In this episode, we dive into the often-overlooked art of writing clear, measurable goals for executive functioning.
Unlike other academic or functional goals, executive functioning focuses on internal processes—making it harder to quantify and observe.
Whether you’re a teacher, therapist, or part of a school team, this episode will give you actionable tools to create meaningful IEP and therapy plan goals that truly support student growth.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
✔️ Why executive functioning is all about the process—and why that’s tricky for traditional SMART goals.
✔️ Examples of goal formats that keep things simple, specific, and actionable.
✔️ How to differentiate between goals that focus on behavior versus those emphasizing strategies.
✔️ A sample list of accommodations to support executive functioning without over-accommodating.
✔️ Tips to ensure students build independence with their accommodations over time.
📝Goals and Accommodations for Executive Functioning Blog post: https://drkarenspeech.com/goals-and-accommodations-for-executive-functioning/
👂EP 178: Are we allowed to say “dyslexia” in the schools (with Tom Parton): https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/ep-178-are-we-allowed-to-say-dyslexia-in-the-schools-with-tom-parton/
🎓 School of Clinical Leadership Program (A comprehensive course for service providers who want to lead their teams in supporting students socially, emotionally, and academically.): https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/clinicalleadership
Key Takeaways:
- Writing effective executive functioning goals starts with a clear understanding of the behaviors and processes you’re targeting.
- The goal format “Given (cue/strategy), student will (behavior) with (accuracy/unit of measurement)” simplifies complex ideas into meaningful goals.
- Accommodations should empower students and build skills—not create over-reliance.
You can listen to the entire episode here:
