Essential Elements
These elements, designed for students with significant cognitive disabilities, help bridge the gap between general curriculum standards and accessible academic expectations.
What are Essential Elements?
This Michigan-based program assesses alternate academic achievement standards in enrolled-grade content for students with significant cognitive disabilities.
What is MI-Access?
Michigan developed its own alternate content expectations for all subjects, but the term “Essential Elements” is primarily used for these two areas.
What are English Language Arts and Mathematics?
This committee performs reviews of MI-Access items to ensure they align with content standards and avoid bias.
What is the Content Committee?
This is the range developed by Michigan educators to represent the highest level of complexity for students assessed under MI-Access Functional Independence.
What is the high range of complexity?
This is the federal cap on the percentage of students who can participate in alternate assessments aligned with alternate achievement standards (AA-AAS) at the state level.
What is 1%?
Under this federal law, states are permitted to create alternate achievement standards aligned with grade-level standards for students with significant cognitive disabilities.
What is the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)?
States may apply for this if they anticipate exceeding the 1% AA-AAS participation cap in any subject.
What is a waiver?
These students must learn the same challenging academic content standards but at a reduced depth, breadth, and complexity to prepare them for postsecondary education or employment.
Who are students with the most significant cognitive disabilities?
This online resource provides Michigan educators with access to Essential Elements and resources for instructional planning.
What is Michigan.gov/mi-access?