Annual Goals & Progress Monitoring

A measurable annual goal is the bridge between a student's present levels and the services the IEP provides. Goals must be individualized — copying and pasting standards into a goal is not individualization, and creates real legal risk for the LEA.

• IDEA — measurable annual goals requirement

• Alabama Administrative Code, Chapter 290-8-9

• Academic goals are based on the Alabama Course of Study, the Differentiated Instructional Guides, or the Alternate Achievement Standards (AAS); preschool goals are based on the Alabama Standards for Early Learning and Development (ASELD)

Every annual goal must: target the individual student's needs, describe what the student can reasonably accomplish within one school year, directly address the needs identified in the present levels, and be measurable enough to monitor progress and judge whether services are working.

At least one evaluation method is required per goal (curriculum-based assessment, data collection, work samples, etc.). Evaluations used to measure IEP goal progress do not require separate parental consent.

Benchmarks are required for every goal — academic and functional — for any student working on Alternate Achievement Standards, regardless of whether it's a testing year. Include at least two benchmarks per goal, each describing the content/skill and a measurable intermediate step toward the goal.

Progress reporting is mandatory. Indicate how often the Annual Goal Progress Report will go home (e.g., every nine weeks) to align with report card issuance, and provide a copy to the parent every reporting period. Use the standard progress codes (Goal Met / Some Progress / Very Little Progress / No Progress / Goal Added or Deleted / Transfer Record) and extent-of-progress codes (Mastered / Anticipate Mastery / Do Not Anticipate Mastery / Not Applicable / Not Mastered / Transfer Record / Excessive Absences).  Always add a comment when the code requires one (e.g., explain why mastery isn't anticipated).

• Goals copied directly from a standards document instead of individualized to the student

• Missing benchmarks for a student on Alternate Achievement Standards

• Progress reports not sent home on the same schedule as report cards

• Progress codes used without the required comment explaining "do not anticipate mastery" or "goal not mastered"

Alabama Differentiated Instructional Guides (DIGs).  The DIGs are ALSDE's instructional companions to the Alabama Course of Study, written to help teachers differentiate the standards — including for students with IEPs working toward the general education assessment. Use the DIG to understand what a standard asks before individualizing a goal to the student.

Reminder: a DIG explains the standard and how to differentiate it. The annual goal in the IEP must still be individualized to the student.  The DIG supports that work; it does not replace it.