3 Reasons Why IEP Goals Are Repeated

Every year, your special education student will be given a new IEP. This will set forth goals that the child is expected to meet during the next school year. They may include goals for academic progress as well as progress in other areas, such as socialization or emotional control. It may also list ways that the school will help the child meet these goals. While IEP goals can look great on paper, they are meaningless if they are not utilized at school to help a student reach his or her potential. Ideally, every goal should be met by the end of the school year. However, in the three following circumstances, the goals may not be met and may need to be repeated the next year.

They Were Set Too High to Begin with

Perhaps the goals were not set with your child in mind. This might be the case if there was not enough time spent crafting the IEP in the first place. In an attempt to see the student succeed, teachers and parents may look at the IEP through rose-colored glasses and set impossible goals.

The Child Did Not Progress as Expected

Perhaps the child simply had a bad school year. Maybe there were one or two particular concepts that just did not make sense and thus caused him or her to fail certain goals. For the next year, more specific goals should be used to help the child over that hurdle.

The School District Did Not Follow Through

Many times, it is the school district’s fault if goals are not met. They may not have had the time or the resources to dedicate to meeting the goals. Other times, they may not be evaluating the child accurately, and an independent evaluation may be wise.