Transcript Standards, Benchmarks and Objectives Module II

IEP
Accommodations &
Modifications
Developed by
Contra Costa SELPA
2008
Facilitated by
Contra Costa SELPA Staff
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Purpose
The purpose of the training is to define
adaptations,accommodations and
modifications, explain the requirements
for using them, and provide examples for
general and special education teachers
responsible for teaching core curriculum.
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Agenda
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IDEA Requirements
Definitions (Adaptation, Accommodation, Modification)
How to Determine Adaptations
Types of Adaptations
Steps for Modifying the Curriculum
Guidelines for Making Decisions
Variables to Support IEP Teams
Alternative Grading Methods
Teaching Students to Use Learning
Strategies
IEP Best Practices
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Requirements in the Law
I.D.E.A. Reauthorization and Section
504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
require that individuals with disabilities
are to receive a free and appropriate
public education (FAPE) which must
occur in the least restrictive
environment (LRE), with supplemental
aids and services, when necessary.
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How Aids and Services are
Provided
Aids, benefits, and services must afford an
eligible student equal opportunity to obtain
the same result, to gain the same benefit, or
to reach the same level of achievement in the
most integrated setting appropriate to the
student’s needs. These aids, benefits, and
services are not required to produce the
identical result, or level of achievement for
both students with disabilities and students
without disabilities.
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Teacher Conference and
Student Study Team Opportunitie
Prior to referral to special education, meet with
the teacher(s) individually or in a group to
discuss strengths, weaknesses, modifications
and accommodations
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Identify concerns and needs
Implement and document accommodations
Develop accommodations and options
Review and evaluate impact of modifications and
accommodations on the student’s progress
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Day-to-Day Accommodation
& Modification Needs are

Those that the child requires daily to benefit
from his/her educational program
 Not a wish list of things to try, but
documentation of “supplemental aids and
services”
 Described specifically for various needs in the
goals and objectives
 Consistent for classwork and assessments
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State and District-wide
Assessment Programs

Children with disabilities are included in general
State and district-wide assessment programs, with
appropriate accommodations and modifications in
administration, if necessary

For those children who cannot participate in State
and district-wide assessment programs, LEAs will
develop alternate assessments (i.e., results of the
student’s performance on each IEP goal and
objective, in each of the curricular areas)
(Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1412(a)(17)(A))
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Special Factors to be
Considered
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Behavior intervention and strategies
Language needs: Limited English Proficiency
(LEP)
Instruction in and the use of Braille for a
visually impaired/blind student
Communication needs and opportunities for a
hard of hearing/deaf student
Assistive technology needs for a student who
requires assistive devices or services to
benefit from education
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Discipline & Behavior
Strategies
More Restrictive
Environment
Functional Analysis
Assessment & PBI Plan
(Hughes Bill)
Positive Behavior
Support Plan
Instructional Goals in
Social Skills Areas
Classroom Management
System
Classroom Instructional Adaptation of
Curriculum Requirements
Engaging Curriculum Presented at
Instructional Level of Student
Supportive School Climate and Attitude
Toward Student Diversity
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Implementation of IEPs

The child's IEP is accessible to each regular
education teacher, special education teacher,
related service provider, and other service
provider who is responsible for its
implementation; and
 Each teacher and provider is informed of:
– His or her specific responsibilities related
to implementing the child's IEP; and
– The specific accommodations,
modifications, and supports that must be
provided for the child in accordance with
the IEP
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The IEP for each child with a
disability must include:
• A statement of the child's present levels of
educational performance, including:
– How the child's disability affects the child's
involvement and progress in the general
curriculum (i.e., the same curriculum as for
non-disabled children); or
– For preschool children, as appropriate,
how the disability affects the child's
participation in appropriate activities
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Present Levels of
Performance
Stated in narrative form, Present Levels of
Performance must include the following:
A description of:
 The strengths of the student in each area
(i.e., speech and language, reading, social
skills)
 The educational needs of the student that
result from the disability
(i.e., accommodations and modifications)
 How the disability affects involvement
and progress in general education
curriculum and/or appropriate activities
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The IEP must include: (cont.)

A statement of measurable annual goals, including
benchmarks or short-term objectives, related to:
– Meeting the child's needs that result from the
child's disability to enable the child to be involved
in and progress in the general curriculum
(i.e., the same curriculum as for non disabled
children), or for preschool children, as appropriate,
to participate in appropriate activities
– Meeting each of the child's other educational
needs that result from the child's disability
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The IEP must include: (cont.)

A statement of the special education and related
services and supplementary aids and services to be
provided to the child, or on behalf of the child, and a
statement of the program modifications or supports
for school personnel that will be provided for the
child:
– To advance appropriately toward attaining the
annual goals
– To be involved and progress in the general
curriculum and to participate in extracurricular and
other nonacademic activities
– To be educated and participate with other children
with disabilities and non-disabled children
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The IEP must include: (cont.)

