Reading IEP goals for Traumatic Brain Injury
22 reading templates across 4 skills: reading comprehension, reading fluency, vocabulary, sight word recognition. Each opens in the builder with a matching data sheet.
22 templates · 4 skills · 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.
Reading Comprehension Reading
Paraphrase sections at planned stopping points
Comprehension monitoring and paraphrasing
By the annual IEP review date, while reading an instructional-level informational text with 5 marked stopping points, the student will stop at each marked point and paraphrase the section's main idea and one detail in their own words independently in at least 4 of 5 opportunities, across 3 consecutive sessions, as measured by opportunity-by-opportunity data collected weekly.
Compare and contrast two characters or texts
Compare and contrast
By the annual IEP review date, after reading two short unpracticed texts on the same topic at the student's instructional level, the student will state two ways the subjects are alike and two ways they are different, each supported by a detail from the text independently, earning a score of at least 7 out of 8 on a compare-and-contrast rubric (2 similarities and 2 differences, each scored 0 to 2), on 3 of 4 consecutive scored responses, as measured by a defined scoring rubric collected every two weeks.
Reading Fluency Reading
Choose skimming or careful reading to match the purpose
Adjusting rate to purpose
By the annual IEP review date, given a 2-page content-area text and a purpose stated by the adult (for example, find the year the law passed, or be ready to explain the main cause), the student will state whether the purpose calls for skimming or careful reading, read that way, and then answer the question independently in at least 8 of 10 opportunities, across 3 consecutive sessions, as measured by opportunity-by-opportunity data collected weekly.
Keep the place in the text without skipping lines
Keeping the place
By the annual IEP review date, during oral reading of an unpracticed 150-word passage in standard print, the student will reduce skipping or repeating a line to no more than 1 time per 150-word passage, in 3 of 4 consecutive weekly probes, as measured by frequency recording collected weekly.
Vocabulary Reading
Complete a word map for a new word
Word maps
By the annual IEP review date, given a new word from the current unit, its definition, and a blank four-part word map (meaning in own words, example, non-example, picture or sentence), the student will complete the word map with the meaning in their own words, an example, a non-example, and a sentence or picture independently, earning a score of at least 7 out of 8 on a 4-part word map rubric scored 0 to 2 per part, on 3 of 4 consecutive scored maps, as measured by a defined scoring rubric collected weekly.
Complete a word analogy and explain the relationship
Word relationships
By the annual IEP review date, given 10 printed analogies with the last word missing and a choice of 4 words, the student will choose the word that completes the analogy and state the relationship independently with at least 80% accuracy on analogy items, on 3 of 4 consecutive probes, as measured by work-sample analysis collected every two weeks.
Sight Word Recognition Reading
Read the words on common forms and product labels
Words on forms and labels
By the annual IEP review date, given 20 words and phrases that recur on forms (signature, date of birth, employer, emergency contact, print, check one), the student will read each word or phrase aloud and say what it is asking for or telling the reader independently with at least 90% accuracy on form and label words, across 3 consecutive sessions, as measured by opportunity-by-opportunity data collected weekly.
Phonological awareness, decoding, fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary. After a brain injury, the skills most affected at school are often memory, attention, organization, processing speed, and regulation, and they can change quickly during recovery. Goals here use strategies the student can learn and data that can be reviewed often.
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 6 goals here
- Accuracy trackerNumber correct out of number attempted, with percent accuracy and support level.Used by 9 goals here
- Frequency & rate trackerCounts a defined behavior during a fixed observation period. Calculates rate when time is recorded.Used by 2 goals here
- Rubric trackerScores each rubric criterion and totals the score for each sample.Used by 2 goals here
- Task-analysis checklistMarks each step of a routine as independent, with support, or not completed across sessions.Used by 3 goals here
Frequently asked questions
How often should goals be reviewed after a brain injury?
Recovery can be faster than the annual IEP cycle. Teams often set shorter review points and reconvene when data shows the goal is met or no longer fits. IDEA allows the IEP to be revised at any time (34 CFR 300.324(b)).
What goals are common for students with TBI?
Working memory strategies, task initiation, following multi-step directions, organization with checklists or planners, sustained attention, and emotional regulation. Academic goals target the specific skills the injury affected.
How are reading goals measured for students with traumatic brain injury?
With the same measures as any reading goal: accuracy on word lists for decoding, words correct per minute on an unpracticed passage for fluency, and percent of questions answered or a rubric for comprehension. The disability informs the supports and conditions, not the measure.
Which reading skill should the goal target first?
The one the evaluation shows is limiting progress. Foundational skills (phonological awareness, decoding) usually come before fluency, and fluency before comprehension goals that depend on it, but assessment, not sequence, decides.
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