Writing Secondary Behavior Goals: Not Your Average Co-Teacher’s IEP!

If you aren’t a “behavior person,” the magical hoodoo of behavior goals may be a bit outside your schema. If you are a behavior person, you probably aren’t getting a lot of solid, reliable advice and guidance for writing your behavior goals; it’s kind of a niche market. Even if you’re getting examples of general goals in your district, they are likely targeted towards academic needs. Here’s some guidance to help you write decent, workable behavior goals for the most common areas of need: hygiene, anger, social interactions, thinking, and executive function. It isn’t coincidental that my book categorizes lessons into these five areas; doing so will allow you to choose lessons specifically designed to target student needs.

“Don’t Try to Eat a Whole Pizza in One Sitting”: Advice About Setting an Appropriate Number of Goals

Chances are, if you (the behavior teacher) are the primary case manager for a student, he/she has a laundry list of issues that need to be addressed. It’s tempting to write separate goals to address each of the numerous and sundry concerns.

RESIST!

There are four fundamental reasons why “more isn’t better” when it comes to behavior goals. First, it’s demoralizing and overwhelming for the student to think about trying to work on 7 different problems at once, all while attempting to master Algebra. Second, it’s demoralizing and overwhelming for the family, who already are fully aware that their child does a bunch of different “weird” things. Third, it’s pretty much impossible to effectively progress monitor a lengthy list of behavior goals, especially if the student already has academic goals to address. Fourth, if you address the most concerning/interfering behaviors and address them, some of the minor issues will resolve, as well.

Personally, I won’t write more than two behavior goals on a kid’s IEP. It’s a matter of principle (see above). Keeping the number of behavior goals manageable will increase the level of success for the student and the degree of compliance you’ll get from your colleagues.

“Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day”: Advice About Setting Realistic Goals and Benchmarks

I’ll keep this section short. If a student is very, very deficient in an area of social skills or behavior, it isn’t realistic to expect him/her to reach proficiency in one school year. I’ve worked in places where teachers were advised that writing a goal that had any end result other than proficiency was unacceptable. This is ridiculous and is, at its heart, the antithesis of best practice in teaching.

Write goals with realistic outcomes based on evidence-based principles about student learning. Never, EVER, write a goal with an outcome of 100% mastery/compliance; that’s a recipe for failure right from the start. Goal success should be assessed in comparison to an “average” (not super-high, not super-low) peer. If a student is exhibiting behaviors at a rate commensurate to his/her peers–even if that behavior is less-than-delightful–it isn’t fair to create a behavior goal for that behavior. Like it or not, sometimes it’s going to take more than one year to get where we need to go.

Ow! Standing on this soapbox is killing my back!

All the Stuff Your Goal Needs

1. Describe the behavior (desired or undesired)
2. Describe the “direction” of the behavior (increase or decrease)
3. Describe the setting where you’ll be observing the behavior (across all school settings, in the general education classroom, in the special education classroom, at lunch)
4. Describe the present level of performance (PLEP)
5. Describe the level of performance to be met at the end of one year
6. Describe the measurement tool you’ll use to assess the behavior
7. Describe the tools or supports the student will use in order to increase/decrease the desired/undesired behavior.

Questions to Ask Yourself as You Proofread a Behavior Goal

• What ONE behavior am I trying to shape?
• Can I measure this goal?
• When will the goal be up for reevaluation?
• What tools will I use to measure this goal?
• How often will I measure this goal?
• In what settings will I measure this goal?
• What will I do (what appropriate replacements will I teach him/her) to help the student meet this goal?
• When and where will I teach the student the replacement behaviors?

Handy-Dandy Goal Planning Chart

Relax. This isn’t some sort of printable handout required to write a behavioral IEP (I mean, you COULD print it, but you probably won’t want to or need to). A lot of the time, I sketch out this chart on a piece of paper or make one in Google docs in the VERY EARLY planning stages of writing a goal in order to make sure the goal is workable and has all components before I get down to formally writing it. It’s just the questions above, put into a chart. If something is left blank (or I’m not sure what to write in a blank), I know I need to run it by a colleague to get some input–and maybe rewrite the goal or reassess the behavior I want to shape. If I have a lot of blanks, I know that the goal I’m trying to write isn’t realistic, and I’ve got to do something different.

