ABSTRACT
Since 1997, federal law regulating the provision of special education and related services has contained language that requires that the Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) of all students receiving special education services promote and ensure “access to the general education curriculum.” We will discuss in greater detail what this means subsequently, and other chapters in this text discuss instructional strategies to promote the acquisition of skills related to core content areas (reading, math, science, etc.)—content areas at the heart of the access mandates. This chapter, like others in this section, focuses on the educational planning process and how IEP teams can ensure that students with intellectual disability receive the special education, supplementary aids and services, and related services that will enable them to be involved with and progress in the general education curriculum.
