This article is designed to be utilized with the utmost professional integrity and ethical consideration. It is imperative to acknowledge that directly copying and pasting example goals into student’s IEPs from any external source, including ours, undermines the individualized nature of IEP planning and does not serve the best interests of students.
This resource aims to inspire the development of IEP goals that address executive functioning needs, not a substitute for the detailed, student-centered IEP goal setting process. Educators and IEP teams are urged to use this as a tool for ideation, basing final goals on student assessments and collaborative IEP team insights.
If you want to make progress toward your goals, you have to get in the habit of constantly reviewing and providing yourself with feedback.
For most of us, this self-monitoring process occurs automatically, without thinking about it. If something doesn’t work, we adjust and try something else. We’re able to identify and learn from our mistakes to make smarter decisions in the future.
For students with unique learning needs, self-monitoring can be a bit more tricky. It can be challenging for some learners to understand how to reflect on their progress – and use their own insights – to make a real difference.
The executive functioning skill of self-monitoring is essential, both for personal and professional success. If you’re the teacher or parent of a child with executive functioning issues in the area of self-monitoring, these tips will help you write and meet the very best IEP goals for self-monitoring.
What is Self-Monitoring?
Self-monitoring is a skill that refers to how well we understand our own actions and adjust to make changes in the future.
This might include things like looking for mistakes (and fixing them) or even responding to social norms (like apologizing when we make mistakes). It is an essential executive functioning skill on its own but is also vital to master if you want to get on top of other executive functioning skill areas, like task initiation and organization.
You’ll know your child struggles with self-monitoring if any of the following are true:
- They make no effort to improve at things over time
- The student has a hard time “reading” situations and adjusting their behavior if needed
- They have difficulty seeing problems from the perspective of others
- They are highly resistant to criticism or feedback
- He or she does not evaluate their progress and adjust plans to make changes
When students are able to monitor their own behavior, it increases their on-task behavior and reduces rates of disruptive behaviors. It also improves prosocial behaviors.
Sample IEP Goals for Self-Monitoring
Now that you know what self-monitoring is, here are some IEP goals that can help you and your student work toward increased fluency in this area.
Adaptive Goals
- By the end of the school year, the students will participate with teachers and other IEP team members to set instructional and behavioral goals, based on teacher and parent observation.
- By the end of the IEP term, having failed to achieve a goal grade on a test, the students will create a plan for improving performance on the next test 100% of the time, based on teacher observation.
Social Goals
- By the end of the school year, the student will apologize to other students in social situations as needed and when it is appropriate, based on teacher and student observation.
- By the end of the IEP term, when given a difficult task, the student will indicate that it is difficult and ask a peer for help 90% of the time, based on teacher observation.
Reading Goals
- By the end of the school year, when given an unfamiliar word, the student will attempt to pronounce it and make corrections to his pronunciation as needed, 90% of the time in four out of five trials, according to teacher observation.
Math Goals
- By the end of the IEP term, when given a set of math problems, the student will accurately predict how long it will take him to complete the set of problems 90% of the time in four out of five trials, according to teacher observation.
Writing Goals
- By the end of the school year, when writing an essay, the student will proofread for and identify errors in his work without teacher assistance 100% of the time with 80% accuracy, based on teacher observation.
- By the end of the IEP term, the student will self-edit his work to correct spelling, capitalization, grammar, and punctuation on all classroom assignments 100% of the time, based on teacher observation.
Tips on Setting Goals for Self-Monitoring
Here are a few ways to work toward self-monitoring goals in your classroom or at home.
Address Learning Styles
Do a quick search online and you’ll find that there are thousands of activities meant to improve self-monitoring skills – but not all of them will work equally well for your student. You’ll need to think carefully about what your child’s learning styles are and which activities will be the most useful in helping them to meet their goals.
Taking a learning styles inventory is a great way to start. Before you begin working on any of the IEP goals listed above, sit down and do a thorough assessment of how the child learns best. You’ll find a more detailed “activities” evaluation in the Real Life Executive Functioning Workbook (coupon code LSA20 for 20% off at checkout).
