Postsecondary Goals IEP Pennsylvania: Compliant Examples and Common Mistakes

What Makes a Postsecondary Goal "Measurable" in PA

Pennsylvania's IEP transition section requires measurable postsecondary goals in at least three domains: education or training, employment, and (where appropriate) independent living. These goals describe what the student will do after high school — not during it. That distinction is where most compliance issues start.

A measurable postsecondary goal has a specific structure: it names the student, states a concrete post-school outcome, identifies a setting or context, and uses language that can be verified as achieved or not achieved. The PA Bureau of Special Education reviews these during cyclical monitoring, and goals that rely on vague action verbs ("explore," "consider," "learn about") consistently fail compliance checks.

Compliant vs. Non-Compliant Examples

Employment domain:

• Compliant: "After graduation, James will work part-time in a supported employment position in a community business, with job coaching funded through OVR or ODP."
• Non-compliant: "James will explore career interests related to his strengths."

Education/Training domain:

• Compliant: "After exiting school, Aisha will enroll in the Disability Services program at Montgomery County Community College to take vocational coursework in digital media."
• Non-compliant: "Aisha will look into postsecondary education options."

Independent living domain:

• Compliant: "After graduation, David will live in a community living arrangement with supports funded through the P/FDS Waiver, managing his daily schedule with staff assistance."
• Non-compliant: "David will increase his independent living skills."

The key difference: compliant goals describe a concrete, observable post-school situation. Non-compliant goals describe a process or aspiration that can't be verified as met or unmet.

How Postsecondary Goals Connect to Annual IEP Goals

Each postsecondary goal must be linked to at least one annual IEP goal that builds the skills needed to achieve it during the current school year. This is the "coordinated set of activities" requirement under IDEA and PA Chapter 14.

If the postsecondary employment goal is supported employment in a community business, the annual goals might include:

• Completing a community-based vocational assessment with the school's transition coordinator
• Participating in at least two OVR Pre-Employment Transition Services activities (job exploration counseling, work-based learning)
• Demonstrating specific workplace readiness skills (arriving on time, following multi-step instructions, requesting breaks appropriately)

Each annual goal feeds directly into the postsecondary outcome. If you can't draw a straight line between an annual goal and a postsecondary goal, one of them needs revision.

Pennsylvania's Employment First Alignment

Pennsylvania operates under an Employment First policy, which means competitive, integrated employment is the default and preferred outcome for publicly funded disability services. This policy should shape how postsecondary employment goals are written.

A goal that defaults to a sheltered workshop or segregated day program without first establishing why competitive integrated employment isn't feasible doesn't align with Employment First. The IEP team should document the assessments and evidence that support the chosen employment pathway — and if the student's preferences and strengths point toward community employment, the goal should reflect that.

What to Do When Goals Are Generic

If your child's postsecondary goals read like boilerplate — the same language you'd find in any IEP in any state — request an IEP meeting specifically to revise the transition section. Bring the transition assessment results and ask the team to tie each postsecondary goal to specific assessment findings.

You can also request that the school administer additional age-appropriate transition assessments if the existing ones are too generic to drive meaningful goals. Under Pennsylvania law, the school must respond to a parent's evaluation request within specific timelines.

The Pennsylvania IEP Transition to Adulthood Guide includes a transition goal-writing worksheet that walks through the compliant structure for each domain, with space to draft goals alongside the supporting assessment evidence.

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