If my child is on alternate curriculum, will they be able to get a diploma?

In California, the discussion about an “alternate curriculum” can surface early because some classes are labeled “core” and some are labeled “alternative.” But according to the TIES Center, there should be no such thing as an alternate curriculum. As they put it in this brief, “alternate curriculum” should not mean that the student has alternate content standards: “U.S. Department of Education regulations explaining how IDEA should be implemented state that the general education curriculum is ‘the same curriculum as for nondisabled children’ (300.320(a)(1)(i)). In other words, “all instruction [should start] from the same content standards, regardless of the student’s disabilities. However, the expectations for how much a student will master of the grade-level general education curriculum can be modified.”

The difference between best practice and reality, however, can be unfortunately large. Dr. Sarah Pelangka, owner of KnowIEPs, tells us that when students are using modified curriculum in high school due to a significant cognitive impairment and are not working toward the general education standards, they are unlikely to graduate with a diploma. Dr. Pelangka believes that parents should be made aware of this as early as when their student is first referred for a modified curriculum. Parents should be given the information they need to understand what each path means. The earlier the referral to modified curriculum happens, the larger the gap may be in terms of a student’s ability to access the general education curriculum. However, she says, there are “examples of smaller-scale modifications that technically could happen in a gen ed class that wouldn’t necessarily bump a student to a certificate track. As long as the student can reflect mastery of the grade-level standards, they can access their diploma.”

Taking alternate assessments does not mean a student cannot still work toward a diploma. According to IDEA 300.160, a state should “not preclude a student with the most significant cognitive disabilities who takes an alternate assessment aligned with alternate academic achievement standards from attempting to complete the requirements for a regular high school diploma.”

For more, see our article Building a Goal-Oriented Future: Earning a Diploma or a Certificate of Completion.