District Curriculum Accommodation Plan - DCAP

Monomoy Regional School District, in compliance with the Massachusetts General Law, has developed a District Curriculum Accommodation Plan (DCAP). The intent of this plan is to provide a guidance document for school staff to ensure that all students in general education classes are provided with the tools and strategies to be successful. The DCAP is aimed at assisting teachers and specialists in providing universally designed learning experiences to ensure that students will meet educational milestones through the use of various teaching modalities. The DCAP guidance document describes accommodations that are provided for students who need accommodations to access the content. According to Chapter 71, Massachusetts General Law: Section 38Q ½:

In 2025, existing instructional, leadership, and stakeholder committees and teams at each MRSD building reviewed our current DCAP, and compared it to DCAPs from other districts across the state, the Massachusetts DCAP law, and the district’s 2024-2028 mission, vision, and core values. Focusing on the core underpinnings of our district to provide a multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) so all students have equitable access to programs and curricula to reach their full potential, we have included the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) as the framework for our new DCAP.  We want to thank Acton-Boxborough Regional School District for providing approval to apply their model in our work.

The goal of the DCAP is to describe the strategies and resources that classroom teachers and specialists are expected to use to address the diverse learning needs of all students. Our goal is to create a learning environment where students receive a variety of identified supports and accommodations in order to access instruction and assessment. Accommodations may include, but are not limited to, adjustments in curriculum, teaching strategies, teaching materials, and the use of various assessments where students have multiple opportunities to demonstrate learning. Since we should utilize available general education supports and accommodations prior to referring a child for a special education evaluation, educators and MTSS teams should monitor the effectiveness of these strategies over time.

For students with existing 504 plans or IEPs, the team should ensure that any accommodations that are required due to the student’s specific disability should still be listed in the IEP or 504 plan, regardless of whether or not they are listed in the DCAP and available to all students.  This ensures that if students leave MRSD to move to another district or graduate, the receiving school has the information necessary to develop an appropriate plan for that student.

“The instructional support system should consist of ongoing systematic efforts to accommodate any student’s learning needs within the general education classroom. Instructional support must be viewed as a viable intervention strategy; one that is expected to occur for any student encountering difficulties in learning.” (MA Department of Education, “Is Special Education the Right Service? A Technical Assistance Guide,“ pp. 5-6 3/01). The foundation of Monomoy’s DCAP is based on Universal Design for Learning (UDL).

Monomoy Regional School District employs a structured literacy approach to reading instruction, rooted in the science of reading, which emphasizes a systematic and cumulative approach to teaching reading skills. This method is designed to be explicit, direct, and diagnostic, ensuring that students develop a strong foundation in phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension (see MRSD Literacy Plan).

Direct instruction is an instructional approach that utilizes explicit and structured teaching routines. A teacher using direct instruction models, explains, and guides students through extended practice of a skill or concept until mastery is achieved. Direct, explicit instruction is appropriate for all learners, in all five components of reading, and across all settings, including whole group, small group, and one-on-one.  (Adapted from Florida Center for Reading Research)

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a research-based, concrete educational framework that helps guide the design of learning environments in order to make them accessible and effective for all. Through UDL, educators provide multiple means of representation (the “what” of learning), action/expression (the “how” of learning), and engagement (the “why” of learning). UDL can be applied to any discipline or domain and ensures that all learners have access to and the ability to participate in meaningful, challenging learning opportunities. The National Center on Universal Design for Learning describes the three UDL frames as follows: 

Multiple Means of Representation: Learners differ in the ways they perceive and make meaning of information. For example, those with sensory disabilities (e.g., blindness or deafness), learning disabilities (e.g., dyslexia), and those representing diverse or non-dominant cultures and/or languages all approach content differently. And these differing approaches must be honored and valued. Equally important is the consideration of how people, cultures, individual and collective identities, perspectives, and ways of knowing are represented within the content. Learning, and transfer of learning, occurs when multiple representations and perspectives are used because they support learners to make connections within, as well as between, concepts. In short, there is not one means of representation that will be optimal for every learner; providing options for representation is essential.

Multiple Means of Action/Expression: Learners differ in the ways they navigate a learning environment, approach the learning process, and express what they know. Therefore, it is essential to design for and honor these varying forms of action and expression. For example, all individuals, including those with disabilities, approach learning tasks very differently. Depending on the context, some may prefer to express themselves in written text but not speech, and vice versa. It should also be recognized that action and expression require a great deal of strategy, practice, and organization, and this is another area in which learners will differ. In reality, there is not one means of action and expression that will be optimal for every learner; options for action and expression are essential.

Multiple Means of Engagement: Affect represents a crucial element to the learning process, and learners differ markedly in what sparks their motivation and enthusiasm for learning. Learners must be able to bring their authentic selves to the learning environment and find connections to what matters most in their lives. The UDL framework emphasizes the idea of learner variability, and learners’ multiple and intersecting identities are an essential layer of fully recognizing the notion of learner variability. While we emphasize dimensions of identity as a part of the variability in this section on Multiple Means of Engagement, the essential role identity plays in learning is woven across all three UDL principles. Further, learners' interests and sources of motivation may vary depending on the context. Some learners may be highly engaged by spontaneity and novelty while others are disengaged, even frightened, by those aspects, preferring a strict routine. Some learners might like to work alone, while others prefer to work with their peers. And these preferences might vary from week to week or even day to day. In reality, there is not one means of engagement that will be optimal for all learners in all contexts; multiple options for engagement are essential.