Test a smoke alarm and report problems
When to use this goal
For students preparing for their own apartment, where smoke alarm checks fall to the tenant. Needs reaching the alarm with a step stool or a broom handle; present levels and motor access decide fit, not grade.
- Baseline
- Run the routine on at least 3 separate days in the setting where it will be measured before setting a target. Mark each step as independent, prompted (note the prompt type), or not done, and count only independent steps. Note the steps missed most often; they usually need direct teaching, not just more practice. Practice with an alarm at counter height before moving to the ceiling so the baseline shows the routine, not the reach.
- Tips
- Teach the low-battery chirp with a recording; many adults take it for another sound. Students who cannot safely use a step stool can use a broom handle on the test button.
- Limits
- This goal teaches a routine; it does not replace a fire, medical, or emergency plan written by the family, the nurse, or the program. Safety steps are scored as all-or-nothing, so the target is every step. Hard-wired alarms in rentals are the landlord's job to repair; the student's step is to report.
Original IEP Atlas template based on general measurement principles; not copied from any goal bank. ID tn-il-036.
Sign in to add this goal to a student.
Goal
By the annual IEP review date, on the monthly safety check day in the training apartment, with a step stool and the alarm's test button, the student will test the smoke alarm and report or replace a weak battery, performing all 6 steps independently, on 3 consecutive monthly checks, as measured by a task-analysis checklist collected monthly, with a practice check every two weeks.
Baseline: 2 of 6 steps independently.
- Condition
- Observable behavior
- Criterion
- Measurement method
Measurability check11 of 11 met
Met: Observable behavior. Stated as an action.
Met: Condition. Stated.
Met: Unit fits the behavior. Task-analysis steps fits this behavior.
Met: Explicit criterion. Number and unit stated.
Met: Mastery rule and schedule. Both stated.
Met: Method produces the metric. Task-analysis checklist gives task-analysis steps data.
Met: Review timeframe. Stated.
Met: Baseline and target compatible. Same unit, change in the right direction.
Met: Aligned with area of need. Still about Independent Living.
Met: Level of support. Defined.
Met: Blanks filled in. Nothing left to fill in.
Checks structure and wording only. Whether the goal fits the student is the team's call.
Short-term objectives (optional)
When are objectives required?Required for students on alternate assessments (34 CFR §300.320(a)(2)(ii)); some states require them for everyone.
Paste into your IEP system
Most district systems have a separate box for each part of a goal. Copy them one at a time, or all at once as labeled text.
- Area of need
- Transition & Postsecondary Skills - Independent Living
- Baseline
- 2 of 6 steps independently.
- Annual goal382 characters
- By the annual IEP review date, on the monthly safety check day in the training apartment, with a step stool and the alarm's test button, the student will test the smoke alarm and report or replace a weak battery, performing all 6 steps independently, on 3 consecutive monthly checks, as measured by a task-analysis checklist collected monthly, with a practice check every two weeks.
- Timeframe
- By the annual IEP review date
- Condition
- On the monthly safety check day in the training apartment, with a step stool and the alarm's test button
- Behavior
- The student will test the smoke alarm and report or replace a weak battery
- Criteria
- Performing all 6 steps independently, on 3 consecutive monthly checks
- Evaluation method
- A task-analysis checklist
- Schedule
- Monthly, with a practice check every two weeks
Copied as plain text, with straight quotes and plain dashes.
Matching data sheet
Task-analysis checklist. Marks each step in each session.
Task-analysis checklist
Task-analysis steps- Student label:
- Target:
- performing all 6 steps independently
- Mastery rule:
- on 3 consecutive monthly checks
- Collection schedule:
- monthly, with a practice check every two weeks
- Method:
- Task-analysis checklist
- Data collector:
Goal: By the annual IEP review date, on the monthly safety check day in the training apartment, with a step stool and the alarm's test button, the student will test the smoke alarm and report or replace a weak battery, performing all 6 steps independently, on 3 consecutive monthly checks, as measured by a task-analysis checklist collected monthly, with a practice check every two weeks.
Key: I completed independently · S completed with support (note prompt type, e.g., G gesture, V verbal, M model, P physical) · N not completed
| Step | Session 1 Date: | Session 2 Date: | Session 3 Date: | Session 4 Date: | Session 5 Date: | Session 6 Date: | Session 7 Date: | Session 8 Date: |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Sets the step stool on a flat floor under the alarm | ||||||||
| 2. Presses and holds the test button until the alarm sounds | ||||||||
| 3. Identifies a loud alarm as working, a chirp or silence as a problem | ||||||||
| 4. Reports a problem to the landlord, staff, or family the same day, or replaces the battery | ||||||||
| 5. Writes the date of the test on the safety log | ||||||||
| 6. Puts the step stool away | ||||||||
| Steps independent (I) | ||||||||
| Initials / notes |
Preview shows 4 of 12 rows.
- Write the date at the top of each session column. Mark each step I, S, or N.
- Total the number of I marks for the session. The goal counts steps completed independently (target: 6 of 6).
- Use the least intrusive prompt first and record the prompt actually needed.
The CSV opens in Excel or Google Sheets, with formulas. Sheets print blank; no student data is stored.