Special Education

The Extended Content Standard(ECS) program is designed for students who have a significant cognitive disability. ECS classrooms are typically smaller settings with fewer students so teachers are able to focus on specific individual needs. Students enrolled in the ECS classroom participate in an alternate curriculum called the Extended Content Standards of the North Carolina Standard Course of Study. This curriculum teaches the essential elements of the traditional course of study (English, Math, Science, Social Studies), along with addressing other educational needs to prepare students for real-life areas such as employment, independent living and recreation/leisure. 

Students enrolled in ECS are assessed on achievement in an alternate curriculum using the North Carolina Extend I Assessment.

Students enrolled in ECS leave high school with a Graduation Certificate, and participate in graduation exercises with their peers. Students in ECS do NOT receive a North Carolina Diploma. Students with disabilities, including those who are enrolled in ECS, are eligible to remain in school through the end of the academic year during which the student turns 22 years of age. (NC G.S. 1501-1.2)

Criteria for Placement

Extended Content Standards classroom is designed for students with disabilities who:

• Have a current IEP;
• Are instructed in the North Carolina Standard Course of Study Extended Content Standards in ALL assessed content areas; 
• Have a significant cognitive disability (i.e., exhibit severe and pervasive delays in ALL areas of conceptual, linguistic and academic development and also in adaptive behavior areas, such as communication, daily living skills and self-care.

Graduation Certificates & Participation for Students with Disabilities

The Occupational Course of Study (OCS) is available for those students with disabilities who are specifically identified for the pathway. OCS follows the standard course of study and meets the requirements for a NC HS diploma. OCS includes course work and requires the completion of 600 vocational training hours. OCS is intended to meet the needs of a small population of students with disabilities and focuses on post-secondary vocational skills, employment and independent living. The Occupational Course of study will be an appropriate alternative that is beyond the scope of services within the future ready core general education. Eligibility for participation in the Occupational Course of Study is determined by the Individual Education Program (IEP) Team, which includes school personnel,students, and parents.

EMPLOYMENT PREP I SCIENCE: This course is designed to introduce students to the fundamental attitudes, behaviors, and habits needed to obtain and maintain employment in their career choice and make career advancements. Students participate in school-based learning activities including work ethic development, job-seeking skills, decision- making skills, and self-management. Students are involved in on-campus vocational training activities such as school factories, work-based enterprises, hands- on vocational training and the operation of small businesses. Formal career planning and development of knowledge regarding transition planning begins in this course and continues throughout the strand of Employment Prep courses. Students will also begin their career portfolios and explore the six categories of employability skills.

EMPLOYMENT PREP II CITIZENSHIP 1A & 1B: This course emphasizes the development of skills generic to all careers including resource management, communication, interpersonal skills, technology, stamina, endurance, safety, mobility, motor, teamwork, sensory, problem-solving, cultural diversity, information acquisition/management, and self- management. This course focuses on providing students with a repertoire of basic skills that serve as a foundation for future career applications. Students expand their school-based learning activities to include on-campus jobs and begin some work-based learning activities. Job seeking skills also continue to be refined. Students must schedule 2 periods. Students will continue developing their career portfolios and begin to apply developing skills from the six categories of employable skills.

EMPLOYMENT PREP III CITIZENSHIP 2A & 2B: This course is designed to allow students to continue the development and begin the application of skills learned in Employment Prep I and II. Work- based learning activities are provided including community-based training, job shadowing, job sampling, internships, situational assessment, cooperative education, and apprenticeships. These work-based activities allow students to apply employability skills to competitive employment settings and demonstrate the effectiveness of their work personality. Multiple opportunities for leadership development and self-determination are provided. Students must schedule 2 periods. Students will continue work on their career portfolios and begin to independently apply skills mastered from studying the six categories of employable skills.

EMPLOYMENT PREP IV MATH: This course gives students the opportunity to synthesize all the skills acquired in previous Employment Prep courses and apply them to their personal career choice. This course allows students to solve work-related problems experienced in competitive employment, practice self-advocacy skills and master the theoretical practical aspects of their career choice. Students finish completing the 225 hours of integrated competitive employment in a community setting required for successful completion of the Occupational Course of Study. Students also develop a job placement portfolio that provides an educational and vocational record of their high school experience. Students will also engage in Person Centered/Driven Planning, and explore Federal regulations associated with public health in addition to finalizing career portfolios and transferring skills mastered from experience with the six categories of employability skills.

VOCATIONAL EXPERIENCE CAREER TRAINING: This course assists students in special education to develop entry-level job skills and competencies. The competencies include student assessment, career exploration, and employability skill development. After students identify job interests and develop job-seeking skills, they may be placed at a work site.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS ENGLISH I: This curriculum exposes students to content that is closely aligned with that of 9th grade English courses content. It focuses on the writing process to develop a product, the development of an understanding of appropriate presentation skills, the use of a variety of strategies to comprehend texts, the identification of examples of appropriate conventions in both written and spoken language, the analysis of cause-and-effect relationships, the understanding of literary elements, rhetorical techniques, and informational text, and the application of research tools and techniques to selected topics.

