Functional Curriculum at The Elementary School Level

Functional Curriculum
Functional Curriculum at the Elementary School Level

Amie Pizura
St. Bonaventure
December 7th 2015
Abstract
Functional curriculum is aimed at specific individuals being able to function in
society with less or no support. The individual may still need to live in an assisted living
home but as far as finding a job, learning how to pay bills, going grocery shopping,
writing thank you notes, learning how to dress and personal hygiene techniques should be
skills that are learned to be completed independently. Even though most do not think of
it the students who are participating in a curriculum focusing on their future trade is a
functional curriculum as well because they are working on a skill that they will be using
in their everyday profession. Society has made it clear that it is up to educators to make
student successful for the next phase of their life, whether it be a student living on their
own or simply learning how to feed them without assistance. Know that an educator can
make a difference in a childs life, and it all starts with the appropriate curriculum chosen.
Introduction
Curriculum has begun to get many different definitions since it was added into the
education vocabulary list. Curriculum is the backbone in our schools across America it is
what teachers need to deliver to students, and it is required by students to demonstrate to
the state that they are learning. Curriculum is a key element in the education process; it
scopes is extremely broad, and it touches virtually everyone who is involved with
teaching and learning (Finch & Crunkliton, 1999, p. 3). This quote is true for all
classrooms to be successful, but how does an individual who cannot function at the
average curriculum going to be successful in the classroom or outside of the classroom.
Before No Child Left Behind was established in 2002, curriculum was a lot looser than it
is today.
Curriculum should be designed to make every student in the classroom successful
and moving forward in his or her educational career and goals.
Curriculum development describes all the ways in which training
or teaching organization plans and guides learning. This learning
can take place in groups or with individual learners. It can take
place inside or outside a classroom. It can take place in an
institutional setting like a school, college or training center, or in a
village or a field. It is central to the teaching and learning process
(Rogers and Taylor 1998).
From this quote alone it can be noted that there is a lot of planning that goes into
developing any type of curriculum like; identifying what specific learning needs to be
taught, how the learning is going to take place, the delivery, and the
evaluation/assessment.
The percentage of students who are not able to handle their grade level standard
curriculum is small, but exactly what type of curriculum can we implement for those
students? Functional curriculum is the curriculum that is designed for the students who
are in the special education setting and cannot physically/mentally complete grade level
curriculum. Functional curriculum or life skills target skills like doing laundry, making a
grocery list, cleaning, doing simple math (balancing a checkbook) and all of the life skills
curriculum is making an individual independent in society.
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2002 and the Individuals with Disabilities Act
Amendments of 1997, both began to put more pressure on the special educators to come
up with an alternative curriculum for their students to be able to succeed in the classroom.
Do to the high demand on the core content (standard curriculum) teachers need to find a
way for students with moderate to severe disabilities who can benefit from functional
skill instruction, so they can in hopes stray away from the core standard curriculum
(Collins, 2007, p.3).
How do we decide if a student needs to be apart of the functional curriculum
instead of the standard curriculum? Is there a certain protocol that teachers need to
follow to get their students that they believe would succeed at a functional curriculum
involved? Once a student meets the qualifications for a functional curriculum how does
educators go about creating the appropriate curriculum for the student? Does this mean if
a student is apart of the functional curriculum does this qualify them for alternative
testing? These are just a few questions that were asked to elementary education teachers
who have implemented functional curriculum into their classrooms. The questions were
developed through observation of the classrooms and will be measured through
qualitative analysis of the overarching themes in the data of functional curriculum in

elementary classrooms.
Literature Review
Multiple names for a curriculum that is to prepare an individual for being
successful in the real world has many educators shaking their heads as to why
implementing it into a classroom in the United States causes such havoc. Life skills,
career education, functional skills are a critical factor for an individuals success,
especially if that individual has a disability. Life skills are not typically taught in
classrooms today is a rare occasion unless that classroom is a self-contained classroom.
Life skills are skills that are typically taught to young children before they are allowed to
enter school, and are done while the child is still at home. Implementing a life skills
curriculum for individuals with developmental disabilities, while learning essential
principles is ideal (Meyers, 2011, p. 142). Life skills are broken down into three
categories; daily living, personal-social skills and occupational guidance and
preparation (Brolin, 1982, p. 12) they are also intertwined with academic requirements
that are found in classrooms across the country.
Life Skills
Functional curriculum over the years has obtained multiple names for itself.
Brolin (1982) states career education focuses on the full development of
the individual and his/her ability to engage in all productive and
necessary work roles, whether as students, paid or volunteer workers,
in homemaking, avocations, or retirement, and in careers (p. 12).
How does career education, life skills, functional curriculum prepare an
individual to engage independently in society. The skills that are used

