South Dakota Postsecondary Goals IEP Examples and Course of Study

What the State Actually Requires

South Dakota administrative rules require every IEP to include measurable postsecondary goals by the student's 16th birthday. These goals must cover at least two domains — employment and education/training — with independent living as a third domain added whenever the transition assessment data supports it.

The critical word is "measurable." A compliant postsecondary goal describes what the student will do after they exit high school, in concrete enough terms that the IEP team can look back and determine whether it happened. The federal Indicator 13 checklist — which South Dakota uses during compliance reviews — checks three things for every measurable postsecondary goal (MPSG):

• The goal is based on age-appropriate transition assessment data
• At least one annual IEP goal links directly to it
• At least one transition service or coordinated activity supports it

If any of those three connections breaks, the IEP fails compliance review.

How Transition Assessments Feed the Goals

Before writing any postsecondary goals, the IEP team needs current transition assessment data. South Dakota does not mandate a specific assessment instrument, but the evaluation must measure the student's strengths, preferences, interests, and needs across the goal domains.

Common tools include interest inventories like the O*NET Interest Profiler, adaptive behavior scales, and functional independent living evaluations. Unlike initial eligibility evaluations, transition assessments generally do not require formal parental consent unless they are part of a triennial re-evaluation.

The results get summarized in the Present Levels section of the IEP. If the Present Levels do not reference assessment data for a specific domain, any postsecondary goal written in that domain has no foundation and will not survive a compliance review.

Employment Goal Examples

Employment goals describe the type of work, the setting, and the level of support the student will use after high school.

Compliant example: "After completing high school, the student will work part-time in competitive integrated employment in a retail or food service setting with job coaching support from the Division of Rehabilitation Services."

Non-compliant example: "The student will get a job." This fails because it is not measurable — there is no setting, no type of work, and no way to evaluate whether the goal was met.

For students whose assessment data shows they need more intensive support, the goal should still target the most integrated setting appropriate: "Upon exiting special education, the student will participate in group supported employment through a Community Support Provider, performing sorting and packaging tasks in a community business."

Education and Training Goal Examples

These goals address what the student will pursue academically or vocationally after exit.

Compliant example: "After graduation, the student will enroll in a welding certification program at Southeast Technical College with accommodations documented in the Summary of Performance."

Compliant example for non-college track: "After exiting school, the student will participate in on-the-job training through Project Skills to learn greenhouse maintenance and plant care techniques."

The key distinction: this goal describes post-school activity, not a high school class. Writing "the student will complete Algebra I" is an annual IEP goal, not a postsecondary goal.

Independent Living Goal Examples

Independent living goals are required only when assessment data shows the student needs support in daily living skills. In practice, most students receiving transition services do need these goals.

Compliant example: "After exiting special education, the student will independently manage a monthly budget using a checking account and mobile banking app, with initial support from a financial literacy coach."

Compliant example: "Upon leaving high school, the student will navigate the community independently using public transit to attend vocational training and recreational activities."

These goals must also trace back to assessment data. If the functional evaluation shows the student already manages transportation independently, writing a transit goal is padding — it does not address an identified need.

The Course of Study Connection

The course of study is a multi-year academic and vocational plan that directly supports the postsecondary goals. It is not a separate document — it lives inside the IEP and gets reviewed at every annual meeting.

Under ARSD 24:05:27:12, the IEP team can modify specific units of credit toward graduation requirements. This means a student whose employment goal involves animal care should have a course of study reflecting science classes, agricultural electives, or work-based learning placements in animal care settings.

The modification decision carries long-term consequences. If the team modifies course content — say, replacing Algebra I with functional math — the student may receive a regular diploma, but FAPE does not end. They remain eligible for transition services through June 30 of the fiscal year in which they turn 21. However, modified coursework may limit college admission options and trigger remedial non-credit classes at postsecondary institutions.

Before accepting any course modifications, ask the IEP team: are we modifying course expectations, or only providing accommodations? The distinction determines whether the diploma terminates special education eligibility.

Annual Review and Updating Goals

Postsecondary goals are not write-once documents. At each annual IEP review, the team evaluates whether the student is making progress toward those goals and whether the goals themselves still reflect the student's current interests and assessment data.

Students change direction. A student who showed strong interest in auto mechanics at 16 may discover a preference for food preparation by 18. The goals and the linked course of study should update accordingly.

The annual review is also when the team checks whether outside agencies — the Division of Rehabilitation Services VR counselor, Community Support Providers — need to be invited to the next meeting. That invitation requires written parental consent before the school can invite the agency to the IEP meeting.

Putting It Together

Writing compliant postsecondary goals is methodical work: run the transition assessments, summarize the data in Present Levels, draft goals that are measurable and post-school focused, link each goal to at least one annual goal and one transition service, and align the course of study to support the trajectory.

The South Dakota IEP Transition to Adulthood Guide walks through each of these steps with decision worksheets, goal-writing templates, and a checklist that tracks the Indicator 13 requirements the IEP team is audited against. If you are preparing for your first transition IEP meeting, the guide helps you arrive with goals drafted instead of reacting to whatever the school proposes.

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