Safety signs IEP goals

Knowing a sign and acting on it are different skills. A student can name STOP on a flash card and still walk past it in a parking lot. Good safety sign goals cover both: recognition (what does it say or mean?) and response (what do I do?). Because the stakes are safety, criteria should be high, often every item correct, and the final check should happen where the sign really is.

This page gives 20 goals in four groups, each with an illustrative baseline and a link to a template. For the other safety goals, see the life skills IEP goals pillar and the safety signs goal hub.

Choosing a safety signs goal

Pick the response mode that fits the student. A student can read the word, say the meaning, sign it, point to a matching picture or select it on a communication device. The goal should name the mode.

Reading and naming safety signs and words

Start with the signs the student sees most: STOP, EXIT, DANGER, DO NOT ENTER, POISON, KEEP OUT, WOMEN and MEN, PUSH and PULL, and the walk and don't walk signals.

Weak: "The student will learn safety signs."

Measurable: "Given 12 photos of community safety signs, the student will name or sign the meaning of each with 12 of 12 correct on 3 consecutive weekly probes."

For students who read braille, use tactile signs the student will meet, with the braille signs and labels template. The functional reading words list has a fuller list of survival words to choose from.

Following signs in school and the community

These goals move from naming to doing. Measure them in the real setting, or as close to it as you can.

Weak: "The student will follow signs."

Measurable: "During a fire drill, the student will follow the posted exit signs to the assigned meeting spot, completing 6 of 6 steps on 3 consecutive drills, measured by task analysis."

The fire drill IEP goals page has more drill goals, and the school map template covers finding rooms.

Labels and hazard symbols

Students who will handle cleaning products, medicine or work supplies need to read the warnings on them. Use real, empty, rinsed containers or clear photos; never ask a student to handle a live product for practice.

Weak: "The student will know dangerous products."

Measurable: "Given 12 household products, the student will sort them into safe to touch and ask an adult first, using the label, with 12 of 12 correct on 3 probes."

Street and travel signs

These goals belong in the community. Classroom practice with photos can come first, but mastery means responding to real signs with an adult present.

Weak: "The student will be safe crossing streets."

Measurable: "At a signalized crosswalk, the student will wait for the walk signal, look both ways and cross within the lines, completing 5 of 5 steps on 4 consecutive crossings."

Goal 20 suits a student with low vision and is usually co-written with the orientation and mobility specialist. The street crossing IEP goal page covers crossing in more depth.

How to measure safety sign goals

Recognition goals use percent accuracy on a fixed set of signs. Response goals that have steps, like following exit signs or crossing at a signal, use task analysis: list each step, mark it independent or prompted, and report steps completed out of the total. The task analysis data sheet is set up for this. Single responses at real signs use opportunities.

Probe frequency. Probe recognition weekly with the signs in a new order. Probe response routines each time the real routine happens (every drill, every community trip), and at least every 2 weeks with a staged opportunity. After mastery, check monthly and in one new setting.

Here is a filled-in task analysis sheet for goal 6, following exit signs during a drill. (+ = independent, P = prompted, all data illustrative.)

The student meets the goal once the criterion is reached on 3 consecutive drills. Because real drills happen only monthly, the teacher adds a staged practice walk every 2 weeks between them, scored on the same sheet with a note.

Adapting by age and support level

More templates are on the functional skills IEP goals page and the community safety goals. Related guides: stranger safety goals, what to do if lost goals and seizure IEP goals. Check each draft in the goal checker.

IEP goals should address the functional needs described in present levels,^[1] and for students age 16 and older, safety in the community often ties directly to transition goals for independent living.^[2]

Frequently asked questions

Use it in IEP Atlas

• IEP goal checker
• Functional skills IEP goals
• Task analysis measurement guide
• Safety signs goal hub
• Task analysis data sheet
• Read safety signs goal template

Related guides

• Life skills IEP goals: the complete map by domain
• IEP goals for seizure safety
• What to do if lost: safety IEP goals
• IEP goals for stranger safety
• Functional reading word lists (signs, labels, menus)

Sources

1. 34 CFR §300.320: Definition of individualized education program, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
2. 34 CFR §300.43: Transition services, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School

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.