What ONE behavior am I wanting to shape?
When will the goal be up for reevaluation?
Can I measure this goal?
What tools will I use to measure this goal?
How often will I measure this goal?
In what settings will I measure this goal? Where is the behavior happening?
What will I teach the student (what appropriate replacement behaviors) to help the student meet the goal?
When and where will I teach the replacement behaviors?

Wording for Behavior Goals

In a perfect world, it is best practice to write goals that are positively worded—goals that tell the reader of the IEP what the child will be able to DO after one year, as a result of appropriate intervention. Realistically, I don’t think you can pass the “stranger test” with that type of goal when you’re looking at trying to extinguish some inappropriate behaviors; it becomes a convoluted “game” that makes the goal unclear and makes monitoring difficult. Academic or study skills goals should always be written positively. It’s advisable to discuss the best way to write behavior- centered goals with your administrators and fellow special education teachers in advance of writing the goals, in order to make certain they understand this reasoning and are “on board.” The bottom line: be positive if you can, but always make sure clarity and common sense trump word games.

“In 36 Instructional Weeks”—A Phrase I Hate

My personal pet peeve? The phrase “In 36 instructional weeks.” I hate that. It’s pretentious and gives parents no idea when they can expect to receive formal progress monitoring. In my district, we present formal progress monitoring at the end of each 9-week grading period. The school calendar for my district is posted over a year in advance. Seems like a “no brainer” to hop onto the PDF of that calendar and find the end date of each grading period and use the month/year for the end of the grading period instead. Let’s say I have an IEP meeting and initiate new goals in November. I know that my first formal progress monitoring will happen in mid-December at the end of second quarter. When I go to write my benchmarks, I wouldn’t write, “At the end of 9 instructional weeks.” First of all, there are only four instructional weeks between now and when my monitoring is due. Secondly, it just sounds unnecessarily convoluted. I would, instead, write “By mid-December 2016.” That lets parents know when to start checking the backpack or mailbox, and sounds far less stuffy (passes the “stranger test). I would also make sure, as I wrote the benchmarks for that goal, that I took into account that there would only be four weeks between the initiation of that goal and would make sure my benchmark for the first benchmark reporting period was appropriate for the short time frame.

Case Studies and Sample Goals

First of all, don’t panic. I totally made up pretend students for these examples, but they are based on actual students I have now or have had in the past. You know, kinda like that disclaimer at the beginning of episodes of Law and Order. Preferably the old episodes with Chris Noth; he’s dreamy! Oops, overshared. Anyway…

Case #1 (Anger Management): Jessica

Jessica was a fifteen-year old high school freshman in the ninth grade. Jessica was very immature for her age and had difficulty relating to her peers. She often had angry, extended rages in class when she felt frustrated by an assigned task, a problem at home, or an interaction with a peer, flying into a yelling, screaming rage that could last as long as 80 minutes (based on data collected). She had these rages, on average, two days per week, and it was making her relationships with teachers and peers difficult…not to mention the instructional time she was missing! As I collected data on Jessica, she was enrolled in my Social Skills class. Jessica, her parents, other teachers/administrators, and I noticed that she was willing to employ techniques for self-calming that she had learned in the class when her rages began in order to de-escalate; with more practice, we all felt she’d show improvement.

Definition/Description of Behavior “Extended Rages”*:
Standing up and pacing the room, knocking over chairs, slamming books or other supplies on the table or throwing them on the floor, tearing papers, breaking pencils,running out of the classroom to either counseling or the behavior support room, crying, swearing (“Fuck this shit!” “He’s a fucking asshole!”), engaging in negative self talk (“I’m fucking retarded.” “Everybody knows I’m a fucking moron.”), or verbally expressing ideation of harming others (“I will kill her. I will chop off her head.” “I’m going to get revenge! I’ll get even!”)

