Having guided leaders and educators through the six-step Essential Standards selection and alignment process across PK-12 grades for the past 25 years, I continue to receive and respond to frequently asked questions (FAQs) about Essential Standards through my workshops, podcasts, and in my published books. Several of these questions relate to students with disabilities and require in-depth responses. For this blog post, here are a few examples of FAQs with my detailed responses about how Essential Standards specifically apply to students with disabilities.

Essential Standards and IEPs

Question: “You mention that special education teachers can use Essential Standards when writing IEPs—Individualized Education Plans—and that since these teachers often serve students across multiple grade levels, Essential Standards help them quickly identify what matters most for each student. Will you provide us with a concrete example of how this works?

Here are several concrete examples, first in math and then in reading, to show how educators of students with learning disabilities can use Essential Standards to write student-specific IEPs. 

4th Grade Math IEP:

A 4th grader has a specific learning disability in math. The district has identified "multiply and divide within 100" as an Essential Standard for all 4th grade math students because it's foundational for current and future math success. The special educator writes this matching IEP Goal: "By the end of the school year, (student’s name) will solve multiplication and division problems (factors 0-10) with 80% accuracy across four consecutive attempts, as measured by teacher-created assessments and classroom work samples."

This IEP goal focuses on the student achieving a 4th-grade Essential Standard that is also a prerequisite for 5th-grade Essential Standards in fractions and middle school algebra. The IEP will be shared with the student’s general education teacher to ensure that both educators are focusing on the same Essential Standard for the student, in the classroom as well as during the student’s intervention time.

9th Grade Algebra Intervention Plan:

Striving to close a multi-year learning gap for any student requires creating a scaffolded access to “bridging grades” between the student’s current level of understanding and the ending grade-level goal. To assist a 9th grader in algebra currently working at a 5th grade level in math, a fully comprehensive IEP would include an annual goal with several detailed quarterly benchmark objectives, along with specific accommodations and modifications, rather than the more simplified example of an intervention plan and IEP presented below. 

This scaffolding to “bridging grades” includes the blending of a foundational focus on Grade 5 math Essential Standards, the inclusion of related middle school learning progressions as necessary “building block” prerequisites for algebra, and a modified focus on Grade 9 algebra Essential Standards. 

Foundational Focus ~ Grade 5 Essential Standards:

• Multiply and divide fractions
• Understand decimal place value

Middle School Learning Progressions: 

• Writing and evaluating expressions with variables (Grade 6)
• Operations with integers (Grade 7)
• Solving one- and two-step equations (Grade 7)
• Understanding slope as rate of change (Grade 8)

Modified Focus ~ Grade 9 Algebra Essential Standards with Quarterly Checkpoints:

• Q1: Operations with fractions, decimals, and integers 
• Q2: Writing and simplifying algebraic expressions 
• Q3: Solving one- and two-step equations 
• Q4: Graphing and interpreting linear functions 

Example of a simplified IEP: “(Name of student) will progress from current 5th grade performance toward 9th grade algebra standards by solving problems involving rational number operations, algebraic expressions, linear equations, and basic linear functions, improving from [X%] to [Y%] accuracy as measured by classroom assessments and progress monitoring, along with quarterly checkpoints.”

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7th Grade Reading Intervention Plan:

Question: “How do I decide what's crucial for ‘mastery’ of Essential Standards versus what may only prove to be ‘exposure’ to those standards when my students need so much more time on foundational reading skills at their current levels of understanding? For instance, if a 7th grader is reading at a 3rd-grade level, do we focus on 7th-grade Essential Standards or 3rd-grade Essential Standards? Both? How do we make that call?”

This is one of the most challenging questions educators deal with when planning interventions for students with special learning needs. The answer isn't either/or—it requires a strategic “both-and” approach based on each student's profile.

Focus on the BLENDING of:

1. Foundational skills the student is missing (3rd-grade reading skills)
2. Scaffolding of related Essential Standards in “bridging grades” 

Here’s an example of IEPs with an intervention plan to assist a 7th grade student who is currently reading at a 3rd grade level and struggles with decoding multisyllabic words and comprehension:

Focus 60-70% Instructional Time on FOUNDATIONAL Skills:

• 3rd-grade Essential Standard: "Decode multisyllabic words using knowledge of syllable types and patterns"
• Initial IEP Goal:  "(Name of student) will decode multisyllabic words with 85% accuracy using syllable division strategies."
• Why: Missing foundational skills will cause huge gaps in student learning that are certain to impact student understanding in all content areas. Without foundational skills, students are unable to access any grade-level content independently.

Focus 30-40% Instructional Time scaffolding Essential Standards in “BRIDGING GRADES”:

• Grades 4 and 5: "Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words." 
• Grades 6 and 7: “Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade-level reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies." 
•  Modified Approach: Use 3rd-grade level texts with 7th-grade thinking skills and accommodations (audio books, calculators, visuals).

Create a strategic plan that builds the lower-grade foundation while providing scaffolded access to the “bridging grades” and current grade-level Essential Standards.

Goal 1 Foundational IEP: "By May 2026, (student’s name) will decode grade 3-5 multisyllabic words with 90% accuracy using syllable division strategies, as measured by progress monitoring checks administered bi-weekly."

Goal 2 Modified IEP: "By May 2026, when provided with audio-supported 7th-grade informational text, (student’s name) will determine the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 7 reading texts with 80% accuracy across four consecutive assessment checks." 

As the student’s decoding improves, the audio support can gradually be reduced for increasing independence. The emphasis shifts based on the student's age, gap size, and learning progress, but the “both-and” approach of foundational along with modified ensures that students gain both the foundational understandings and the critical thinking skills they need to develop. 

Essential Standards aren't just about focusing on fewer standards; they're about ensuring that we focus on the standards that matter most for ALL students’ ultimate success, supporting them in their learning journey from where they currently are to where we want them to eventually be.

I hope this blog post offered you practical strategies for using Essential Standards to assist students with learning disabilities. In my next blog post, I’ll delve into the equally important FAQs of how Essential Standards can assist educators of multilingual learners. 

For more in-depth information on Essential Standards, including several powerful testimonials from district leaders as to the benefits of aligning standards across the grades, here’s the link to Volume One of my Integrated Teaching and Learning three-volume series: https://www.larryainsworth.com/#VolumeOne. If you are interested in scheduling our Essential Standards workshop, here’s the link: www.larryainsworth.com/workshops. 

To receive continuing information about all the “timeless essentials” for creating integrated units of study, I hope you will subscribe to my free bi-weekly newsletter, “Integrating Teaching and Learning” by clicking on this link: www.larryainsworth-claritypathway.com 

I am always happy to answer questions you may have about Essential Standards and any of the other “timeless essentials” presented in the book series. Please feel free to contact me at either [email protected] or [email protected].