Students with Disabilities:
Accommodations in K–12 Science Classrooms
By Kathleen Puckett, Ph.D., Sarup R. Mathur, Ph.D., Arizona State University
Table of Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Students with Disabilities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Accommodations and Modifications. . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Emphasis on Scientific Investigations . . . . . . . . . . . 3
High Leverage Practices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
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Introduction
S
tudents with disabilities are expected to make progress in all academic subject areas, and
may also need support for succeeding in science (ESSA, 2015). The opportunity for these
students to be successful requires science teachers to understand their learning needs and provide
accommodations or modifications to access the curriculum and demonstrate what they have
learned. Similarly, by understanding science-specific ways of teaching, special education teachers
can assist science teachers in promoting their success. In this paper, we use high leverage practices
to frame effective teaching in science and for students with disabilities, and then offer suggestions
within each area of high leverage practices.
Students with Disabilities
S
tudents with disabilities are those whose educational performance is adversely affected due
to one of the following: autism, deafness, deaf-blindness, emotional disturbance, hearing
impairment, intellectual disability, multiple disabilities, orthopedic impairment, other health
impairment, specific learning disability, speech or language impairment, traumatic brain injury,
and visual impairment, including blindness. (See the Center for Parent Information and Resources,
(http://www.parentcenterhub.org/categories/) for definitions.) Disability categories provide a
label that qualifies a student for special education services, but does not provide teachers with
information on how the disability affects the student’s educational needs. The Present Level
of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance, (PLAAFP), in the student’s Individual
Educational Program (IEP) provides information on the impact of the exceptionality on access to
and progress in the general education curriculum.
Accommodations and Modifications
A
ccommodations change how students learns the science material. They provide students
with disabilities an equal access to learning and an equal opportunity to show what they
know and can do. Accommodations do not substantially change (1) the instructional level, (2)
the performance criteria, (3) the content of curriculum or (4) the content of assessments.
Accommodations are task or situation dependent and are individually determined. For example,
a student whose disability presents a barrier in writing may use the voice activation feature
on a digital device to document evidence for an argument in a science notebook. But that
accommodation is not needed or appropriate during small group discussion. Similarly, this
accommodation may not be appropriate or needed for all students with learning disabilities. A
modification changes what a student is taught or expected to learn in the science classroom.
A modification is an adjustment to an assignment or a test that changes the standard or what
the test or assignment is supposed to measure. The changes are made to provide a student with
opportunities to participate meaningfully and productively along with other students in classroom
and school learning experiences. Examples of possible modifications include a student completing
work on part of a standard or a student completing an alternate assignment that is more easily
achievable (The Alliance, 2001).
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Emphasis on Scientific Investigations
T
he Framework for K-12 Science Education and the NGSS have shifted the focus of teaching
away from delivering content and toward supporting students in understanding, using, and
interpreting scientific explanations (NGSS, 2013). Students are asked to participate in scientific
practices and discourse, generating and evaluating scientific evidence and explanations, and
demonstrating that they understand the nature and development of scientific knowledge as
essential aspects of science literacy. When considering the accommodations to science instruction
that student with disabilities would need, teachers should start from this basis; what all students
at a grade level are expected to know and be able to do, and use those instructional practices that
most benefit student learning in science.
High Leverage Practices
H
igh leverage practices (HLPs), are those critical practices that impact student achievement
and can be used across different content areas and grade levels. HLPs represent a common
core of professional knowledge and skills that provide an infrastructure to support effective
teaching and consistent learning (Ball and Forzani, 2011). The Council for Exceptional Children,
in collaboration with the CEEDAR Center, synthesized the research to identify 22 high leverage
practices in special education across four areas: collaboration, assessment, social/emotional/
behavioral practices, and instruction (McLeskey, et al., 2017). These practices are researchbased and fundamental to effective teaching, focus directly on instructional practice, and foster
student engagement and learning. They can be used at differing intensity levels and across tiers of
instruction. These HLP-’s can be used when more explicit instruction is needed to support sciencespecific methods, such as vocabulary acquisition, procedural skills, and understanding textbook
explanations of existing facts (Scruggs, Mastropieri, and Okolo, 2008).
Kloser (2014) developed a core set of high leverage science teaching practices that describe
science-specific ways identified from the Framework and Next Generation Science Standards.
With input from experts and using a Delphi study, he identified ten science HLPs: (1) engaging
students in investigations; (2) facilitating classroom discourse; (3) eliciting, assessing, and
using student thinking about science; (4) providing feedback to students; (5) constructing and
interpreting models; (6) connecting science concepts to applications; (7) linking science concepts
to phenomena; (8) focusing on core science ideas and practices; (9) building classroom community,
and (10) adapting instruction. These HLPs represent a continuing dialogue that aims to identify
practices that support practitioners’ implementation of high quality science instruction that
supports students’ ideas and abilities to provide evidence-based explanations for the big ideas in
science (Capobianco, et al., 2016, Windschitl et al., 2012.)
