The IEP Process: Accommodations - How They Work

In this episode, we’ll look at accommodations on an IEP.

There are many times a student with disabilities would have little chance of succeeding in a general education setting without effective accommodations.

Accommodations provide the scaffolding and safety net for students with disabilities to experience the benefits of an included education.

Here are links to information about accommodations for different types of neurodivergence.  Remember, many of the accommdation needs crossover disability categories.

Universal Design for Learning or UDL  (the leader in research and implementation of global classroom accommodations)

https://www.cast.org/what-we-do/universal-design-for-learning/

This is a parents guide to UDL

https://www.advocacyinstitute.org/resources/ParentUDLGuide.pdf

Autism accommodations

https://www.autismspeaks.org/blog/autism-101-educators-how-general-education-teachers-can-support-students-asd

ADHD accommodations

https://chadd.org/for-educators/classroom-accommodations/

Sensory processing accommodations

https://www.readingrockets.org/helping-all-readers/inclusive-classrooms/sensory-friendly-spaces

Summary

This episode defines accommodations in special education and explains their two main purposes: supporting a student while learning a skill, or providing lifelong support for skills a student may never master.  Host lists common examples, addresses misunderstandings about fairness in general education, and discusses a specific objection regarding formula lists in trigonometry. He concludes by recommending that selecting fewer, high-value accommodations improves teacher implementation and effectiveness.

Key takeaways

Definition and Purpose of Accommodations

Accommodations allow students to access the general education curriculum without fundamental changes, supporting either skill learning or lifelong needs.

Host explains that accommodations do not alter what is taught but how it is taught and assessed, and they serve either to help a student learn a skill or to provide support for a skill the student may never master, such as note taking.

Examples of Common Accommodations

Common accommodations include preferential seating, quiet test areas, extended response time, reminders, chunking, note-taking assistance, and frequent breaks.

 Host lists several examples and notes that accommodations can be as unique as the student's needs as long as they adhere to the standard of mastering the general education curriculum.

Misunderstandings About Fairness

Many general education teachers believe accommodations give an unfair advantage, but the skills accommodated are often ancillary to the tested subject matter.

Host argues that complaints about unfair advantage center on ancillary skills, such as writing a five-page paragraph, which are not central to understanding the Great Depression; displaying knowledge does not rely on a single modality.

Formula Lists as a Specific Challenge

Providing formula lists for memory-challenged students recognizes that understanding and applying formulas is the class's goal, not memorization.

Host addresses trigonometry teachers' objections, stating that students with short-term memory weaknesses (e.g., due to ADHD) know how to use formulas but need them provided, and the test still measures application of the correct formula.

Recommendation for Fewer Accommodations

Using fewer, high-value accommodations improves teacher implementation and effectiveness.

Host advises that teachers with many students struggle to remember numerous accommodations, so selecting a few effective ones ensures they are actually used and implemented effectively.

Thanks to Soundimage.org for the free access to the AI generated used in this podcast (https://soundimage.org/) 

Transcript

Accommodations are those provisions that allow a student to access the general education curriculum in its entirety, with no fundamental changes to what is taught.  

 The way the curriculum is taught and assessed may be different, but the student is responsible for learning the same amount of information and displaying mastery of the same curriculum as their typical peers.

 Accommodations on an IEP are designed to do one of two things. One is to provide support for a student while they are learning a skill.  The second is to provide support for a student who may never learn the skill.  

 An example is the ability to take extemporaneous notes.  Some students who don’t know how, but have the cognitive capacity, can learn the skill.

 Other students, perhaps with auditory processing or motor planning deficits, may never learn to take notes and they will need an accommodation they can use over a lifetime.

 I’ll list just a few common accommodations:

•        Preferential seating (e.g., proximity to the teacher or to avoid noise)

•        Taking tests in a quiet area or room to avoid distractions

•        More time to respond to teacher questions

•        Reminders of how and when transitions occur

•        Chunking (breaking down into smaller tasks) long-term assignments

•        Note-taking assistance or technology for note taking

•        Frequent breaks as needed for stress reduction

These are just examples; there is not a specific list of what is and what is not allowed as an accommodation. They can be as unique as the student’s needs as long as it adheres to the standard that requires mastery of the general education curriculum.

 Accommodations are sometimes misunderstood in general education settings.  There is a relatively widespread belief in general education that many accommodations give an unfair advantage to students with disabilities.  

 The counter argument about accommodations is that many of the complaints center around skills that are ancillary to the subject matter, they lie outside of what is actually being tested. 

 For instance, if the purpose of an assignment is to study the causes of the Great Depression, what would assigning work to write a 5-page paper about it have to do with understanding the issue?  Would it make a difference if the student orally relayed their understanding, or created a piece of art that captured the idea?

 In many areas of life, displaying knowledge and understanding does not rely on one modality as the “correct” way.  Of course, there are skill sets that absolutely require a correct way, but people who struggle with that way generally don’t go into the field.  Most people pursue careers in areas they have strengths.

 Objections to accommodations are mainly found in secondary schools, particularly high school.  As grades and subject area competence have real consequences at that level, teachers are more concerned about the integrity of their assessments and whether those assessments reflect true mastery of their curriculum.    

 In a trigonometry class, for instance, teachers often object to a relatively common accommodation that allows a student to have a list of formulas available during tests.  

 This accommodation is used for students with short-term memory weaknesses, common with ADHD, for example.  These are the students who study for a test at night and then forget the material by the next day.  Often they know how to use the formulas, they just can’t remember what they are.  The formulas are provided, but the student must know which formula to apply to each question and how to use them.

 An accommodation to provide the formulas recognizes that understanding and using the formulas is the point of the class, not memorizing them.

 And last, one practical point.  I recommend that fewer accommodations are better in most cases.  Teachers who have dozens or scores of students have a difficult time remembering and implementing a large number of accommodations.

 What happens is that the teacher falls back on a few accommodations that have worked for some kids in the past, so they use those.

 Selecting and focusing on a few high value accommodations is more effective and, most importantly, can be implemented effectively.