Baseline Data:
Jessica engages in extended rages* an average of 2 times per week in the general education or special education classroom. The average duration of a rage episode is 80 minutes (the longest episode observed lasted 206 minutes; the shortest episode lasted 22 minutes), based upon data collected during the 9-week period of quarter 1 2015-2016.

See that asterisk up in the Description of Behavior? That little asterisk is really important; it directs the person reading the goal to the Definition/Description of Behavior for the goal. At first, my colleagues and administrators thought the tactic was ridiculous (and wordy). However, as time has gone on, they really appreciate the specificity. After all, the phrase “extended rages,” by itself, doesn’t tell you much, does it? Furthermore, the direct quotes filled with profanity from the student aren’t there just to produce shock in the reader (although colleagues who aren’t used to really “putting it out there” can be taken aback at first); they are included so that ANYONE reading the Definition of Behavior (including the parents of the student) know EXACTLY what the behavior looks and sounds like and what they need to watch for when taking data. Some people may choose to change words like “fuck” to “f$%^,” but I think this is juvenile (we’ve all heard those words), unprofessional (this is supposed to be a clinical description of behavior), and empowering for the student (“Tee hee! They had to bleep out my bad words in the IEP!”). Seriously, if you’re in this line of work, you aren’t a delicate flower; just write down the word, be clinical about it, and move on.

Goal: By mid-December 2017, Jessica will reduce her extended rages in general education and special education settings to 1 or fewer incidents per week, lasting 30 or fewer minutes per incident by independently using appropriate self-calming strategies (journaling, drawing, taking a “time out” in the quiet area of the recovery room, etc.).

What tool will you use to assess the goal?:
Frequency and duration log, ABC data analysis (to identify antecedents to aid in the teaching of preventive strategies)

How and where will the skill/replacement behavior (“self-calming strategies”) be taught?:
Guided practice with gradual release, teacher modeling, direct instruction in Social Skills class via target lessons

Case #2 (Social Interactions or Executive Function): Wade

Wade was seriously the sweetest kid ever. He was deeply sensitive, very insightful, had a wonderful kindness about him…and had absolutely no idea that his interrupting and blurting out during class was making me want to lock him in the closet with duct tape over his mouth (relax…I idn’t actually DO it). Sometimes, Wade would blurt out something on topic to the lesson…but it was an inappropriate time (such as when the teacher was giving direct instruction). Sometimes, Wade would blurt out a question about the assignment that was specific to just him at an inappropriate time (“Mrs. Williams, can I turn in my vocabulary now?” “No, Wade, we’re doing a lab right now. If you let go of the beaker, Tommy will be permanently blinded by caustic acid. You’ll have to wait.”). Sometimes, Wade would blurt out something totally off-topic AND at the wrong time (during a lesson on Emily Dickenson: “You know what would be awesome? A ninja penguin!”).

Definition/Description of Behavior (“verbal interrupting”): Wade engages in verbal interruptions of classroom instruction, such as blurting out a piece of information relevant to the topic but at an inappropriate time, calling out a question related to the class at an inappropriate time, or blurting out a comment unrelated to the topic at an inappropriate time.

Baseline Data: Wade engages in an average of 19 verbal interruptions per 50-minute class period in the general education/co-taught classroom setting/special education setting, based on 12, 50-minute classroom observations.

Goal: By April 2017, Wade will employ self-regulation skills to reduce his verbal interruptions general education, co-taught, and special education classes to 9 or fewer per 50-minute class period, based on a minimum of 8, 50-minute observations per 9-week grading period.

What tool will you use to assess the goal?: frequency count

How and where will the skill/replacement behavior be taught?: direct instruction of self-regulation skills (pausing and counting to three before speaking, writing down questions to ask at a later time, etc.) in Social Skills class

Case #3 (Executive Function): Aaron

Aaron’s parents and teachers were frustrated. Aaron was a junior in high school but still was unable to keep track of due dates and papers or to figure out how to prioritize assignments for his classes and was, as a result, getting lots of “0”s logged in the grade book. This is probably the #1 behavior goal I’ve seen written in IEPs, across all populations within special education. It is also probably the #1 behavior goal for which I have observed a “fall down” on teaching skills and replacement behaviors…which means the student didn’t make progress.

