How to Turn VB-MAPP Results into Written ABA Goals
By Laura Lamantia, BCBA | Founder of Chatterfly
You just finished administering the VB-MAPP. You have scores across Milestones, Barriers, and Transition assessments. You know where your learner is.
Now comes the part nobody talks about in grad school: actually turning those results into well-written, measurable ABA goals.
The VB-MAPP is an excellent tool for identifying skill levels and guiding programming — but it doesn't hand you ready-to-use goals. That translation step is on you, and it takes time, clinical judgment, and experience to do well.
This post walks you through the process.
It’s Harder Than It Looks
The VB-MAPP identifies what the learner can do, not what to write next. A score tells you where the learner landed — it doesn't generate goal language for you. And goal language is its own skill. Knowing a learner needs to work on manding is not the same as knowing how to write a mand goal that is observable, measurable, and defensible in an IEP or funding review.
The Translation Process: A Step-by-Step Approach
Step 1: Identify Priority Domains
After scoring the VB-MAPP, look at the Milestones Assessment and identify which domains are lagging most significantly relative to the learner's overall level.
Prioritize domains that are:
Foundational to other skills
Most impactful to the learner's daily functioning
Realistic targets given any barriers identified
Step 2: Identify the Specific Skill Within the Domain
Once you've selected a domain, get specific. "Manding" is not a goal — it's a category. Look at the exact milestone items the learner has not yet mastered within that domain and use those to anchor your goal.
Step 3: Write the Goal Using Observable, Measurable Language
A well-written ABA goal contains:
The behavior — what the learner will do, described in observable terms
The condition — under what circumstances or with what materials
The criterion — how well and how consistently the learner must perform to demonstrate mastery
Here's what that looks like using real goals across a few domains:
Mand — Level 1, Item 3 "By November 2026, learner will use a multimodal communication system (e.g., PECS, ASL, spoken words, word approximations) to mand for 6 different preferred items in 80% of opportunities across 3 consecutive sessions."
Mand — Level 2, Item 6 "By November 2026, learner will mand for 20 missing items (e.g., mands for a crayon when given a coloring book) in 80% of opportunities across 3 consecutive sessions."
Listener Responding — Level 2, Item 9 "By November 2026, learner will follow 15 directions that involve both a noun and a verb in 80% of opportunities across 3 consecutive sessions."
Social — Level 3, Item 15 "By November 2026, learner will engage in 4 verbal exchanges on a given topic with a peer for 5 different topics in 80% of opportunities across 3 consecutive sessions."
Notice what each goal has: a clear behavior, a measurable quantity, and a specific mastery criterion. No vague language, no room for interpretation.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Treating the milestone as the goal. The VB-MAPP milestone items are assessment benchmarks — not goal language. Use them as anchors for what to target, then write the goal in a format that works for your program and funding source.
Ignoring generalization from the start. Build generalization into your goals from day one — across people, settings, and materials. A skill that only occurs at the table with one therapist is not a mastered skill.
Writing goals in isolation. Avoid writing goals in isolation. A learner working on tacting objects should also have goals building toward intraverbal responding about those same objects. This helps build true understanding and avoid rote responding. Think about your treatment plan as a web of connected programs, not a list of independent skills.
A Faster Way to Get It Done
Writing goals across all VB-MAPP domains for every learner on your caseload is time-consuming — even for experienced BCBAs. If you're doing this from scratch every time, you're spending unnecessary hours on documentation.
That's exactly why I created the Chatterfly VB-MAPP Goal Guide — a resource that translates skills across all three levels of the VB-MAPP into a ready-to-use, well-written ABA goal, complete with a built-in data tracker so you can take data as you go during an assessment.
It's not about cutting corners. It's about having a strong clinical starting point that you can individualize for each learner — instead of starting from a blank page every single time.
[→ Grab the VB-MAPP Goal Guide here]
Final Thoughts
The VB-MAPP is one of the most valuable tools in a BCBA's assessment toolkit. But the assessment is only as useful as what you do with it. Taking the time to write clear, specific, measurable goals grounded in your assessment results is what turns scores on a page into a meaningful program for your learner.
If you have questions about goal writing or want to share how you approach this process on your caseload, drop a comment below. And if you found this post helpful, share it with a fellow BCBA who could use it.
Laura Lamantia is a BCBA and the founder of Chatterfly, a clinical resource company supporting behavior analysts and their clients.