in this type of curriculum are second nature to an individual who does
not have a disability. The repetition we receive of brushing our teeth
for an example happens when we are in the early childhood
development.
Daily Living consists of preparing a simple meal for oneself, how to move to and
from residency to work and back, clothing care which is doing laundry, folding clean
cloths and putting them away, finances, any small home maintenance (cleaning), personal
needs, their civic duties/responsibilities. Personal-Social Skills mainly focuses on getting
the student to have confidence that they can complete a task given to them, how to
behave in public and at work, work on problem-solving and how to appropriately
communicate with the different individuals the student encounters in their life.
Occupational Guidance and Preparation will focus getting the student ready to go into
the community and work, what is expected of them, being on time, specific skills and
how to seek a job (Brolin, 2012, p. 12, 17-18). Collecting data on the students as they
begin to achieve the goals, can be done through discrete trials.
Discrete Trials
Discrete trials have begun to be implemented into Special Education; they are a
way for educators to college data on students who have autism. Ghezzi (2007) states,
that the essence of discrete trials teaching is control over the teaching situation (p. 669).
The trials are not different from typical teaching that happens in the general education
classrooms. The teacher has an ultimate goal in mind and is driving instruction so their
students reach that goal/standard. Data collection with discrete trials is important, it is
what drives the instruction or trials that a student completes and also assists in future IEP
goals as well as report cards.
There are many advantages to implementing discrete trials into classrooms today.
Discrete trials ultimate goal is to get students to become as independent, productive and
live a happy life, teaching basic skills and abilities such as attending, imitating,
following instructions, and answering questions (Ghezzi, 2007, p. 677). Discrete trials
can be implemented into any grade level, can be used with any curriculum (academic or
functional), and discrete trials can also be implemented into any classroom setting as
well. What makes implementing discrete trials into your classroom important, it
embodies many interventions that adhere to evidence-based teaching practices
(Gongola, 2012, abstract).
Discrete trials are typically implemented with students who have autism, it works
with the consistency autistic children need, it works on behavior situations, and is
individualized to fit the IEP goals and goals parents have for their child. Discrete trials
expand childrens skills, as well as strengthening the skills they already have mastered.
Discrete trials happen in five parts cue (technically called a discriminative stimulus),
prompt, response, consequence, and intertribal interval (Smith, 2001, p. 86). Through
discrete trials the transitions from elementary to middle school, middle school to high
school, and high school to society or to further education becomes easier on the child,
family and teacher.
Transitions
Students go through many transitions in their life; transitioning from being at
home daily to going to school everyday, elementary curriculum to middle school
curriculum, high school curriculum to being an independent citizen or from high school
to college. To make the dream of students with disabilities of living on their own,
possibly going to college, or having a job public schools partner up with a college,
community agency, or assistive living establishments to develop and implemented a life
skills curriculum for individuals with developmental disabilities, while learning essential
principles of delivering instruction (Meyers, 2011, p. 142). Transitions happen gradually
and are worked into the students schedule. Even transitioning from living at home with
the students parents to living on their own or to an assisted living establishment.
Students will take they learn in the classrooms and apply that to society, the Arc had a
kitchen, computer labs and several activity rooms that resembled real contexts where the
skills would eventually be applied (Meyers, 2011, p. 144).
Participants
The participants that were observed and interviewed for this research project were
three elementary classroom teachers. Each teacher is from a different elementary school,
but they are all within an hour radius of each other. All three teachers have worked in a
self-contained classroom with autism students. Since the elementary classrooms range
from kindergarten to 6th grade I contacted a wide range of teachers to see how functional
curriculum is used over a vast age group.
The first teacher I observed was an elementary teacher who teaches in a selfcontained classroom of 6 autistic boys 4 of the 6 are on a functional curriculum path and
are partaking in alternative state assessments. This teacher has been teaching in a rural
special education classroom for 10 years in upstate New York. She has always worked in
a self-contained classroom with severe disabilities. Her classroom is made up of students
who are bussed into the local BOCES School. Two of the students are currently being
mainstreamed for two core subjects with the hopes that they can transition back to their
home district. The other 4 students are working on some functional curriculum and 2 of
the students still partake in the state assessments, while 2 were approved for
The second special education teacher I observed is a teacher who used to teach in
the elementary setting and is currently working at the high school level and has been with
the same kids since they were 4. She has been in special education her whole career (28
years) and said she would not change her career choice for the world. Since she has been
with these students since they were very little she has watched them grow and go through
the functional curriculum implementation and preparation at the elementary level. She
has worked in a variety of self-contained classrooms 6:1:1 up to a 12:1:1. Her classroom
is set in a rural school district where the students are kept local and not bussed to another
school district through BOCES.
The last teacher that I observed transitioned out of the upper elementary special
education role to the high consultant special education teacher role. She worked at the
upper elementary level (5th, 6th grade) for 8 years in a self-contained classroom with
students who were emotionally disturbed and as well with students who had autism. Her
classroom was also in a rural district where students where typically from that school
district. The autism students she worked with were at the elementary level, and within
her classroom she said she had non-verbal students as well as verbal students. They
worked on brushing their teeth and hair, manners, feeding, other hygiene, putting dishes
in the sink, and asking for specific food or drink items.
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All three teachers were very welcoming me into their classroom, to observe and
ask questions about their teachings. I viewed their teaching styles of the functional
curriculum they established in their classrooms for their students. I also asked how they
came up with the functional curriculum they are currently using. Asking these special
education teachers how they established that their students needed to be placed on a
functional curriculum was a very important question.
Methodology
How the data will be collected and reflected upon in this research will be through
observation and a sit down interview with the classroom teacher. The classroom teacher
will be provided with questions prior to the observations. The questions consist of; as a
professional in your field, what is your background knowledge on functional curriculum,
why would you choose to have your student(s) on a functional curriculum path, do you
feel that the state has too much impact on what type of curriculum teachers are allowed to
teach students who do not have an IEP and are not capable of passing the standardized
state tests, as an educator how do you overlap the academic and functional curriculum,
what do you feel is an appropriate age for students to pursue a functional curriculum, how
time consuming as is it to switch over from the academic curriculum to a functional
curriculum for educators, how do you feel that with all of the new state requirements and
mandates for teachers how could it affect your scores if you have students on a functional
curriculum?
Curriculum is a major foundational element to effective schooling and teaching;
the word curriculum itself has many definitions in the education world. Most public
schools across the country have a set curriculum (guidelines) that educators must follow
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in order to meet their schools requirements towards graduation. Educators spend

countless hours on structuring, organize, and delivering courses in ways that facilitate or
accelerate student learning (Abbott, 2014, paragraph 3). The standard curriculum is
aimed at educating students towards the next grade level that they will be entering and
the ultimate goal of going to college or work force.
Looking at the Common Core State Standards it is shocking to see what students
today are required to accomplish during a school year. The Common Core also is
beginning to reduce many teachers creativity inside the classroom, lessons are becoming
scripted that are produced by the state and it is placing a lot of stress on teachers and
students. Common Core is now becoming the basis of all of the standardized tests
questions, which is requiring students to engage in deep thinking and learning, analyzing,
along with knowing more complex vocabulary terms as well as procedures for solving
problems. Students who are being taught the standard curriculum have been put through
many deep thinking and learning they have been taught that all year long. Common Core
was not implemented correctly and has caused many students anxiety to increase. How
does Common Core fit the needs of students with disabilities and except them to analyze,
have deep thinking, when some are non-verbal and are below grade level? How does a
teacher prepare his/her students for these standardized tests which are a requirement by
the state and that every student must complete?
Not every child has an equal talent or an equal ability or equal motivation, but
children have the equal right to develop their talents, their abilities and their motivation.
-John Fitzgerald Kennedy (Department of Education, 2008, p. 1). Kennedy (2008)
states how important it is that curriculum should fit the child and not the child fit the
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curriculum. As many special educational programs and alternate services realize that the
needs of their students should be met through a curriculum that enhances the
independence of individuals (Department of Education, 2008, p.1). The main goal of
school is to make every student successful so they are ready for the world that comes
after grade school. With this being the ultimate goal of public schools, they should want
to adapt to each childs needs even if that means adapting the curriculum to make certain
children more successful out in the world. Exactly what do teachers do when their
students cannot meet the Common Core Standards for their age/grade level, even the
modified standard curriculum does not fit their needs either? What plan of action do
teachers have to display to show that their students should be placed on a functional
curriculum path when the results will show what the teachers already know?
Functional curriculum was created as a choice for educators to implement for
students who are identified as having moderate, severe or profound impairments in
cognition and serve deficits in adaptive functioning as evaluated through the
comprehensive assessment process (Department of Education, 2008, p. 7). Functional
curriculum is a curriculum that is designed to help an individual function independent or
as close to being independent in society. These skills would include community access,
financial, independent living, transportation, social relationships, and hygiene (Bouck,
2009, p. 1) as well as career development, personal development/interpersonal skills,
and functional academics (Department of Education, 2008, p. 7). Establishing a
functional curriculum includes the students goals and dreams that are subject to change
year to year, also these dreams and goals are targeted through the IEP goals that are
written.
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Functional curriculum MUST include skills from each of the domains listed prior
to ensure that the students functional curriculum is a well-rounded program. When
establishing a functional curriculum, educators should ask themselves how these skills
will be used, under what circumstances, why and when the skill is needed and how will it
lead to greater independence for the student through childhood, youth, and adulthood
(Bender, Valletutti, & Balgin, 1999, p. 6). Functional curriculum puts a large focus on
enhancing independence now (feeding, going to the bathroom or saying their name) or in
the future (obtaining a job, living independently) depending on the age of the student, and
at age 14 the student is the one who begins to speak on their behalf of what their goals
and dreams are for the upcoming year.
Some educators think that when you implement a functional curriculum you are
tossing out the standards. A functional curriculum still uses the academic curriculum
(math, reading, social studies,) and the standards to create lessons but the lessons are
created at the students academic level. An example would be grade 8 standard: students
will use, interpret, and analyze informational text to locate information for school or
personal use. Grade 8 activity, is to read a biography about JK Rowling and identify facts
about her in a book report. Sarah will read a city bus schedule and locate the correct
buses to get from her job to school (Wickahm, p. 18). Her teacher can alter how Sarah
will read the book to making her listen to the book on tape and illustrate what those main
points are to meet the functional curriculum needs.
Students who partake in a functional curriculum typically have an alternate
assessment or qualify for ungraded assessments. An alternate assessment is a method of
measuring the performance of students who are unable to participate in the standard form
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of assessment administered at the district or state level (Spinelli, 2012, p. 89). There are
only about 15% of students with disabilities who will not be included in state- or district
wide assessments, and these students will partake in an assessment where the teacher
must select three different assessments to show student progress in meeting content
standards that are more at their academic level, because 1% of each district can qualify
for the ungraded assessment. Spinelli (2012) states IEPs must document that an
alternative assessment is required because their disability prevents them from completing
a general education program, even with program adaptations. Also, students must be
working on educational goals that are generally more closely aligned with independent
functioning that is verified in their IEPs (p. 89).
The No Child Left Behind Act put a lot of pressure on what type of assessments
students would be taking, even those with disabilities. NCLB requires states to raise
achievement levels of all students, including those with disabilities, some state legislators
and school administrators argue that the six million children receiving special education
services under the IDEA should be expect from these higher standards (Huber, 2004, p.
58). Even though the NCLB raised the achievement levels of all students some groups
like students who have a severe disability are not able to meet the standards. Not only are
students getting frustrated but teachers are also because how their students perform on
these standardized tests is now how teachers are being graded through APPR.
Curriculum is the core of the education system and it should be individualized as
best as it can be to fit more specific needs of students instead of towards the whole
population. The standard curriculum or the Common Core does exactly that; the standard
curriculum is aimed at students who can engage in deep thinking and learning in literacy,
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math, and social studies content for an average or above average students. It does not
meet the needs of those students who have a sever disability and are not functioning at
their appropriate grade level. Functional curriculum does that, it intermixes what
students need to be successful outside of the classroom as well as making sure that they
know simple academic skills to be able to be able to complete things on their own.
Presentation of Results
The responses from the self-contained 6:1:1 special education teacher are as
followed;
As a professional in your field, what is your background knowledge on functional
curriculum; It is very important to teach as much functional curriculum as possible along
