Coping skills IEP goals

Coping skills are the specific moves a student uses to get through a hard moment: slow breathing, a grounding object, a taught phrase, asking for space. A coping goal is not about feeling calm. It is about using one of those moves at the right time, with less and less help.

These 16 goals follow the order the skill is usually taught: notice the signal, use a strategy, apply it to real triggers, then use it without anyone asking. Each has a fictional baseline and a link to its template. The numbers are illustrations. The last sections cover coping skills data collection, which is where most of these goals go wrong.

For regulation goals measured by recovery time, see emotional regulation goal examples. The broader set is in the social-emotional IEP goals pillar.

Build the strategy menu before the goal

CASEL places these skills under self-management, one of its five social-emotional competencies.^[2] A goal that says "will use a coping strategy" assumes the student has some. Many do not, or have one that only works at home. Before writing the goal, spend two or three weeks teaching and testing a short menu with the student.

• Keep it to 3 or 4 strategies. A long menu is hard to use when upset.
• Include one of each kind: a body strategy (breathing, pushing palms together), a thinking strategy (a coping statement), a sensory strategy (headphones, a fidget) and a social strategy (asking for a break or an adult).
• Let the student rate each one after trying it. Keep what the student says helps.
• Match strategies to settings. A walk works in the resource room. It does not work during a state test.

The coping skills goal hub and the break requests hub list templates for each kind.

How to choose a coping skills goal

Goals for noticing and naming

A student cannot choose a strategy for a feeling they did not notice. Start here when upsets look sudden.

1. After an upset, once calm, Theo will name the emotion he felt with a feelings chart in 3 of 4 debriefs over 4 weeks. Baseline: 1 of 4. Template.
2. When he notices an early body signal, such as a hot face or tight hands, Theo will tell an adult before the upset grows at least 2 times per week for 4 weeks. Baseline: 0 per week. Template.
3. At morning and after-lunch check-ins, Grace will rate her energy and pick the matching plan on 5 of 6 check-ins. Baseline: 2 of 6. Template.

Weak: "Theo will identify his feelings." Measurable: Goal 2 above. It counts a real action at the moment that matters.

Goals for using a strategy in the moment

These goals measure use at the time of stress. Record the prompt level every time, so the team can see help fading even before the count rises.

1. When stress rises during seated work, Kai will use a body-based grounding tool at his seat and keep working in 4 of 5 opportunities. Baseline: 1 of 5. Template.
2. When upset during circle time, Nora will blow slow breaths with a pinwheel for at least 60 seconds with one adult model. Baseline: 10 seconds. Template.
3. When the classroom gets too loud, Kai will ask for a quieter space using his card or words in 4 of 5 loud periods. Baseline: 1 of 5. Template.
4. When work feels too hard, Sam will ask for a break instead of leaving the task in 4 of 5 opportunities, measured across reading and math. Baseline: 1 of 5. Template.

Weak: "Kai will use coping strategies when upset." Measurable: Goal 1 above. It names the setting, the strategy and what success looks like afterward.

Noise is a common trigger. The noise sensitivity hub pairs well with the second and third goals here.

Goals for coping with specific triggers

Pick the 1 or 2 triggers that cause the most lost learning time. ABC data from 2 weeks usually shows them clearly. The ABC data guide explains the format.

1. When asked to wait for a turn or for adult help, Ruby will start a planned fill-in activity within 30 seconds in 4 of 5 waits. Baseline: 120 seconds. Template.
2. When a request is denied, Ruby will answer with a taught reply, such as "okay, maybe later", in 4 of 5 denied requests. Baseline: 2 of 5. Template.
3. After a mistake on classwork, Omar will say or write a helpful self-statement at least 3 times per week, recorded by his teacher. Baseline: 0 per week. Template.
4. When a planned event is cancelled, Omar will use his coping card and choose another activity on 3 of 4 occasions. Baseline: 1 of 4. Template.
5. When a problem happens, Ella will rate its size and match her reaction to it in 4 of 5 problems, scored on a 5-point scale. Baseline: 1 of 5. Template.

Weak: "Ruby will handle being told no." Measurable: Goal 2 above. A taught reply is easy to hear and count.

For anger as the main trigger, the anger management hub has more. For worry, see the anxiety coping hub.

Goals for using coping skills without prompts

The final goal is a student who starts the strategy on their own. Move here once the student uses strategies reliably with prompts.

1. When a known trigger occurs, Mia will start a calming strategy on her own, with no adult prompt, in 4 of 5 opportunities across 3 settings. Baseline: 1 of 5. Template.
2. With the counselor, Mia will write 5 coping statements in her own words, scoring 5 of 5 on the statement checklist. Baseline: 1 of 5. Template.
3. Each school day, Jamal will log his stress rating and the strategy he used in a journal or app at least 3 times a week for 6 weeks. Baseline: 0 per week. Template.
4. During a 15-minute quiz, Lily will keep working using her coping tools for the full 15 minutes on 3 of 4 quizzes. Baseline: 6 minutes. Template.

Weak: "Mia will cope independently." Measurable: Goal 1 above. "No adult prompt" and "3 settings" make independence countable.

Coping skills data collection

Most coping goals fail at the data step, for two reasons. The adult only records the bad moments, so the data shows triggers but never successes. Or the adult records "used strategy: yes", which hides how much help it took.

The IEP has to say how progress on each goal will be measured,^[1] and for coping goals that means deciding up front what counts. Record every opportunity, not just every upset. An opportunity is each time the trigger happens. Then record what the student did and the prompt level. A simple sheet looks like this:

Use 4 prompt levels and keep them the same all year: independent, gesture, verbal, full help. The prompt hierarchy entry defines each, and the prompt hierarchy examples show how to fade them.

From this sheet you can report three numbers: the share of opportunities with a strategy used, the share used independently, and the average time back to task. All three should move. The opportunity data sheet works well if you add a prompt column, and the frequency data sheet fits the unprompted goals. See opportunities data for how to set the denominator.

Who records it

The adult nearest the student at the trigger records it. That is often a paraprofessional, so show them the sheet and the 4 prompt levels before the first day. The paraprofessional data collection guide covers training.

Short-term objectives for coping goals

Fade the prompt before you raise the count. For the grounding tool goal:

1. Uses the grounding tool after a verbal prompt in 4 of 5 opportunities.
2. Uses it after a gesture prompt in 4 of 5 opportunities.
3. Uses it independently in 4 of 5 opportunities in 1 class, then in 3.

The short-term objectives guide covers the format.

Adapting by age

Students with ongoing emotional needs may also need the goals in IEP goals for emotional disturbance. Teenagers can use the stress goals in social-emotional goals for high school. All 45 templates for this area are on the emotional regulation goals page. Check your draft with the goal checker.

Frequently asked questions

Use it in IEP Atlas

• Coping skills goal hub
• Emotional regulation goals (social emotional)
• Anxiety coping goal hub
• Break requests goal hub
• Self regulation in the IEP glossary
• Opportunity data sheet
• IEP goal checker

Related guides

• Social-emotional IEP goals: examples you can actually measure
• Emotional regulation and self-regulation IEP goals
• IEP goals for emotional disturbance
• Social skills IEP goal examples
• Prompt hierarchy examples for IEP data
• Teaching coping strategies by age
• IEP goals for friendship skills

Sources

1. 34 CFR §300.320: Definition of individualized education program, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
2. CASEL: Social and emotional learning, CASEL

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.