Lesson
One Reading
Aligning IEPs with State Standards
and Accountability Systems
“States, districts, and schools continue to emphasize the importance of aligning Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) with state standards in the general education curriculum. Such alignment attempts to ensure that students with disabilities are expected to achieve the same goals as their [general] education peers and have the supports and accommodations they need to engage in content-centered learning."
—from
the ACCESS Center
Law Background
Disability no way diminishes the right of individuals to participate in or contribute to society. Improving educational results for children with disabilities is an essential element of our national policy of ensuring equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency for individuals with disabilities.
—Title 20 United States Code (USC) Section 1401, paragraph (c) Findings, in the Individuals with
Disabilities Act (IDEA), as amended in 2004
Click here to download a PDF of the "Federal Proposed Regulations" implementing the IDEA, as amended in 2004.
For the 2004 reauthorization of IDEA, refer to the California Department of Education's website.
In 1997 and 2004, Congress enacted amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). That sent a clear message to the public that all students must have access to the general education curriculum, as well as access to statewide assessment processes.
In California, content standards are the basic framework of the general education curriculum. It makes good sense to use selected content standards to develop individualized education program (IEP) goals and objectives/benchmarks, which in turn coordinate instruction, learning, and assessment.
“Aligning IEPs to standards have many benefits, including higher expectations, targeted instruction and increased exposure to general education curriculum."
—from the ACCESS Center
Standards guide curriculum choice and instruction. Content standards provide a common language for educators in special and general education. Designing standards-based IEPs supports students in achieving standards, in participating in performance standards-based district and statewide assessment, in advancing from grade to grade, and in graduating or exiting high school.
The educational sequence outlined in the State of California Content Frameworks, reflected in state-adopted curriculum materials selected by local districts, determines curriculum. Teachers adapt curriculum to meet individual student needs and select appropriate instructional strategies to ensure student success in learning core curriculum.
IDEA requires that students with disabilities receive a "free appropriate public education" (FAPE) in the "least restrictive environment" (LRE), based on the IEP.
“The LRE Principle is intended to ensure that a child with a disability is served in a setting where the child can be best educated successfully in the LRE.”
—from
the Federal Register, Vol. 70, No. 118,
Tuesday, June 21, 2005, Proposed Rules
General and special education staff write goals and objectives/benchmarks and provide students with an appropriate education. IEP requirements under Part B of the IDEA emphasize the importance of three core concepts:
• The involvement and progress of each child with a disability in the general education curriculum including addressing the unique needs that arise out of the child's disability
• The involvement of parents and students, together with general and special education personnel, in making individual decisions to support student educational success
• The preparation of students with disabilities for employment and other post-school activities.
Evaluations, Eligibility Determinations, Individualized Education Programs, Education Programs, and Educational Placements
According to Title 20 United States Code (USC) Section 1414(d)(1)(A)(i) [20 USC § 1414(d)(1)(A)(i)], the IEP must include:
... (I) a statement of the child’s present levels of academic achievement and functional performance
... (II) a statement of measurable annual goals, including academic and functional goals
... (III) a description of how the child’s progress toward meeting the annual goals in subclause (II) will be measured and when periodic reports on the progress the child is making toward meeting the annual goals (such as through the use of quarterly or other periodic reports, concurrent with the issuance of report cards) will be provided
... (IV) a statement of the special education and related services and supplementary aids and services, based on peer-reviewed research to the extent practicable
... (V) an explanation of the extent, if any, to which the child will not participate with nondisabled children in the regular class and in the activities
... (VI)(aa) a statement of any individual appropriate accommodations that are necessary to measure the academic achievement and functional performance of the child on State and district-wide assessments consistent with section 612(a)(16)(A)
... (bb) if the IEP Team determines that the child shall take an alternate assessment on a particular State or district-wide assessment of student achievement, a statement of why—
An IEP is a written statement for each child with a disability that is developed, reviewed, and revised in accordance with this section and includes:
(II) A statement of measurable annual goals, including benchmarks or short-term objectives, related to—
(aa) Meeting the child's needs that result from the child's disability to enable the child to be involved in and progress in the general curriculum
(bb) Meeting each of the child's other educational needs that result from the child's disability