The Hard Stuff:
Individualized Planning and Adaptations to Make it Work

(The following material is adapted from Schools Are For All Kids Level II Training and from Tashie, et al., (1993), From Special to Regular From Ordinary to Extraordinary.)

Developing educational programs that truly meet the needs of children and youth requires more than good intentions, more than a willingness to make the effort. It also takes careful planning based on each student's individual needs, planning that is both 'up-front' (before the child is placed) and ongoing (throughout the child's placement in a regular program).

Step I: Identifying the Student's Learning Goals

The first step in that planning, of course, is determining the student's key learning goals and objectives for his/her IEP. As noted above, this is a collaborative process that must recognize the expertise and priorities of the family. The student's individualized goals may reflect a variety of curricular areas. Among the areas that should be considered are:

• Student Objectives Taken From the Regular Curriculum. Many students with disabilities participate in regular classes with the same learning objectives as all other students. Students with disabilities may very well be expected to master exactly the same skills, and cover the same amount of material as all other students. When objectives from the regular curriculum are modified for students, it may be that the amount of material is modified (e.g., a student has only five spelling words, instead of ten to learn for the week) or students may be working on different level skills within the same class (e.g., some students working on advanced composition skills while other students are learning to write beginning journal stories). In addition, some students may need to be given additional time to complete assignments, where other students may need alternate ways to demonstrate their learning (e.g., if a student has an augmentative communication system, or if he or she must type their responses). What is important is that we set high standards for all students; that all students have academic expectations. All students should have the opportunity to be exposed to the school's core curriculum - that is, the set of learning expectations that we have identified as important for the future of all our children.
• Important Skills from the "Hidden"Curriculum of Typical Classroom Routines. Macdonald and York (1989) have identified a set of important behaviors that teachers sometimes refer to as the 'hidden curriculum'. These are skills that all students are expected to master, that are practiced over and over, and that have very important implications for future success in school and adult life. These skills include such behaviors as: obtaining and putting away needed materials; beginning one's work, and staying on task; working cooperatively in groups; moving to the next learning activity without help; following directions; and evaluating one's own work; and how it might be done better the next time. Active, regular classrooms provide many opportunities throughout the day to learn and practice these stills.
• Social/Communication Skills. Regular classrooms also provide rich opportunities for practicing basic social and communication skills, including greeting others, asking for assistance, making eye contact with the speaker, initiating and maintaining interactions, making choices, taking turns in conversations, etc. In fact, in classrooms serving only students with disabilities, students lack the opportunity to learn from peers with better social and communication skills and abilities. Having competent role models is crucial since social and communication skills are often very high on the priority list of needed skills for children and youth with disabilities.
• Special Interest Objectives. The regular classroom provides many opportunities to address "special interest" objectives, that is, to become involved in projects that focus on the students' own experiences, questions, and concerns. For example, students may choose to do a project on conserving our natural resources that requires them to use their reading, writing, math, science, and social science skills all within the same activity. We need to remember that all students have areas of interest, and that the regular classroom may provide excellent opportunities to pursue these. This is especially true in classes that use extensive amounts of cooperative, small group work in which students are required to take an active part in their own learning.

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