Prioritizing IEP Goals

By: Carmen Willings
teachingvisuallyimpaired.com
October 12, 2025
Developing effective and meaningful IEP goals for students with visual impairments requires intentional prioritization. With so many essential skills to address—academic access, Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC) areas, and future readiness—it is important to focus on goals that make the greatest impact. By organizing goals around access, transition, and long-term independence, Teachers of the Visually Impaired (TVIs) can ensure that instruction is both strategic and sustainable.

Prioritize Immediate Access to the Curriculum

The first priority when developing IEP goals should always be ensuring immediate access to the general education curriculum. Without access, students are at an academic disadvantage and unable to engage meaningfully with their peers or teachers. Goals in this category focus on foundational skills that enable participation and learning. Examples include:
  • Efficient use of Braille, print, or digital text.
  • Mastery of assistive technology tools (e.g., screen readers, magnification software, refreshable Braille displays).
  • Use of organizational and note-taking systems that promote independence in the classroom.
  • Development of visual efficiency and compensatory skills for reading, writing, and research.
These goals should be the priority because they directly impact a student’s ability to access instruction every day. Addressing them early ensures that students can access learning materials across subjects.

Prepare for the Next Grade or Educational Setting

Once access is established, the next layer of prioritization focuses on skills that prepare the student for the next grade level or transition setting. These goals bridge the gap between current functioning and the expectations of future environments. For example:
  • Navigating new school layouts or community environments.
  • Using technology platforms that will be required at the next grade level.
  • Expanding self-advocacy and communication skills to prepare for less direct adult support.
  • Refining study habits, time management, and organizational systems that promote independence as academic demands increase.
By aligning goals with anticipated transitions—such as moving from elementary to middle school, or from high school to college or work—TVIs can help students build confidence and continuity in their skills.

Build Toward College, Career, and Independent Living

Ultimately, IEP goals should prepare students for life beyond school—for college, career, and independent living. The TVI plays a vital role in identifying and directly teaching the visual impairment–specific skills that will make this independence possible. Examples of long-term, future-focused goals include:
  • Self-determination: Understanding one’s visual impairment and knowing how to explain needed accommodations.
  • Career exploration and job readiness: Using technology, transportation, and organizational skills effectively in work settings.
  • Independent living skills: Managing personal care, finances, and daily routines safely and efficiently.
  • Orientation and mobility collaboration: Supporting independent travel skills and community access.
These long-term goals should be introduced early and revisited often, ensuring that instruction builds steadily toward adulthood.

Focus on What Only You (the TVI) Can Teach

When prioritizing goals, it’s crucial to focus your time on skills that only the TVI is uniquely qualified to teach. These are the specialized skills related to blindness and visual impairment, such as:
  • Braille literacy and tactile graphics interpretation.
  • Use of assistive and adaptive technology specific to vision loss.
  • Compensatory access strategies (e.g., auditory learning, tactile exploration).
  • Visual efficiency training and adaptations for low vision.
By focusing goals on these specialized areas, TVIs ensure that their expertise is used where it has the greatest impact.
Other ECC skills—such as recreation and leisure, fine and gross motor skills, social interaction, independent living skills, or career education—can be addressed collaboratively by general educators, related service providers, or family members. These can also be embedded through thematic units and natural routines, allowing for meaningful reinforcement without overloading the IEP.

Prepare for the Next Grade or Educational Setting

​While not every ECC skill requires a separate IEP goal, each area of the ECC should be represented throughout the student’s educational experience. Many ECC skills can be embedded into daily lessons, community experiences, or collaborative projects.
For example:
  • A cooking unit can integrate independent living, orientation and mobility, and social interaction skills.
  • A research project can build technology, self-determination, and organization skills simultaneously.
  • Participation in a club or school play can support social interaction, recreation and leisure, and career awareness.
By blending ECC instruction into meaningful contexts, educators help students see how these skills apply in real life, while maximizing limited instructional time.
​Prioritizing IEP goals for students with visual impairments requires balancing immediate needs with long-term outcomes. The guiding principle should always be to start with access, then move toward transition readiness, and ultimately focus on lifelong independence. By emphasizing the skills that only the TVI can teach and integrating the broader ECC through collaboration and thematic instruction, the educational team can create a cohesive, purposeful plan that supports the student’s academic, personal, and future success.
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