Play Training Video  (Develop Benchmarks)

Play Training Video  (Goal Wizard)
Play Training Video  (Using the Common Core Standards & Goal Stems)

The Goals Developer is where users can develop goals for upcoming or current IEPs.

New goals for In Development IEPs can be developed either in the goals form or in the Goals Developer using the Goals in Development tab. Goals from the Goals in Development tab will appear in the Goals form and vice versa. These will be your goals for the In Development IEP in the IEP Manager. Once the In Development IEP is finalized and becomes the Current IEP, the Goals in Development will automatically advance becoming the Current Goals.
 

Before a meeting is finalized, you will be reminded with a link from the IEP Manager to complete the Final Progress Report for the old goals. You will not be able to finalize a meeting without completing the Final Progress Report. Once the Final Progress Report is completed and the meeting is ‘Finalized,’ the Current Goals and Current Progress will be automatically archived.

It is best practice to develop all goals using the Goals Developer instead of directly on the form. The user can start working on goals before opening a meeting by going to the Goals in Development tab located under Student Info > Goals Developer. 

Sometimes, you might want to add or modify Current Goals on the IEP.   When you open an Addendum/Amendment or Other Review to add or modify goals, you will be adding or modifying the goals in the goals form or in the Current Goals tab in the Goals Developer.

Once you have opened a new IEP meeting in SIRAS, the program defaults to the Annual Goals form.  If you need the Goals and Objectives form, click on (Benchmarks) radial button on the right of the form link or at the bottom of the Goals developer.

  

Click the Add Goal button at the top of the Goal form to add a new goal.  To delete a goal the user will need to click the ‘delete’ link next to the goal in the Goals developer.

When developing the goals in the Goals developer rather than the Goal form, remember to open the Goals form and fill out any other items on the Goal form related to the goals. The Goal form must be opened after developing goals in the Goals developer, else the Goal form in the IEP Manager will not get populated with the newly developed goals.  

Once you are in the Goals Developer, you have two choices: 

1.       Create New Goal with GoalWizard - accesses the goals bank to assemble a compliant goal and associated benchmarks if needed.

2.       Create New Blank Goal - allows you space to write a goal from scratch.
 

Before selecting either of the above choices, look just to the right on the same bar to make sure that it shows the correct choice in terms of Goals Only or Benchmarks (gives you both goals and objectives).  Once you have verified that you are writing goals only or goals and objectives, the student record will be committed to either ‘Goals only’ or ‘Benchmarks’; you can’t have both, only one or the other.

If you switch back and forth between ‘Goals only’ and ‘Benchmarks’, you may end up with both the Annual Goals page and the Annual Goals and Objectives page on the IEP Manager form list.  If this happens you can delete the page that you do not want by clicking on the X to the far right of the form on the IEP Manager.

After using the Goals developer to create your goals, if there is an open meeting with a Goals form, the user must open the Goal form in the IEP Manager else the goals developed in the Goals developer will not transfer to the Goal page.

You will need to mark Language of Instruction for all English learners and check the box to indicate if the goal Enables student to be involved/progress in general curriculum and/or Addresses other educational needs resulting from the disability.  If you check the latter, indicate the Domain for the goal.  If you used the GoalWizard the Category and Standard number will be entered automatically for all academic goals.  If you use the Edit Goals feature to write your own goals you will also need the put in the Category and Number for all academic goals.

Goal Wizard
If you choose to develop a goal with the Goal Wizard you will be taken directly to the screen where you develop the goal. As you develop your goal, you will be guided to include all of the required elements that make up a compliant goal.  Begin at the top of the screen and work down.

The first field is the Target Date for the goal.  When you open the calendar, it will default to one year from the IEP date.  If you have not yet set a date for the IEP, the target date will default to one year from today's date.

Once you have your target date, select the Setting/Condition for the goal. Global Setting will give you a list of "places" or settings where you might want the student to demonstrate the goal.  Choosing one of the domains or subjects on the list. The area of need options will provide “givens” or what does the student need in order to complete the goal.

The next step is to select the Behavior. Because we have thousands of behaviors you will need to use the filter to narrow down the behavior.