with academics. The students I work with have many special needs and need to learn the
basic skills to be able to function in society. Reading and following directions, handling
money, filling out a job application, etc. are just as important to, if not more important to
special needs students. These are skills that one needs to know to be able to live on your
own or survive on your own.
Why would you choose to have your student(s) on a functional curriculum path; If my
students were displaying consistent data, displaying that they could not handle the
appropriate grade level curriculum. Students do not need to feel like a failure every day
at school, that is not what school is about. It is about preparing them for the real world
and if a functional curriculum will do that then I will collect the data and try my hardest
to pursue the appropriate curriculum for those students.
Do you feel that the state has too much impact on what type of curriculum teachers are
allowed to teach students who do have an IEP and are not capable of passing the
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standardized state tests; Yes the state does have too much impact on what type of
curriculum teachers are allowed to teach students. They do not realize the impact on
teachers, students and families that the standardized test does to even general education
students. If they could only experience what I do on a day-to-day basis with students
who have a sever disability and how it is not academically appropriate to let a student sit
through this anxiety filled exam. Parents and teachers should be able to collaborate and
decide on which curriculum is best for a student with a sever disability. When it comes to
minor disabilities (learning disability) the state impact is completely appropriate.
As an educator how do you overlap the academic and functional curriculum; I think it
depends on the student. In my opinion, there are some students who are really not going
to be successful with an academic curriculum and a functional curriculum would
probably be the most academically appropriate. While some students will do very well
with the academic curriculum with their alternative testing and accommodations and will
not need a different curriculum.
What do you feel is an appropriate age for students to pursue a functional curriculum; By
late elementary (4th, 5th, or 6th grade) if a student hasnt caught up to his/her peers
academically, its not likely going to happen at all. The general education curriculum
moves too quickly for many students with disabilities (and some who dont have
disabilities) plus, the curriculum is not always developmentally appropriate. I feel that
many students are learning how to give the correct answers, but not necessarily
understanding the material/concept/skill. You will be able to tell if a student needs a
different curriculum by the age of 5 or earlier because they have a sever disability, but
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another student you may not be able to tell until they are in 6th grade. Students may also
be able to complete elementary curriculum but could start to struggle in high school.
How time consuming is it to switch over from the academic curriculum to a functional
curriculum for educators; As an educator everything is time consuming. You first need to
train yourself so you know the functional curriculum. Workshops, conferences,
textbooks will assist in getting yourself to the functional curriculum. Just switching from
different ELA or math curriculums takes about a whole school year and is extremely time
consuming. Even implementing the Common Core (academic curriculum/modules) is
just as time consuming if not done properly through training.
How do you feel with all of the new state requirements and mandates for teachers, how
could having a student on a functional curriculum affect your score of how effective you
are as a teacher; To the best of my knowledge, a functional curriculum is not an option.
We are all expected to follow the core curriculum. They have been working, at the state
level, to develop alternate assessment materials for the assessment, but have not
developed alternate curriculum for students who will be assessed. My students will not
do well on the state assessment; they havent in the past and the gap only constitutes to
grow between their skills and abilities and the test requirements. I wont be the only
teacher who has students that continue to fail these tests. Schools are reluctant to move
students from regular assessments to alternate assessment because alternate assessment is
suppose to be for a very small percentage of the school age population. Districts have to
petition the state for permission to go over that percentage. I am not concerned with my
job and would not push parents towards anything unless I felt it was best for the student.
Kids need the academic curriculum and that is what we got our certification in so that is
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our job. What is necessary is finding a common ground for those students who are not at
their appropriate age level.
Self-Contained 12:1:1 special education teacher
curriculum; Ive been teaching life skills/functional curriculum for 28 years. Currently
the school I work at uses the live centered education (LCE) as a curriculum guide.
Why would you choose to have your student(s) on a functional curriculum path; I believe
that they need to learn how to function as independently as possible in the future. This
will entail them finding and holding a job, living on their own as independently as
possible, conducting their own personal hygiene, shopping for food and other necessities,
knowing what rules to follow, getting to and from work using public transportation,
balancing a check book, using money, cooking, feelings, telling time, etc.
standardized state tests; Yes! I truly believe that we should have high expectations for all
kids, however making them feel like failures after taking the state tests is ridiculous.
Parents play a big part in deciding if their child takes the state assessments. If a parent
knows that their child is going to do poorly they can push for an alternate curriculum and
assessment for their child. There is a 1% cap on the special education alternate
assessment per district can be apart of the alternate assessments. If the district has more
than 1% will get docked.
As an educator how do you overlap the academic and functional curriculum; The
functional curriculum is academic. It includes math, reading, writing and social studies.
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The curriculum is targeting the students needs, so if a student is reading at a 1st grade
level they will do 1st grade sight words but they might be 13 years old. This also is a
push from the parents as well.
What do you feel is an appropriate age for students to pursue a functional curriculum; I
think it should be taught from day one it's easy/natural to combine academics and
functional curriculum especially when the students are little. When they were 5 we taught
them how to cut, brush their teeth. The students would do the same curriculum as the
general education students; they did math and English Language Arts programs that were
implemented by the district. In elementary the students had stations that they rotated
through and reviewed on previously taught skills like the alphabet, did sight words.
How time consuming, as is it to switch over from the academic curriculum to the
functional curriculum for educators; I do not think its a matter of being time consuming,
but you do have to change your way of thinking when it comes to implementing a
functional curriculum. The students are still exposed to the curriculum, because you have
to give them all opportunities. The behavior specialist began to come in towards the end
of 6th grade and that is when we began to transition the students towards the LCE
curriculum (life skills/functional curriculum).
are as a teacher; I will be rated ineffective most likely because of the people rating me. It
does not mean that I am an ineffective teacher, I am teaching my students skills that they
will need to know for the future like obtaining a job, learning to care for them as far as
hygiene and cooking a meal for themselves.
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Self-contained 8:1:1 special education teacher

