TEL Resources

You may have heard of SMART Goals, which is an acronym created by a group of entrepreneurs and used in many industries. Although the acronym is helpful to the IEP goal writing process, Lara Wakefield and Kelly Ott say it needed to be expanded to include IDEA mandates. Keep reading to find out how they improved one of my son’s IEP goals using the expanded acronym: SMARTER.

This ebook is a step-by-step guide for educators working with IEPs.

This guide explains how educators can establish academic IEP goals that are measurable, ambitious, and
appropriate in light of a student’s circumstances. There are four important steps for setting a valid goal for
individual student performance: selecting a measure, establishing baseline performance, choosing a strategy
for setting the goal, and writing a measurable goal.

In order to identify specific needs and tailor a program suited to helping students make progress beyond baseline levels established at IEP development, assessment data must guide the development of measurable goals and objectives to benchmark and target progress. However, short-term objectives and benchmarks allow teachers to monitor student progress toward annual goals and therefore are important to the development, modification, and revision of educational interventions to meet student needs.