Create SMART Goals
Work with your students to write SMART goals that are clear, specific and actionable. SMART goals require an element of reflection in order to be successful – so getting in the habit of regularly setting and evaluating goals is an equally smart move.
Team Up
The key part of self-monitoring is, of course, the “self.” You’ve got to be able to take charge and be accountable for yourself if you want to be successful at self-monitoring!
However, it can be helpful to enlist a trusted friend in the process. Have your student brainstorm a few people they can turn to when they’re stuck on a problem.
To keep these contacts organized, I recommend downloading and printing out the Phone-A-Friend Contact List that you’ll find in the Real Life Executive Functioning Workbook!
Foster Strong Problem Solving Skills
Problem-solving is another executive functioning area that most students need to work on. It goes hand in hand with self-monitoring, in fact.
One of the most important parts of solving a problem is repositioning yourself when you’re stuck – or coming up with alternative solutions when your first solution fails.
By reflecting on what went well – and using those self-monitoring skills! – you can come up with a backup plan. Use the Plan B exercise in the Real Life Executive Functioning Workbook to help you come up with strategies that you can use in your self-monitoring and problem solving later on down the road.
Encourage Consiecitinous Check-ins
Encourage your child to check-in and check-out with themselves at various points throughout the day.
You can use an app on your phone to set reminders or even a worksheet with reminders and places for the student to list his target goals. Checking in to make sure you’re paying attention and using appropriate language is a helpful way to stay on task and monitor your own behavior.
There are helpful guides for you and your student to use in the Real Life Executive Functioning Workbook, including monthly review sheets that will allow your child to list the tools that helped them succeed and any roadblocks that got in the way.
Apply it to All Areas of Life
Like most other executive functioning skill areas, self-monitoring is necessary for just about every walk of life.
In order to be successful, you need to be able to identify what you did well and what went wrong. That’s true when it comes to academics, meeting professional goals, and much more.
Encourage your child to integrate self-monitoring into every aspect of his life. One simple place to start? Come up with a savings plan. Creating and following a savings plan requires impulse control and the ability to self-monitor. If you need a savings plan template to follow, be sure to check out the Real Life Executive Functioning Workbook for more details.
How to Address Each Goal
When setting and addressing IEP goals for self-monitoring, remember to be patient. This is a skill area that takes some time to meet, and since it’s so closely connected to other executive functioning skills areas, you want to make sure you do your due diligence.
Work toward one small goal at a time. While improving self-monitoring skills as a whole is a massive undertaking, setting small, achievable SMART goals can help you chip away and improve a little bit at a time. Focus on just one behavior at a time and plan for behavior maintenance over time.
Before setting these goals, it’s important to get a baseline understanding of where you’re at. Parents and teachers who think their students might be lacking self-monitoring skills should administer the Real Life Executive Functioning Assessment. This assessment will give you a better idea of how you can help your child improve – as well as any overlapping executive functioning deficits that might need some work.
This assessment can be given at home, in the classroom, or anywhere else that you see fit.
Write Successful Self-Monitoring IEP Goals
Although it can be difficult to boil down a student’s strengths and weaknesses into measurable goals, writing effective IEP goals for self-monitoring is definitely possible with careful thought and planning.
Just as you would encourage your child to reflect back often on his or her progress, you should do the same when you’re writing IEP goals in this area. Check in on yourself and on your child’s progress often to make sure they’re staying on track. Adjust as needed to make sure everybody is moving in the right direction!
Looking For More Executive Functioning IEP Goal Ideas?
Visit our EF IEP Goal Resource Hub or check out our other skill-specific IEP goal articles:
- 8 Impulse Control IEP Goals
- 8 Attentional Control IEP Goals
- 8 Self-Monitoring IEP Goals
- 10 Problem Solving IEP Goals
- 10 Working Memory IEP Goals
- 9 Emotional Control IEP Goals
- 7 Cognitive Flexibility IEP Goals
- 10 Organization IEP Goals
- 12 Task Initiation IEP Goals
- 10 Time Management IEP Goals
- 15 Planning IEP Goals