How do I make sure my child has good IEP goals?

When you’re working with your IEP team to develop your child’s goals, keep these tips in mind:

• Ask for a draft IEP before the meeting (at least draft goals).
• Pay attention to the setting for each goal.
• Pay attention to the other conditions in each goal.
• Know what the state standards are for your child’s grade level. Remember that your IEP may span two grade levels.
• Determine if the goal appropriately reflects the state standard.
• Watch out for goals that require multiple behaviors to be measured and contain too many skills.
• Determine whether the baseline tells you whether the student can currently meet the goal.
• Ensure the baseline matches the goal and presents progress in the same form of measurement as the goal is written, or else meaningful progress will not be proven.
• Evaluate whether the goals are pivotal. Do the skills open up to other skills? Are they future-oriented? Do they foster independence?
• Determine whether benchmarks or short-term objectives can better help your child meet their goals.
• Ask the teacher how they will measure progress on the goal and how they will share the data with the IEP team.

To learn more about what makes a good IEP goal, check out our article Let’s Fix Those IEP Goals!.