Writing IEP goals doesn’t have to be a guessing game of “what goals should I write?”.  If you’ve had students for several years, it can also become hard to think of what other goals to write.  Here are some tips to remember that will not only benefit the student, but help you write kick-ass goals!

1. Don’t pick a random goal

Please please please don’t just open up an IEP goal bank and choose a random goal. This is wrong for many reasons (see below).  There are TONS of goal ideas out there, but how many of those goals are actually beneficial or appropriate to the specific student you are writing an IEP for?

2. Survey the student

The first thing you should do – regardless of if you have goal ideas in mind, survey the student on what THEIR preferences and goals are for their future.  Important questions to ask: What do you want to do after high school (Eg. Do you want to go to college, work, adult day program…etc), What are your living preferences (eg. Live on your own, with roommates, family..etc), What are you career interests, and more.  This will give you an idea of where to start with the whole process of thinking of IEP goals to write.

Check out this visual ITP that you can use to survey students on their strengths and preferences for their future!

3. Survey parents/caregivers

Reach out to the parents/caregiver to find out what areas they see a greater need in. Life at home is different than school and what you think is important might not be important to them at home and in the community.  Even if a student is not conserved – whoever is helping care for their needs and knows them the best at home will have some good input for you. Check out this parent survey you can send home digitally or a printable version.

Of course, you are an important member of the team, so do share your ideas with the family/student. Open up a discussion and get on the same page with each other before the meeting.

4. IEP Goal Bank

From there you can start looking at IEP goal banks for ideas once you have narrowed it down.  It’s totally fine to use an IEP goal bank!  Just make sure the goal you end up choosing alines with the student’s strengths and preferences, and you have a baseline to go with it to write achievable PERSON-CENTERED goals!

Download  FREE IEP Goal Bank Booklets by clicking on the photos below!

Thanks for reading!