Analysis of physical therapy goals in a school-based setting: a pilot study

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Physical Therapy
• Educational Psychology
• School-Based Health Services

Background:

• Physical therapy services are integral to supporting students with disabilities in educational settings.
• Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) guide the delivery of these services, including goal setting.
• Ensuring IEP goals are measurable and context-specific is crucial for effective intervention and student progress.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the characteristics of physical therapy goals for students in school settings.
• To determine the extent to which these goals are measurable and context-specific.
• To evaluate the alignment of current goal-setting practices with best practices in educational therapy.

Main Methods:

• A pilot study analyzing the Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) of 32 students receiving school-based physical therapy.
• Categorization of goals based on task performance, context specificity, academic relevance, and measurement criteria.
• Utilized a developed Goal Analysis Form to systematically assess goal components.

Main Results:

• Physical therapy goals primarily focused on task performance.
• A significant majority of goals (72%) lacked context specificity.
• Few goals (6%) directly addressed academic tasks, while most (84%) included measurement criteria, predominantly level of independence (49%).

Conclusions:

• The developed Goal Analysis Form effectively assesses the measurability and context specificity of IEP goals.
• There is a need for school-based physical therapists to enhance goal formulation to ensure they are both measurable and context-specific.
• Future efforts should focus on integrating academic relevance and environmental context into physical therapy goals for students.