Access to the General Curriculum: The Mandate and Role of Context in Research-Based Practice for Students with Extensive Support Needs:

The reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act and the No Child Left Behind Act requires that students with extensive support needs have access to, participate in, and make progress on the general curriculum along with their grade-level general education peers. This article suggests that the terms used in this legislation have been interpreted differently across educational personnel, parents, advocates, and researchers, and that these differing interpretations have resulted in confusion and controversy related to services for this set of students. The purpose of this article was to initiate a discussion about the role of context when conceptualizing access to the general curriculum for students with extensive support needs related to communication, physical, and intellectual disabilities. It begins by discussing the federal mandate and regulations related to access to the general curriculum. It then presents differing interpretations of the concept of access to the gen...