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Curriculum Modification in Inclusive Classrooms

Planning Meaningful Access, Participation, and Progress

“While the provincial curriculum is appropriate educational programming for most students, some students have intellectual developmental disorders or intellectual deficits that prevent them from accessing some or all of the provincial curriculum. Within Manitoba Education and Early Childhood Learning’s philosophy of inclusion, two instructional supports, modification and individualized programming, provide students with intellectual developmental disorder access to educational benefits, supporting meaningful involvement in the school community and promoting enhanced student well-being.”

— Supporting Inclusion, Modification and Individualized Programming in Manitoba Schools, Manitoba Education and Early Childhood Learning, 2023 🔗

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1

Appropriate Educational Programming in Manitoba

Plan for curriculum access

2

Defining Success Criteria

Understand the target

3

Planning for Engagement & Collecting Evidence
Gather fair, responsive evidence.

A Data Moment: What Do These Numbers Make Us Wonder?

If this work feels complex, it is because the complexity is real. These numbers help us understand why shared planning, clear criteria, and manageable tools matter.

Appropriate Educational Programming in Manitoba Schools

This session is grounded in Manitoba's framework for inclusive educational programming. This clarity matters because teachers need to know when they are differentiating, adapting, modifying, or planning beyond grade-level outcomes.



What is Curriculum Modification?

Definition

Curriculum modification is an instructional support that provides access to education for students with intellectual deficits who cannot meet standard curricular expectations - even with support.

Purpose

Unlike adaptations, modifications change the number, essence, or content of grade-level expected learning outcomes (ELOs) for a specific subject (Grades K–8) or course (Grades 9–12), so the learning goals match the student’s strengths, needs, and future plans.

Implementation

Modification is for individual subjects/courses, not the whole program.

It's documented in a Curriculum Modification Plan (CMP) each year.

Supports participation, belonging, and well-being for all learners.

Manitoba's Approach

Regulatory Framework

Anchored in Manitoba's Appropriate Educational Programming Regulation (155/05) under the Public Schools Act.

Human Rights Compliance

Programming must align with the Canadian Charter of Rightes and Freedoms and MAnitoba Human Rights Code.

Inclusive Policy Mandate

Schools are mandated to provide educational programming that accommodates diverse student needs.

Who is Curriculum Modification For?

Eligibility

  • The student must meet Criterion A for an Intellectual Developmental Disorder (IDD) diagnosis, as determined by a qualified healthcare practitioner.
  • The intellectual deficit must prevent achievement of enough learning outcomes, even with adaptations.
  • Is only considered when a student requires learning goals that are substantially different from grade-level expectations and cannot attain a basic understanding (1) or passing grade (50%), even with considerable ongoing adult support.

Not for

  • Students with other disabilities, such as autism, dyslexia or ADHD.
  • Students who can engage with grade level learning outcomes with support and adaptations.
  • Students who need fully individualized programming (these students have an IEP instead).

How Does Modification Work?

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1

Assessment

Team reviews strengths, needs, and data.

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2

Team Planning

Family, student (if appropriate), teachers, and specialists discuss need for each subject/course.

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3

Decision

  • Retain outcomes that are achievable.
  • Change outcomes for relevance or accessibility.
  • Delete outcomes that aren't suitable.
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CMP Documentation

All modifications listed in the Curriculum Modification Plan (CMP).

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Implementation

Teacher uses the CMP for instruction and assessment.

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6

Annual Review

Plan updated at least yearly.

Important Reminders:

1


We do not modify a student. We modify a subject or course.
A student may be eligible for curriculum modification, but suitability is considered course by course, based on whether the student can meet or approximate Limited understanding with adaptations and support.

2

Suitability Criteria:

Limited / 1 / 50–59% is still a passing grade.

Before considering CMP suitability, we need to ask:

- What would Limited understanding look like for this outcome?

- Can the student meet or approximate that level with adaptations and support?

- What evidence do we have?


Inclusive Assessment, Engagement, Grading & Reporting

Click on the links below to learn more about:

Engagement matters

If a student is engaging with grade-level outcomes, we can collect evidence (even if they need considerable support).

Assessment and Evaluation/ Manitoba Education and Early Childhood Learning 🔗

Manitoba grade scale anchor

"Limited" ("1" on the ordinal scale; 50% to 59%) is a passing grade; that is, the student is engaging with grade-level outcomes and is progressing, albeit with limitations requiring significant attention and support.

Assessment and Evaluation/ Manitoba Education and Early Childhood Learning 🔗

Achievement profile lens

Profiles describe achievement across the scale, including language such as:

  • "Requires considerable, ongoing teacher support …"
  • "Requires occasional teacher or peer support …"

And they clarify that references to "support / prompt / teacher support / peer support" do not refer to adaptations.

Achievement Grade Profiles/ Manitoba Education and Early Childhood Learning 🔗

What this means for inclusive assessment (K–12)

When assessing students (including ASD & co-occurring needs), always ask:

  • Is the student engaging with the outcome (even with significant support)? If yes, you can gather evidence toward a 1 / Limited level.
  • Which supports are universal scaffolding (available to anyone; not automatically "adaptations")?
  • Which supports become documented adaptations (planned changes to access conditions)?
  • What evidence will you accept so the grade reflects learning, not barriers (writing, reading volume, time pressure, sensory load, task completion)?

