Description of Smart Goals

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Description of SMART Goals

Introduction

To make the project successful, clear and well defined goals should be set. Generally, goals

are used to help an individual organize and manage the whole project implementation process.

Goals set should be SMART, and it is extremely beneficial for the teacher/manager to take time

and verify whether they are SMART (Abramowitz, 2009). In most cases, people set goals that are

either not realistic or specific thus losing on the whole point of laying them down in the first place,

as they will not be attainable in the long run. Taking the example of a student with a learning

disability, what goals and objective should set for him/her. Will academic success be the suitable

goal? Are there others that should be more appropriate than academic excellence? This paper will

discuss and give a description of what SMART goals are, gives hints and tips on how to derive the

appropriate goals for individualized education programs commonly referred to as IEPs.

SMART IEPs goals

The word SMART on its own defines an idea or object that is well thought of. On the other

hand, it is an acronym that well describes goals that are specific, measurable, agreed on, realistic

and time limited. All the above specified features of goals should be incorporated in goals to make

them SMART. It will prudent if we discussed all features of SMART goals for clarity and easy

understanding for every stakeholder involved in an individualized education program.

Furthermore, it will give a deeper insight of each of them so as to provide an extensive definition

during your goal setting (Abramowitz, 2009).

Specific

The goals set in an IEP should be able to target both academic excellence and functional

performance of the student undergoing the program. Therefore, they should be clear on what the


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kid should be taught to get the skills and knowledge that will help him attain academic and

functional excellence (Abramowitz, 2009). Furthermore, they should be specific on the mode of

evaluation in determining whether they are achieved or not in a given time frame set by the tutor

over the course of learning. On the other hand, they should be well defined and clear to any

stakeholder that has the knowledge or involved with the training.

Measurable

Goals set should be measurable; that is they should be countable or observable. Having

measurable goals that allow the tutor or anyone involved with the IEP program to evaluate and

determine the progress of the kid over a given duration, based on the last evaluation (Abramowitz,

2009). Furthermore, measurable goals should be specific in a way that they should have a time

frame. In addition, SMART goals should be clearly understood on when they are attainable.

Agreed on

When coming up with the goals everyone that involved in the project should be involved.

This is because goals as defined above involve various concepts. First, they should be discussed as

a group on the direction to take and which strategy to apply, for the project to be successful.

Secondly, kids involved in IEPs having varying needs that should be addressed before the project

begins. Therefore, involving all stakeholders will help in determining the required needs of each

student and help the project manager delegate duties in regard to the determined needs

(Abramowitz, 2009).

Realistic

Goals should be realistic, in the sense that they can be attained with the resource, time and

knowledge that the team has. Furthermore, they should only address and be relevant to your scope,

which in this case is an individualized education program.


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Time limited

Time is a particularly essential factor when setting up SMART goals, as it determines the

achieved factors of the project at a certain duration and helps in evaluating what has not been

achieved in that time frame. Therefore, it is prudent for anyone when setting up goals, to

articulately a time frame in the course of the study/project which can be either weekly or monthly

(Abramowitz, 2009). In the case of individualized education program, the tutor can monitor the

progress of the kid through administering continuous assessment tests after the time of evaluation

has elapsed. It should be noted that, time that allocated should be enough to attain the goals set

and also should be limited to avoid affecting the effectiveness of the program.

Conclusion

SMART goals should have all the above mentioned concepts and each time a set of goals is

developed, it is advisable that before going ahead to implement one should sit down and examine

whether the laid goals are specific, measurable, agreed, realistic and time limited. Having all these

concepts in your goal will means that one will be successful either in your personal life or

business.


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Reference

Abramowitz, J. S. ( 2009). Getting Over OCD: A 10-Step Workbook for Taking Back Your Life

The Guilford Self-Help Workbook Series. New York City: Guilford Press.

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Description of Smart Goals