curriculum; Its a necessity, prior to cognitive skills. Teaching them to dress themselves,
brush their teeth, feed them. I worked with autistic children who needed to be on a
functional curriculum at school. It is almost like raising a toddler again teaching them the
basic skills to be independent but to a 5 year old.
Why would you choose to have your student(s) on a functional curriculum path; If the
students do not learn indecently they should be placed on a functional curriculum path
that includes how to feed, bath, take care of themselves, cook, clean and eventually find a
job.
standardized state tests; Absolutely, the state should not make decisions for the teachers
who know what their students needs are over any other entity. If a special education
teacher knows that their students will not be successful at a straight academic curriculum
allow the teacher to make the executive decision to switch curriculums and not be
questioned.
As an educator how do you overlap the academic and functional curriculum; It is
combined, but can be isolated as well. Discrete trials can be done through academic and
functional as well. Functional curriculum is just as important as academic curriculum,
because the students are learning skills that they need for the rest of their lives.
What do you feel is an appropriate age for students to pursue a functional curriculum;
Right from the beginning functional curriculum should be implemented. If you know a
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child is struggling with the standard curriculum, make the adjustment to providing them
with real life situations that would be covered in functional curriculum.
How time consuming, as is it to switch over from the academic curriculum to a functional
curriculum for educators; Functional curriculum is very time consuming. There is a lot of
prep involved in functional curriculum. You are asked to bring the real world into the
classroom for these students, and not many general education teachers realize that.
are as a teacher;
Observation Notes from the three classrooms I visited; Functional curriculum is more
practical and it is more tangible for a student to learn. At the same time it is difficult to
assess unless you conduct discrete trials. They need to reevaluate the teachers based off
the students the teachers have. An example would be having two qualifications for a
special education teacher is being rated the same as a general education teacher. The
special education teacher is obviously working with students who are struggling with the
content or are below grade level. Special education teachers cannot be defined as an
effective teacher when their job titles are different as a general education teacher.
Self-Contained 6:1:1 classroom on October 23rd 2015:
This is a 6:1:1 classroom with 6 autistic boys in the room. Each boy is at a
different academic level in all the subjects. Two of the boys do have English Language
Arts together, which they would read, discuss comprehension questions together as a
group and write a short response. As far as math each student does his own thing. Two
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of the students mainstream into the general education classrooms for global, math and
science.
The classroom environment is very calm and welcoming. Mrs. White has
everything planned out for each student daily and weekly. I believe that she has a great
classroom management. There are 4 other paraprofessionals in the room along with the
classroom teacher.
What I observed within the classroom was students doing their own thing. They
were completing simple math like addition, subtraction, multiplication telling time,
identifying coins, and money. A student who was being mainstreamed was completing
his math homework. The students for math worked on their drawer work; each student
has a drawer that contains their math sheets they must complete for the week and they
can complete them at their own pace, other activities (matching coins to money amounts
by placing correct change on a Velcro strip), on the computer system IXL or flashcards.
For reading the students worked in groups, or one-on-one with a paraprofessional. All
students except one student were reading below grade level. Two young boys were
having Harry Potter read to him and would complete comprehension questions together.
The functional skills that I saw were completed was that Mrs. White would have
the students work on their hygiene skills (brushing their teeth, washing their hands before
and after meals, putting on deodorant), their manners saying please and thank you. A lot
of social stories were used to establish the schedules and some issues that were being
dealt with students in the classroom. The students were very calm throughout the day.
Since the students are at the age were they are going to begin to transition into career
paths through their IEPs they still are working on telling time, simple adding and
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subtracting, money and following directions in science. The students did write and
reflect on their day and how they could improve for tomorrow.
Being in this classroom for a few days has allowed myself to what functional
curriculum was implemented into this classroom. This classroom is in a county near my
hometown and the students in this classroom are bussed in from other school districts to
this local BOCES establishment. Mrs. White is a very established teacher, she is very
organized, knows her content, how to make the students reach their full potential and
manages her paraprofessionals very well. She is constantly viewed as an ineffective
teacher because only two of her 6 students are qualified for the alternate assessment. She
does not like test week and informs the parents that if they choose to keep their student
home that week then that is fine because their anxiety increases, and they have to fill in
something on their answer sheet and it is very difficult to keep them focused during the
duration of the math, science, and English language arts test.
Self-Contained 12:1:1 Classroom observed on November 1st 2015
