Accommodations and

Modifications

August, 2009

ESU 7

402-564-0815

Chart 1: Words defining ACCOMMODATIONS

Chart 2: Words defining MODIFICATIONS

Chart 3: Questions you want answered today.

Presentation Overview

• Least Restrictive Environment

• Accommodations vs. Modifications

• Instructional vs. Assessment

• Examples

• Questions and Answers

Least Restrictive Environment

• IDEA 2004:Special needs child has the right to education…

1) where they can academically achieve with support, and

2) where is most like the educational setting provided for peers without disabilities.

LRE cont…

• The student should be provided with supplementary aids and services necessary to achieve educational goals if placed in a setting with non-disabled peers.

LRE cont…

– What if the classroom is not appropriate? • the student would be placed in a more

restrictive environment (i.e.: a special classroom or a hospital program.)

– Generally, the less opportunity a student has to interact and learn with non-disabled peers, the more that the setting is considered to be restricted.

Least Restrictive Most Restrictive

Regular Classroom with non-disabled peers

Self contained, fully exclusive special education room or program

LRE ensures…

• Not temporary guests mainstreamed into general education classrooms.

• Accommodations/supports can be most effectively provided in general education classrooms.

• Inclusive practices improve learning for all students.

• All learners are welcomed at the school and are seen as the responsibility of all educators.

Definitions

Definitions

• Accommodations (Instructional):– adjustments to make sure students have

equal access to curriculum and a way to be successful.

– supports or services provided to help a student across the general curriculum.

Definitions

• Accommodations (Assessment): –Changes in assessment materials or

procedures that enable students to participate in state or district assessments in a way that assesses abilities rather than disabilities.

–Accommodations provide equity, not advantage

Definitions Cont…

• Accommodations (Assessment): • A ‘tool’ that provides access –the

assessment is not changed

• (Some of us may ‘access’ a building by using the stairs, some of us may ‘access’ that same building by using a ramp –how we enter or ‘gain access’ to the building does not change the building)

Definitions cont…

• Modifications (Instructional):– curriculum and/or instruction is changed

quite a bit. – changes made to the content and

performance expectations for students.

Definitions cont…

• Modifications (Assessment):– Directly alters or lowers the expectation of

the assessment

Accommodations vs. Modifications

• An Accommodation levels the playing field– Example: larger print, extended time

• A Modification changes the playing field– Example decrease number of possible

answers, out-of-level testing

•Accommodations

Accommodation “Truths”

• Implemented only after attempting a variety of instructional strategies

• IEP team makes accommodation decisions

• Required and allowable by law –IDEA and NCLB

Accommodation “Truths”

• Intended to reduce or even eliminate the effects of a student’s disability.

• Do not reduce or change learning expectations or alter the content of the material to be mastered.

• Provide equitable access to instruction and assessment.

Accommodation “Truths”

• Use does not begin and end at the school door.

• Generally are needed in the home, the community, at work and in postsecondary education.

• It is the responsibility of all teachers to instruct the student in the implementation of accommodations and encourage the student to use those accommodations whenever needed.

Examples

Examples of Accommodations

• Presentation–repeat directions, read aloud, use of larger print

• Response –mark in book, use of recording aids, point

• Setting–study carrel, special lighting, separate room

• Timing/Scheduling–extended time, frequent breaks

Examples of Accommodations

• Most Common

– Small Group administration

– Read-aloud

– Extended time

• Most Effective

– Computer Administration

– Read-aloud

– Extended time

(NCEO –National Center for Educational Outcomes – www.education.umn.edu/nceo/)

Examples

• A child with delayed reading skills can participate in class discussions about a novel if she’s listened to the audio tape version of the book.

• A child with poor writing and spelling skills may use assistive technology — a tape recorder or word processor — rather then struggle with pencil and paper to do her report about a famous person in history.

Examples cont…

• For a child who’s easily distracted by background noise, an accommodation that might be offered is seating the student away from the window and heater, or close to the teacher for prompting.

