How to prioritize IEP goals: deciding which needs to write goals for this year

By the IEP Atlas editorial teamLast updated November 1, 2026

Short answer

To prioritize IEP goals, list every need the present levels show, then score each one for how much it blocks class work, how urgent it is, and whether a year of instruction can move it. Write annual goals for the top three to five needs. Meet the rest with accommodations, services or classroom support, and note why.

Prioritizing is the step between present levels and goal writing. The evaluation and the data usually show more needs than one IEP can target well. The team's job is to pick the needs that matter most this year and say how the others will be handled.

This page covers that decision. For the goal wording itself, start with the pillar guide on how to write IEP goals.

What you need before you start

Current present levels for every area. Each need should have a number from recent data, not a label. See present levels examples if yours read "below grade level."
The parent's concerns in writing. The IEP team must consider the parents' concerns for enhancing the child's education.^[1]
The student's own view. Even a short conversation about what is hard tells you what the student will work for.
Last year's goals and progress reports. You need to know what was met, what was not, and why.
The service picture. Know which related services the student already gets, such as speech or OT, so goals are not duplicated.

Step-by-step

Step 1: List every need, one line each

Read the present levels and the evaluation and write each need on its own line. Use the skill, not the area. "Decoding two-syllable words" is a need. "Reading" is an area.

A typical list for a student with a learning disability runs 8 to 12 lines. That is normal. You are not writing a goal for each one.

Step 2: Score each need on three questions

Give each need 0, 1 or 2 points on each question.

Question	0 points	1 point	2 points
How much does it block class work or daily life?	Rarely shows up	Slows the student in one class	Blocks work across the day
How urgent is it?	Can wait a year	Matters for next year's demands	Matters now: safety, a transition, a skill others build on
Can a year of instruction move it?	Unlikely, or better met another way	Some growth expected	Clear growth expected with direct teaching

A need that scores 5 or 6 almost always becomes a goal. A need that scores 0 to 2 is usually better met another way. Scores of 3 or 4 are where the team talks.

Step 3: Check for foundation skills

Some needs hold up others. A student who decodes at a first-grade level will struggle with comprehension, written work and science reading. Teaching decoding moves all of them. When two needs tie, choose the one other skills depend on.

For example, if a student cannot start a task without an adult, a writing goal will stall. A task initiation goal may come first.

Step 4: Decide how each lower need will be met

Every need on the list gets a plan, even if it gets no goal. The options are an accommodation, a related service with its own goal, classroom instruction with no special plan, or a later IEP. The guide to goals versus accommodations helps with the first choice.

Write one line for each in your notes. "Spelling: met through speech-to-text and a spelling list for content words." This answers the parent who asks why spelling has no goal.

Step 5: Cap the list and write the goals

Most teams land on three to five annual goals for a student with needs in two or three areas. Students with significant support needs may have more, often with shorter objectives under each. A long list of goals spreads the student's specially designed instruction thin. It also makes progress monitoring hard to keep up.

The IEP must include measurable annual goals that meet the needs that come from the disability.^[2] Write each top need as a measurable goal, with a baseline from the present levels and a target set from data. The guide on setting realistic IEP goal targets covers the target.

Worked example: Desmond, grade 5

Desmond is a fictional fifth grader with a specific learning disability and attention concerns. His needs list had 9 lines after the October reevaluation. The table shows the scores the team gave.

Need	Data	Blocks work	Urgent	Can move	Total
Decoding multisyllable words	41% of 2-syllable words read correctly on a 30-word list	2	2	2	6
Oral reading fluency	64 words correct per minute on grade 3 passages	2	1	2	5
Starting independent work	Median 7 minutes to begin across 5 observations	2	2	1	5
Paragraph writing	3 of 12 rubric points on 4 samples	2	1	1	4
Multiplication facts	18 digits correct per minute on 2-minute probes	1	1	2	4
Spelling	11 of 20 words on a grade 3 list	1	0	1	2
Handwriting legibility	Readable to peers on most samples	0	0	1	1
Organizing his desk	Loses papers weekly	1	0	1	2
Asking for help	2 of 10 observed chances	1	1	1	3

The team wrote four goals: decoding, fluency, task initiation and paragraph writing. They chose decoding over fluency as the first reading goal because fluency depends on it, then kept both because the reading teacher could measure fluency weekly in 2 minutes.

Multiplication facts tied with writing. The team gave writing the goal because it affects grades in four classes. Facts went to a multiplication chart as an accommodation, with a fact practice routine in math class. Spelling went to speech-to-text. Asking for help became a step inside the task initiation goal. Desmond's mother asked about organization, so the team added a daily folder check as a classroom support and agreed to look at it again at the February progress report.

The decoding goal read: "By October 2027, given a list of 30 unpracticed two-syllable words with closed and silent-e syllables, Desmond will read 85% of the words correctly on 3 consecutive biweekly probes, as measured by a word list probe." It names a baseline of 41% in present levels, so every probe can be compared to it.

Common mistakes

Weak: One goal for every need on the list, 11 goals in all. Better: Four goals for the highest scores, and a written plan for the other seven needs.

Weak: Choosing the goal because last year's IEP had it. Better: Rescore every need with this year's data. A repeated goal needs a reason, which the page on repeating IEP goals explains.

Weak: Leaving the parent's top concern out with no explanation. Better: Score it with the others, and if it gets no goal, say in the meeting how it will be handled.

Weak: Choosing the skill that is easiest to measure. Better: Choose the skill that matters, then find a way to measure it. The measurement guide lists one for nearly every kind of skill.

Weak: A goal that duplicates a related service goal. Better: One goal per skill, with the service provider and the teacher both listed as responsible.

Using the goal builder for this step

Once the team has its short list, the goal builder turns each need into a draft. Search in your own words, such as "two syllable words," or filter by area and measurement type. Open the closest template and edit the condition, behavior, support and criterion. The checks flag vague wording as you edit. When the goal is done, copy it with short-term objectives and print the matching data sheet.

The builder does not choose the priorities for you. That decision belongs to the team. What it saves is the drafting time, so the meeting can be spent on the choice. Skill pages such as decoding and paragraph organization list every template for that need.

Before the meeting, paste each finished goal into the goal checker as a last pass.

Frequently asked questions

How many IEP goals should we write after prioritizing?

Most teams write three to five annual goals for a student with needs in two or three areas. Students with significant support needs may have more. The number should follow the needs, and each goal must be one the team can teach and measure all year.

What happens to needs that do not get a goal?

Each one still needs a plan. It may be met with an accommodation, a related service, regular classroom instruction, or a goal in a later IEP. Write the plan down so the team and the parents can see why it was handled that way.

Should the parent's concern always become a goal?

The team must consider the parents' concerns, and they often point to the most important need. Score the concern with the others. If it does not become a goal, explain in the meeting how it will be addressed and when the team will look at it again.

Use it in IEP Atlas

Sources

34 CFR §300.324: Development, review, and revision of IEP, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
34 CFR §300.320: Definition of individualized education program, 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.