Curriculum and Resources for Specific Students and Student Groups
Equitable access preserves the intellectual destination while varying texts, representations, supports, pacing, and ways students can demonstrate understanding.
The official Element
Element 3C: Teachers design and implement content and resources that enable equitable access for every learner, including those with more complex needs, to essential academic and social– emotional concepts, to promote each learner’s growth.
What this Element asks of an educator
Equitable access preserves the intellectual destination while varying texts, representations, supports, pacing, and ways students can demonstrate understanding.
Read together, these indicators ask educators to make curriculum and resources for specific students and student groups visible in planning, teaching, student experience, and follow-through. The aim is not to display every indicator in every lesson, but to understand the full range of the Element and select a focused practice to develop with evidence.
Official Example Indicators—and an SDLA reading
The Commission presents Example Indicators as illustrations rather than a comprehensive or required checklist. Their sequence shows the breadth of this Element and gives teachers, mentors, and coaches a shared language for focused development.
Prioritize and organize curricula at appropriate levels and make…
Official indicator: Prioritize and organize curricula at appropriate levels and make necessary adjustments and accommodations, based on student data.
Match accessible subject matter content
Official indicator: Match accessible subject matter content, materials, and equipment to rigorous, relevant, and developmentally appropriate learning sequences.
Address the strengths and needs of students who require…
Official indicator: Address the strengths and needs of students who require specific academic, linguistic, social–emotional, and physical accommodations, to provide equitable access to critical content.
Focus on content and skill development goals outlined in…
Official indicator: Focus on content and skill development goals outlined in formal learning plans for students with learning differences and disabilities
Use the California Practitioners’ Guide for Educating English Learners…
Official indicator: Use the California Practitioners’ Guide for Educating English Learners with Disabilities and the California Dyslexia Guidelines to address the relevant learning needs of specific individual students.
Use the English language development standards
Official indicator: Use the English language development standards, the English Learner Roadmap, and levels of language acquisition to guide the selection and organization of subject matter materials appropriate for individual English learners.
Developing the practice
Clarify the disciplinary purpose
Name the important idea, practice, misconception, and kind of thinking students must develop.
Build meaningful access
Use accurate representations, culturally relevant contexts, and responsive supports while preserving the intellectual destination.
Review resources critically
Examine alignment, representation, accessibility, bias, privacy, and the work students—not the tool—will do.
Evidence worth noticing
- curriculum or lesson annotations showing concepts, practices, representations, and anticipated misconceptions
- student explanations that connect or transfer disciplinary ideas
- material-review notes addressing alignment, access, representation, bias, and technology governance
- work samples showing how supports preserve rather than replace the target learning
Evidence caution: No single artifact proves accomplished practice. Interpret evidence in context, center student experience and learning, use multiple sources, and avoid collecting identifiable information that is not necessary.
A pinch of data integration and digital learning
Digital systems can organize information, improve access, coordinate work, or shorten a feedback loop. They are valuable only when the educator can explain the human decision they support, the information they require, and how privacy, accessibility, equity, and professional responsibility are protected.
Observation Protocol for Teachers of English Learners
Connect multilingual-learner access with an SDLA explanation of a current California observation resource.
Questions for reflection and coaching
- Where is curriculum and resources for specific students and student groups already visible in my practice, and what evidence supports that judgment?
- Which students experience the current approach differently from the way I intend?
- Which official indicator names the most important next area for growth?
- What is one affordable, manageable adjustment I can test, and what will I look for afterward?
- Whose perspective—student, family, colleague, specialist, or community partner—would improve the next decision?
Continuum of Teaching Practice: Element 3C
This Element-specific continuum describes how practice develops from Emerging through Innovating. Compare the teacher-practice descriptions with the related evidence in students’ experience, then identify a current strength and a purposeful next step.
How to understand and use this continuum for professional growth
- Begin at Emerging and read across. Practices described at earlier levels carry forward even when they are not repeated.
- Use evidence gathered over time to identify the description that most closely reflects current practice.
- A teacher may be at different levels in different Elements, regardless of years in the profession.
- Changes in students, content, grade level, school, or responsibilities may appropriately shift practice in either direction.
- Use the continuum for reflection and goal setting, not as a stand-alone observation or evaluation instrument.
Select a level to expand it. Select it again to return to the full comparison.
Teacher practice
The teacher demonstrates a basic understanding of the diverse range of learners, including their strengths, assets, and needs.
Evidence in student experience
Students may participate in discussions and activities with teacher prompting.
Teacher practice
The teacher sometimes uses instruction and resources to address the assets, strengths, and needs of student groups in single lessons.
Evidence in student experience
Students begin to engage in discussions and activities with varying levels of involvement, relying on teacher support and guidance and starting to build a sense of belonging in the classroom.
Students somewhat acknowledge each other’s identities and backgrounds.
Teacher practice
The teacher consistently tailors instruction and resources to address the unique assets, strengths, and needs of student groups, including those with more complex requirements, fostering the growth of each student.
Evidence in student experience
Students engage in discussions and activities with moderate teacher support and guidance while interacting with diverse perspectives.
Teacher practice
The teacher creates a cohesive learning environment that provides equitable access to content and resources for all learners, addressing their strengths, assets, and needs to promote holistic growth.
Evidence in student experience
Students consistently engage in discussions and activities with limited teacher support and guidance while promoting inclusivity.
Teacher practice
The teacher enhances the learning experience by incorporating inclusive practices, materials, and resources involving each student so they develop into self-directed learners who access and engage with curriculum and peers.
Evidence in student experience
Students initiate discussions and activities, serve as role models for fostering inclusive interactions, and collaborate to create a cohesive learning community.
Source and attribution: Continuum language reproduced from the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, Continuum of Teaching Practice (2025), aligned with the California Standards for the Teaching Profession (2024). This publication by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing is not copyright. It may be reproduced in the public interest, but proper attribution is requested.