HLPs can be the organizing infrastructure for accommodating students with disabilities, and for
minimizing the need for further accommodations. Table 1 provides an alignment of selected HLPs
in special education with high leverage science teaching practices and suggested accommodations
(Kloser, 2014; McLesky et al., 2017).
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Table 1
High Leverage Practices in Science and Special Education with Suggested Accommodations
HLPs in Science (Kloser, 2014)
Suggested HLPs in Special
Education (McLeskey et al., 2017)
Suggested Accommodations
(individually determined
according to need)
Engaging Students in Investigations
Use strategies to promote active
student engagement.
Provide group interaction scripts or
suggestions to preteach methods for
communicating ideas (Hart Barnett
et al, 2018).
This HLP facilitates understanding of
a core scientific or engineering idea,
crosscutting concept, or practice. The
teacher provides opportunities for
students to investigate phenomena
and engage in the practices of
science: posing questions, collecting
and analyzing data, arguing from
evidence, building explanations, and
communicating ideas about claims
and evidence. Investigations could
be planned by the teacher or by the
students.
Facilitating Classroom Discourse
This HLP helps students model
common discursive practices used
in science. The teacher provides
opportunities for small group and
whole class discussion, with the
teacher and among peers, where
students engage in science related
talk; share evidenceand/ or modelbased explanations and arguments;
and describe, clarify, and justify the
ideas of others.
Eliciting, Assessing, and Using Student
Thinking about Science
Using this HLP, the teacher probes
student thinking about scientific
concepts and practices, and uses
this information to guide future
instruction. The teacher attends to
students’ emerging ideas and adjusts
instruction and classroom practice.
Providing Feedback to Students.
Using this HLP, the teacher provides
opportunities for formative feedback
on student thinking, the quality of
the student’s work, and progress
toward the learning goal. Feedback is
specific and may be verbal or written,
provided by the teacher, peers and/
or self-evaluation, and relates to
students’ understanding and/or use
of science and engineering core ideas,
crosscutting concepts, and practices.
Teachers can guide student
investigations by using instructional
strategies that result in active
student responding: response cards,
cooperative learning, technology
supported strategies, etc.
Teach cognitive and metacognitive
strategies to support learning and
independence.
Teachers explicitly teach cognitive
strategies (making predictions,
summarizing etc.) and metacognitive
strategies, (self-management,
selfregulation, planning)
Provide scaffolded supports.
Teachers provide temporary
assistance so students can complete
task they cannot do independently or
with a high rate of success. Supports
can be visual, verbal, or written.
Scaffolds can be prior to the lesson
or provided during and are gradually
removed.
Provide templates (paper versions
or electronic) for developing written
explanations.
Supplemental instruction using
key vocabulary terms and response
boards for participation (Browder et
al., 2010).
Pre-teach making predictions. Use
“think-alouds” to model science talk.
Use a progress monitoring system
to make decisions about student
progress (Example: an elementary
science progress monitoring system,
Vannest, Adiguzel, and Parker, 2006,
http://skeva.tamu.edu/).
Prompt students to draw in
combination with writing, or use
an answer checklist to provide
vocabulary for using evidence. Use
contextualized phenomena, sentence
frames, and rubrics to scaffold and
encourage student thinking
(Kang, et al. 2014).
Provide positive and constructive
feedback to guide students’ learning
and behavior.
Address faulty interpretations of
information and provide cues to a
clearer understanding (Hattie, 2008).
Teachers use feedback to guide
student learning and behavior.
Feedback must be goal directed and
inform the learner regarding areas
needing improvement and ways to
improve.
Consider frequent and alternate ways
to evaluate progress and provide
student with knowledge of results
(oral, pictures, group, etc.).
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Table 1 (continued)
High Leverage Practices in Science and Special Education with Suggested Accommodations
HLPs in Science (Kloser, 2014)
Suggested HLPs in Special
Education (McLeskey et al., 2017)
Suggested Accommodations
(individually determined
according to need)
Constructing and Interpreting Models
Use explicit instruction.
The teacher uses models
(physical, analogical, or abstract)
for understanding science and
engineering ideas and practices. The
teacher helps students devise, revise,
and use models to develop evidencebased explanations.
Teachers model steps or processes,
then provide guided and independent
practice, or make concepts explicit
when using models.
Use prompts or templates for science
notebooks or reports.
Connecting Science to its Applications
Use strategies to promote active
student engagement.
Provide multiple examples from the
students’ background.
In addition to active responding
strategies (above), teachers connect
learning to students’ lives (e.g.
knowing students’ academic and
cultural backgrounds).
Provide choices in format for
obtaining the information and
responding.
