Developing Short-Term Instructional Objectives For Effective Implementation of Common Core State Standards

Developing Short-Term Instructional Objectives

For Effective Implementation of Common Core State Standards

• Standards-Based IEP

• Annual Goals

• Short-Term Instructional Objectives

2013-2014 Office of Instructional Enhancement and Internal Operations/Office of Special Education 2

A standards-based IEP is “a process and document that is framed by the State standards and that contains goals aligned with, and chosen to facilitate, the student’s achievement of State grade-level academic standards.”

NASDSE Project Forum “Standards-based IEPs: Implementation in Selected States” (Ahearn, 2006)

2013 - 2014 Office of Instructional Enhancement and Internal Operations/Office of Special Education 3


• Describes the individual strengths and needs of the student in relation to accessing and mastering the general curriculum.

• The present level answers the question: “What is the student doing now?”

• Focus on needs that affect progress in the general education curriculum and ask…What prerequisite skills/knowledge does the student need to close the gap between his/her present level and the grade-level content standards?


• Describe the skills the student demonstrates.

• Describe how the student performs compared to expectations in the general education curriculum (how wide is the gap).

• Describe the skills the student needs to learn this year in order to narrow/close the gap.

• Describe how the student performs in the classroom/school environment.


Classroom assessments indicate that Jennifer can use details and examples to draw conclusions (R 4.3.4) from grade-level reading passages. She experiences difficulty synthesizing ideas from reading passages and drawing inferences (R 4.3). Jennifer’s difficulty with abstract reasoning may negatively impact her understanding and drawing inferences from text.


Standards-Based

Includes Assessment

Includes Strengths and Weaknesses

How Disability Impacts Learning

Present Level of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance


Annual Goals


• Statements that are observable and measurable based on a targeted standard linked to the grade level standard.

• Describes what the student can reasonably accomplish within a twelve month period.


• Identify student’s needs (academic and functional). • Prioritize the student’s needs. Ask what are the main

skill deficits keeping the student from being able to access and make progress in the general curriculum (accommodations, DI).

• Determine the standard that correlates with each prioritized need.

• Compare standard(s) with student’s areas of needs and the impact of the disability.

• Write the goal and corresponding objectives.



• Ask Yourself…What is an STIO?


Short-Term Instructional Objectives (STIOs)


• What are short-term instructional objectives?– Intermediate steps between the student’s present

levels of academic achievement and functional performance and the measurable annual goal.

– Short-term instructional objectives are the intermediate knowledge, skills and/or behaviors that must be learned for the student to reach the annual goal.

– Short-term instructional objectives and benchmarks should be general indicators of progress that provide the basis to determine how well the student is progressing toward his or her annual goal and which serve as the basis for reporting to parents.


• Short-term instructional objectives are the intermediate knowledge and skills that must be learned in order for the student to reach the annual goal. Short-term instructional objectives break down the skills or steps necessary to accomplish an annual goal into discrete components.


• STIOs are useful components of an IEP by providing intermediate gauges of progress toward the overall goal.

• Students can have significant gains and the use of short-term objectives are an appropriate vehicle for monitoring not only the progress of the child, but also the effectiveness of specific strategies.

• STIOs can be used by the IEP Committee to gain adequate information for adapting or modifying strategies in a timely manner, thus allowing the student to make progress toward the annual goal.


• To outline intermediate steps between the child’s baseline data established in the PLAAFP and the annual goal.

• Key Question: What are the intermediate steps or major milestones needed to achieve the goal?


• STIOs may be:– Sequential (crawl, then walk) or– Parallel (decode accurately and understand

what is read)


• In 36 instructional weeks using decoding skills and oral practice within a 3rd grade passage, Joseph will read 70 words per minute with fewer than 10 errors.– By the end of the first nine weeks using decodable

texts, Joseph will read and pronounce 30 frequently used words with 10 or fewer errors.

– By the end of the first semester using decobable texts, Joseph will read and pronounce 60 frequently used words with 10 or fewer errors.


• By the end of the 2013-2014 school year given a 4th grade story prompt, Sue will write a three paragraph essay using transition words in sentences and between paragraphs with 5 or fewer errors.– In three instructional weeks with guided

practice, Sue will correctly use transition words to connect simple and compound sentences with 75% accuracy.


• Short-term instructional objectives are written in the same manner as measurable annual goals. They are intermediate steps between the child's baseline data established in the PLAAFP and the measurable annual goal. Short-term instructional objectives break the goal into discrete components and are written in hierarchical order. They include the same components as the goal.


• Short-Term Instructional Objectives are intermediate steps which break annual goals into discrete, observable skill components. Like an annual goal, a short-term instructional objective consists of five components:

• Audience• Behavior• Circumstance• Degree/Criterion• Evaluation/Method of Measurement


• STIOs must relate directly to the annual goal and provide a means of measuring progress toward the goal; however, they do not account for every skill or increment of instruction associated with the content standard.•STIOs break down an annual goal into discrete skills that will help a student make progress toward achieving the annual goal (task analysis).•STIOs are a logical breakdown of the major components of an annual goal.


• When written correctly, short-term instructional objectives provide teachers and parents with a roadmap and a clear mechanism to evaluate the child’s progress.

Wright, P. and Wright, P. (2006). Wrightslaw: From Emotions to Advocacy, 2nd Edition. Hartfield, VA: Harbor House Law Press, Inc.


• Utilizing the content standard and PLP provided, develop an annual goal and identify STIOs.





Valecia Davis

[email protected]

Division of Technical Assistance

M. April Rice

[email protected]

Division of Program Evaluation and Improvement

Office of Special Education

(601) 359-3498


mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

Documents

Developing Short-Term Instructional Objectives For Effective Implementation of Common Core State Standards