Accessing the General Curriculum

Victor W. Nolet is Director of Assessment and Evaluation for the Woodring College of Education at Western Washington University. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Oregon. His current interests include the impact of teacher education programs on P-12 student outcomes and the impact of accountability systems on students with disabilities. Address: Victor Nolet, Woodring College of Education, 251F Miller Hall, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA. 98225. Margaret McLaughlin has been involved in special education all of her professional career, beginning as a teacher of students with serious emotional and behavior disorders. Currently she is the associate director of the Institute for the Study of Exceptional Children, a research institute within the College of Education at the University of Maryland. She directs several national projects investigating educational reform and students with disabilities, including the national Educational Policy Reform Research Institute (EPRRI), a consortium involving the University Maryland; The National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO); and the Urban Special Education Collaborative. She also directs a national research project investigating special education in charter schools and leads a policy leadership doctoral and postdoctoral program in conducting large-scale research in special education. McLaughlin has worked in Bosnia, Nicaragua, and Guatemala in developing programs for students with developmental disabilities. She has consulted with numerous state departments of education and local education agencies on issues related to students with disabilities and the impact of standards-driven reform policies. McLaughlin co-chaired the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Goals 2000 and Students with Disabilities, which resulted in the report Educating One and All. She was a member of the NAS committee on the disproportionate representation of minority students in special education. McLaughlin teaches graduate courses in disability policy and has written extensively in the area of school reform and students with disabilities. She earned her PhD at the University of Virginia and has held positions at the U.S. Office of Education and the University of Washington.

Introduction
Acknowledgments
1. Access to the General Curriculum: Why it is More Important Than Ever Before
The IDEA and Access to the General Curriculum
The No Child Left Behind Act
The Link Between "Standards" and "Curriculum"
A New Way to Think About Special Education
2. The Nature of Curriculum
Multiple Types of Curriculum
The Core Elements of Curriculum
What is the Purpose of Curriculum?
Curriculum Involves a Domain
Curriculum and Time
Finding the General Curriculum
Chapter Summary
3. The Learning-Teaching Connection
Learning Research and Implications for Teaching
Help Students Develop Meaningful Patterns of Information
Creating Experts
Teach to Improve Your Student′s Memory
Help Students Attend to What You Want Them to Learn
Make Effective Use of Practice
Make Effective Use of Scaffolding
Help Students Manage Their Own Learning
Teach for Transfer and Generalization
The Learning-Teaching Connection
4. Assessment That Supports Access to the General Curriculum
Assessment and Decision-Making
What Will Typical Students Be Expected to Do During the Timeframe Addressed by the IEP
What is the Student′s Present Level of Performance in the General Curriculum?
In What Ways is the Student′s Disability Impacting Performance?
Is the Student Making Progress in the General Education Curriculum?
5. Access to Curriculum and the Individual Education Program
Curriculum Access on a Continuum
Universal Design for Learning
Multiple Means of Representation
Accommodations
Modifications
Accommodations and Modifications and Assessment
Special Education and Related Services
6. A Decision-Making Process for Creating IEPs That Lead to Curriculum Access
Step 1: Instructional Assessment
Step 2: Choosing the Standards and Identifying Supports
Step 3: Creating IEP Goals, Objectives, and Benchmarks
The Relationship Between Objectives and Benchmarks
References
Index