Social-Emotional & Communication IEP goals for Speech or Language Impairment
127 social-emotional & communication templates across 8 skills: functional communication, social awareness & perspective taking, peer interaction, requesting help, play & social participation, self-advocacy, conflict resolution, emotional regulation. Each opens in the builder with a matching data sheet.
127 templates · 8 skills · Pre-K, K–2, 3–5, 6–8, 9–12 · How we write and review goals
Goals by skill
Numbers are illustrative; set targets from the student's own baseline.
Functional Communication Social-Emotional & Communication
Make spontaneous comments during shared activities
Commenting during shared activities
By the annual IEP review date, during a 15-minute shared book reading or structured play activity with an adult or peers, the student will make spontaneous comments (such as "look," "uh oh," "my turn," "I like it," "funny") using speech, sign, AAC, or gestures independently at least 5 times per 15-minute shared activity, across 3 consecutive observed sessions, as measured by frequency recording collected twice weekly.
Maintain a conversation topic across several turns
Maintaining a conversational topic
By the annual IEP review date, during a structured conversation with a peer or adult in which the partner introduces a topic, the student will maintain the topic by making related comments or asking related questions across at least 3 consecutive turns independently in at least 4 of 5 opportunities, across 3 consecutive weekly sessions, as measured by opportunity-by-opportunity data collected weekly.
Social Awareness & Perspective Taking Social-Emotional & Communication
Name basic emotions in photos of people
Naming basic emotions in others
By the annual IEP review date, given 10 photos of children in everyday situations showing happy, sad, mad, or scared, and a choice board of 4 emotion symbols, the student will name or point to the emotion that fits the person in each photo independently with at least 80% accuracy on emotion photos, across 3 consecutive sessions, as measured by opportunity-by-opportunity data collected weekly.
Match emotions to simple story situations
Emotions from situations
By the annual IEP review date, given 10 short spoken situations with a picture (such as "It is her birthday", "His block tower fell down"), and a board of 4 emotion symbols, the student will choose or name the emotion that fits the situation independently with at least 70% accuracy on story situations, across 3 consecutive sessions, as measured by opportunity-by-opportunity data collected weekly.
Peer Interaction Social-Emotional & Communication
Initiate interactions with peers during recess
Initiating interactions with peers
By the annual IEP review date, during a 20-minute recess period, the student will initiate an interaction with a peer (such as greeting, inviting to play, commenting, showing or offering an item) using speech, sign, AAC, or gesture independently at least 3 times per 20-minute recess period, across 3 consecutive observed recess periods, as measured by frequency recording collected twice weekly.
Respond to peers' greetings, questions, and invitations
Responding to peer initiations
By the annual IEP review date, when a peer greets them, asks a question, or invites them to play during unstructured times, the student will respond to the peer with a related word, sign, gesture, device message, or action (such as waving back, answering, joining the activity) independently in at least 4 of 5 opportunities, across 3 consecutive observed sessions, as measured by direct observation collected twice weekly.
Requesting Help Social-Emotional & Communication
Make a specific help request that names the problem
Making specific help requests
By the annual IEP review date, when they request help during independent or small-group work, the student will make a specific help request that names the step or part of the task they are stuck on and what they have tried independently in at least 4 of 5 opportunities, across 3 consecutive weeks of data, as measured by opportunity-by-opportunity data collected twice weekly.
Ask a peer for help or information during group work
Asking peers for help or information
By the annual IEP review date, during small-group or partner work in general education classes, the student will ask a peer a question about the task or materials (such as "What page are we on?" or "Can you show me how you did that?") independently at least 2 times per 20-minute group work session, across 3 consecutive observed sessions, as measured by frequency recording collected twice weekly during group work.
Play & Social Participation Social-Emotional & Communication
Play next to peers with similar materials
Parallel play near peers
By the annual IEP review date, during centers when peers are playing with the same type of materials (such as blocks, playdough, cars), the student will play within arm's reach of a peer using similar materials independently for at least 6 minutes, across 3 consecutive data collection days, as measured by duration recording collected three times per week during centers.
Respond when a peer offers a toy or invites them to play
Responding to a peer's play bid
By the annual IEP review date, when a peer hands them a toy, shows them something, or asks them to play during free play, the student will respond to the peer within 5 seconds by taking the toy, saying or signing a word, or joining the activity independently in at least 4 of 5 opportunities, across 3 consecutive data collection days, as measured by opportunity-by-opportunity data collected three times per week during play.