The observation was conducted over a span from September to November. In this
classroom there are 12 students who are autistic, some are non-verbal while some are
very high functioning. There are also 5 paraprofessionals, and one classroom teacher
inside this classroom. This is a very busy classroom; the students are constantly moving
and active. The students are the ones who rotate through stations and the
paraprofessionals are the ones who stay at their assigned station. The students work on
telling time, making change, writing checks, cooking, doing laundry, cleaning, hygiene,
sight words on multiple things like grocery items, colors, etc.,
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The students do work on core requirements math, English Language Arts, and
history. The students work one-on-one with Ms. Angie on these subjects or they work in
a small group. The students work at their academic level even if that is multiple grade
levels below what their age is. The information that is delivered to the students is at their
Lexile level and comprehension level. For math the students work on a specific topic one
day at a time. Especially in math the students activities are geared towards real life
situations that they would experience in the real world. The students also work
independently on computer programs for English Language Arts and math.
The students also work on cooking, cleaning, laundry, hygiene and some are
beginning the processes of filling out their questionnaires about what their interests are as
far as jobs they would be interested/qualified to do. The teacher also does discrete trials
on the students to keep accurate data on the students as well as making sure that the
students are achieving the live centered education goals.
The students go to school year round (summer school) this way they do not lose
the information their teachers have worked so hard at during the school year. Even
though Ms. Angie said a lot of them have digressed in the couple weeks they had off in
between summer school and when school started. For the few months that I have
observed in this classroom the students are making small gains on a daily basis. There
are some days that they do have a few set backs and that could be because of something
that is happening to them in the environment.
Ms. Angie is a very knowledgeable teacher on functional curriculum. She knows
how important repetition is for children with autism. While a child without a disability
may have to be introduced to a new skill 5 or 6 times a child with autism will be
25
introduced to a new skill their whole life to make sure they do not regress on that skill.
The paraprofessionals are very active in this classroom they are good with all the students
they work with. I think that since Ms. Angie has been teaching for 28 years she knows
how to work with paraprofessionals and her best strategy to use them effectively in her
classroom is to rotate the students through stations to each paraprofessional. She has
only 3 students who qualified for ungraded assessments, and one of them just got
approved.
Self-Contained 8:1:1 Classroom observed on November 1st 2015
This is a special education classroom that is designed for students with sever
autism. There are 8 students with 5 paraprofessionals and one classroom teacher. These
students range from students who are nonverbal and verbal as well. The students are on
all different academic levels. Some of the students need to have their diapers, have food
fed to them, as well as teach them how brush their teeth, brush their hair, how to hold a
writing you tensile or to push a button on their iPad to assist them in talking.
This classroom does a lot of whole group activities because the students are all at
the same skill level. The activity that I observed was the students working on their
numbers doing the dot counting system. The students who could hold a dabber would
dab the circles as the counted. The students who were no verbal would use their iPads to
communicate what number it was based off of the pictures that matched.
Talking to Ms. Beth there is a lot of prep that she has to do every day before her
students come into the classroom. She also may have a whole day planned out but if a
student comes in upset and disrupts her classroom her plans go out the window. Working
with students who have autism is very challenging and rewarding at the same time.
26
When a child finally is able to achieve a long-term goal that is something to celebrate.
When a child comes into the classroom all-distraught, anything can happen and it will
cause the student to not be able to focus for the day. Those are the days that make you
question why you went into special education, but then the next minute the students are
all smiles and make you realize that it was all worth it in the end.
As far as the functional curriculum that these students complete, include brushing
their teeth, combing their hair, dressing, feeding, hygiene, manners, tying shoes, to
eventually cooking, stocking shelves, cleaning (vacuuming, dusting, etc.) and those skills
will eventually transfer into the volunteer opportunities that the students will experience
out in the community.
This classroom has a lot of support do to the severity of the student disabilities in
the classroom. It is important that the classroom teacher modifies any activity to allow
the student to succeed as independently as possible.
Analysis of Findings
After observing the classrooms and conducting personal interviews with the
classroom teachers about functional curriculum and how they implement it in their
classrooms the overall common theme was that functional curriculum should be started
from day one with students, teaching them how to brush their teeth, hair, dress
themselves simple everyday tasks. One teacher quoted that it is almost like raising a
toddler again teaching them the basic skills to be independent but to a 5 year old.
Looking at all of the common themes throughout the questions that were asked of these
special education teachers this is what was found,
27
Question 1: As a professional in your field, what is your background knowledge

