Spelling IEP goal examples, including goals for students with dyslexia

By the IEP Atlas editorial teamLast updated November 1, 2026

Short answer

A good spelling IEP goal names the word type, how the words are given, and how spelling is scored. For example: given 15 dictated unpracticed words with silent-e, vowel-team and r-controlled patterns, the student will spell at least 80% correctly on 3 of 4 weekly probes. Use unpracticed words that follow taught patterns, not this week's memorized list.

The most common spelling goal in IEPs is also the weakest: "will spell weekly spelling words with 80% accuracy." A student can memorize 10 words by Friday and forget them by Monday. The goal measures short-term memory, not spelling.

The 16 goals below measure spelling the student can use. Most give unpracticed words that follow patterns the student has been taught, so a correct spelling shows the pattern was learned. Others measure spelling in the student's own writing. Each links to its template in the spelling goal bank and shows a sample baseline. For writing goals beyond spelling, see the pillar guide to IEP goals for writing.

Choosing the right spelling goal

Look at the student's errors before choosing. A spelling inventory or 20 dictated words sorted by error type will usually point to one of the rows below.

Error pattern in samples	Sub-skill to target	Measure
Missing sounds: "bot" for "boat," "sop" for "stop"	Sound-letter mapping	Percent of sounds represented
All sounds present, wrong pattern: "rane" for "rain"	Vowel patterns and spelling rules	Percent of unpracticed pattern words
Endings dropped or wrong: "jump" for "jumped"	Inflected endings and suffixes	Percent of target words
Long words broken: "inportent" for "important"	Syllables, prefixes, roots	Percent of words, or correct letter sequences
Correct on lists, wrong in writing	Spelling in own writing, proofreading	Percent of words in own samples
Slow, effortful spelling of known words	Spelling fluency	Correct letter sequences per minute

Sound-to-letter spelling goals

For early spellers and students whose spellings leave out sounds. These goals ask for a letter for every sound, not conventional spelling.

Goal	Baseline
Write a letter for each sound in CVC words: By the annual IEP review date, given 10 dictated consonant-vowel-consonant words, the student will write a letter for each sound in the word in order independently with at least 85% accuracy on sounds represented, in 3 of 4 consecutive weekly probes, as measured by curriculum-based measurement probes collected weekly.	40% of sounds
Write the letters for dictated sounds: By the annual IEP review date, given 20 dictated sounds from taught patterns (single consonants, short vowels, digraphs, and vowel teams), the student will write the letter or letters for each sound, including every common spelling taught for sounds with more than one spelling independently with at least 90% accuracy on dictated sounds, in 3 of 4 consecutive weekly probes, as measured by opportunity-by-opportunity data collected weekly.	50% of sounds
Map digraph and blend words in sound boxes: By the annual IEP review date, given 10 dictated words with digraphs or blends (such as chop, flag, thin, crust) and a sound-box strip for each word, the student will say each sound while pushing a marker into a box, then write the letters for each sound in its box, putting both letters of a digraph in one box independently in at least 9 of 10 dictated words, in 3 of 4 consecutive weekly probes, as measured by curriculum-based measurement probes collected weekly.	4 of 10 words
Write a readable attempt for unknown words: By the annual IEP review date, in independent writing samples of at least 50 words, the student will write an attempt for each uncertain word that includes a letter for every syllable and most sounds in order independently with at least 85% accuracy on misspelled words, across 3 consecutive biweekly writing samples, as measured by work-sample analysis collected every two weeks.	40% of misspellings readable

Weak: "Will spell CVC words."

Measurable: "Given 10 dictated CVC words, will write a letter for each sound in order with 85% accuracy on sounds represented, on 3 of 4 weekly probes."

Pattern and rule goals

For students who hear every sound but choose the wrong spelling for it. Test with unpracticed words that follow taught patterns.

