Once the child’s needs are identified, the IEP team will work to develop appropriate annual goals to meet those needs. An annual goal indicates what the student is expected to be able to achieve during the year in which the IEP will be in effect. The annual goal is based on the child’s PLOP which identifies the child's needs. The goals should be written to address those needs. The annual goal takes the student from their present level of performance to a level of performance expected by the end of the year.

There are three required elements of a measurable goal: clearly defined behavior, the condition under which the behavior will occur, and the criteria that will be used to evaluate the performance of the behavior.

Clearly defined behavior is the specific action the student will be expected to perform. The behavior should be based on one specific skill not a blend of skills, such as decoding and fluency. The description of the skill should be clear, concise, and specific. The condition is the situation, setting, or given materials in which the behavior is to be performed. The criteria that will be used to evaluate the performance

of the behavior is defined as the level the student must demonstrate for mastery (for example 80%) and the number of times that skill or behavior must be demonstrated to be considered proficient (for example 4 out of 5 trials). Performance criteria should include both a level of degree and a level of mastery. The annual goal and the baseline in the PLOP must be stated in the same units of measurement and under the same conditions.

Annual IEP goals need to be based on grade-level expectations. The term "standards-based" is commonly referenced when discussing annual IEP goals. This does not mean the goals need to be a restatement of a grade-level standard but rather goals need to address what skills the child needs to develop in order to achieve and/or access grade-level standards. Sometimes children need both skills-based and access-based goals. For example, a child may have a goal to increase decoding skills AND a grade-level content goal that includes the condition that they will access grade-level content through audio text in order to demonstrate understanding of the content. Not being able to access content in a traditional way should not limit a child with a disability from accessing grade-level content.