Reconciling an Ecological Curricular Framework Focusing on Quality of Life Outcomes with the Development and Instruction of Standards-Based Academic Goals

The emergence of the standards-based reform movement has raised a number of issues related to the design of educational programs for students with severe disabilities, and a debate has arisen that presents an “either/or” choice between the general education curriculum and an ecological curricular framework that has traditionally guided curriculum development. In this paper, the authors propose that, to adequately meet the needs of students with moderate to severe disabilities, an ecological approach focusing on quality of life outcomes must be reconciled with the development and implementation of standards-based academic curricula. To accomplish this reconciliation, the authors recommend that individualized education plan teams engage in a process that allows them to work within an ecological curricular framework to develop standards-based goals that reflect meaningful knowledge and skills that are tailored to students' individual needs and applicable to their everyday lives. They propose that quality of life goals expand beyond home, friendships, community participation, and work to include academic goals that are life enriching and promote lifelong learning that can be linked to a broader range of subject area domains in the core curriculum. In addition, they suggest instructional approaches that promote effective instruction and generalized outcomes for both academic and functional skills. Finally, they outline a number of issues that require additional reflection, discussion, and research.