IEP Goals for Writing: From Sentences to Essays

Writing IEP Goals by Skill Level

Writing encompasses many sub-skills: handwriting or typing, sentence construction, paragraph organization, genre-specific structures, conventions, and revision. IEP goals should target the specific skill the student needs to develop next.

Handwriting and Typing

• [Student] will legibly form all 26 lowercase letters with correct formation in 90% of attempts.
• [Student] will type at a rate of 15 words per minute with 90% accuracy as measured by typing assessments.

Sentence-Level Goals

• [Student] will write complete sentences with a subject and predicate, using correct capitalization and end punctuation, in 80% of sentences across three consecutive writing samples.
• [Student] will combine two simple sentences into a compound sentence using coordinating conjunctions in 4 out of 5 practice opportunities.
• [Student] will write sentences of varying lengths and structures (simple, compound) in narrative and informational writing.

Paragraph-Level Goals

• Given a topic, [Student] will write a paragraph with a topic sentence, at least three supporting details, and a concluding sentence with 80% accuracy across three consecutive assignments.
• [Student] will use transition words (first, next, then, finally, however, therefore) to connect ideas within and between paragraphs in 75% of writing assignments.

Essay and Extended Writing Goals

• [Student] will write a five-paragraph persuasive essay including an introduction with a clear claim, three body paragraphs with evidence, and a conclusion, scoring at least 3 out of 4 on a teacher-created rubric.
• [Student] will independently plan writing using a graphic organizer before drafting in 80% of writing assignments.

Conventions Goals

• [Student] will use correct subject-verb agreement in 85% of sentences in written assignments.
• [Student] will apply grade-level spelling patterns correctly in 80% of words in writing samples.

Use the IEP goal generator for drafting writing goals and the rubric builder for creating writing assessment criteria.