Is It Fair to Use Different Standards to Evaluate Students with Disabilities in the General
Education Classroom?
Attempts to answer this question often bring about heated discussions. Teachers lament, “Is it fair to
the other students in the classroom to award the same letter grades and course credit to an individual
who has not met the class performance standards?” General educators feel strongly about teaching the
content and adhering to the standards and, therefore, worry that having different standards for students
with disabilities will lead to a “watering down” of the curriculum or a lowering of standards. Yet, if
students with disabilities are involved in the Standards of Learning (SOL) curriculum and assessments,
they will be expected to learn the same content - not less content and fewer skills. With appropriate
classroom and testing accommodations in place, students with disabilities will be evaluated on the
same standards as the students without disabilities (see Appendix for examples of Testing
Accommodations). However, if students with disabilities are included in general education classrooms
for other reasons, such as to develop social skills or to participate with a modified or parallel
curriculum, they will be assessed on different standards (e.g., IEP goals and objectives, functional
curriculum) and participate in the Virginia Alternate Assessment Program (VAAP).