Goal	Baseline
Spell silent-e, vowel-team and r-controlled words: By the annual IEP review date, given 15 dictated unpracticed one-syllable words with silent-e, vowel-team, and r-controlled vowel patterns, the student will spell each dictated target word in writing independently with at least 80% accuracy on target words, in 3 of 4 consecutive weekly probes, as measured by curriculum-based measurement probes collected weekly.	35% of words
Apply ck, tch, dge and doubling rules: By the annual IEP review date, given 15 dictated unpracticed one-syllable words that follow the ck, tch, dge, or doubled-consonant rules, the student will spell each word by applying the rule that fits the vowel sound before the final consonant independently in at least 12 of 15 rule words, in 3 of 4 consecutive weekly probes, as measured by curriculum-based measurement probes collected weekly.	5 of 15 words
Spell plural nouns and past-tense verbs: By the annual IEP review date, given 15 dictated unpracticed words that require -s, -es, or a change from y to i before -es, the student will spell each word with the correct ending regardless of how the ending sounds independently with at least 85% accuracy on target words, in 3 of 4 consecutive weekly probes, as measured by curriculum-based measurement probes collected weekly.	40% of words
Spell irregular high-frequency words: By the annual IEP review date, given 20 irregular high-frequency words from the student's current instructional list, dictated in short sentences, the student will spell each target word in writing independently with at least 90% accuracy on irregular high-frequency words, in 3 of 4 consecutive weekly probes, as measured by work-sample analysis collected weekly.	45% of words

Weak: "Will spell weekly spelling words with 80% accuracy."

Measurable: "Given 15 dictated unpracticed words with taught vowel patterns, will spell at least 80% correctly on 3 of 4 weekly probes."

Morphology goals: prefixes, suffixes and roots

For older students whose long words fall apart. Teaching word parts as units gives the student a way into words they have never seen.

Goal	Baseline
Spell words with prefixes and suffixes: By the annual IEP review date, given 15 dictated unpracticed words made of a known base word plus a taught prefix or suffix (un-, re-, pre-, dis-, -ful, -less, -ness, -ment, -ly), the student will spell each word by writing the base word and the affix as units independently in at least 13 of 15 affixed words, in 3 of 4 consecutive weekly probes, as measured by curriculum-based measurement probes collected weekly.	5 of 15 words
Spell words from Greek and Latin roots: By the annual IEP review date, given 15 dictated unpracticed words built from taught roots (bio, graph, port, tele, scope, struct) and known affixes, the student will spell each word by writing the root and affixes as units independently with at least 80% accuracy on root words, in 3 of 4 consecutive weekly probes, as measured by curriculum-based measurement probes collected weekly.	30% of words
Spell words from word sums: By the annual IEP review date, given 12 word sums with a base and one or two affixes (such as re + use + able), the student will write each word sum's result as one spelled word, keeping the base word's spelling and applying any suffixing change independently with at least 85% accuracy on word sums, in 3 of 4 consecutive weekly probes, as measured by curriculum-based measurement probes collected weekly.	30% of word sums
Spell homophones correctly in context: By the annual IEP review date, given 10 sentences, each with a blank and the homophone pair spoken by the adult, the student will write the homophone that fits the meaning of each sentence independently with at least 90% accuracy on homophone items, in 3 of 4 consecutive weekly probes, as measured by work-sample analysis collected weekly.	50% of items

Weak: "Will spell multisyllable words."

Measurable: "Given 15 dictated unpracticed words with taught prefixes and suffixes, will spell base and affix correctly in at least 13 of 15 on 3 of 4 weekly probes."

Spelling in own writing and with tools

These goals check whether spelling carries over into real writing, and whether the student can catch and fix errors.

Goal	Baseline
Spell words correctly in own writing: By the annual IEP review date, in handwritten independent writing samples of at least 50 words, the student will spell words in self-composed writing independently with at least 85% accuracy on words written, across 3 consecutive biweekly writing samples, as measured by work-sample analysis collected every two weeks.	70% of words
Increase correct letter sequences on spelling probes: By the annual IEP review date, given a 2-minute spelling probe of grade-appropriate words dictated at a rate of one every 10 seconds, the student will write each dictated word independently at a rate of at least 20 correct letter sequences per minute, in 3 of 4 consecutive weekly probes, as measured by curriculum-based measurement probes collected weekly.	12 correct letter sequences per minute
Find and correct spelling errors in own draft: By the annual IEP review date, given the student's own handwritten draft with the number of spelling errors noted at the top, the student will circle each misspelled word and write the correct spelling above it independently with at least 75% accuracy on spelling errors in the draft, across 3 consecutive biweekly drafts, as measured by work-sample analysis collected every two weeks.	25% of errors fixed
Pick the correct word from spell-check suggestions: By the annual IEP review date, when editing a typed draft with spell-check on, for each word underlined by the program, the student will read or listen to each suggestion, choose the one that matches the intended word, and leave the word unchanged when no suggestion fits independently with at least 90% accuracy on flagged words, on 3 of 4 consecutive scored drafts, as measured by work-sample analysis collected weekly.	40% of flagged words

Weak: "Will use spell-check."

