RE: How many goals on IEP?

[Guest guest]

It is important to write measurable annual goals that will help your student build skills. Ask yourself:“In one year’s time…remembering your child’s “vision for the future” …what ”SKILL” do you believewould make the greatest difference?”

What kind of goals should be written?Goal focus should be determined by the greatest needs of your student. Ask yourself, “What skill wouldmake the biggest difference for my child?”Possible goal areas include: academic, behavioral/social/emotional, physical, orientation and mobility,

travel training, communication, assistive technology, non-academic activities, extra-curricular activities,• VOCATIONAL• TRAVEL TRAINING• BEHAVIOR• AND MORE• READING• WRITING• MATH• SOCIAL SKILLS

vocational preparation, post-secondary preparation, self-advocacy training, IEP participation training,independent living/life skills, etc.How many goals should be written?The Team decides the number of goals necessary to meet your child’s needs. Keep in mind that it is

best to choose only the goals that will make the biggest difference. If there are too many goals it will bedifficult for your student to make effective progress in each goal area.A goal should not be written for each class or related service. Skill building goals can be addressed

across all environments by all kinds of professionals.  The team decides how many goals the child can reasonably be expected to MASTER in an ARD YEAR " S time.Creating too many goals and objectives sets the IEP up for failure, I think.  If the child makes great progress and master's a goal early, you can alwasy add a new goal or extend the one that was mastered, so why put too much in there at the beginning.  It is not necessary to re-convene to add or extend goals.  It can be done with a form.  But take care to keep all substantive (concrete) work in a notebook and be sure the work/tests are dated.  Then you match each question to a goal and keep track of how many opportunities to demonstrate learning or mastery occurred for each goal each six weeks.  I like to see the " grade " reflected int he IEP report stated in a fraction: the number of opportunities under the number of correct responses WITHOUT PROMPTING.  I cannot STAND to see progress reported in a percentage.  This gives a false representation of the implementation of the IEP as well as progress.  A " 100 " does not tell you how many opportunities they gave the child.

How many things do you expect your child to " master " in a year?  Now let's discuss what " mastery " really is.  Mastery means your child can do it on his own with prompting only to remain on task.  The child should not be given hints nor second chances to guess a right answer.

Mastery means your child can demonstrate the skill across environments: at school, at home, and anywhere else.For example, let's say a child has been taught to tie his shoes.  The school says the child ties his shoes at school perfectly, but every time you ask him/her to tie his shoes at home, he cannot demonstrate it.  Therefore, the child has NOT mastered this skill.  He hasn't mastered it until he can tie his shoes without prompting at school, at home, out on a walk and in the grocery store.  This gives you an idea of what true mastery really is.

Haven

[Guest guest]

just a question but how do you convince a school that tying shoes needs to be in the iep when they say thats a parents job to teach them at home and not a school related task. or when they say school speech therapy isnt meant for teaching communication but the social skills resource class is for that instead?Sent from my iPhone

It is important to write measurable annual goals that will help your student build skills. Ask yourself:“In one year’s time…remembering your child’s “vision for the future†…what â€SKILL†do you believewould make the greatest difference?â€

What kind of goals should be written?Goal focus should be determined by the greatest needs of your student. Ask yourself, “What skill wouldmake the biggest difference for my child?â€Possible goal areas include: academic, behavioral/social/emotional, physical, orientation and mobility,

travel training, communication, assistive technology, non-academic activities, extra-curricular activities,• VOCATIONAL• TRAVEL TRAINING• BEHAVIOR• AND MORE• READING• WRITING• MATH• SOCIAL SKILLS

vocational preparation, post-secondary preparation, self-advocacy training, IEP participation training,independent living/life skills, etc.How many goals should be written?The Team decides the number of goals necessary to meet your child’s needs. Keep in mind that it is

best to choose only the goals that will make the biggest difference. If there are too many goals it will bedifficult for your student to make effective progress in each goal area.A goal should not be written for each class or related service. Skill building goals can be addressed

across all environments by all kinds of professionals. The team decides how many goals the child can reasonably be expected to MASTER in an ARD YEAR"S time.Creating too many goals and objectives sets the IEP up for failure, I think. If the child makes great progress and master's a goal early, you can alwasy add a new goal or extend the one that was mastered, so why put too much in there at the beginning. It is not necessary to re-convene to add or extend goals. It can be done with a form. But take care to keep all substantive (concrete) work in a notebook and be sure the work/tests are dated. Then you match each question to a goal and keep track of how many opportunities to demonstrate learning or mastery occurred for each goal each six weeks. I like to see the "grade" reflected int he IEP report stated in a fraction: the number of opportunities under the number of correct responses WITHOUT PROMPTING. I cannot STAND to see progress reported in a percentage. This gives a false representation of the implementation of the IEP as well as progress. A "100" does not tell you how many opportunities they gave the child.

