List of Accommodations
Page Index: Where are accommodations in an IEP?,
Definations,
Scheduling,
Setting,
Equipment,
Responding,
Materials,
Instruction (1),
Test taking,
Organization,
Behavior,
Groups and Peers,
Physical Arrangements,
Communication,
Instruction (2),
Testing,
Homework,
Memory Deficits,
Processing Deficits and
Changing Classes.
On the IEP (2000 version):
page IEP 2 - 'A: General Curriculum'
page IEP 3 - 'B: Other educational needs', listed under the heading:
'What type(s) of accommodation is necessary for the student to make effective progress?"
Accommodation
Defined as a support or service that is provided to help a student fully access the general education curriculum or subject matter. An accommodation does not change the content of what is being taught.
Modification is defined as a change to the general education curriculum or other material being taught. The teaching strategies are modified so the material is presented differently and/or the expectations of what the student will master are changed.
Here are some examples of modifications, taken from Margaret McLaughlin's book, Accessing the General Curriculum.
Modifications
1. The student is taught something different from the rest of the class
2. The student is taught the same information, but at a different level of complexity
3. The student has a reduced assignment (for example, has fewer questions to answer)
4. Use a lower level reading text book, which covers similar subject content
5. Expectations of what the student learns will vary based on modifications agreed to on the IEP (Individualized Education Program)
From the Federation for Children with Special Needs, Spring 2002 Newsletter, p. 2 by Julie Sinclair, Director of FCSN -Western region
This page has two sets of examples of accommodations. We like the way they have grouped/categorized them.
What is an accommodation? An accommodation is defined as a support or service that is provided to help a student fully access the general education curriculum or subject matter. An accommodation does not change the content of what is being taught.
Examples of different kinds of accommodations, take form DOE Resource Guide:
- Accommodations - Sample 1 -
Scheduling
- Changing the time of day for a subject or activity
- Adjusting he length of time allowed for a task
- Checking the student’s understanding of the subject
Setting
- Working in a small group
- Providing an individual work area
- Reducing extraneous noise
- Allowing movement to increase physical comfort
Equipment
- Provide carbon copies of class notes
- Allow use of tape recorder
- Allow use of a calculator
- Allow use of a computer or Alpha Smart
Responding
- Allow student to tape record responses for homework, test, etc.
- Give the student credit for oral participation in class
- Avoid pressure of speed and accuracy
- Provide a scribe for written responses
Materials
- Simplify complex directions
- Provide the same content with a lower reading level (this can be consider a modification)
- Reduced homework assignments
- Write due date in corner of assignments
In Instruction
- Provide study skills training
- Use study guides
- Provide concrete examples
- Pre-tech vocabulary
Test taking
- Open books exams
- Oral exams
- Allow extra time for exam
- Read test items to student
Organization
- Assign a homework buddy
- Provide daily or weekly progress reports to parent
- Provide a homework assignment note, and ensure assign are logged
- Use a checklist to help student keep organized
Behavior
- Reward system for in-school work and homework completion
- Natural consequences for behavior
- Allow breaks between assignments
- Give the student an opportunity to verbalize his feelings
Groups and Peers
- Have a cooperative learning groups
- Provide a peer tutor
- Ask a peer to take dictation
- Peer modeling of appropriate responses
Adapted from the Federation for Children with Special Needs, Spring 2002 Newsletter, p. 2 by Julie Sinclair, Director of FCSN -Western region
- Accommodations - Sample 2 -
Physical Arrangement of the Classroom
- Seat student near teacher
- Stand near student when giving instructions
- Provide a structured routine in written form
- Provide organizational strategies such as charts, timelines, and compensatory strategies
- Use materials that address the students' learning style (visual, tactile, etc.)