Measurable: "When editing a typed draft with spell-check on, will choose the suggestion that matches the intended word for at least 90% of flagged words on 3 of 4 drafts."

Spelling goals for students with dyslexia

Dyslexia affects spelling as well as reading, and spelling often stays hard after decoding improves. Spelling goals for these students work best when they follow the same sequence as the student's reading instruction.

Match the goal to the reading scope and sequence. If the student is learning vowel teams in reading, the spelling goal targets vowel teams. Both reinforce the same orthographic mapping.
Test with unpracticed words. A student with dyslexia can often memorize a list for a day. Unpracticed pattern words show whether the pattern stuck.
Use partial credit. Correct letter sequences give credit for "trane" over "trn" for "train." That shows growth a right-or-wrong score hides.
Pair with access tools. A spelling goal and a spell-check or speech-to-text accommodation can sit in the same IEP. The goal builds the skill; the accommodation lets the student write at grade level in the meantime. The page on goal vs accommodation explains the split.

The What Works Clearinghouse guide on foundational reading skills recommends teaching students to decode words, analyze word parts, and write and recognize words.^[1] A structured literacy program that teaches spelling and reading together fits that recommendation. More goals are on the IEP goals for dyslexia page.

How to measure spelling goals

Dictate words in a fixed way: say the word, use it in a sentence, say the word again. Give one every 10 seconds on timed probes. Use a new list of equivalent pattern words each week.

Percent of words: count words spelled fully correct out of the list, on the accuracy data sheet.
Correct letter sequences: count each correct adjacent pair of letters, including the space before the first letter and after the last. "Train" has 6 possible sequences. "Trane" earns 3 of them: space-t, t-r and r-a. This catches growth in partly correct spellings.
Spelling in own writing: count words spelled correctly out of total words in a sample of at least 50 words.

The writing practice guide from the What Works Clearinghouse lists spelling among the foundational skills students should become fluent with.^[2] Fluency goals, using correct letter sequences per minute, track that directly.

Objectives for spelling goals

Pattern goals break down by pattern: silent-e words first, then vowel teams, then r-controlled vowels. Morphology goals break down by affix type: prefixes, then suffixes without spelling changes, then suffixes with changes. See IEP goals and objectives examples for how to lay out each objective with its own criterion.

Adapting spelling goals by grade

Grade band	Typical spelling target	Typical probe
Kindergarten	Initial sounds, CVC words	10 pictures or dictated words
Grades 1 to 2	Digraphs, blends, silent-e, vowel teams	10 to 15 unpracticed pattern words
Grades 3 to 5	Rules, inflected endings, prefixes and suffixes	15 unpracticed words, or a 2-minute CLS probe
Grades 6 to 8	Roots, homophones, spelling in own writing	15 root words, or 50-word samples
Grades 9 to 12	Proofreading, spell-check use, work vocabulary	Own drafts, typed with tools

Spelling inside sentences is covered in IEP goals for writing simple sentences. Run any draft through the goal checker before the meeting.

Frequently asked questions

Should spelling IEP goals use the weekly spelling list?

Usually not. Memorized lists measure what the student recalls by Friday. Unpracticed words that follow taught patterns show whether the student learned the pattern, which is what transfers to writing.

What is a good spelling goal for a student with dyslexia?

One that targets the patterns being taught in reading, tests with unpracticed words, and gives partial credit through correct letter sequences. Pair it with spell-check or speech-to-text as accommodations so writing in class is not held back.

What are correct letter sequences in spelling?

Correct letter sequences count each correct pair of adjacent letters in a word, including the boundaries at the start and end. They give credit for partly correct spellings, so they show growth sooner than scoring words as right or wrong.

Use it in IEP Atlas

Sources

Foundational Skills to Support Reading for Understanding in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade, What Works Clearinghouse, Institute of Education Sciences
Teaching Elementary School Students to Be Effective Writers, What Works Clearinghouse, Institute of Education Sciences

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.