IEP Goals for Dyslexia
IEP goals for students with dyslexia target the foundational reading skills — phonological awareness, decoding, fluency, and comprehension — that are directly impacted by the disability.
Key Context
Dyslexia is a specific learning disability in reading that affects phonological processing, decoding, and fluency. Effective IEP goals are grounded in current assessment data, target the specific phonological and orthographic skills the student is missing, and are measured with curriculum-based measures that track progress frequently.
Phonological Awareness
Goals targeting sound-symbol awareness at the phoneme, onset-rime, and syllable levels.
[Student] will segment words of 3–5 phonemes into individual sounds with 90% accuracy on probe lists of 20 words, measured weekly using curriculum-based phoneme segmentation probes.
Currently segments 35% of 3-phoneme words correctly on weekly probes.
90% accuracy across 3 consecutive weekly probes
Given a sequence of separately spoken phonemes, [Student] will blend them into a recognizable word with 85% accuracy on 20-item weekly probes.
Currently blends correctly in 40% of trials on 3-phoneme words; struggles with words of 4+ phonemes.
85% accuracy across 3 consecutive weekly probes
Decoding & Word Recognition
Goals targeting the ability to apply phonics patterns and decode unfamiliar words.
[Student] will correctly decode one-syllable words with CVC and CVCE patterns at 90% accuracy on 30-word weekly probes from their structured literacy curriculum.
Currently decodes CVC words at 60% accuracy; CVCE patterns are at 20% accuracy.
90% accuracy across 4 consecutive weekly probes
Given a list of 20 two-syllable words with taught syllable patterns, [Student] will decode with 80% accuracy on weekly probes.
Currently decodes 2-syllable words at 35% accuracy; relies heavily on context guessing.
80% accuracy across 3 consecutive weekly probes
Reading Fluency
Goals targeting oral reading rate and accuracy at the instructional reading level.
[Student] will read grade-level connected text passages at [X] words correct per minute (WCPM) with 95% accuracy, as measured by weekly oral reading fluency probes (CBM-R).
Currently reads at [X] WCPM with [X]% accuracy on grade-level probes (see attached CBM data).
Target WCPM score maintained across 3 consecutive weekly probes
Reading Comprehension
Goals targeting understanding of text at the literal and inferential levels.
After reading a grade-level passage (with decoding support if needed), [Student] will answer literal comprehension questions with 80% accuracy on weekly probes.
Currently answers literal questions at 50–55% accuracy; struggles when decoding load is high.
80% accuracy across 4 consecutive probe sessions
When asked to make an inference from a grade-level text, [Student] will cite specific text evidence and explain the inference in 3 out of 4 opportunities per session.
Currently uses personal opinion rather than text evidence in 80% of inference tasks.
3/4 opportunities across 3 consecutive sessions
Writing Effective IEP Goals for Dyslexia
- 1Use curriculum-based measurement (CBM) probes weekly for reading goals — weekly data gives you trend lines so you can identify when progress is stalling before the annual review.
- 2Match the goal to the specific deficit identified in the evaluation. A student with phoneme segmentation deficits needs a phoneme segmentation goal, not a general 'reading improvement' goal.
- 3Structured literacy instruction (Orton-Gillingham, Wilson, SPIRE) should be referenced in the services section, not the goal — goals describe outcomes, services describe how you'll get there.
- 4Include fluency goals even when comprehension is the primary concern. Poor fluency often masks comprehension ability — a student who decodes slowly can't hold meaning in working memory.
- 5Accommodation: Read-aloud should be listed in accommodations, not as a replacement for decoding goals. Both are needed.
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