How many things do you expect your child to "master" in a year? Now let's discuss what "mastery" really is. Mastery means your child can do it on his own with prompting only to remain on task. The child should not be given hints nor second chances to guess a right answer.

Mastery means your child can demonstrate the skill across environments: at school, at home, and anywhere else.For example, let's say a child has been taught to tie his shoes. The school says the child ties his shoes at school perfectly, but every time you ask him/her to tie his shoes at home, he cannot demonstrate it. Therefore, the child has NOT mastered this skill. He hasn't mastered it until he can tie his shoes without prompting at school, at home, out on a walk and in the grocery store. This gives you an idea of what true mastery really is.

Haven

[Guest guest]

Haven is going to have a field day with this one!

just a question but how do you convince a school that tying shoes needs to be in the iep when they say thats a parents job to teach them at home and not a school related task. or when they say school speech therapy isnt meant for teaching communication but the social skills resource class is for that instead?Sent from my iPhone

It is important to write measurable annual goals that will help your student build skills. Ask yourself:“In one year’s time…remembering your child’s “vision for the future†…what â€SKILL†do you believewould make the greatest difference?â€

What kind of goals should be written?Goal focus should be determined by the greatest needs of your student. Ask yourself, “What skill wouldmake the biggest difference for my child?â€Possible goal areas include: academic, behavioral/social/emotional, physical, orientation and mobility,

travel training, communication, assistive technology, non-academic activities, extra-curricular activities,• VOCATIONAL• TRAVEL TRAINING• BEHAVIOR• AND MORE• READING• WRITING• MATH• SOCIAL SKILLS

vocational preparation, post-secondary preparation, self-advocacy training, IEP participation training,independent living/life skills, etc.How many goals should be written?The Team decides the number of goals necessary to meet your child’s needs. Keep in mind that it is

best to choose only the goals that will make the biggest difference. If there are too many goals it will bedifficult for your student to make effective progress in each goal area.A goal should not be written for each class or related service. Skill building goals can be addressed

across all environments by all kinds of professionals. The team decides how many goals the child can reasonably be expected to MASTER in an ARD YEAR"S time.Creating too many goals and objectives sets the IEP up for failure, I think. If the child makes great progress and master's a goal early, you can alwasy add a new goal or extend the one that was mastered, so why put too much in there at the beginning. It is not necessary to re-convene to add or extend goals. It can be done with a form. But take care to keep all substantive (concrete) work in a notebook and be sure the work/tests are dated. Then you match each question to a goal and keep track of how many opportunities to demonstrate learning or mastery occurred for each goal each six weeks. I like to see the "grade" reflected int he IEP report stated in a fraction: the number of opportunities under the number of correct responses WITHOUT PROMPTING. I cannot STAND to see progress reported in a percentage. This gives a false representation of the implementation of the IEP as well as progress. A "100" does not tell you how many opportunities they gave the child.

How many things do you expect your child to "master" in a year? Now let's discuss what "mastery" really is. Mastery means your child can do it on his own with prompting only to remain on task. The child should not be given hints nor second chances to guess a right answer.

Mastery means your child can demonstrate the skill across environments: at school, at home, and anywhere else.For example, let's say a child has been taught to tie his shoes. The school says the child ties his shoes at school perfectly, but every time you ask him/her to tie his shoes at home, he cannot demonstrate it. Therefore, the child has NOT mastered this skill. He hasn't mastered it until he can tie his shoes without prompting at school, at home, out on a walk and in the grocery store. This gives you an idea of what true mastery really is.

