Module 3: Inclusive and Competency-based Individual Education Plans

TEAM–Creating Meaningful IEP Goals and Objectives

The development of IEP goals for students with complex needs requires input from the student, their family, educators, and specialists. The verb team is defined as “coming together as a team (a group of people) to achieve a common goal.” Inclusion Outreach’s acronym TEAM is used to guide you to write meaningful IEP goals and objectives for students with complex needs.

Each of the letters of the an acronym TEAM represent topics that have been presented in multiple ways in all four of the courses. They are:

  • Transdisciplinary
  • Educational
  • Activity-Based
  • Meaningful

Transdisciplinary

Transdisciplinary in the TEAM approach stands for gathering input and information from all sources—student, family, educators, and specialists. This information identifies the student’s strengths and needs, which can be used to determine IEP goals and objectives. It is also an opportunity to weave therapy and educational goals together and to identify partners for collaboration.

Educational

Educational in the TEAM approach stands for creating IEP goals and objectives that align with the Core Competency areas in the B.C. curriculum. This is about choosing Core Competencies and Big Ideas within a grade level subject or course that fit with the student’s strengths and needs.

Activity-Based

Activity-Based in the TEAM approach stands for creating IEP goals and objectives that provide opportunities for learning through active participation. In addition, learning is more successful if practiced in the context of meaningful routines. Since routines have a start, middle, and end, there are multiple opportunities for activity-based learning.

Meaningful

Meaningful in the TEAM approach stands for developing IEP goals and objectives that matter. The IEP goals and objectives should matter:

  • To the student and their family
  • Because they occur in classroom-based activities with classmates
  • Because they align with the B.C. curriculum
  • And matter because they occur in the context of meaningful routines throughout the day

For a student with complex needs, meaningful IEP goals and objectives will facilitate inclusion and enrich their current and future quality of life.

The TEAM Approach

The TEAM approach embodies the definition of the word team and has four components.

  • Relies on information and supports from a variety of sources
  • Has a common goal—meaningful IEP objectives
  • No single part of the TEAM strategy is more important than the other
  • What matters is that it is a collaborative, transdisciplinary strategy for the inclusion of students with complex needs