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##  Access to the General Education Curriculum for Students with                    Disabilities. ERIC Digest.                                                   

A new goal is challenging teachers: All students, with or without               disabilities, including English language learners and students who              are "falling between the cracks," are to achieve in the general                 education curriculum. For students with disabilities, access to the             general education curriculum is mandated by the Individuals with                Disabilities Education Act Amendments of                                        1997 (IDEA '97). 
Successful student access to the curriculum comes            about through the implementation of validated programs and                      procedures. It calls for a paradigm shift that is required in the               law: the student (if appropriate), special and general education                teachers, parents, a district representative, and representatives of            other agencies necessary to best serve the student's needs are                  required to take part in the student's educational planning, with               improved learning in the general education curriculum as a goal.                This digest discusses changes needed to bring about successful                  student access to the curriculum-changes in attitudes and belief                systems, parent involvement, pre-service training, and ongoing                  professional development, as well as increased support from                     districts and state legislators. Within this background of support              from a larger educational community, teachers must work together to             apply well-founded, research-based instructional practices in their             classrooms. ATTITUDES AND BELIEF SYSTEMSImproved student                  learning requires teachers, schools, and districts to give up                   unproductive traditions and beliefs, replacing them with validated              practices and a full understanding of the intent of the law.                    Successful student access to the general education curriculum is                most likely when there is general acceptance of the following                   principles: 
* Responsibility for the learning outcomes of special             education students is equally shared by the classroom teacher and               the special education teacher. 
* The classroom teacher is not only            aware of the student's IEP goals, but plays a significant role in               determining those goals and providing instruction to help the                   student reach them. 
* The classroom teacher is concerned with each            student's strengths and needs. 
* Administrators understand that               teachers need time within their contracts to prepare standards-based            activities and materials designed to meet the diverse needs of their            students. 
* Collaboration is valued: Time is allocated for                    teachers to collaborate with other teachers and parents regarding               students. Ideally, paid days at the end of each school year are                 provided so that teachers can discuss their students, improving the             students' chances for smooth transitions to the next grade. 
*                 Expectations are not set according to a student's classification; it            is recognized that a classification does not determine how much or              how well the student will learn or perform. 
* It is understood                that good instruction incorporates variation in delivery,                       activities, expectations, and assessment to accommodate diverse                 learning strengths and needs. 
* Accountability is considered a                challenge, not a threat. As required by IDEA '97, students with                 disabilities are included in state and district assessments. 
*                Parents are considered to be part of the team. PARENT                         INVOLVEMENTIDEA '97 mandates that parents be participants in the            educational planning for their children. These mandates support the             idea that an inclusive school creates a society of learners that                involves parents and the school's community in meaningful                       contributions to the education of its students. 
The following                 activities lead to productive collaboration between the parent and              the school: 
* Obtain information from parents about their child at            the beginning of the year. 
* Contact parents often, informing them            of successes as well as problems. 
* Contact parents at early onset            of a learning or behavior problem, and ask them for feedback and                ideas on how the problem could best be handled. 
* As mandated in              IDEA, invite the parents to any formal meetings concerning the                  child. TRAINING AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENTIDEA '97 made                 federal funds available for in- and pre-service training to states              that qualify for a State Improvement Grant (SIG). These grants are              awarded to states that have developed a plan to improve educational             outcomes for students with disabilities. 
Ensuring that all                    students gain access to the general education curriculum not only               requires teacher commitment, but necessitates that districts support            individual schools' efforts to improve teacher skills. Each school              has its own set of unique circumstances. When staff identify and                address their own training needs, they become better able to tackle             the challenges they face in the classroom. In accordance with the               principles of inclusion, a growing number of schools are assuming               greater control over professional development activities, often                 moving from traditional training models to more participatory or                job-embedded forms of learning. GAINING DISTRICT AND INFORMED                 LEGISLATIVE SUPPORTState legislators need relevant and accurate             information for making appropriate decisions regarding education                statutes and funding. For example, implementing change usually                  requires additional teacher time and resources. In some states,                 legislatures and districts are allocating monies to provide for                 additional teacher-paid training days. States are also considering              the idea of offering teachers varied contract options. For example,             teachers interested in developing instructional plans and activities            would be on an 11-month contract, using non-teaching days to                    accomplish this. Their products would address the state curriculum              standards as well as the diverse instructional and assessment needs             of students. Through these efforts, data banks of curricular plans,             activities, suggested materials, and additional resources can be                made available on-line as well as in print. COMING                            TOGETHERSchools with successful inclusion programs have                     faculties that work together. It is recognized that all teachers are            specialists who bring their areas of expertise to the table when                planning and making decisions about students. Classroom teachers are            specialists in curriculum; special education teachers, including                related service personnel, are specialists in the unique learning               and behavior needs of students. Each specialist learns skills from              the others with all students being the ultimate                                 beneficiaries. 
