Ohio’s Office for Exceptional Children is exploring policies to help districts ensure that their special education students meet new state requirements for the Ohio Core. The Ohio Core requirements provide three ways for students with disabilities to meet graduation requirements:

• As a part of the transition planning process an IEP team for a student with a disability may decide that based on the student’s post secondary goals he/she will complete the required Core coursework. If accommodations are needed in these courses, they should be indicated on the student’s IEP. The IEP team also may consider using education options described in the information about the Core coursework to assist the student in meeting the course requirements. Core coursework should be noted in the post secondary transition planning section under “Course of Study” on the student’s IEP.
• Based on the student’s goals identified in his or her post secondary transition plan, the IEP team may decide to use the opt-out provision for the required Core coursework. The student would complete courses needed to meet the goals for employment or post-secondary education indicated on his or her transition plan on the IEP. This should be noted in the post secondary transition planning section under “Course of Study” on the student’s IEP.
• The IEP team may decide that a student with a disability will meet graduation requirements solely by meeting the goals on the student’s IEP, as permitted by section ORC §3313.61(A)(1). This should be noted in the post secondary transition planning section of the student’s IEP.

For additional information on the Ohio Core go to education.ohio.gov and keyword search Ohio Core.

The newest Ohio Core outline and PowerPoint are available for downloading. Both of these documents can be downloaded:

New Ohio Core Outline

Ohio Core Power Point

Other Ohio Core resources can be found at the Ohio Department of Education's web site by using the search words "Ohio Core".

The 2008 Operating Standards, titled Operating Standards for Educational Agencies Serving Children with Disabilities, is now available on the Ed Resources Ohio web site. The new version of "Whose Idea Is This?" is posted on the Ed Resources Ohio web site website.

You may continue to use copies of the previous version of "Whose Idea Is This?" and do not need to throw these copies away. Once you have exhausted all of the older copies begin to use the July 2008 version. All districts must use the July 2008 version of "Whose Idea Is This?" at the commencement of the 2009-2010 school year.