Access courses are for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities. Access courses are designed to provide students access to grade-level general curriculum. Access points are alternate academic achievement standards included in access courses that target the salient content of Florida’s standards. Access points are intentionally designed to academically challenge students with the most significant cognitive disabilities. 

Students will participate in various hands-on STEM activities in this supplemental course to assist in the mastery of current grade level mathematics and science standards.

Instructional Practices 
Teaching from a range of complex text is optimized when teachers in all subject areas implement the following strategies on a routine basis:

1. Ensuring wide reading from complex text that varies in length.
2. Making close reading and rereading of texts central to lessons.
3. Emphasizing text-specific complex questions, and cognitively complex tasks, reinforce focus on the text and cultivate independence.
4. Emphasizing students supporting answers based upon evidence from the text.
5. Providing extensive research and writing opportunities (claims and evidence).

Science and Engineering Practices (NRC Framework for K-12 Science Education, 2010)

• Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering).
• Developing and using models.
• Planning and carrying out investigations.
• Analyzing and interpreting data.
• Using mathematics, information and computer technology, and computational thinking.
• Constructing explanations (for science) and designing solutions (for engineering).
• Engaging in argument from evidence.
• Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information.

English Language Development (ELD) Standards Special Notes Section:

Teachers are required to provide listening, speaking, reading and writing instruction that allows English Language Learners (ELL) to communicate information, ideas and concepts for academic success in science and math.  For the given level of English language proficiency and with visual, graphic, or interactive support, students will interact with grade level words, expressions, sentences and discourse to process or produce language necessary for academic success.  The ELD standard should specify a relevant content area concept or topic of study chosen by curriculum developers and teachers which maximizes an ELL's need for communication and social skills.  To access an ELL supporting document which delineates performance definitions and descriptors, please click on the following link:  {{AzureStorageLink}}/uploads/docs/standards/eld/sc.pdf.

Curricular content for all subjects must integrate critical-thinking, problem-solving, and workforce-literacy skills; communication, reading, and writing skills; mathematics skills; collaboration skills; contextual and applied-learning skills; technology-literacy skills; information and media-literacy skills; and civic-engagement skills.

This course supports students who need additional instruction in foundational mathematics skills as it relates to core instruction. Instruction will use explicit, systematic, and sequential approaches to mathematics instruction addressing all domains including number sense & operations, fractions, algebraic reasoning, geometric reasoning, measurement and data analysis & probability. Teachers will use the listed standards that correspond to each students’ needs. 

Effective instruction matches instruction to the need of the students in the group and provides multiple opportunities to practice the skill and receive feedback. The additional time allotted for this course is in addition to core instruction. The intervention includes materials and strategies designed to supplement core instruction.