Examples cont…

• additional time for work completion, • readers or recorded materials, • Calculators• spell checkers, • other electronic devices,• special seating arrangements, • enlarged text, • scribes/note takers • shortened assignments.

Nebraska State-Wide Assessment:

Accommodations

• See handout.

When are Teachers REQUIRED to follow the

Accommodations? • Consistently

– that is, at all times, and under all types of circumstances.

– However, the IEP should differentiate between accommodations for instruction and accommodations for assessment

• and parents should understand the different consequences of each for their child.

• Cannot read a test to a child if it is a reading comprehension test.

• A spellchecker may be allowed to help a child who’s writing an essay.

• Cannot use spellchecker on spelling test. • Must take a look at the information that

accompanies the assessment to determine appropriateness of specific accommodations

Exceptions…

Modifications

Modification “Truths”

• When modifications are made, kids with disabilities are not expected to master the same academic content as others in the classroom.

• A child who can’t learn the twenty-word spelling list every week may learn only ten words. This results in different standards for mastery — half the number of words as kids without a disability learn weekly.

Modification “Truths”

• A fifth-grade child with a severe math disability who isn’t ready to learn fractions and decimals may still be working on addition and subtraction.

• This means that his instructional level has changed significantly — second-, not fifth-grade instruction — from that of other students in his classroom.

Examples

Modification Examples

• Examples of modification include, but are not limited to: – to lessen depth or breadth in the information/material

covered (e.g. fewer objectives, – shortened units or lessons, fewer pages or problems,

etc.), – materials written at a lower readability level (high-

interest, low-ability books). – Out-of-grade level materials (third-grade math

standards for a seventh grader)

Modification Examples

• Reducing assignments and assessments so a student only needs to complete the easiest problems

• Make assignments easier (crossing out half response choices)

• Provide hints or clues

Frequently

Asked

Questions

FAQ

• Q: What are accommodations?

• A: Accommodations, determined by the Individualized Education Plan (IEP) team are:

1) instructional strategies,

2) response methods,

3) instructional settings and

4) timing and scheduling.

FAQ cont…

• Q: How do accommodations and modifications differ?

• A: – Accommodations do not alter academic content or

expectations. – Modifications refer to practices and procedures

that alter or reduce the learning expectations and/or the content of the material to be mastered.

FAQ cont…

• Q: May grades be reduced for students using accommodations? A: No. – Students completing their work using IEP

determined accommodations must be given full credit for their accomplishments. To do otherwise would be discriminatory and in violation of the student’s civil rights.

– Federal law does not allow employers to reduce the pay of employees using glasses, hearing aides or wheelchairs to perform their work.

Q and A cont…

• Q: Do the courts hold general education teachers accountable for the instruction of students with disabilities?

• A: School districts must make available a full range of supports and services in the general education setting to accommodate students with disabilities

• Just because a student learns differently from other students does not necessarily warrant exclusion from general education.

Q and A cont…

• Q: Are there legal consequences for teachers choosing not to follow the accommodations and/or modifications in a student’s IEP

• A: Doe v. Withers (20 IDELR 422, 426-27) Teacher refused to provide oral testing accommodations to a student with disabilities. The student failed the class. The student’s family sued and won.

Q and A cont…

• Q: What do accommodations look like?

• A: Everyone uses them. – Glasses– a ladder – crutches – Speed dial – PDA

Sources

• Perske Special Populations Office January, 2007

• Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) 2004

• No Child Left Behind (NCLB)• National Center for Educational

Outcomes (NCEO)– www.education.umn.edu/nceo/

• RULE 51

More Sources…

• Bateman & Bateman, 2002; Turnbull, Turnbull, Wehmeyer, & Park, 2003

• Nebraska Department of Education Accommodations Guidelines, 2006 http://www.nde.state.ne.us/SPED/sped.html)

• SPED Regional WS 2004