Unpacking Learning Outcomes using Taxonomies

Learning taxonomies help us understand the thinking demand of a curriculum outcome. By looking at the nouns, verbs, and level of cognitive rigor, teachers can define clearer success criteria, including what Limited understanding could look like. In this PD, we will use Bloom’s Taxonomy as our main tool, but other frameworks such as SOLO, Depth of Knowledge, and Fink’s Taxonomy can also help educators design instruction, assessment, adaptations, and modifications with intention.

Let's try it now:

1

In your group, choose one unit, cluster, big idea, or a few learning outcomes from your curriculum.

Ask: What is the essential understanding students are working toward?

2

Unpack the Learning Outcomes: Look closely at each outcome.

Underline the nouns.
These identify the key concepts or content students need to learn.
Examples: ecosystem, character, community, measurement, identity, probability.

Highlight the key verbs.
These identify what students are expected to do with the learning.
Examples: identify, describe, explain, compare, analyze, evaluate, create.

3

Identify the Cognitive Demand

As a group, identify the level of thinking required using a Cognitive Taxonomy. Ask: What level of understanding is the curriculum asking students to demonstrate?

4

Define Success Criteria Across the Grade Scale

Use the curriculum outcome, the key verb, and the cognitive demand to define what success could look like at each level.

4 — Very Good Understanding

3 — Good Understanding

2 — Basic Understanding

1 — Limited Understanding
To have more information about the grading scale, please visit Achievement Grade Profiles/ Manitoba Education and Early Childhood Learning 🔗

5

Plan for ALL

Once you have clear success criteria, use the Planning for ALL form.

Goals for All
What is the essential understanding all students are working toward?
This includes what Limited understanding could look like.

Goals for Some
What does deeper, more independent, or more connected understanding look like?
This may include Basic and Good understanding.

Goals for Few
What does extended, complex, or highly independent understanding look like?
This may include Very Good understanding.

6

Identify Modifications, If Needed

Ask: Which student may need a changed learning target?

If a student cannot meet or approximate Limited understanding with adaptations and support, consider how the outcome may need to be modified. Use verbs from a lower level of cognitive rigor to establish a more appropriate learning expectation.

Examples:

Analyze → Identify
Explain → Match
Compare → Sort
Evaluate → Choose and justify with support
Create → Contribute to a shared product
Write independently → Communicate using visuals, sentence frames, oral response, AAC, or choice-making

7

Identify Adaptations

Ask: Which supports remove barriers without changing the learning outcome?

Click on the form above to download the PDF 🔗

Click on the form above to download the PDF 🔗

Documentation & Reporting

According to Manitoba’s Standards for Appropriate Educational Programming (2022), a Student-Specific Plan (SSP) is a written document developed by a team to address a student’s unique learning needs. It serves as a planning, record-keeping, and communication tool, tailored for each individual student. Students with curriculum modification must have a Curriclum Modification Plan (CMP)

CMP (Curriculum Modification Plan)

Identifies retained, changed, or deleted learning outcomes based on student capacity and future goals.

Assessment

Student is measured against the CMP, not the full curriculum. CMP informs classroom routines, strategies and materials to ensure consistency and integration

Reporting

  • K–8: IEP box checked on report card if subject is modified.
  • 9–12: "M" (Modified) in course code.

Provincial Assessments

  • K–8: Students with modification write provincial assessments.
  • 9–12: Students do not write exams for modified courses.

Curriculum Modification Plan (CMP) and Tools

School divisions use a variety of tools and templates when developing Student-Specific Plans (SSPs). Many divisions, for example, use built-in templates in PowerSchool. Manitoba Education and Childhood Learning also provides CMP templates organized by grade level. Teachers should consult with their Student Services Administrators to determine which template and tool to use. Below are the tools provided by Manitoba Education and Childhood Learning:


Implementing the CMP in Classrooms

Bringing Plans to Life Through Intructional Practice

Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

Provide multiple means of engagement, representation, and expression to support all learners.

Differentiated Instruction

Modify process, content, and product to reflect student interests and readiness

Daily Plan Integration

CMP guides lesson design, routines, and materials used for students on curriculum modifications.

Graduation & Transition

As students approach graduation, transition planning helps them prepare for life after high school by connecting them to supports from provincial agencies and health authorities. This process is especially important for students with intellectual disability. Effective transition planning ensures students and their families have timely access to adult supports and services.

Early Planning

Transition planning starts early in high school

Student-Centered

Involves the student, family, and support team

Credit Accumulation

Earning at least 30 credits (including modified courses)

Diploma

Students may graduate with a regular diploma

Background Resource:

Click on the link below to dowloand the infographic

Appropriate Educational Programming (AEP)

Click on the documents below to access the provincial document:

In Manitoba, all students have the right to appropriate educational programming as outlined in Manitoba Regulation 155/2005.

For most students, Appropriate Educational Programming means access to the provincial curriculum. Some students may need additional supports to participate fully in classroom learning, while a smaller number may require highly individualized learning outcomes, either in addition to or in place of the provincial curriculum.

Appropriate Educational Programming is a collaborative process through which school communities design learning environments and provide the necessary resources and services to support the lifelong learning, social, and emotional needs of every student.For more detailed information, please explore the provincial documents from Manitoba Education and Early Childhood Learning by following the links provided below.

Feedback QR code

Please click the link below or scan the QR code with your device to share your thoughts on how I can better support your school. Your responses will serve as an assessment FOR learning, guiding me in identifying next steps to enhance how I support schools. The questions aim to clarify your professional learning needs and will be used exclusively for planning professional development initiatives throughout the school year.