Specialized Innovations for Students With Disabilities

In the United States, a number of educational reforms have occurred over the past several years. Among these is the standards-based reform. The standardsbased reform is comprised of three main components: higher content standards, assessments to determine whether students have met the standards, and accountability criteria for both students and schools (Nolet & McLaughlin, 2005). For students with disabilities—particularly high-incidence disabilities (e.g., learning disabilities, emotional/behavioral disorders, high-functioning autism, ADHD, and mild intellectual disabilities)—these reforms have changed the way that they are taught and assessed in the general education curriculum.

First, higher standards are now the norm and are often tied to teachers’ daily lesson plans in most states. In fact, 45 states have adopted the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), and efforts are underway to develop a national standards-based test to assess whether students have met common core components (Haager & Vaughn, 2013). Second, states have developed assessments to determine if students have met their own state’s standards. In many cases, these are aligned with or are the same as the CCSS. Under certain circumstances, some students with disabilities may opt out of such tests (e.g., students who are unable to participate in an assessment with reasonable accommodations); however, for most students with high-incidence disabilities, participation in such testing is required (McLaughlin & Thurlow, 2003). Third, schools are now accountable for their students’ meeting the set standards on state tests. Currently, 26 states have exit exams that students must pass to move on to the next course, grade level, or to graduate from high school (Education Policy, 2012; Deshler, Schumaker, Bui, & Vernon, 2006). Finally, changes in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 1997, and subsequently in 2004, now require schools to provide students with disabilities greater access to the general education curriculum. It is believed that meaningful access to the general education curriculum will allow these students to learn core content and, in the process, prepare them to pass state tests (Deshler, Schumaker, Bui, & Vernon, 2006).