Special education instruction is instruction that is specially designed to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability. This means education that is individually developed to address a specific child’s needs that result from his or her disability. Since each child is unique, education is individualized for each child.  

Below are curriculum supports and resources the Student Support Services Department provides, in addition to all of the given general education curriculum for a student's given grade level and standards, to help support each student's individual growth in their educational journey.

For each instructional resource listed, you will find "Quick Reference Guides", upon selecting the given support which provides information on what the purpose of each resource is, how to access the resource, training & support videos, as well as any additional resources and key information. The instructional resource Quick Reference Guides are organized by program areas.

General Education Instructional Materials

RISE

Reaching Independence through a Structured Environment - Program for students grades K-12  with significant cognitive and global delays. RISE is a service that focuses on academic and developmentally appropriate functional skills. This service addresses skills through intensive, hands-on learning and the use of researched-based strategies to meet the needs of individual students. Instruction is delivered with a low staff-to-student ratio. Opportunities for teaching the generalization of skills in other settings and environments are available. Placement decisions are determined by the student’s IEP (ARD) committee and based on the student’s individual needs.

**All below resources are offered for BOTH Elementary & Secondary RISE Programs**

BEST

Building Essential Skills Together (BEST) - Program for students K- 12th grade with significant communication and/or behavioral concerns due to Autism Spectrum Disorder or similarly impacting disabilities. Students will access and participate in the grade level Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) through activities scaffolded to individual student needs.  This service provides a high degree of structure and systematic use of research-based interventions to enhance instruction, develop communication skills, and manage student behavior.  Students are provided with targeted social and behavioral instruction along with meeting their academic needs.  An individual education plan is developed for every student based upon the student’s academic abilities along with developmental, communication, and social/emotional needs.  Placement decisions are determined by the student’s IEP (ARD) committee and based on the student’s individual needs.

Dyslexia

This instructional support is aligned with research‐based practices for developing literacy and is designed for students with basic reading difficulties, such as dyslexia. Interventions follow an intensive, explicit, and cumulative design for remediation of reading and writing skills at all grade levels.

TEC §38.003 defines dyslexia and related disorders in the following way: “Dyslexia” means a disorder of constitutional origin manifested by a difficulty in learning to read, write, or spell, despite conventional instruction, adequate intelligence, and sociocultural opportunity. “Related disorders” include disorders similar to or related to dyslexia, such as developmental auditory imperception, dysphasia, specific developmental dyslexia, developmental dysgraphia, and developmental spelling disability. 

Resource/ Inclusion

This instructional arrangement/setting is for providing special education and related services to a student in a setting other than regular education for less than 50% of the regular school day.  Inclusion – This special education service includes support to the student in a general education setting. The student's IEP must specify the services that will be provided by qualified special education personnel to enable the student to appropriately progress in the general education curriculum and/or appropriately advance in achieving the goals set out in the student's IEP. Placement decisions are determined by the student’s IEP (ARD) committee and based on the student’s individual needs.

**All below resources are offered for BOTH Elementary & Secondary Resource/ Inclusion Programs**

Solid Roots

Solid Roots (SR) - Program for students in Kindergarten through graduation with significant behavioral deficits. Solid ROOTs teaches necessary coping skills and strategies in order to help students to remain in the general education setting to the fullest extent possible.  Solid ROOTS is a campus behavior management system designed to empower students to take responsibility for their own behavior. Special education students receive instruction in a variety of settings from the general education classroom to the special education setting depending on student needs.  Students are provided behavior support by special education teachers and paraprofessionals. The system is designed to address the student’s presenting problems and work with the student to devise a plan of action; therefore providing an opportunity for students to practice appropriate classroom behavior. Solid ROOTS meets the challenge of teaching students with behaviors by providing a process that teaches students to change old habits of misbehavior through direct instruction and opportunities to practice the behavior in the general education environment.  Placement decisions are determined by the student’s IEP (ARD) committee and based on the student’s individual needs.

Elementary Solid Roots

Secondary Solid Roots

AIMES

Achieving Independence and Motivation by Empowering with Structure (AIMES) - Program designed to serve students in the grades of Kindergarten to Fifth Grade. These students have severe chronic behavioral difficulties that interfere with their ability to access the curriculum in the least restrictive environment. The program is structured to meet the various individual needs of each student and focuses on assisting students with appropriate behavior, academic growth, and social development. This is accomplished through participation in a highly structured, self-contained classroom setting, with direct and intensive instruction by AIMES staff. Placement decisions are determined by the student’s IEP (ARD) and AIMES committees (per the AIMES framework) and based on the student’s individual needs.

ESLE

Early Structured Learning Environment (ESLE) – This is a special education service for children ages 3 to 5 years old which focuses on developmentally appropriate skills that are scaffolded from the Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines.  Instruction is provided through intensive, hands-on learning and the use of research-based strategies to meet the needs of individual students.  Incorporated, along with the academic instruction, is instruction focused on functional and independent living skills (toileting, independence in eating / feeding, and other developmentally appropriate skills).  Daily activities are aligned with specific IEP goals and objectives and are designed to generalize to the school and community settings.  An individual education plan is developed for every student based upon the student’s academic abilities along with developmental, communication, and behavioral needs.  Placement decisions are determined by the student’s IEP (ARD) committee and based on the student’s individual needs.  The student is identified as having a disability and is eligible for special education services.  A student's disability has a more significant impact than mild language or articulation delays.

ACCESS 18+

Accessing Community through Career Environments for Student Success (ACCESS) 18+ Program  - Program for adult students ages 18-22 years of age who have completed all of their high school course work, yet still have IEP goals that they are working on to gain independence and employment.  ACCESS is designed to support students in applying the skills that they learned during their school years into the environments that they will be accessing in their adult lives. The goal of ACCESS is to ensure students have a meaningful and fulfilling life after high school. The program is designed to assist students and their families to build an adult schedule and begin putting it in place while still having support from the school. This includes focusing on Employment, Education/Training, Social Recreation & Leisure, and Independent Living. While slowly fading school supports, the needs of the student are identified and help families connect with agencies to provide support after high school. Our dream is for the student's last day of school to be a day of celebration, not a day of fear and uncertainty for parents and families. Placement decisions are determined by the student’s IEP (ARD) committee and based on the student’s individual needs.

Additional Extension Add-Ons for ALL PROGRAMS 

RISE, BEST, Solid Roots, AIMES, ESLE, Access 18+, Resource/ Inclusion

Below are curriculum supports and resources the Student Support Services Department provides, in addition to all of the given general education curriculum for a student's given grade level and standards AND the above curriculum supports provided to each given Special Program, to help support each student's individual growth in their educational journey. These are extension add ons that can be added/ used for any device using Chrome, iOs, etc.

**All below resources are offered for BOTH Elementary & Secondary RISE Programs**

Getting Started Resources for Special Programs

Below are support documents with resources, recommendations, etc. from the the Student Support Services Department to support "getting started" within your program. These resources are provided, in addition to all of the given general education curriculum for a student's given grade level and standards AND the above curriculum supports provided to each given Special Program, are to support each student's individual growth and classroom setting needs in their educational journey.