Communication
- Develop a daily/weekly journal
- Schedule periodic parent/teacher meetings
- Provide parents and students with a duplicate set of texts that they can use at home for the school year
- Develop weekly progress reports
- Mail a schedule of class and work assignments to the student's parents
In Instruction
- Allow typewritten or word-processed assignments
- Provide a written outline
- Provide printed copy of board work and oral instruction so student may refer to it later
Testing
- Allow open book tests
- Provide practice questions for study
- Give multiple choice instead of short answer questions
- Allow use of dictionary or calculator during test
- Provide extra time to finish
Homework
- Evaluate homework by amount of time the student's parent agrees he spent on it
- Allow student to work on homework while at school
- Give frequent reminders about due dates
- Give short assignments
- Allow extra credit assignments
- Develop reward system for in-school work and homework completed
From Parent Journal, Spring 1996
Found on www.KidSource.com
http://www.kidsource.com/schwab/class.accom.schwab.html
Memory Deficits
Is the problems with the storage and retrieval of information or memory?
Does it involve information still in the process of being learned (short-term memory) or
material that has been learned but not retained (long-term memory) or both short-term and long-term memory issues?
The most common classroom accommodations
- Extra time on tests, quizzes, and final exams (to eliminate test pressure)
- Extra time for students to process any visual information.
Accommodations for memory issues
- To avoid memory storage overload, homework assignments are reduce to include manageable amounts of practice work, as skills are learned.
- Build retention by providing review within a day or two of the initial learning of difficult skills.
- Reduce processing demands by preteaching component skills.
- Provide supervised practice to prevent students from practicing misconceptions and miss learn rules and facts.
- Assist the student with creating mnemonic strategies to aid memory formation and retrieval, across all subject areas.
- Build retention by providing review sessions within a day or two of the initial learning of difficult skills.
- Provide class notes to student, a copy of the class lesson, and study guides.
- Allow the student to tape record the class.
- Use of a pocket digital recorder instead of an agenda book
Processing Deficits
Processing deficits interfere with the way students understand the information presented to them. Expressive language, visual memory, etc.
Classroom Instructions:
- Provide written instructions of the assignment as reinforcement of oral instruction.
- Use of visual with lectures (i.e. Write on the overhead).
- Provide written instruction to look back on.
- Provide basic outlines of what is being presented, contain fewer steps to process.
- Tape recorder homework and record projects.
- Written lectures to follow, discussion at a slower pace.
- Using an index card or marker when reading (to blot out distraction of other words).
- Provide less visually overwhelmed pages (i.e. few words/numbers on a page)
- Provide "teacher check-ins" with the child after class work starts (to be sure that he has understood what and how they are doing.)
- Additinal wait time to process directions and information.
Directions:
- Student to be seated close to the point of instruction
- Read directions aloud.
- Have students repeat directions back to you for understanding.
- Give one task at a time.
Note taking:
- Color code what is written down. (i.e. When writing questions on the board, change color every other question.)
- Provide handouts that are clearly written.
- Provide "note checks" or provide teacher notes.
Homework, Quizzes and Tests:
- No penalty for missed spelled words.
- Tests to be given orally.
Written assignments:
- Allow extra time for work completion up to 50%
- Allow use of word processing for written work over x paragraphs.
- Substitute oral reports.
- math or science: require answers only for calculations, provide graph paper.
The most common classroom accommodations for Processing and Memory Deficits
- Extra time on tests, quizzes, and final exams (to eliminate test pressure)
- Extra time for students to process (visual or oral) information.
A list of accommodations and interventions for students with ADD - by Becky Booth (no longer posted on the www.ADD.org website. (Thank you to R.F. for finding this list).
School Accommodations and Modifications, from PACER Organization
Accommodations for middle school & high school
Changing Classes
-
An extra set of books at home
-
End of the day 5-6 minute early release for time at his locker without distraction
-
Use of a pocket digital recorder instead of an agenda book
-
A place in resource room to leave materials, to help lessen what is lugged around
-
Allowed to go to locker before & after resource room ( in addition to regular times)
-
An aide to walk student to classes a few minutes before the bell rang. (May only needed this help for first week of school, then the rest of the year maneuvering thru the halls on his own.)
(thanks to J.L. and T.K. of the IEP_Guide yahoo group, for sharing these 'Changing Classes' accommodations)
