed consistently (measurable) and at defined or regular intervals. At a minimum, quarterly reports on the student’s progress must be given to the student’s parents/guardians.
- Focus on expected growth within a one-year time interval.
- Be developed considering the best overall interests of the students (consensus building often requires some give and take among professionals.
- Identify what the student will do, not the staff.
- Be individualized, NOT mass produced; one size does not fit all.
- Be developed establishing a baseline level; what is the current level of performance. (You don’t know how much progress has been made unless you know where you started).
- Be developed to maximize the growth of the child, but minimize the number of goal expectations. Too many goals decrease the focus of the program.
- Use language that is understandable to all members of the team — including parents/guardians.
- Use verbs that are measurable. You can’t measure it if you can’t see it, hear it, or count it.
- Welcome parent/guardian ideas when writing plans for students. Refer to your ideas as parents should always be primarily considered as active and equal participants in the IEP process.