on functional curriculum? Functional curriculum is a necessity and very important, just
like cognitive skills are. Functional curriculum is also called life skills and that consists
of brushing their teeth, hygiene, cooking food, getting dressed, feeding themselves.
Question 2: Why would you choose to have your student(s) on a functional
curriculum? Students do not need to feel like they are failures everyday because of the
curriculum they are learning. Collecting consistent data will be able to demonstrate that
the students are not succeeding with what is being implemented and something needs to
change. Students need to know how to feed, bath, take care of themselves, cook, clean,
find jobs eventually.
Question 3: Do you feel that the state has too much impact on what type of
curriculum teachers are allowed to teach students who do have an IEP and are not capable
of passing the standardized tests? Absolutely the state has way too much impact on the
curriculum. Teachers know what their students need, they along with their parents should
be the ones to decide what curriculum their child/student should be placed on. The state
should come into a special education teachers classroom and experience what they do on
a day to day basis with trying to implement the rigorous academic curriculum to students
who have a sever disability. Its very heartbreaking to watch students fail year after year
because the state put a 1% cap on how many students can complete an ungraded/alternate
assessment.
Question 4: As educators how do you overlap the academic and functional
curriculum? Academic and functional curriculums are intertwined. Students work on
math, English, history, science, writing in both functional and academic curriculum. In
28
functional curriculum the students are also learning life skills. Functional curriculum is
targeting students needs. An example would be if a 10 year old is reading at a 1st grade
level typically the sight words that would be covered are 1st grade words. Teachers need
to find exactly what curriculum is academically appropriate for the student and design a
plan as to what exactly needs to be covered in that academic school year.
Question 5: What do you feel is an appropriate age for students to pursue
functional curriculum? Typically it should be started from the beginning, but if the
student is not caught or slips through the cracks no later than 4th, 5th or 6th grade. It is
very easy to make adjustments as far as how much academic curriculum and functional
curriculum a student receives as the year goes on. All teachers know that the general
education curriculum moves very quickly and it is easy to spot the students who are
struggling and falling behind. Functional curriculum is about providing students with
real life situations.
Question 6: How time consuming is it to switch over from the academic
curriculum to the functional curriculum for educators? All curriculum planning is time
consuming but functional curriculum takes a lot of prep time. Teachers are asked to bring
in the real world into the classroom, which is what many general education teachers do
not realize. Training yourself on what functional curriculum needs to be covered can be
sought out through workshops, textbooks, conferences, etc. Implementing a curriculum
does not happen over night, it takes months and years to implement a curriculum
correctly.
Question 7: How do you feel with all of the new state requirements and
mandates for teachers, how could having a student on a functional curriculum affect your
29
score of how effective you are as a teacher? All three stated that they would be rated
ineffectively most likely because of the rubrics they are being rated on. It does not mean
that I am not a good teacher, and it would not be the first time my students failed a
standardized test. I believe that special education teachers should be scored differently
than teachers who are in a general education classroom. Special education teachers are
working with students who are struggling with core content or are below grade level.
They cannot be held to the same expectations as a general education teacher as far as
scores.
This data is significant because three random teachers who do not teach in the
same building nor do they know each other, were interviewed and observed for this
research paper. What was shocking was all of their responses to my questions were very
similar. It is an eye opener to see that three special education teachers that feel the same
way about how much mandate the state puts on special educators and the students they
teach. Functional curriculum should be incorporated into every classroom whether
students need it or not. One special education teacher I interviewed said that functional
curriculum is a necessity just like cognitive skills are a necessity.
Since Common Core is now the basis of all of the standardized tests questions in
all subjects, it is requiring students to engage in deep thinking and learning like
synthesizing, or critical thinking. Now, what happens to the students who are falling shy
of understanding the deep learning and thinking or those students who are completely off
the mark and will never be on their appropriate grade level? In reality there is no
preparation for a standardized test, unless teachers are repeatedly drilling their students
30
with old tests. Does a teacher prepare a student who is 3 years behind their expected