The progress monitoring for this type of goal is pretty simple. If your school uses a computerized gradebook database, you can log in and count up the number of assignments, then count up the number of “0”s the student has received. A little 3rd grade long division, and you’ve got yourself a percentage of work completed. Like I said, the progress monitoring is the easy part for this type of goal.

Teaching the skills necessary to improve organization and executive function is the tough part.

Definition/Description of the Behavior (failing to turn in assigned classwork): Aaron fails to turn in homework and in-class assignments because he loses/misplaces papers, forgets to turn in completed work, or fails to finish assignments by their due dates.

Baseline Data: During quarter 1 2015-2016, Aaron turned in an average of 62% of all assigned work in his core academic classes (Geometry, English 11, Physical Science, American History) with an average score of 70% on turned-in assignments in each class.

Goal: By October 2016, Aaron will apply learned task management skills to turn in an average of 80% of assigned work in his core academic classes (English, Math, Social Studies, Science) with an average score of 70% or better on turned-in assignments in each class.

What tool will you use to assess the goal?: teacher gradebooks

How and where will the skill/replacement behavior be taught?: direct instruction of organizational skills (using labeled folders, etc.), guided task prioritization (to-do lists ranked by order of importance, etc.), and instruction in using Google calendar to track due dates in Study Skills class, weekly one-to-one guided practice with the school social worker or counselor (15 minutes per occasion)

Case #4 (Hygiene): Lindsey

Lindsey, a sophomore, was very intelligent (wound up scoring a 32 on the ACT)…but she was oblivious to social norms regarding hygiene and appearance. It hurt her feelings when peers avoided sitting near her or working in groups with her, but the smell and her generally disheveled/dirty appearance were off-putting for the other teenagers in her classes. Just “talking to her” wasn’t working; Lindsey couldn’t understand the importance of hygiene (“They should like me for who I am on the inside!”), nor could she seem to figure out the steps needed to actually follow through a grooming routine. Because her lack of grooming and hygiene were impacting her social interactions with peers, the IEP team felt it was appropriate to create a goal to improve it.

FYI, this was one of those times where we had to create a rubric in order to take data on the behavior. That rubric (see below) turned into our assessment tool as we monitored the goal. This tool is a good example of the importance of creating assessment tools that are simple and quick for staff to use; a convoluted tool would have made it difficult to keep accurate daily data while co-teaching her first hour class. We had the hour 1 special education co-teacher do this quick assessment each day Lindsey was in class, then her Social Skills teacher followed up with her on it later in the day. We found it very helpful to keep our data on a shared Google doc (something I do a LOT, but check with your own building admins about the acceptability of this practice in your district) so we could all easily check in on how she was doing, including Lindsey herself and her mom. The goal was for Lindsey to get as many checkmarks in the “met criteria” column as possible. Because she was a sophomore in high school, we sought to avoid tangible reinforcers; a favorable reaction from her peers was highly motivational for Lindsey…and a much more “natural” reinforcer (as well as one that staff would not have to provide).

Personal Grooming Assessment

Hygiene Criteria	Met criteria	Did not meet criteria	Notes/Comments
Hair appears clean and brushed.
Clothing is free from dirt and stains.
Clothing is not overly wrinkled and has no visible tears/holes
No discernible body odor when sitting or standing right next to the student.
No discernible bad breath odor when sitting or standing right next to the student.
Visible body parts (face, neck, hands) appear clean
TOTALS (how many checks in each column?)

,

Definition/Description of Behavior (poor hygiene): Lindsey comes to school daily with dirty hands/neck/face, discernible bad breath, discernible body odor, unbrushed/unwashed hair, stained/dirty/wrinkled/holey/worn clothing.

