When it comes time to writing IEP goals for your students that are aligned with grade level state standards, assigning standards to those goals can prove to be confusing, conflicting, and honestly – overwhelming… especially when our students are multiple grade levels behind their peers.
Many educators wonder whether the standards assigned to each goal should be pulled from the students’ current grade level, or if the standard should be taken from the upcoming years’ standards.
And then the big question is – how do you even start this process when a student is, for example, 2 or 3 or even 4 grade levels behind? Let’s take a look together.
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First and foremost, it is important to discuss this with administration as well as your teammates to be sure of any procedures that may already be in place. However, there can be arguments made for current grade level standards as well as upcoming grade level standards. The main concern is making sure that you aren’t ever writing a goal that uses a standard expressing a higher expectation than that of a students’ peers.
REASONS FOR STANDARDS AT CURRENT GRADE LEVEL
One of the more common factors in determining which standards to attach to a students’ goals is the time of year. It is common to use current grade level standards when the student is in the first semester (or first / second quarter) of the school year.
REASONS FOR STANDARDS AT UPCOMING GRADE LEVEL
If you are considering writing a goal that utilizes a standard for an upcoming grade level, you may find yourself in the following circumstances. It is the students’ final goal of the year, and you want to look forward to what is coming next. Or, you may simply be in the second semester (or third / fourth quarter). In these situations, it may be appropriate to use the upcoming grade level’s standards.
Even in this situation, though, it may be appropriate to include the goal for the current level of instruction in addition.
REASONS TO WRITE IEP GOALS AT A STUDENT’S CURRENT ABILITY LEVEL
Additionally, there are many teachers that may argue a third point separate from the two methods above. Educators may be writing goals that use standards at the students’ current achievement level. For example, a student on an IEP may be at a 2nd grade level in reading (though they are in 4th grade). In this situation, the standard used in the goal writing process could be the 2nd grade standard.
Ultimately, it may be appropriate to use standards for both the current and upcoming years in some cases. The standards for the current year serve as a baseline for the student. The upcoming year standards then cast vision / establish the goal for moving forward.
In either case, we need to remember to look at the content standards as skills. When we mentally detach the grade level from the skills, we need to determine which skills are necessary for a student’s “further education, employment, and independent living” (because that’s why we write IEPs, per the federal IDEA law).
And for that reason, the IEP Matrix™ helps you achieve writing IEP goals for students with skill gaps, whether academically, socially, behaviorally, or in other areas of need.
An easy-to-use skill map for each grade level topic, so teachers can identify the skills their K-6 students should master to meet their goals and have a clear, step-by-step path to get them there — no more starting from scratch or searching for freebies.
You see the potential in every student – even when others don’t. But it’s hard to bring those possibilities to life when you’re drowning in IEP logistics. That’s where The Intentional IEP comes in. With expert trainings, 10,000+ standards-aligned goals, and time-saving resources, you’ll spend less time stuck in the paperwork –and more time turning those possibilities into reality.