Word Problems IEP Goal Bank

Word problems also known as story problems and as the bane of many students, and special education teachers, existence. Solving them requires decoding, reading comprehension, problem solving, and successful execution of algorithms. Word problems are one of the largest challenges in mathematics for students with disabilities– and a lot of approaches to teaching (like key word strategies) just don’t work. There are some that do though, like schema-based instruction and we have put together a page on research based strategies for teaching word problems. When it comes to goals on word problems, the key thing is to think about the four key skills in word problems and what supports you can offer, from graphic organizers to problems read aloud, to make the goal more achievable– and how to target your goal because no student is going to master all forms of word problems in one year. The pages below have Common Core aligned goals curated for each grade. Good luck! And may your students reach their goals 🙂