Waiting IEP goals: 24 examples with wait times and baselines

Waiting is hard for many students, and it is everywhere in a school day: waiting for a turn, for the teacher's attention, for the bus, for recess to start. A student who cannot wait grabs, interrupts, bolts or melts down, and each of those can look like a behavior problem when the real gap is a missing skill.

A waiting goal teaches the student to tolerate a delay, often with a strategy to fill the time. The 24 goals below are grouped by what the student is waiting for. Each names the wait, the length, what the student does instead of the problem behavior, and a count. Baselines are illustrative. For impulse control more broadly, including blurting and rushing work, see impulse control IEP goals; this page goes deeper on waiting and does not repeat its examples. For the cluster overview, see executive functioning IEP goals.

How waiting goals work

Waiting draws on inhibitory control, one of the core executive function skills that develop through childhood with practice and support.^[1] Three design rules make a waiting goal teachable:

• Start short. If the student waits 10 seconds now, the first objective is 20 seconds, not 5 minutes.
• Give the wait an end the student can see. A visual timer, a "wait" card that turns into a "your turn" card, or a count.
• Give the student something to do. A waiting strategy, like holding a card, counting, or a fill-in activity, replaces "do nothing," which almost no one can do.

Teaching and reinforcing the replacement behavior, and arranging the setting to support it, are core parts of classroom behavior support.^[2] If waiting problems are severe or dangerous, the team should look at function first; see how to do an FBA.

Waiting for an item or activity

Weak: "The student will be patient." Measurable: the visual timer goal. It names the wait, the length, the problem behavior to avoid and the count.

Waiting for adult attention or help

Weak: "The student will stop interrupting the teacher." Measurable: the help card goal. It says what the student does instead.

Waiting for a turn in games and groups

Weak: "The student will take turns." Measurable: the small-group game goal. It counts turns and names the specific behavior.

Waiting to talk

Weak: "The student will not blurt out." Measurable: the hand-raise goal. It names the setting and the share of comments.

Waiting in line, at doors and for signals

Weak: "The student will be safe in hallways." Measurable: the curb goal. For safety goals, the criterion is all crossings, not most.

Waiting in the community and at work

Weak: "The student will behave in the community." Measurable: the checkout line goal. It names the setting, the length, the strategy and the count.

How to measure waiting

Waiting goals use two measures together.

• Opportunities: each time the student has to wait is one opportunity. Mark whether the student waited the full time without the problem behavior. That is opportunities data, recorded on the opportunity data sheet.
• Wait time: how long the student waited before the problem behavior, in seconds. That is duration recording, and it shows growth before the full criterion is met.

Set up opportunities on purpose. Waiting only when it happens naturally gives you 1 or 2 data points a day. Plan 5 short waits during a session: "Wait, I need to finish this" before handing over a preferred item. Probe frequency: daily during the first weeks, then 3 days a week.

An illustrative filled-in week for the visual timer goal (target: wait up to 2 minutes, or 120 seconds, on 4 of 5 opportunities):

Result: 3 of 5 days met. The seconds column shows the shortest waits growing from 30 seconds on Monday to 80 by Thursday, which a yes or no count alone would hide. The IEP must say how progress is measured,^[3] and this sheet gives the team both numbers. Review 6 to 8 weeks before changing supports.^[4]

Short-term objectives

For the visual timer goal:

1. With the timer set to 30 seconds and an adult beside the student, waits the full time on 4 of 5 opportunities.
2. With the timer at 1 minute, adult nearby, 4 of 5 opportunities.
3. With the timer at 2 minutes and the adult across the room, 4 of 5 opportunities.

Adapting by grade

Mistakes to avoid

• Starting with the target wait. Start a little above the baseline and build.
• An invisible end. Use a timer or a card so the student knows when the wait is over.
• Nothing to do. Teach a waiting strategy to fill the time.
• Counting only natural waits. Plan practice waits so you have enough data.

Paste a draft into the goal checker. More templates are on the executive function goals hub. Related guides: emotional regulation goal examples for students who melt down while waiting and task initiation IEP goals.

Frequently asked questions

Use it in IEP Atlas

• Executive function IEP goals
• Impulse control goals (executive function)
• Duration recording measurement guide
• Opportunity data sheet
• IEP goal checker

Related guides

• Executive functioning IEP goals: examples by skill
• Impulse control IEP goals: 24 examples for waiting, blurting and rushing
• Task initiation IEP goals
• Self-monitoring strategies that work in the classroom
• Organization IEP goals: 20 examples with the data behind them
• Working memory IEP goals: 12 examples that measure strategy use

Sources

1. A Guide to Executive Function, Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University
2. Classroom PBIS, Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports
3. 34 CFR §300.320: Definition of individualized education program, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
4. Progress Monitoring: Data & Goal Setting, National Center on Intensive Intervention

Written and checked by the IEP Atlas editorial team under our editorial policy. This guide describes general practice and federal rules. It is not legal advice; your state may add requirements, and the IEP team makes the decisions for each student.