ENGLISH II: This academic world literature course is designed for the student who aspires to post-secondary community college or career experience. This class focuses on reading, writing, speaking and listening, and language. Writing instruction at this level focuses on mechanical correctness, fluency, and structure.

ENGLISH III: This curriculum focuses on the understanding of literary and informational texts, the use of appropriate communication skills, the creation of written products through the use of a template, the application of reading and comprehension strategies, the problem-solving process, cause and effect relationships to decision- making, and informational research for employment, post-secondary education/training, and independent living settings.

ENGLISH IV: This curriculum focuses on the application of literary and informational texts, the evaluation of communication between various audiences, the creation of written products without the use of a template, the application of reading comprehension strategies, the production of a plan to problem solve, the ability to attribute the impact of cause and effect, the generation of a viewpoint based on the analysis of a situation, and the creation of informational products for use in employment, postsecondary education/training, and independent living domains

MATH INTRODUCTION TO MATHEMATICS: This curriculum focuses on the understanding of rational numbers, the application of mathematical operations, the application of ratios, proportions, and percents to solve problems, the use of two- and three-dimensional figures, the application of time and measurement skills, the application of algebraic properties, the understanding of patterns and relationships, and the understanding of data in terms of graphical displays, measures of center, and range.

NC MATH 1A (ELECTIVE CREDIT): This course prepares students for the subsequent course, NC Math 1. Successful completion of both NC Math 1A and NC Math 1 will fulfill the NC Math 1 requirement. Students will receive two credits: NC Math 1A as an elective credit and NC Math 1 as the NC Math 1 CREDIT. The purpose of this course is to formalize and extend the mathematics that students learned in the middle grades. In conjunction with NC Math 1, this course deepens and extends understanding of linear relationships, in part by contrasting them with exponential and quadratic phenomena, and in part by applying linear models to data that exhibit a linear trend. In addition to studying bivariate data, students also summarize, represent, and interpret data on a single count or measurement variable. The geometry standards that appear in this course formalize and extend students’ geometric experiences to explore more complex geometric situations and deepen their explanations of geometric relationships, moving towards formal mathematical arguments. The Standards for Mathematical Practice apply throughout each course and, together with the content standards, require that students experience mathematics as a coherent, useful, and logical subject that makes use of their ability to make sense of problem situations.

NC MATH 1: The purpose of this course is to formalize and extend the mathematics that students learned in the middle grades. This course deepens and extends understanding of linear relationships, in part by contrasting them with exponential and quadratic phenomena, and in part by applying linear models to data that exhibit a linear trend. In addition to studying bivariate data, students also summarize, represent, and interpret data on a single count or measurement variable. The geometry standards that appear in this course formalize and extend students’ geometric experiences to explore more complex geometric situations and deepen their explanations of geometric relationships, moving towards formal mathematical arguments. The Standards for Mathematical Practice apply throughout each course and, together with the content standards, require that students experience mathematics as a coherent, useful, and logical subject that makes use of their ability to make sense of problem situations. This course fulfills the North Carolina high school graduation requirement for NC Math 1. The final exam is the North Carolina End-of-Course Test based on the NC Math 1 Standards.

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT: This curriculum focuses on personal financial management, independent living, state and local income taxes, wages and compensation, credit, types of insurance, and the application of math skills to consumer practices.

SCIENCE APPLIED SCIENCE: This curriculum focuses on the understanding of force and motion, of energy and its conversation, of electricity and magnetism, of the properties of matter, the identification of uses and dangers of common chemicals, the positive and negative effects humans have on the environment, and the human body’s basic needs and control systems.

BIOLOGY: This course is designed to develop student understanding of biological concepts and principles and promote an understanding of plant and animal processes from the cellular to the multi-cellular level. Laboratory work is an important part of each phase of the course.

FOUNDING PRINCIPLES OF THE USA AND NC: CIVIC LITERACY: Civic Literacy is the study and understanding of citizenship and government. Through the Inquiry-based C3 Framework, this one-semester course provides students with a sound understanding of civic life, politics, and government, including a short history of government’s foundation and development in the United States of America. Students learn how power and responsibility are shared and limited by the government, the impact American politics has on world affairs, law in the American constitutional system, and the rights that the American government guarantees its citizens. Students also examine how the world is organized politically and how to be an active participant in the American and global political systems. Students will study the foundations of American democracy and the origins of American government. The roles of political parties, campaigns & elections, public opinion, and the media will be analyzed to determine their effects on the individual and all who call the United States home.

ECONOMICS & PERSONAL FINANCE: The standards and objectives in the Economics and Personal Finance course will provide students the opportunity to engage in intensive application of the skills, concepts, processes, and knowledge gained in previous social studies courses and prepare them to be college, career, and civic ready.

OCS COURSES TAKEN ON NCVPS: These courses combine the expertise of the online teacher with the special education methods and strategies of the face-to-face teacher to ensure appropriate mastery of the curriculum standards for students participating in the OCS program.