Accommodations and
Modifications
By Jeff Hull
Accommodations and Modifications
• Accommodations are changes to the course content, teaching
strategies, standards, test preparation, location, timing, scheduling,
expectations, student responses, environmental structuring and/or
attributes which provide access for a student with a disability to
participate in a course/standard/test which DO NOT fundamentally
alter or lower the standards or expectations of the
course/standard/test.
• Modifications are changes which DO fundamentally alter or lower
the standards or expectations of the course/standard/test.[cite]
• How they differ:
– accommodations DO NOT fundamentally alter or lower standards
– modifications DO fundamentally alter or lower standards or
expectations
Accommodations in Classrooms
• Accommodations in classrooms are changes to
the course content or teaching strategies that
DO NOT fundamentally change or lower the
standards or expectations for the course or
standard.
Accommodations in Assessments
• Accommodations in assessments are changes
in test preparation, location, timing,
scheduling, expectations, student responses,
environmental structuring and/or attributes
which provide access for a student with a
disability to participate in an assessment and
which DO NOT fundamentally change or lower
standards or expectations related to that
assessment.
Examples of Accommodations
• Examples of accommodations in classrooms
– Giving a student more time to finish an assignment
– Providing the student with a pencil grip to aid
handwriting
• Examples of accommodations in assessments
– Orally reading test questions to students
– Providing an alternative testing environment for the
same assessment
Modifications in Classrooms
• Modifications in classrooms are changes
which DO fundamentally alter or lower the
standards or expectations of the course or
standard
Modifications in Assessments
• Modifications in assessments are changes to
assessments which DO fundamentally alter or
lower the standards or expectations of the
assessment
Examples of Modifications
• Examples of modifications in classrooms
– Shortening an assignment for a student
– Altering an assignment for a student in a way that
changes how that assignment aligns to standards
• Examples of modifications in assessments
– Allowing an alternate assessment to assess the same
standard
– Altering or shortening the assessment for a student
Diana Browning Wright’s
Nine Types of Curriculum Adaptations
Curriculum Adaptation
Example
1. Quantity
Reducing the number of spelling words a student needs to
learn for a given week
2. Time
Reducing or increasing the time allowed to finish an assignment
3. Level of Support
Assigning a peer tutor to a student
4. Input
Provide supportive hands-on activities; place students in
cooperative groups
5. Difficulty
Allow the use of a calculator to complete math problems
6. Output
Allow verbal, instead of written responses to assignment items
7. Participation
Creating an adapted opportunity for a student to participate:
e.g. letting a student lead a group.
8. Alternate Goals
Adapting the goals of an assignment to a particular student:
e.g. expecting a student to locate a state on a map, while others
must locate state and name capital of state
9. Functional Curriculum
During math instruction, a student is working on social skills
with an aide
Misconceptions about
Learning Disabilities (LD)
• The Term ‘learning disabilities’ is interchangeable
with other disorders
• Learning disabilities are easily diagnosed
• Learning disabilities usually correspond with a
low IQ
• LD is another term for intellectual disability
• Your child can take a blood test to determine if he
or she has LD
• Learning Disabilities fade with time
• ADHD is a type of learning disability[cite]
Specific Learning Disabilities (SLDs)
• The following is the federal language defining SLDs (from: 34 CFR
300.8):
(i) General. Specific learning disability means a disorder in one or
more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding
or in using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in an
imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do
mathematical calculations, including conditions such as perceptual
disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and
developmental aphasia.
(ii) Disorders not included. Specific learning disability does not include
learning problems that are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or
motor disabilities, of mental retardation, of emotional disturbance,
or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage
Consequences of Non-Compliance
• If accommodations and modifications are
written into student IEPs or 504 plans, they
must be implemented. Teachers who fail to
implement these accommodations or
modifications may be personally liable for
damages
• Families have the right to ask for a due
process hearing to resolve issues of
noncompliance
Suggestions for Collaboration
• Keep general education teachers well informed of
the accommodations and modifications written
into the IEP or Section 504 plan
• Schedule regular status update meetings
between general education teachers and
education specialists regarding students with IEPs
or 504 plans
• Be helpful! Resistance to district-mandated
accommodations and modifications is lessened
when education specialists are viewed as helpful
colleagues
References
• http://sped.dpi.wi.gov/sped_ldcriter
• Diana Browning Wright, Teaching & Learning,
2003
• Miriam Kurtzig Freedman, J.D., (1999) as quoted
in “Guidelines For the Promotion and Retention
of Special Education Students,” California
Department of Education, Special Education
Division
• http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/iep.replace.serv
ices.crabtree.htm