Accommodations and Modifications

1
Accommodations and Modifications

• Leveling the playing field

2
Definitions

• Accommodations measures that allow a student to
  complete the same assignment or test as other
  students, but with a change in the timing,
  formatting, setting, scheduling, response and/or
  presentation.
• Modifications an adjustment to an assignment or
  a test that changes the standard or what the test
  or assignment is supposed to measure (e.g.
  student may complete work on part of a standard
  or complete a different, somehow altered
  assignment).

3
The INCLUDE Strategy

• Identify environmental, curricular
  instructional classroom demands
• Note student learning strengths and needs
• Check for potential areas of student success
• Look for potential problem areas
• Use information gathered to brainstorm
  instructional adaptations
• Decide which adaptations to implement
• Evaluate student progress.

4
Identify Classroom Demands

• Classroom organization
• Physical organization
• Classroom routines
• Classroom climate
• Behavior management (rules rewards)
• Classroom grouping
• Teacher centered or peer mediated
• Instructional materials
• Instructional methods
• Presentation student evaluation

5
Note Student Learning Strengths and Needs

• Students learning profile
• start with learning inventories, students IEP
  information, short interview with the student
  about what has worked in the past
• Academics
• Basic skills, learning strategies (learning how
  to learn) survival skills (attendance,
  organization, interpersonal skills, etc.)
• Social-emotional development
• Directly teach class rules, expectations,
  consequences, social skills (group or
  individual), access program through school
  councilor
• Physical development
• Attention capacities (diversify instruction)

6
Check Potential Areas of Student Success

• Analyzing student strengths with respect to your
  instructional demands and determine in what ways
  students can be successful.
• How can the student experience success in your
  classroom?
• Academically? Non-academically?
• Role in group work should emphasize student
  strengths (integrate various forms of assessment
  for information taught/learned)

7
Look for Potential Problem Areas

• Review students learning needs within your
  instructional context (classroom, activities) and
  look for potential mismatches between your
  demands and students learning needs
• Adjust class learning activities
• accommodation or modification
• Alter form of student evaluation
• accommodation
• Adjust how you evaluate student work
• modification

8
Use Information to Brainstorm Adaptations

• Identify ways to ways to eliminate or minimize
  mismatches between your instructional demands and
  student learning needs
• Use Bypass strategies alternative ways of
  demonstrating mastery
• Cannot be used with primary areas of instruction
  (e.g. spelling check on spelling test)
• Remediation should still be used in special
  education setting
• Should encourage student indepedance

9
Use Information to Brainstorm Adaptations
continued

• Adaptations in classroom teaching and
  organization
• Classroom space, grouping, materials and
  instruction, homework
• Intensive instruction on basic skills and
  learning strategies
• Take a minute and list 3 learning strategies.
• How might all students benefit from instruction
  in learning strategies?

10
Decide Which Accommodation to Implement

• Guidelines for selecting strategies to try
• Adaptations should be age appropriate
• Select the easiest accommodation for you, as the
  teacher, to implement first
• Select adaptations that you agree with
• IEP should be adhered too, but it must be
  carefully integrated with your classroom culture
  and expectations
• Select adaptations that have proven to be
  effective (research based, student approved)

11
Evaluate Student Progress

• Determine strategy effectiveness
• Check in with student
• Evaluate student work via
• grades, observations of student participation
  and student work, portfolio of student work,
  teacher parent and student ratingsis the
  adaptation resulting in the effect you were
  looking for?

12
Inclusive Classroom Organization

• Physical organization
• Routines for Classroom Business
• Classroom Rules
• Monitoring
• Use of time (instructional time transition time)
• Classroom Climate
• Cooperative or communicative, teacher attitudes,
  friendly or unfriendly?
• Take a minute and brain storm actions you can
  take to develop a respectful yet friendly
  atmosphere in your classroom.

13
Adapting Instructional Materials

• Text books
• Is the text written at a level that the student
  can read fluently?
• Does the text highlight critical vocabulary?
• Are chapter questions posed clearly?
• Does the text provide clear examples,
  explanation and steps for problem solving?
• Does the text incorporate real life problems, or
  connect information to students experiences?

14
Adapting Materials Continued

• Text books continued
• How are ideas presented? Does the text stress
  big ideas or facts in isolation?
• Does the text support student comprehension?
• Organization of headings and subheadings
• Consistency of organization in discussion of
  similar topics
• Are their clear structural signals
• Is important background knowledge activated?
• Is the book well written and clear?
• Are there clear, supporting graphics?

15
Manipulatives and Models

• Manipulatives concrete objects or
  representational items used as part of
  instruction (e.g. dice for teaching probability
  historical artifacts to introduce an era or time
  period)
• Models tangible objects that provide a physical
  representation of an abstraction (e.g. model of
  the solar system using a slinky for
  demonstrating light waves)