Goal Writing in Speech and Language Pathology

Flashcards covering the components of goal writing, SMART criteria, cueing types, intelligibility milestones, and the Percentage of Consonants Correct (PCC) index.

Speech and Language Goals

Measurable targets that guide the development of communication skills based on an individual’s specific strengths and needs, covering areas like articulation, receptive/expressive language, and fluency.

Time Frame

A component of a strong goal specifying how long the objective will be worked on (e.g., "By May 2026" or "Within 9 weeks").

Condition

A component of a strong goal describing the type of cues or support provided to the child, such as the level of assistance or the setting.

Do statement/Behavior

A component of a strong goal identifying the measurable or discrete action the child will be asked to perform (e.g., "produce /r/ sound").

Criterion

A component of a strong goal that establishes how it will be known the objective has been met, often involving accuracy percentages or trial counts.

Specific (SMART Goals)

The requirement that a goal is clearly defined, considers the setting, and does not include too many different objectives.

Measurable (SMART Goals)

The requirement that a goal can be tracked with data; rubrics may be used for harder-to-measure speech therapy targets.

Attainable (SMART Goals)

The requirement that a individualised goal is achievable for the specific client/student within a year.

Relevant/Realistic (SMART Goals)

The requirement that a goal will generalize to other environments and help the client succeed based on their specific needs.

Timely (SMART Goals)

The requirement that a client can achieve the goal within the specific amount of service time recommended.

Accuracy / Performance Level

A measurable criterion referring to performance expressed as a percentage (e.g., $80\%$, $90\%$) or a specific number of correct responses (e.g., 4 out of 5 trials).

Consistency

A measurable criterion referring to performance across multiple timeframes, such as "in 3 consecutive sessions."

Visual cues

A type of support using pictures, gestures, or written prompts.

Verbal cues

A type of support using reminders, prompts, or questions.

Modeling

A cueing method where the clinician demonstrates the correct response for the student.

Tactile cues

A type of support involving physical prompts when appropriate.

Intelligibility at 18 months

Developmental milestone where approximately $25\%$ of a child’s speech is intelligible.

Intelligibility at 24 months

Developmental milestone where approximately $50\%$ of a child’s speech is intelligible.

Intelligibility at 36 months

Developmental milestone where approximately $75\%$ of a child’s speech is intelligible.

Intelligibility at 48 months

Developmental milestone where approximately $100\%$ of a child’s speech is intelligible.

Articulation Scale Level 1

A level on the scale indicating that the individual's speech is unintelligible.

Articulation Scale Level 6

A level on the scale where sound errors are absent or minimally noticed in continuous speech.

Percentage of Consonants Correct (PCC)

An intelligibility index calculated using the formula: $(\frac{\text{Number of correct consonants}}{\text{Number of correct + incorrect consonants}}) \times 100$.

$90\%$ PCC

The classification for a mild intelligibility index according to Shriberg et al. (1997).

$65\%-85\%$ PCC

The classification range for a mild-moderate intelligibility index.

$50\%-65\%$ PCC

The classification range for a moderate-severe intelligibility index.

<50\% PCC

The classification for a severe intelligibility index.

Progress Monitoring

The process of tracking progress toward goals using data collection, observations, and work samples to look for increasing accuracy and generalization.