Classroom Strategies for Annual Goal Setting

Annual IEP Goal Writing Strategy

Every year, educational teams prepare Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) for students that serve as a road map for their academic, social, and developmental goals for the year to come. 

Sometimes it can be challenging to identify and write out annual goals for students. Try using the “from – to” strategy when doing so! 

Start by looking at the student’s Present Levels of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance. These outline the student’s current state of functioning and the abilities. 

For example: Lacy prefers to play alone. She will interact with her peers given structure and maximum prompts. 

Think about how Lacy can improve her current level of peer interactions and use where she is currently and write the annual goal to include where you’d like her to go from there. 

For example: Increase Lacy’s peer interactions from playing alone or with maximum prompting to interacting in a structured setting with gestural prompts only, in 5 of 7 opportunities. 

Use the “from – to” method while writing students’ annual goals to create a road map for their IEP! 

The special education resources on this page were authored by Watson Institute’s special education consultant, Lisa Plastino, M.Ed.

Writing Annual Goals

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