Baseline Data: Lindsey “meets criteria” on an average of 0/6 hygiene criteria on her daily Personal Grooming Assessment, based on 15 direct classroom observations in her hour 1 class.

Goal: By March 2017, Lindsey will use a grooming checklist to meet criteria on 4 or more hygiene criteria on the Personal Grooming Assessment, based on a minimum of 3 direct classroom observations per week during her hour 1 class each 9-week grading period.

What tool will you use to assess the goal?: Personal Grooming Assessment rubric

How and where will the skill/replacement behavior be taught?: direct instruction of grooming practices in Social Skills class (including use of a personal hygiene checklist), corrective instruction by staff

Case #5 (Social Interactions): Marley

How and where will the skill/replacement behavior be taught?: direct instruction of grooming practices in Social Skills class (including use of a personal hygiene checklist), corrective instruction by staff

Definition/Description of Behavior (“sharing inappropriate personal information”): Marley shares inappropriate personal information during unstructured conversations with peers and staff while in the general education/co-taught setting (“When I was in rehab last year, they wouldn’t let us have shoelaces.” “I haven’t smoked any weed in five months.” “The last time I was in juvie, the food sucked.” etc.)

Baseline Data: Marley engages in an average of 6 instances of verbally sharing inappropriate personal information with peers or staff per class period in the general education/co-taught setting, based on 12, 50-minute observations in English 9, Algebra 1, Biology, and Health.

Goal: By October 2017, Marley will utilize socially appropriate conversation skills to engage in 1 or fewer instances of verbally sharing inappropriate personal information with peers or staff per 50-minute class period in the general education/co-taught setting, based on a minimum of 12, 50-minute observations per 9-week grading period.

What tool will you use to assess the goal?: frequency count

How and where will the skill/replacement behavior be taught?: direct instruction, modeling, and role-playing of appropriate conversational skills in Social Skills class

Case #6 (Thinking/Internal Monologue or Social Interactions): Camilla

Camilla was “thrown out” of parochial school in the third grade after four difficult years there. Even as a young child, Camilla had serious episodes of emotional dysregulation and violent behavior. After years of attending alternative schools, Camilla returned to the traditional high school setting in the 9th grade. She desperately wanted to make friends and fit in…but it wasn’t going as planned. At the alternative school, Camilla was the prettiest, wittiest, smartest, and most popular; at “regular” school, she was just one more fish in a very large pond. Camilla had always struggled with obsessive and repeated negative self-talk (“I’m so stupid,” “Everyone hates me,” “I’m just a fat, ugly troll.” etc.); back at the alternative school, she was given lots of positive verbal reinforcement for the behavior (“No, you’re not,” “You’re really pretty,” “You’re not fat,” etc.). Due to the overwhelmingly positive responses she had gotten from teachers and peers, making negative comments about herself had become her go-to (ineffective and awkward) conversation starter. However, back at “regular” school, students mostly just sought to avoid her due to her negativity, and teachers (busy with academic instruction) weren’t providing the level of reinforcement to which she had grown accustomed. This was leading to an escalation in the behavior, and to an escalation into “tantrums.” We knew it was a habit she’d have to break in order to be successful.

Definition/Description of Behavior (“negative self-talk”): Camilla makes negative comments about herself (“I’m so fat,” “I’m stupid,” “Everybody just wishes I would die,” etc.) during conversations with teachers at peers across all school settings (general education, special education, co-taught classes).

Baseline Data: Camilla engages in negative self-talk in conversations with teachers and peers across all school settings (general education, special education, co-taught classes) an average of 13 times per 50-minute class period, based on 12, 50-minute observations.

Goal: Camilla will employ appropriate conversational skills to reduce incidences of negative self-talk in conversations with peers and teachers to 5 or fewer per 50-minute class period, based on a minimum of 9, once-weekly, 50-minute observations per 9-week grading period.

What tool will you use to assess the goal?:frequency count

How and where will the skill/replacement behavior be taught?: direct instruction of appropriate conversational skills via modeling, guided practice, and reinforcement of appropriate conversations in Social Skills class