Enhancing Student Learning: Classroom 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 student’s learning needs within your instructional context (classroom, activities) and look for potential mismatches between your demands and student’s 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 ratings…is 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 student’s 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)