Effectively bringing all of this expertise to the              classroom requires adhering to organizational principles designed to            help all students learn, and yet allowing for their individual                  variations. Classroom instruction should be tied to state and                   district curriculum standards and objectives, which should at some              level be appropriate for all students. The following teaching                   strategies help students learn the curriculum and develop                       independent learning skills: 
* Making accommodations and                      modifications for individuals when needed 
* Using multiple                    instructional delivery systems (e.g., visuals, audio,                           multi-sensory) 
* Using grouping variations such as cooperative                learning groups 
* Helping students understand their own learning              profiles 
* Teaching them to use cognitive and metacognitive                   strategies. 
Inclusive teaching also relies on ongoing informal                classroom assessments so that teachers can begin teaching at the                student's present performance level, keep abreast of student                    progress, and make appropriate instructional decisions. Assessments             are matched to student learning styles. 
As classrooms are becoming            more diverse, new instructional strategies and technologies are                 being developed to help teachers accommodate diversity. For example,            principles of differentiation (Tomlinson, 1999) are being                       implemented and universal design (Orkwis & McLane, 1998) is being               applied to facilitate access to the curriculum by students of                   diverse abilities and needs. New directions such as these help all              students move toward progress in the general                                    curriculum. RESOURCESAlder, L. (2000). How can special                    education students access the Utah Core Curriculum? Utah Special                Educator 21(2), 10-11. 
Beckman, P. (2000). Utah's school-to-school            project: AIMing for student success. Utah Special Educator 21(2),               19-20. 
Costa, A. L. & Kallick, B. (2000). Habits of mind.                     Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum and                  Development. 
Orkwis, R., & McLane, K. (1998). A curriculum every              student can use: Design principles for student access. ERIC/OSEP                Topical Brief. Reston, VA: ERIC/OSEP Special Project. [on-line at               http://www.cec.sped.org/osep/udesign.html] 
Pressley, P., &                    Woloshyn, V. (1995). Cognitive strategy instruction. Cambridge, MA:             Brookline Books. 
Tomlinson, C. A. (1999). The differentiated                  classroom: Responding to the needs of all learners. Alexandria, VA.             Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. 
Ysseldyke,            J. (2001). Reflections on a research career: Generalizations from 25            years of research on assessment and instructional decision making.              Exceptional Children 67(3), 295-308. 
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ERIC Digests are in              the public domain and may be freely reproduced and disseminated, but            please acknowledge your source. This digest was prepared with                   funding from the Office of Educational Research and                             Improvement (OERI), US Department of Education, under Contract No.              ED-99-C0-0026. The opinions expressed in this publication do not                necessarily reflect the positions of OERI or the Department of                  Education.                                                                   **Title:** Access to the General Education Curriculum for Students with                    Disabilities. ERIC Digest.                                                   **Note:** Digest E615.                                                                 **Document Type:** Information Analyses---ERIC Information Analysis Products (IAPs) (071); Information Analyses---ERIC Digests (Selected) in Full Text (073); **Available From:** ERIC Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education, Council for            Exceptional Children, 1110 North Glebe Rd., Arlington, VA                       22201-5709. Tel: 800-328-0272 (Toll Free); Fax: 703-620-2521;                   e-mail: [email protected]. For full text: http://www.ericec.org.           **Descriptors:**  Academic Standards,  Access to Education, Accountability, Attitude             Change,  Curriculum,  Disabilities, Educational Change,  Educational            Principles, Elementary Secondary Education,  Inclusive Schools,                 Regular and Special Education Relationship, Teacher Collaboration,              Teaching Methods                                                             **Identifiers:** ERIC Digests                                                                 
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