Aligning State Standards and the Expanded Core Curriculum: Balancing the Impact of the No Child Left behind Act

Abstract

How do professionals address accountability mandates that are derived from the No Child Left Behind Act and the overall educational needs of students who are visually impaired during the school day? Meeting state and federal mandates while maintaining the individuality of educational programs is challenging for all educators. Teachers of students who are visually impaired and certified orientation and mobility (O&M) specialists may be affected even more as they search for an approach that allows them to address the subject areas of both the general education curriculum and the expanded core curriculum (ECC) in both the classroom and students' Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). Professionals in the field of visual impairment know that the ECC is a critical component of students' education and development (Hatlen, 1996, 2003). We also know that it is important both to teach the skills required in each of these areas in isolation and to generalize them within other ECC areas and ultimately within the community. When teachers of students with visual impairments and classroom teachers collaborate on the ECC areas and aligning them with the state standards creates an opportunity to address not only the general curriculum, but also the educational needs that arise from the visual impairment itself during the school day and in IEPs. This collaborative approach does not exclude teaching the ECC areas in isolation, but provides an additional avenue through which the ECC could be integrated into a student's day. This report offers one perspective on how to create a more balanced curriculum for students who are visually impaired by demonstrating a systematic approach to aligning state standards with the ECC, thereby bridging concepts and promoting additional avenues for integration of the ECC into the school day, and using the aligned concepts to generate meaningful, applicable, and appropriate IEP goals. ALIGNING STATE STANDARDS AND THE ECC The core curriculum addresses skills that all students, sighted or visually impaired, are expected to achieve by the time they graduate from high school (Ahearn, 2005). In most states, the core curriculum consists of language arts, mathematics, health, science, fine arts, social studies, economics, business education, vocational education, and history. Students who are visually impaired receive the same curriculum that is available to their sighted peers. However, for students to acquire proficiency in these subject areas more equitably, teachers of students with visual impairments and certified O&M specialists must provide adaptations and instruction in developmental skills and concept areas that are impeded because of the students' disability. The ECC consists of instructional areas that address skills and concepts that are unique to visual impairment: compensatory or access skills, social skills, recreational and leisure skills, O&M skills, independent living skills, assistive technology and technology skills, career education, sensory efficiency skills, and self-determination (Hatlen, 1996, 2003). Aligning state standards with the ECC may ultimately provide a more supportive bridge between development of concepts and demonstration of proficiency for students who are visually impaired. Collaborating with general education teachers in public schools is always essential and could ultimately build a more productive partnership between these teachers and teachers of students with visual impairments. The process of aligning the standards with the ECC is as follows: First, the teacher of students with visual impairments or the certified O&M specialist determines which academic goal from the state standards he or she or the general education teacher will address in the classroom or resource room. Second, the teacher of students with visual impairments analyzes what the goal's true intent is by its key words. Third, the teacher of students with visual impairments or a related specialist determines which ECC areas and concepts the student needs to develop before he or she can address the intent or concept of the goal. …