SMART Goals: Clear and Concise Goals Lead to Good IEPs

SMART goals in special education stands for, Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time Bound.

This episode will provide a clear example of a SMART goal and the skills that a student needs to learn to master it.

Many times, goals may seem simple on their face, but that hides the complex nature of teaching a student the component skills that go into neeting the goal.

Simple wording does not mean simple implementation. 

Resources:

The IRIS Center (at Vanderbilt University) is an outstanding resource for most things related to special education.

https://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/module/iep01/cresource/q3/p07/

Summary

This educational podcast episode explains how SMART goals are used in IEP writing for special education, using a concrete example of an eight‑year‑old student named John. The host walks through each SMART criterion—specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time‑bound—and clarifies two commonly misunderstood components: 80% accuracy (shaping through successive approximations) and the “four of five opportunities” standard (data collection that allows for occasional off‑days). The episode emphasizes the importance of objective data collection to guide goal modifications.

Key takeaway

Introduction to SMART Goals in IEPs

The acronym SMART in special education stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time‑bound, and is the standard for writing IEP goals.

Example Problem Behavior and Goal for John

John, an eight‑year‑old third‑grader, calls out with questions or responses in a moderately loud voice while raising his hand in 5 of 10 opportunities and calls out without raising his hand in 2 of 10 opportunities; the proposed goal requires him to raise his hand quietly and wait to be called on in 4 of 5 opportunities within one year.

SMART Goal Analysis of John’s Example

The goal is specific because it clearly defines the stimulus (teacher inviting a response) and the observable action (raising hand quietly without vocalizing).

The goal is achievable if evidence‑based positive behavior support practices are implemented with fidelity.

The goal is relevant because orderly, efficient classroom management depends on student behavior.

The goal is time‑bound because it is written for a one‑year timeframe.

Explanation of 80% Accuracy (Shaping / Successive Approximations)

80% accuracy refers to shaping—teaching the component skills of a behavior over time using reinforcement, such as self‑monitoring counseling and adult reinforcement of correct parts while ignoring incorrect attempts.

Explanation of “Four of Five Opportunities” and Data Collection

Using four of five opportunities discards one data point to account for off‑days or non‑compliance unrelated to skill mastery, ensuring the data reflects the student’s actual ability; ongoing objective data collection is critical for modifying IEP goals.

Thanks to Soundimage.org for the free access to the AI generated music used in this podcast (https://soundimage.org/) 

Transcript

SMART goals are the standard for IEP goal writing in special education.  While the SMART goal concept has been used in other fields, in special education the acronym stands for goals being specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time bound.

This topic is one that lends itself to clarity by example, so let’s look at one.  In 8-year-old John’s 3rd grade classroom, the rule is for students to raise their hands quietly and without vocalizing.  However, data collection has shown that John, quote, “will call out with a question or response with a moderately loud voice while simultaneously raising his hand in five of 10 opportunities.  He will call out and not raise his hand on an additional 2 of the 10 opportunities. 

Now that we have an accurate description of the problem behavior, here is a goal to address it and then we’ll check it to see if the goal is SMART. 

It reads:

By (one year from this date), in a general education classroom, when his teacher asks the class to answer a question or make a comment by being called on after raising their hands quietly, John will do so in four of five opportunities with 80% accuracy. 

As to the determination if the goal is SMART, we’ll take each letter in order.  

Is the goal specific?  It is, in that it calls for John to respond to a stimulus, being invited to ask a question or comment on a teacher prompt.  

The action John is being taught to take is easily observed and measurable, if he does it with accuracy.  If he raises his hand and does not vocalize while doing so he has met the conditions of the goal.  

Next, is the goal achievable?  If evidenced based Positive Behavior Support practices are implemented with fidelity, then the goal is likely very achievable.

What about the goal being relevant?  As having an orderly and efficient classroom depends to a large degree on student behaviors, this goal is highly relevant.

As goals are generally written for one year, that satisfies the time bound component.

With this said, there are conditions to the goal. The first is an explanation of 80% accuracy. What does it mean?  

80% accuracy has to do with something called shaping (the technical term is successive approximations).  It means what it says, that behaviors are shaped or formed over time as the student learns the component skills that go into a goal.

Shaping recognizes that behaviors don’t change immediately, there is a period of time where the student is receiving adult support to learn the new behavior.  The new behavior is literally being shaped through methods like reinforcement. 

In the case of John, it could be that he is learning how to raise his hand every time, but his accuracy in not calling out still needs work.  

As mentioned, to successfully teach the new skill, the adults need to break down what the component parts of the skill are.  In raising one’s hand, there is the actual raising of the hand and staying silent, but those skills are made up of several parts.  

Briefly,  the parts could be, for example, learning self-monitoring skills through counseling to reduce impulsivity, or practicing the skill in the classroom by adults reinforcing the parts done correctly, and ignoring as much as possible what John may be doing wrong.

The other confusing wording in the goal, is what does 4 of 5 opportunities mean?  This recognizes that students with disabilities, like everyone else, has good days and challenging days.

If data collected to measure progress on the goal every time John was being observed, and he was having a difficult moment or day on one of those occasions, it would skew the overall data, as John’s poor performance may have nothing to do with mastering the skill, he may simply not want to comply that time.

So one data collection opportunity is discarded so that the actual skill can be measured, and not something like a bad mood.

One can see that data collection is critical to the success of a goal, as the IEP team needs objective information to guide any modifications or updates of goals to keep the child’s program on track and providing the benefit it was designed for.