Teach students to maintain and
generalize new learning across time
and settings.
Attend to the need for physical
accommodations in demonstrations,
activities and investigations (vision,
hearing, size of equipment, etc.).
Using this HLP, the teacher engages
students in discussions or activities
that relate core ideas, crosscutting
concepts, and practices to students’
daily lives, current events, and the
world around them.
Linking Science Concepts to
Phenomena
Using this HLP, the teacher chooses
observable events related to scientific
and engineering concepts and
connects them to students’ prior
knowledge, creating opportunities for
students to use models and theories
as explanatory tools and develop a
deeper understanding of the
material world.
Use mnemonics for procedural
knowledge development.
Use graphic organizers to model
scientific ideas.
Pre-teach concepts and explain the
process of inquiry.
Teach skills that are reinforced by
the natural environment beyond the
classroom, and to use new knowledge
and skills in situations other than the
original learning environment.
Integrate science to functional
goals (dressing appropriately for
weather; using public transportation;
measuring temperature, liquids,
solids; gardening, etc.)
Focusing on Core Science Ideas,
Crosscutting Concepts and Practices
Identify and prioritize long- and
short-term learning goals.
Link IEP goals to the science
standards;
The teacher connects core
science and engineering ideas
(e.g., ecosystems), concepts that
cut within and across disciplines
(e.g., patterns), and scientific
and engineering practices (e.g.,
analyzing and interpreting data) to
develop deep understanding across
disciplines. These connections are
evident throughout planning units,
lessons, instruction, activities, and
assessments..
Teachers prioritize what is most
important for students to learn,
using grade-level standards and
benchmarks, information from IEP
goals and the PLAAFP, and knowledge
of the student. Goals and instruction
are guided by the “big ideas’ of
the content, those that link ideas
coherently across learning domains.
Determine core content based on
alternative standards for students
with more severe intellectual
disabilities. Teach foundational skills
if needed.
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Explicitly teach core science and
engineering vocabulary terms and
their connections across disciplines.
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Table 1 (continued)
High Leverage Practices in Science and Special Education with Suggested Accommodations
HLPs in Science (Kloser, 2014)
Suggested HLPs in Special
Education (McLeskey et al., 2017)
Suggested Accommodations
(individually determined
according to need)
Building Classroom Community
Use flexible grouping.
The teacher establishes and
maintains expectations and class
norms for respectful behavior in
the classroom and lab. Together,
teacher and students advance a safe,
collaborative, learning community
where students work toward common
learning goals and are encouraged to
share ideas, discuss confusions, and
participate regardless of language
level or perceived limitation.
Use small learning groups and
a mixture of homogeneous and
heterogeneous groups based on
learning goals.
Use cooperative groups, collaborative
whole-class or team projects.
Provide collaborative experiences for
understanding and solving real-world
local and global problems (Basham
and Marino, 2013).
Establish a consistent, organized, and
respectful learning environment.
Teachers establish ageappropriate and
culturally responsive expectations,
routines and procedures, engage
students in setting the rules and
routines that contribute to a
respectful classroom climate that
values every individual and fosters
student engagement
Provide opportunity to practice
communication skills in face-toface
and real-world online environments
(e.g., e-mail, text messages,
Edmodo). Teach and reinforce
problem solving and communication
skills.
Teach social behaviors.
Teach appropriate interpersonal skills
of communication, selfmanagement,
and school-wide expectations for
behavior.
Adapting Instructiona
The teacher recognizes the learning
needs of students and adapts
methods or plans to match those
needs. The teacher uses data to
inform subsequent instructional
decisions, such as students’ scientific
knowledge, ability to engage in
scientific practices, partial and
alternate understandings of scientific
concepts, and academic language
needs.
Adapt curriculum tasks and materials
for specific learning goals.
Teachers select materials based on
student needs and make adaptations
by highlighting relevant information.
They make strategic decision on
content coverage and meaningfulness
of tasks in light of IEP goals.
Use student assessment data, analyze
instructional practices, and make
necessary adjustments that improve
student outcomes.
Teachers use frequent and ongoing
data collection strategies (formal
and informal assessments) to
inform student progress and adjust
instruction.
Use Universal Design for Learning
principles in initial planning for
presentation, engagement, and
response.
Develop alternate methods for
students to show what they know:
pictures, technology, media.
Work with the IEP team to gain
access to electronic versions of
science texts for text-to-speech and
study skills features (e.g. Bookshare).
Use online programs that allow
students to anonymously submit
questions or express confusion
during class times, providing
teachers with information to adjust
instruction (for example, see Brain
Candy: www.braincandy.org.
Source: McLeskey et al., 2017; Kloser, 2014.
a
This HLP did not emerge in the final round of the Delphi process, but had sufficient support to include in reporting. Because
it has relevance to the discussion of accommodations for students with disabilities, it is listed here.
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