First select the Domain (and Category and/or grade level) for the goal. Skills or Behaviors will be listed with 10 per page; use the green arrows at the bottom to scroll back and forth between pages.  To select a goal, click on the hand to the left of the goal (Remember, “Talk to the hand.”).  As soon as you select a behavior, the goals list will collapse out of the way.  If you made a mistake on your selection, click on "Choose a different behavior" and the behavior list will come back up.

Once you have selected your behavior for the goal, you need to choose the Accuracy (how well the student will perform the skill) and Consistency (how frequently or how long over time) as well as the Measurement Instrument to be used. It is important to state Accuracy in the same terms for baseline and goal (e.g. # of errors, # of prompts, # correct, percentages) so that comparisons of progress to baselines are logical.  In most cases Consistency will be stated in the same or similar terms as well, although the period for the baseline may be shorter than for the annual goal.

As you add information, you will see the goal and baseline being developed at the top of the page.  Once you are finished, select Assemble Goal button at the bottom.  That puts the elements of the goal together and takes you to the Goal Editor screen where you can make any changes you want to the goal.  To replace any of the blank lines with a number, just double click on the line and then type in the number and click on the space bar.  After you have made the changes you want to the goal and benchmarks, click SAVE, and it will take you back to the Goals Developer. Then you can develop your next goal the same way.

If you are developing goals with benchmarks (called objectives on the IEP page), be sure you list the benchmarks in the order that you would expect them to be achieved.  The benchmark to be mastered first should be at the top of the list and the benchmark to be mastered just before the goal should be at the bottom.  Otherwise, the Progress Report for the goal will be very confusing to the reader. Be sure to include a separate benchmark for each reporting period so that there is a place to report toward that goal at each reporting period.  If you do not have benchmarks corresponding to the progress report dates, you will not be able to do a progress report on that goal.  If you find that you it appears you will need more than 4 benchmarks for a student, then you need to decide which reporting period to skip (either the one just after the IEP or the one just before the next IEP.

Goal Editor

While you are developing your goals in the Goals Developer and regardless if you are using the GoalWizard or using the Create Blank Goal option, you will have the opportunity to enter the following fields: 

Goal Status: This will default to ‘Current Goal’

Associated Service:  This is optional.  Use this to associate a service to a goal.  This is used for the Service Log in order to list the goals for the selected service.

Area of Need:   Select the area from the present levels and/or transition page that is addressed by the goal.  You may also type in your own area, if desired. All English Learners must also have an ELD goal based on ELD standards.  It the goal addresses more than one area it is possible to indicate both. (e.g. Transition & Writing or ELD & Reading).

Responsible Discipline: You may list all persons who are responsible for implementing the goal, but the first discipline listed is the one responsible for collecting data and completing the scheduled Progress Reports for that goal.  Multiple persons may be collaborating to help the student achieve the goal and collecting data, but only one person is responsible for compiling the data and completing the Progress Report.  If you do not see the discipline in the popup menu (be sure to scroll down as there are many listed with multiples), you can just type in the field.

Target Date:  This would be the date that you will be reporting on the goal or benchmark.  Usually the goal Target Date is one year after the IEP.

Reason for goal (this may not be available depending on your SELPA):  Describe the student's current needs in this area in terms the parents can understand.  Be specific in terms of the behavior selected for the goal and why that skill is important.  Explain how this area of need impacts the student’s progress in the general curriculum or other educational area.  If the student had a goal in this area on the previous IEP, report the progress or lack of progress and why it continues to be a need.  It is not sufficient to write “New goal”.  This does not explain the reason for selecting this particular behavior as being important for the student’s educational benefit.

 

 

 

Goals Developer List

Once the Goal has been developed, the person who created the goal or the Special Ed Clerk would be able to Edit Goal or Delete the goal. Over to the right the user can position the Goal Order by enter the index number how they want it positioned.  It will also appear in that same order in the Goal pages in the IEP Manager.
 

Goals developer tabs:
The default tab is Goals in Development.  This is where the user will develop goals for the upcoming IEP.  The Current Goals tab will list the current goal that are used in the current IEP and the Progress Report.

Goals only view:

Benchmark view:
Click on the Add Benchmark after developing the goal to create benchmarks.