Accommodations & Modifications
NEW - Assessment & Accommodations from NICHCY's Evidence for Education
What accommodations are appropriate for which students? How do accommodations affect student learning and their performance on tests? This Evidence for Education addresses these and other questions and explores the research base in this area. Commentary from education professionals and examples from the field are included to highlight practical tools and resources designed to help educators and families determine appropriate accommodations for children with disabilities. Available in HTML at http://research.nichcy.org/accommodations1.asp or Download PDF*.
What are accommodations?
Accommodations provide different ways for students to take in information or communicate their knowledge back to the instructor. The changes basically don’t alter or lower the standards or expectations for a subject or test. Through the child's Individualized Education Program (IEP) or 504 Plan, classroom accommodations may be formally developed. In addition, some general education teachers agree informally to make accommodations for students in their classes.
What are modifications?
Prior to the 2004 reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA 2004), the term “modifications” referred to changes in the delivery, content, or instructional level of district-wide or statewide tests for students receiving special education services. In effect, modifications resulted in lowering the expectations and standards by which these students were assessed. Beginning with IDEA 2004, the term “modification” is no longer used in relation to district-wide and statewide testing, because the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) mandates that students with specific learning disabilities be tested using the same standards as those used for non-learning disabled students. Replacing the term “modifications” with “alternative assessment” makes more explicit the different — i.e., less complex — standards of such tests.
Choosing and Using Accommodations: IEP Team Considerations
The questions below are brought to you by Special Connections (2005a) at the University of Kansas and are designed to serve as a tool to help the IEP team discuss and determine what accommodations a student needs in the classroom or in assessment. Visit Special Connections at: http://www.specialconnections.ku.edu
- What kinds of instructional strategies (e.g., visual, tactile, auditory, combination) work best for the student?
- What learning strategies will help the student overcome challenges?
- What accommodations increase the student's access to instruction and assessment?
- What accommodations has the student tried in the past?
- What has worked well and in what situations?
- What does the student prefer?
- Are there ways to improve the student's use of the accommodation?
- Does the student still need the accommodation?
- What are the challenges of providing the student's preferred accommodations and how can these be overcome?
- Are there other accommodations that the student should try?
- Are there ways the student can use preferred accommodations outside of school (e.g., at home, on the job, in the community)?
- Are preferred accommodations allowed on state and district assessments of accountability?
- How can the student learn to request preferred accommodations (e.g., self-advocacy)?
- Are there opportunities for the student to use preferred accommodations on practice tests?
- What arrangements need to be made to make sure the student's preferred accommodations are available in assessment situations?
- How can actual use of accommodations be documented?
For more information about accommodations and modifications, try these resources:
NEW Accommodating Students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder*
NEW Accommodations for Students with Disabilities in High School from OSEP
Accommodations for Students with Learning Disabilities (LD)
NEW Accommodations in the Educational Setting for Students with Communications and Learning Disorders
Accommodations, Modifications, and Alternate Assessments: How They Affect Instruction and Assessment
Accommodations Vs. Modifications*
Online Accommodations Bibliography
School Accommodations and Modifications*
Simple, Inexpensive Devices Can Assist in Communication*
Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) Testing Accommodations*
Questions for Parents to Ask About School Adaptations*
