10 IEP Articulation Goals (With Examples)

Quick Answer

IEP articulation goals should target a specific phoneme at the student's current level — isolation, syllable, word, sentence, or conversational speech — with a measurable accuracy criterion, such as producing the /r/ sound correctly in sentence-level speech with 80% accuracy across 4 of 5 SLP sessions.

Articulation goals need to be phoneme-specific and level-appropriate — a student working on /r/ at the word level needs a different goal than one who has mastered it in sentences but not conversation. These 10 example goals move through the typical progression from sound production to real-world carryover.

Sound Production

  1. 1.By [date], [student] will produce their target phoneme correctly in isolation with 90% accuracy across 4 of 5 SLP-administered trials.
  2. 2.By [date], [student] will produce their target phoneme correctly at the word level (initial, medial, final position) with 80% accuracy across 4 of 5 trials.
  3. 3.By [date], [student] will produce their target phoneme correctly at the phrase level with 80% accuracy across 4 of 5 SLP sessions.
  4. 4.By [date], [student] will produce their target phoneme correctly at the sentence level with 80% accuracy across 4 of 5 SLP sessions.

Carryover

  1. 1.By [date], [student] will produce their target phoneme correctly during structured conversation with 75% accuracy across 4 of 5 opportunities.
  2. 2.By [date], [student] will produce their target phoneme correctly during spontaneous conversation in the classroom with 70% accuracy as measured by SLP probe data.
  3. 3.By [date], [student] will self-correct a misarticulated target sound without adult prompting in 3 of 4 observed opportunities.

Self-Monitoring

  1. 1.By [date], [student] will identify correct versus incorrect production of their target sound in recorded speech samples with 80% accuracy in 4 of 5 trials.
  2. 2.By [date], [student] will use a self-monitoring cue (visual or tactile) to check target sound production during a reading task in 4 of 5 opportunities.
  3. 3.By [date], [student] will rate their own accuracy on a target sound after a speaking task, matching clinician rating within 1 point, in 4 of 5 sessions.

Coordinating with the SLP's Progress Monitoring

Articulation goals are typically owned by the speech-language pathologist, but classroom teachers can support carryover by using the same cueing language the SLP uses during sessions. Ask the SLP what their data sheet looks like — matching the classroom's informal observations to the same phoneme-position framework makes progress reviews far more useful at the annual meeting.

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