grade level the same way he/she does with students who are on grade level?
Reality is that, if a student has that much of a gap between the actually grade level
the child should be in and what level academically they are functioning at; there will be
talk of switching the curriculum the child is currently in. The curriculum change could
change from standard curriculum to a more functional curriculum type or a modified
standard curriculum. This could consist of a fine-tuning on math skills (basic addition,
subtraction, dealing with money), writing skills and communication skills that would be
used more in their everyday life.
Discussion
The next steps for this research would be to possibly interview and observer more
special education teachers in western New York and possibly expand this search to the
whole state to see if other Special Education classrooms are the same and the teachers
feel the same way as these three teachers do. It also could be used to look and compare
other states and their special education programs. Is New York special education
department similar or different to other states, are there ways we can improve our Special
Education curriculum or implement? This research is to show the common theme that
Special Education teachers are effective teachers, as well as the functional curriculum
used in classrooms. Special Education teachers do know what they are doing, and that it
is not academically appropriate for some special education students to take standardized
state tests when they are not physically, or mentally capable of taking those strenuous
tests.
31
The impact on the researchers I did share the results with the three teachers that I
interviewed and shared some of their responses and what types of strategies, curriculum,
and data documentation like discrete trials were used. This is important for the Special
Education field because teachers are among a unique network system, to become a better
teacher you need to network and share strategies used within the classroom. Conducting
this research will allow myself to look at the three districts that these teachers work in
and implement the strategies, their comments, how they collect data into my future
classroom. Special education is the fastest growing area in schools today, it is important
that teachers know what other districts, schools, and teachers are doing for specific
students as far as curriculum. The field of education is always changing, it is important
that we as teacher stay up on the current styles and regulations. Being able to keep in
contact with multiple teachers from different school districts will allow for your views to
change on how to change and run your special education classroom.
There are a few possible discussions that can come about from this research topic.
Curriculum is always every changing in classrooms across the country. Private schools
do not have to comply with what states mandate and public schools from state to state are
not similar as far as what standards teachers much teach and go by. Even though
curriculum is constantly changing, students who have disabilities and those symptoms do
not change. Implementing a nation wide curriculum for students who have a disability
should be a priority even if it is within each state. The educators should be the ones who
creating this curriculum, not individuals who sit in an office who have never set foot in a
classroom. Teachers know their kids, they know what is best for them and allowing them
to implement the curriculum that will make each students successful.
32
Reference
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Creating Sound Futures. Journal of Learning Disabilities, p. 7-16.
Brolin, D. E., (1982). Life skills for independent living. Educational for all
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Department of Education (2008). Programming for individuals needs . [ONLINE]
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http://www.ed.gov.nl.ca/edu/k12/studentsupportservices/publications/Function
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Meyers, S. (2011). Life skills training through situated learning experiences: An

alternative instructional model. International Journal of Special Education,
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and Other Developmental Disabilities, 16(2), p. 86-92.
Spinelli, C. G., (2012). Classroom Assessment for Students. 3rd ed. New York:
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Valletutti, P., & Bender, M. (1996). A functional curriculum for teaching students
with disabilities (2nd ed.). Austin, Tex.: Pro-ed.
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Functional Curriculum at The Elementary School Level

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Functional Curriculum

Functional Curriculum at the Elementary School Level

qualitative analysis of the overarching themes in the data of functional curriculum in

individual to engage independently in society. The skills that are used

in order to meet their schools requirements towards graduation. Educators spend

Self-contained 8:1:1 special education teacher

Question 1: As a professional in your field, what is your background knowledge

Meyers, S. (2011). Life skills training through situated learning experiences: An

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