Considerations for Selecting Behavior Goals
The following areas should be considered and included in the discussion, planning, and/or writing of behavior goals, to ensure the goals are individualized and appropriate for the student.
Selecting Areas of Need
Behavior goals should address specific areas of unique need resulting from the student's disability, be individualized to the student, and target behaviors needed to support access to the least restrictive environment.
Additionally, behaviors targeted should be socially significant, meaning the behaviors should:
- Be of importance to the student, family, or other members of the IEP team.
- Result in an increased quality of life for the student by expanding access to the student's environment (e.g., social activities, instruction, community/ vocational, etc.)
- Be prerequisite skills needed to work towards achieving a larger goal.
Additionally, if there are many areas of behavioral need, it is recommended that teams prioritize areas, as this will allow for the level of instruction and reinforcement to match the student's need, allowing for maximum progress to be made. If too many areas are targeted with goals, it is unlikely that the student will have sufficient time to practice, learn, and generalize the new behaviors. As the student meets goals, additional goals can be added to address additional areas of need. Teams should defer to SELPA and/or district policy when developing goals.
Acquisition vs. Performance Deficit
A student may not be performing a desired behavior because of an acquisition or performance deficit. Because the response and goals developed will differ depending on what type of skill deficit the student is exhibiting, teams must identify this prior to drafting goals.
- Acquisition Deficit: student doesn't yet know how to perform the desired behavior. Goal(s) should target direct teaching of the skill or behavior, paired with reinforcement.
- Performance Deficit: student can perform the behavior but does not consistently do so in the environment of concern. Goal(s) should target increased use of the desired behavior, given appropriate systems of reinforcement.
Considerations for Learner Profile
IEP goals must be individualized to the student. As such, having a clear, complete understanding of the student's learner profile will help to ensure that the selected goals are appropriate and achievable for the student. Areas to consider:
Student's Developmental Stage: Goals which are developmentally appropriate will allow the student to make progress and achieve the goal; if there is a mismatch between the student's developmental abilities and the expectations of the goal, it is unlikely that the student will make progress. It is more likely that occurrences of challenging behavior will continue and/or increase.
For example, if a student is chronologically 12 years old, but currently exhibiting the developmental thinking and reasoning abilities of a 2-3-year-old, the goals developed must match the skills, abilities, and behavioral expectations of that developmental stage.
Student's Communicative Abilities: Goals which center around increasing communicative intents, using functional communication, picture communication, etc. will all require the student to have the ability to use identified communicative behaviors within their repertoire. This is similar to understanding and programming with the student's developmental level in mind, particularly when targeting the use of symbolic language as a replacement behavior or desired behavior to increase.
Identified Disability: The student's identified disability will have accompanying implications for learning, behavior, and communication which may impede the student's ability to consistently perform a desired behavior or decrease a particular challenging behavior. The team must understand these implications and provide supports and modifications as necessary to allow the student to be as successful as possible in increasing or decreasing behavior.
