How to Write Measurable IEP Goals in Manitoba (With Examples)

Most IEPs contain goals. Most of those goals are not actually measurable. A goal that says "Sam will improve his reading skills" tells the teacher nothing about what success looks like, tells the parent nothing about whether progress is happening, and makes it nearly impossible to hold anyone accountable. Manitoba Education is explicit that goals must be specific and observable — but the gap between what the policy requires and what ends up in the document can be enormous.

Here is a practical breakdown of what makes an IEP goal truly measurable, why it matters, and what good and poor examples look like across common skill areas.

Why Measurability Matters in Manitoba's IEP System

In Manitoba, the Individual Education Plan (or Student Specific Plan in earlier grades) is the operational document that governs your child's programming. Manitoba Education's own handbook states that student-specific outcomes must be "measurable, achievable, and clearly linked to the student's baseline performance, utilizing specific, observable action verbs."

An IEP without measurable goals is an IEP with no accountability. If the school cannot tell you, at year's end, whether your child met their literacy goal — and cannot show you the data used to make that determination — the goal was effectively decorative. Parents have the right, under Regulation 155/2005, to participate meaningfully in goal-setting and to review progress against documented outcomes. Measurable goals are how that meaningful participation becomes possible.

The Anatomy of a Measurable IEP Goal

A well-written IEP goal contains five elements:

1. Who: the student (not the teacher, not the class)
2. What: the specific skill or behavior, described with an observable action verb
3. Condition: the context in which the skill is demonstrated (independently, with prompting, in a quiet setting, etc.)
4. Criterion: the performance level that constitutes mastery (percentage accuracy, number of trials, fluency rate, etc.)
5. Timeline: when the goal will be measured and reviewed

Without all five, the goal is incomplete. "Will improve reading" fails on conditions, criterion, and implies no specific skill. "Will read with more independence" fails on condition and criterion. These kinds of vague goals are common; they are not acceptable.

Examples: Poor Goals vs. Measurable Goals

Reading and Literacy

Poor: Sam will improve his reading fluency by the end of the year.

Measurable: Given a Grade 3-level reading passage, Sam will read aloud at 80 correct words per minute with no more than 3 errors, as measured by a weekly oral reading fluency probe, by June 2027.

Poor: Maria will work on her comprehension skills.

Measurable: Given a Grade 2-level narrative text read aloud by the teacher, Maria will answer 4 out of 5 literal comprehension questions correctly, independently, across 3 consecutive sessions by January 2027.

Writing

Poor: Jordan will get better at writing sentences.

Measurable: Given a writing prompt, Jordan will produce a paragraph of at least 5 complete sentences using capitalization and terminal punctuation correctly in 80% of sentences, independently, as measured monthly using a rubric, by June 2027.

Mathematics

Poor: Lily will work on addition and subtraction.

Measurable: Given a set of 20 single-digit addition facts (sums to 18), Lily will write correct answers for 18 out of 20 within 2 minutes, independently, across 3 consecutive timed probes by March 2027.

Behaviour and Self-Regulation

Poor: Ethan will improve his classroom behaviour.

Measurable: During whole-class instruction periods (approximately 20 minutes each), Ethan will remain seated and engaged with the lesson for 15 of 20 minutes (75%) as measured by 5-minute interval recording on 3 days per week, for 4 consecutive weeks by February 2027.

Poor: Aisha will use her coping strategies more.

Measurable: When experiencing frustration during academic tasks (identified by teacher observation), Aisha will independently use a designated coping strategy (deep breathing, sensory break card, or quiet corner request) on 4 out of 5 observed opportunities, across 3 consecutive weeks by April 2027.

Communication and Language

Poor: Noah will communicate his needs better.

Measurable: During structured classroom activities, Noah will use verbal or AAC-assisted requests (e.g., "I need help," "I need a break") in place of behavioral escalation on 4 out of 5 opportunities, with no prompting, across 4 consecutive observation sessions by May 2027.

How to Review Goals at an IEP Meeting

When the school presents a draft IEP, ask these questions for every goal:

• What is the specific skill being targeted? Can you show me how it will be measured?
• What is the baseline — what can my child do right now, independently, without prompting?
• How often will data be collected, and who is collecting it?
• What does "mastery" look like, and when will we review whether the goal has been met?
• If the goal is not met by the review date, what happens next?

If the resource teacher cannot answer these questions clearly, the goal is not written to a standard that supports meaningful accountability. You can request that the team revise the goal before you sign the IEP.

Connecting Goals to Funding Categories

In Manitoba, students may be designated at Level 2 or Level 3 for funding purposes, based on the severity of their needs. While block funding has shifted away from student-specific applications for most categories, the IEP goals remain the operational record of what the student requires. Goals that are vague make it harder to demonstrate the intensity of need — and harder to argue for the level of support the child requires.

Specific, measurable goals also matter at the high school level. When a school recommends Modified (M) course designations — designations that affect university eligibility — those recommendations are supposed to be grounded in documented evidence that the student cannot access standard curriculum outcomes even with intensive adaptations. Weak, unmeasurable goals make it harder to assess whether the standard curriculum was ever genuinely attempted with appropriate support.

A Parent's Role in Goal-Setting

Parents have the right under Regulation 155/2005 to be involved in the planning and decision-making process for their child's IEP. That right is not passive. You can propose goals. You can ask for goals to be revised. You can decline to sign an IEP you believe does not accurately represent your child's needs or does not contain measurable, accountable targets.

If the team resists meaningful parent input in goal-setting, that resistance is worth documenting. A resource teacher who produces the IEP before the meeting and presents it as a fait accompli — rather than a collaborative document — is not operating within the spirit of the regulation.

For a complete breakdown of the Manitoba IEP process, what the SSP designation means, and how to push back when the school is not meeting its obligations, the Manitoba IEP & Funding Blueprint provides a plain-language guide to the full system.

See more Canada guides →