Accessing the General Curriculum

A look back… “in 1970, U.S. schools educated only one in five children with disabilities, and many states had laws excluding certain students, including children who were deaf, blind, emotionally disturbed, or mentally retarded (OSERS, 2001).” –OSERS, (2001). History Twenty five years of Progress in Educating Children with disabilities through IDEA.

A look back… In 1975, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (P.L ) was passed “to assure that all children with disabilities have available to them…a free, appropriate public education which emphasizes special education and related services designed to meet their unique needs (OSERS, 2001).” –OSERS, (2001). History Twenty five years of Progress in Educating Children with disabilities through IDEA.

Although PL dramatically improved education for students with disabilities, simple access to an individualized education proved an insufficient foundation for success, especially when the general education community began to seek higher standards and accountability for all students. With the focus on individualized programming, students with disabilities were often excluded from those standards and high expectations, to their detriment.

A look back… In 1990, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act was amended and renamed The Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA).

The only game in town…. When special education for students with disabilities was first mandated, the general education curriculum was the only game in town. But this curriculum was not designed to include or accommodate students with disabilities. It provided “one size fits all” goals, methods, materials and assessments that targeted a hypothetical homogeneous group of students.

Parallel Curriculum? It was not parallel because the work that students with disabilities undertook often bore no actual relationship to the general curriculum, and it was not a curriculum because there was no overarching approach to setting goals and developing methods, materials, and assessments. Often called the “parallel curriculum,” it was neither “parallel” nor a true “curriculum.” Because the “one size fits all” goals, methods, materials, and assessments of the general curriculum were largely inaccessible for students with disabilities, a “special curriculum” was born.

IDEA Increasing evidence suggested that the special curriculum was not bringing about the desired outcomes for students with disabilities. The general curriculum was moving in the direction of high expectations, standards, and greater accountability for student progress, and students with disabilities were being left further and further behind.

IDEA ‘97… In 1997, the law went further, entitling students with disabilities not only access to free and appropriate education but also access, participation, and progress within the general education curriculum - schools must educate students with disabilities to meet the same state standards and pass the same state-mandated assessments designed for students without disabilities.

The No Child Left Behind Act Stronger Accountability for Results State Responsibilities for Developing Challenging Academic Achievement Standards for Students with Disabilities –Alternate achievement standards must be aligned with the state’s academic content standards. –Alternate achievement standards must reflect professional judgment of the highest learning standards possible for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities.

The No Child Left Behind Act Stronger Accountability for Results Challenging Academic Achievement Standards for Students with Disabilities (cont’d) –The term “students with the most significant cognitive disabilities” means students who have been identified under IDEA and whose intellectual functioning and adaptive behavior are at or below three standard deviations below the mean. approximately translates to standard scores at or below 55 in intellectual functioning and adaptive behavior

The No Child Left Behind Act Stronger Accountability for Results Inclusion of All Students in Accountability System –Except for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities for whom the state has established alternate achievement standards, alternate assessments must yield results for the grade in which the student is enrolled in at least reading/ language arts, math, and beginning in the school year, science.

The No Child Left Behind Act Stronger Accountability for Results Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) –The proposed regulations would permit states to use alternate achievement standards for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities in calculating AYP for schools, LEAs and the state, provided that : The percentage of students with the most significant cognitive disabilities at the LEA and state levels, separately, does not exceed 1.0 percent of all students in the grades assessed.

To achieve Adequate Yearly Progress and participate in assessments based on content areas, students must have access to and actively participate in the general curriculum.

Access, participation and progress… …are verbs defined as more than simply being in physical proximity to the general education curriculum and force us to reexamine how we write goals and objectives and how we provide instruction.

Catching up by going slower If students miss presentation of content essential to the curriculum, it is unlikely they will ever catch up. As one popular television star put it…

For 22 years, special education and regular education have been moving in generally different directions. Now we are faced with the need to bring the two together - to meet unique needs while at the same time providing access, participation and progress in the general education curriculum.

Assistive technology is no longer enough. We must move to a mindset and a set of tools that are not assistive, but inclusive in nature. Curriculum that is usable by all students, but has the hooks necessary to be used by students with varying disabilities and diverse learning needs.