Self-Advocacy Social-Emotional & Communication
Tell an adult about a physical need such as bathroom, hunger, or pain
Communicating physical needs
By the annual IEP review date, when they need the bathroom, are hungry or thirsty, are hurt, or are too hot or cold during the school day, the student will tell a familiar adult what they need by saying, signing, pointing to a symbol, or selecting it on their device (such as "potty," "drink," "hurt") independently in at least 4 of 5 opportunities, across 3 consecutive data collection days, as measured by opportunity-by-opportunity data collected daily across snack, outdoor play, and bathroom routines.
Tell a communication partner what helps them communicate
Telling partners how to communicate with them
By the annual IEP review date, when a new or unfamiliar partner begins a conversation with them, the student will tell the partner what helps (such as "Please wait, I'm typing," "Face me so I can see you," "I use this device to talk") using speech, a card, or a programmed message independently in at least 4 of 5 opportunities, across 3 consecutive data collection sessions, as measured by opportunity-by-opportunity data collected weekly through planned practice plus logged natural events.
Conflict Resolution Social-Emotional & Communication
Say my turn or get an adult when a peer takes their item
Early conflict: responding when a peer takes an item
By the annual IEP review date, when a peer takes an item they are using during centers or free play, the student will say, sign, or select "my turn" or "stop" to the peer, or go to an adult for help, instead of hitting, grabbing, or screaming independently in at least 4 of 5 opportunities, across 3 consecutive data collection days, as measured by opportunity-by-opportunity data collected daily during centers and free play.
Report a conflict to an adult with who, what, and what they did
Reporting a conflict accurately
By the annual IEP review date, when reporting a conflict with a peer to an adult after it has ended, the student will report what happened including who was involved, what each person did, and what they themselves did independently, earning a score of at least 6 out of 8 on a 4-row conflict report rubric scored 0 to 2 per row, on 3 of 4 consecutive scored reports, as measured by a defined scoring rubric collected after each reported conflict, with scenario probes every two weeks.
Emotional Regulation Social-Emotional & Communication
Use a calm-down routine with adult help when upset
Early childhood calm-down routine
By the annual IEP review date, when they become upset during a transition, a denied request, or a peer conflict, as defined in their plan, the student will complete the steps of their calm-down routine with an adult who names each step once, performing at least 4 of 5 steps independently, across 3 consecutive upset episodes, as measured by a task-analysis checklist collected after each episode, with practice runs twice weekly.
Separate from the caregiver at drop-off and join the class
Separating from a caregiver at arrival
By the annual IEP review date, at arrival, when the caregiver says goodbye using the agreed goodbye routine, the student will say or wave goodbye, enter the classroom with the staff member, and begin the first arrival activity independently within 3 minutes, on 4 of 5 consecutive school days, as measured by latency recording collected daily at arrival.
Self-advocacy, requesting help, peer interaction, conflict resolution, and regulation. Speech or Language Impairment is one of the largest IDEA categories, and most of these goals are written and monitored by the speech-language pathologist. Articulation and phonology goals count sounds in words; language goals count utterances, responses, or steps, usually in trial-by-trial data.
Matching data sheets
Each goal above links to the blank sheet built for its measure. These are the sheets this set of goals uses:
- Opportunity trackerRecords each opportunity as independent, prompted, or not demonstrated.Used by 77 goals here
- Frequency & rate trackerCounts a defined behavior during a fixed observation period. Calculates rate when time is recorded.Used by 15 goals here
- Task-analysis checklistMarks each step of a routine as independent, with support, or not completed across sessions.Used by 9 goals here
- Rubric trackerScores each rubric criterion and totals the score for each sample.Used by 6 goals here
- Latency trackerTimes the gap between a cue and the start of the response.Used by 2 goals here
- Duration trackerTimes how long a behavior lasts and compares it with the target duration.Used by 5 goals here
- Accuracy trackerNumber correct out of number attempted, with percent accuracy and support level.Used by 13 goals here
Frequently asked questions
Who writes speech and language IEP goals?
The speech-language pathologist usually drafts them from the evaluation, and the IEP team adopts them. Teachers and families contribute present-level information, especially about how communication works outside the therapy room.
How are articulation goals measured?
By percent accuracy for a target sound at a level (isolation, syllable, word, sentence, conversation), scored from a set number of productions. Goals often step up through levels as the student masters each one.
How are social-emotional goals measured for students with speech or language impairment?
By opportunities in which the student used a taught skill, frequency of a behavior during a period, latency to use a strategy after a cue, or a rubric for multi-part skills. The behavior is defined so two observers would agree.
Should the goal name the strategy?
Yes, when the strategy is observable: 'request a break using a card' or 'state the problem and one solution'. That makes the goal countable and tells staff what to teach.
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