Curricular Philosophies Reflected in Individualized Education Program Goals for Students With Complex Support Needs.
Most IEPs for students with severe disabilities still live in the 1980s—check secondary goals first.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The authors read 137 IEP goals for students with severe disabilities.
They sorted each goal by the curricular idea behind it.
Most goals came from the 1970-1990 era, not from today’s grade-level standards.
What they found
Only one in four goals asked for real academic content at grade level.
Secondary students were the least likely to have these modern goals.
Over half still targeted old-style self-care or pre-academic skills.
How this fits with other research
Duker (1999) already showed that high-schoolers with disabilities get almost no natural peer talk.
Shawler et al. (2021) now shows their IEPs still skip grade-level academics, explaining why conversation stays thin.
Laposa et al. (2017) proved peer networks can build friendships in the same group, but the goals audited here rarely include those social targets either.
Together the three papers paint the same picture: secondary IEPs aim low, so kids stay stuck on both academics and friends.
Why it matters
If you serve older students with severe ID, open each IEP and count how many goals tie to this year’s general curriculum.
Swap one old self-care goal for a grade-aligned English or math objective, then add a peer-network goal for social balance.
Two quick edits can lift both learning and friendship in the same semester.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Individualized education program (IEP) goals are meant to be personalized to address the unique needs of students with disabilities, while also reflecting the student's grade-aligned general education curriculum. IEP goals describe what, how, and where students with disabilities are taught, and reflect the curriculum used to provide instruction. In this study, we analyzed how IEP goals align with the different curricular philosophies for students with severe disabilities. Using a sample of 88 IEPs for students with complex support needs (i.e., severe disabilities) in Grades K-12, we found most goals (57%) reflect curricular philosophies of the 1970s-1990s (i.e., developmental, functional, and social inclusion) eras, with only 26% of IEP goals representative of modern curricular philosophies (i.e., grade-aligned academic content). We also found secondary-aged students were less likely to have grade-aligned academic goals compared to elementary-aged students. We offer implications for ensuring individualization and goals reflecting skills needed for the 21st century.
Intellectual and developmental disabilities, 2021 · doi:10.1352/1934-9556-59.4.283