Mississippi IEP Goal Bank: Standards-Based Goal Examples Across Disability Areas

Mississippi's Standards-Based IEP requirement means goals can't exist in isolation — they must connect to the Mississippi College and Career Readiness Standards (MS CCRS) or, for students with significant cognitive disabilities, the Alternate Academic Achievement Standards (MS AAAS). They must also include the Short-Term Instructional Objectives and Benchmarks (STIO/Bs) that Mississippi requires beyond the federal minimum.

The goals below are examples organized by domain. Use them to audit what your child's IEP contains — or as a reference for proposing specific goals at the next meeting.

How to Read These Goals

Every Mississippi IEP goal should have four components:

1. Condition: The context in which the behavior will occur
2. Behavior: The specific, observable, measurable action
3. Criterion: The standard for success (accuracy rate, frequency, duration)
4. Timeline: "By the annual review date"

Each goal should also be accompanied by 2-4 benchmarks (STIO/Bs) that break the annual goal into quarterly progress points.

Reading/Literacy Goals (MS CCRS ELA)

Phonics and Decoding (K-2 level) Annual Goal: "Given a list of 20 grade-level CVC and CVCe words drawn from MS CCRS.RF.2.3, [Student] will correctly read 18 out of 20 words within 2 minutes, across 3 consecutive assessment sessions by the annual review date."

Sample Benchmarks:

• Q1: 10/20 correct within 4 minutes across 3 sessions
• Q2: 13/20 correct within 3 minutes across 3 sessions
• Q3: 16/20 correct within 2.5 minutes across 3 sessions

Reading Fluency (3rd grade aligned) Annual Goal: "Given an unpracticed 3rd-grade reading passage drawn from MS CCRS.RF.3.4, [Student] will read aloud at 80 correct words per minute with 95% accuracy across 3 consecutive probes by the annual review date."

Reading Comprehension Annual Goal: "Given a 3rd-grade level informational text aligned to MS CCRS.RI.3.1, [Student] will answer 4 out of 5 literal and inferential comprehension questions in written form, scored at 80% accuracy, across 4 consecutive sessions by the annual review date."

Math Goals (MS CCRS Math)

Basic Operations Annual Goal: "Given a 2-minute timed probe of 30 mixed single-digit addition and subtraction problems aligned to MS CCRS.2.OA.B.2, [Student] will correctly solve 25 or more problems across 3 consecutive assessment sessions by the annual review date."

Problem Solving (3rd grade) Annual Goal: "Given 5 grade-level word problems aligned to MS CCRS.3.OA.D.8, [Student] will solve 4 out of 5 problems using the correct operation and showing work, across 4 consecutive sessions by the annual review date."

Math Fluency Annual Goal: "Given a timed 1-minute multiplication fact probe (facts 0-9, MS CCRS.3.OA.C.7), [Student] will correctly answer 40 or more facts per minute across 3 consecutive probes by the annual review date."

Written Expression Goals

Sentence Structure Annual Goal: "Given a writing prompt, [Student] will produce a paragraph of at least 5 sentences containing a topic sentence, 3 supporting details, and a concluding sentence, with fewer than 3 capitalization/punctuation errors, across 4 consecutive writing samples by the annual review date."

Extended Writing Annual Goal: "Given a grade-level informational writing prompt aligned to MS CCRS.W.4.2, [Student] will produce a multi-paragraph essay of at least 4 paragraphs scored at a '3' or above on the school's 4-point writing rubric, across 3 consecutive writing samples by the annual review date."

Communication Goals (for Speech/Language or Autism IEPs)

Expressive Language Annual Goal: "During structured classroom instruction, [Student] will formulate a complete sentence to answer a teacher's question (using subject + verb + object), without adult modeling, in 4 out of 5 opportunities across 5 consecutive observation sessions by the annual review date."

Receptive Language Annual Goal: "Given a 2-step verbal direction presented once without repetition, [Student] will follow both steps correctly in 4 out of 5 trials across 4 consecutive sessions by the annual review date."

Pragmatic/Social Communication Annual Goal: "During a 10-minute unstructured peer interaction, [Student] will initiate a topic-relevant comment or question to a peer at least twice, without adult prompting, across 4 out of 5 observed sessions by the annual review date."

AAC/Functional Communication Annual Goal: "Given a communication board with 8 symbols, [Student] will independently select the appropriate symbol to request a preferred item or activity in 4 out of 5 opportunities across 5 consecutive sessions by the annual review date."

Behavioral and Self-Regulation Goals

Task Initiation Annual Goal: "Given an independent work assignment, [Student] will begin the task within 3 minutes of the teacher's instruction without a verbal prompt, across 4 out of 5 opportunities over 4 consecutive weeks by the annual review date."

Emotional Regulation Annual Goal: "When presented with a frustrating or non-preferred task, [Student] will use a predetermined self-regulation strategy (deep breathing, requesting a break, or using a visual coping tool) before escalating to challenging behavior, in 75% of observed opportunities across 4 consecutive weeks by the annual review date."

Classroom Behavior Annual Goal: "During independent work periods of 20 minutes, [Student] will remain seated and engaged in the assigned task for at least 15 out of 20 minutes, as measured by interval recording, across 4 consecutive observation sessions by the annual review date."

Adaptive/Functional Skills Goals (for MS AAAS students)

Self-Care Annual Goal: "Given visual schedule supports, [Student] will independently complete a 4-step morning arrival routine (hang backpack, take out materials, check assignment board, begin bell work) without adult prompting, across 4 out of 5 observed mornings over 4 consecutive weeks by the annual review date."

Vocational/Pre-Vocational Annual Goal: "Given a work task (e.g., sorting, packing, filing), [Student] will complete a 10-minute task with fewer than 2 adult redirections needed, across 4 out of 5 work sessions by the annual review date."

What to Do If the Goals in Your Child's IEP Don't Look Like These

If your child's IEP goals say things like "will improve reading skills" or "will demonstrate better behavior" without specific conditions, behaviors, criteria, or benchmarks, those goals are not legally adequate under Mississippi's requirements.

You can:

• Request a team meeting to revise the goals before implementation
• Submit written Parent Input requesting specific, measurable language
• If the team refuses to revise, note your objection in your Parent Concern Statement

The Mississippi IEP & 504 Blueprint includes a goal audit checklist and the specific meeting language to use when proposing stronger goal wording at the IEP table.

See more United States homeschool guides →