Haven

[Guest guest]

Inability to tie shoes could be a motor deficit and that would be addressed by the OT if your child gets that service.  If not, then you could request and Occupational Therapy evaluation and cite the areas that your child needs work on.  (Handwriting is a frequent issue with our kids.) Tonya From: Texas-Autism-Advocacy [mailto:Texas-Autism-Advocacy ] On Behalf Of LorreeSent: Wednesday, February 22, 2012 4:17 PMTo: Texas-Autism-Advocacy Subject: Re: How many goals on IEP? just a question but how do you convince a school that tying shoes needs to be in the iep when they say thats a parents job to teach them at home and not a school related task. or when they say school speech therapy isnt meant for teaching communication but the social skills resource class is for that instead?Sent from my iPhone It is important to write measurable annual goals that will help your student build skills. Ask yourself:“In one year’s time…remembering your child’s “vision for the future†…what â€SKILL†do you believewould make the greatest difference?â€What kind of goals should be written?Goal focus should be determined by the greatest needs of your student. Ask yourself, “What skill wouldmake the biggest difference for my child?â€Possible goal areas include: academic, behavioral/social/emotional, physical, orientation and mobility,travel training, communication, assistive technology, non-academic activities, extra-curricular activities,• VOCATIONAL• TRAVEL TRAINING• BEHAVIOR• AND MORE• READING• WRITING• MATH• SOCIAL SKILLS vocational preparation, post-secondary preparation, self-advocacy training, IEP participation training,independent living/life skills, etc.How many goals should be written?The Team decides the number of goals necessary to meet your child’s needs. Keep in mind that it isbest to choose only the goals that will make the biggest difference. If there are too many goals it will bedifficult for your student to make effective progress in each goal area.A goal should not be written for each class or related service. Skill building goals can be addressedacross all environments by all kinds of professionals. The team decides how many goals the child can reasonably be expected to MASTER in an ARD YEAR " S time.Creating too many goals and objectives sets the IEP up for failure, I think. If the child makes great progress and master's a goal early, you can alwasy add a new goal or extend the one that was mastered, so why put too much in there at the beginning. It is not necessary to re-convene to add or extend goals. It can be done with a form. But take care to keep all substantive (concrete) work in a notebook and be sure the work/tests are dated. Then you match each question to a goal and keep track of how many opportunities to demonstrate learning or mastery occurred for each goal each six weeks. I like to see the " grade " reflected int he IEP report stated in a fraction: the number of opportunities under the number of correct responses WITHOUT PROMPTING. I cannot STAND to see progress reported in a percentage. This gives a false representation of the implementation of the IEP as well as progress. A " 100 " does not tell you how many opportunities they gave the child.How many things do you expect your child to " master " in a year? Now let's discuss what " mastery " really is. Mastery means your child can do it on his own with prompting only to remain on task. The child should not be given hints nor second chances to guess a right answer.Mastery means your child can demonstrate the skill across environments: at school, at home, and anywhere else.For example, let's say a child has been taught to tie his shoes. The school says the child ties his shoes at school perfectly, but every time you ask him/her to tie his shoes at home, he cannot demonstrate it. Therefore, the child has NOT mastered this skill. He hasn't mastered it until he can tie his shoes without prompting at school, at home, out on a walk and in the grocery store. This gives you an idea of what true mastery really is.Haven

[Guest guest]

I've done this two ways. One way was to have about 35 goals the other way was to have my child pass the end of the year test with a 70% in every subject or now basically to pass the TAKS. We use the general ed curriculum and use the IEP goals for things like social skills and job training. With an IEP teachers are required to do tracking on each goal. We used to get very specific. For instance we had goals in 5th grade that looked like this. " Student will be able to add two digit numbers with 70% accuracy 3 out of 4 trials across three environments. " Now (after RPM and currently a 10th grader) our goal is Matt will pass the Math portion of TAKS  with access to the general ed curriculum on grade level. In 6th grade my son was included in a Resource class and was a new learner to RPM. While he did fine in the class it moved at a pace that did not cover the material needed to pass the TAKS so we ended up teaching him the TAKS material at home. He could have taken TAKS modified but we knew he could learn more he just needed more time.

I think I'd pick a more general IEP goal set and make it measurable by some kind of standardized testing so to avoid having the teacher only teach what is written. Having a good relationship with your teacher helps also but if the class is so crowded and has lots of behavior issues there may not be time to teach effectively. I have always used outside tutors for support.

Trina

 

How many goals are generally included in what would be considered a 'good' IEP? As I understand it, the goals should reflect what my son will be tested over throughout the year, right?So, theoretically, if he were having a test over Unit 11 in Social Studies, which is about immigrants, transcontinental railroad, etc then those topics should be included/identified in the IEP? Otherwise, we shouldn't be recording grades on anything else, right?

Thanks,