Deciding What to Teach Students With Extensive Support Needs: A Priority Planning Tool

Ms. Jenkins is a special education teacher of students with extensive support needs. Students with extensive support needs are the 1% of students with disabilities who take their state’s alternate assessment based on alternate achievement standards due to significant cognitive disability. Ms. Jenkins is committed to ensuring her students both access and make progress in the general education curriculum, as required by federal disability law (Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act, 2004). Yet Ms. Jenkins worries the rapid pace and complex content of the general education curriculum, as taught in the general education classroom, makes it challenging for students with extensive support needs to make progress in the general education curriculum.