The following information is from the
MEASURABLE ANNUAL GOALS, BENCHMARKS, AND SHORT-TERM OBJECTIVES
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What
are measurable Annual goals? |
Annual goals set the general direction for instruction and assist in
determining the specific courses, experiences, and skills a student will
need. There is a direct relationship between the goal and the needs
identified in the Present Level of Educational Performance (PLEP). Goals
are also descriptions of what a student can reasonably be expected to
accomplish within a 12-month period with the provision of special education
services. Goals should be written to increase the student’s successful
participation in the general curriculum and meet the needs that result from the
disability. There are four
critical characteristics of a well-written goal: it is meaningful,
measurable, able to be monitored, and useful in making decisions.
Components of a Goal
Use a format: Under what conditions, name of learner, will name of behavior to a specific criterion.
Examples:
¨ In 32 weeks, across all settings, Ian will identify 20 major warning words and symbols (e.g., Stop, Poison, Danger, Hazard, etc.) with 95% accuracy and will identify appropriate actions to take when these words are seen with 100% accuracy.
¨ In 30 weeks, when given a direct verbal direction by an adult, Joe will begin to comply with the direction within 10 seconds on 80% of opportunities for 3 consecutive data days.
Gratitude is extended to the Nebraska Department of Education for permission to use the following content from the publication “Setting Goals…Achieving Results.”
Writing Benchmarks (Major Milestones)
or
Short-term Objectives (Intermediate Steps)
Once the IEP team has developed measurable annual goals for a child the team must develop either measurable intermediate steps (short-term objectives) or major milestones (benchmarks) that will enable parents, students, and educators to monitor progress during the year, and, if appropriate, to revise the IEP consistent with the student's instructional needs. They are the links for accomplishing the goal. Benchmarks and short-term objectives provide a reference point for progress toward the annual goal and are the basis for developing a detailed instructional plan for the student.
Benchmarks may be written by stating the content to be learned, or the skills to be performed. They can be general measurable statements representing a milestone, and can be thought of as describing the amount of progress the child is expected to make within specified segments of the year. To determine whether a benchmark (major milestone) is appropriate or not, make sure it is measurable, represents expectations, is developmentally appropriate, and relates to progress on the goal.
Short-term Objectives are intermediate steps between a student’s present level of educational performance and the annual goals established for the student. Their development is based on a logical breakdown of the major components of the annual goals and they measure progress toward meeting the goals.
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Benchmarks (Major Milestones) ¨ Measurable ¨ General statement represents milestones to goal ¨ Represent progress
toward the goal |
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Short-term Objectives (Intermediate Steps) ¨ Measurable ¨ Specific measurable component of the goal ¨ Represent progress
toward the goal |
Examples:
1. PLEP®Goal®Short-term Objectives
PLEP:
As of 9/30/99, when given a choice of topics, Shane writes a weekly journal entry in the regular classroom scoring 7 out of 50 points, as compared to his classmates who averaged 36 points, using the fourth-grade rubric which measures fluency, content and mechanics. Shane has difficulty with punctuation, sentence structure and composition of an idea.
Goal:
In 30 weeks, when given a choice of topics, Shane will write a weekly journal entry in the regular classroom setting scoring 40/50 points for a period of four consecutive weeks using the fourth-grade written language rubric.
Objectives:
¨ When given a choice of topics, Shane will write ten complete sentences in his journal entry in the regular classroom setting using three different sentence types four out of five entries.
¨ Shane will proofread a journal entry finding all punctuation, spelling, capitalization and sentence errors for eight out of ten entries.
2. PLEP®Annual Goal®Benchmarks
PLEP:
John displays difficulties writing his thoughts on paper. He has creative ideas, but does not understand sentence construction or how to develop paragraphs. He needs to use punctuation and capitalization consistently. John received 12 out of 50 points on the district’s assessment for expressive writing. He needs to write the four different sentence types (simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex) correctly and integrate them into a paragraph.
Annual Goal:
In 36 weeks, John will write at least a six-sentence paragraph using at least three different sentence types scoring 45 out of 50 on the writing rubric.
Benchmarks:
¨ write simple sentences
¨ write compound sentences
¨ write complex sentences
¨ write compound-complex sentences
How do we know we are doing it right?