An explanation of the extent, if any, to which the child
will not participate with non-disabled children in the
regular class and in the other activities
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A statement of any individual modifications in the
administration of State or district-wide assessments
of student achievement that are needed in order for
the child to participate in the assessment
– If the IEP team determines that the child will not
participate in a particular State or district-wide
assessment of student achievement (or part of an
assessment), a statement of:
 Why that assessment is not appropriate for the child
 How the child will be assessed
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The IEP must include: (cont.)
•
The projected date for the beginning of the services
and modifications
• The anticipated frequency, location, and duration of
those services and modifications
• A statement of how the child's progress toward the
annual goals will be measured
• A statement of how the child's parents will be
regularly informed (through such means as periodic
report cards), at least as often as parents are
informed of their non-disabled children's progress, of:
– Their child's progress toward the annual goals; and
– The extent to which that progress is sufficient to enable
the child to achieve the goals by the end of the year.
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Definitions

Learning:
• The process of acquiring and retaining
knowledge so it may be applied in life situations
• Involves a complex interaction between the
learner and the material being learned
• When the learner has opportunities to practice
new information, receive feedback, and apply
the knowledge or skill in familiar and unfamiliar
situations, with less and less assistance
Neil Sturomski
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Definitions (cont.)

Adaptations: Permissible changes in curriculum
(accommodations and modifications) which allow the
student equal opportunity to obtain access, results
and benefits.

Accommodations: Adaptations which do not
fundamentally alter or lower standards or
expectations in either the instructional or assessment
phases of a course of study and provide access to
participate in the LRE and an opportunity to
demonstrate mastery of performance standards.
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Definitions (cont.)

Modifications: Adaptations which do alter
or lower standards or expectations although
by providing access, will necessitate an
alternate assessment or modified grade to
achieve accountability performance. Note:
This must be individually selected by the IEP
team to measure performance on a specific
test/course/activity for which the standard or
typical expectation would be deemed
inappropriate.
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Strategies and Interventions

The tools and techniques we use to help
ourselves understand and learn new material
or skills, integrate this new information with
what we already know in a way that makes
sense, and recall the information or skill later,
even in a different situation or place
(generalization)
 What we think about (e.g., planning before
writing) and what we physically do (e.g.,
taking notes, re-reading to clear up confusion,
making a chart, table, or story map to capture
the important information)
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Definition from: NICHCY
Differentiated Instruction
Instruction in which students have multiple
options for taking in information, making
sense of ideas and expressing what they
learn. Differentiated instruction “provides
different avenues to acquiring content, to
processing or making sense of ideas, and to
developing products.” (Tomlinson, 1995)
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Accommodations
Changes in course content, teaching
strategies, standards, test presentation,
location, timing, scheduling, expectations,
student responses, environmental structuring
and/or other attributes which provide access
for a student with a disability to participate in
a course, standard, or test, which DO NOT
fundamentally alter or lower the standard or
expectations of the course/standard/test.
Grading is the same.
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Modifications
Changes in course content, teaching
strategies, standards, test presentation,
location, timing, scheduling, expectations,
student responses, environmental structuring
and/or other attributes which provide access
for a student with a disability to participate in
a course, standard, or test, which DO
fundamentally alter or lower the standard or
expectations of the course/standard/test.
Grading is different.
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Child with a Disability
Means a child evaluated in accordance
with §§300.530-300.536 as having mental
retardation, a hearing impairment
including deafness, a speech or language
impairment, a visual impairment including
blindness, emotional disturbance, an
orthopedic impairment, autism, traumatic
brain injury, an other health impairment, a
specific learning disability, deaf-blindness,
or multiple disabilities, and who, by
reason thereof, needs special education
and related services.
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Specific Learning Disability
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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
The term 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
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Supplementary Aids and
Services
Aids, services, and other supports that are
provided in regular education classes or
other education-related settings to enable
children with disabilities to be educated with
non-disabled children to the maximum extent
appropriate in accordance with §§300.550300.556.
(Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1401(29))
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Specially-Designed
Instruction
Means adapting, as appropriate to the needs
of an eligible child, the content, methodology,
or delivery of instruction:
 To address the unique needs of the child
that result from the child's disability
 To ensure access of the child to the
general curriculum, so that he or she
can meet the educational standards that
apply to all children
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How to Determine
Adaptations
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The student’s teachers work together to
identify the adaptations that are needed in
four areas:
–
–
–
–
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Instructional arrangement
Lesson format
Specific learning strategies
Curricular goals
In each of the four areas, the teachers may:
– Adapt the environment (i.e., proximity control and
incorporating movement into lessons)
– Modify materials (i.e., developing graphic organizers, making
copies of overheads and board notes, and chunking
assignments)
– Select supports
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Types of Adaptations
Accommodations: These adaptations do not always alter a performance sta
Modifications: Often these adaptations fundamentally alter a performance standa

Input
 Output
 Size/Quantity
 Time
 Level of Support
 Degree of Participation
 Difficulty
 Alternate Goals
 Substitute Curriculum
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Types of Adaptations (cont.)
Description & Examples
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Input: Adapt the way instruction is delivered
to the student (i.e., lectures, videos,
computer, or field trips)
 Output: Adapt how the student can respond
to instruction and demonstrate understanding
(e.g., drawing a picture or role playing a
scenario)
 Size/Quantity: Adapt the length of the
assignment students will be expected to
complete (e.g., reduce the number of math
problems to solve for mastery)
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Types of Adaptations (cont.)
Description & Examples

Time: Adapt the amount of time students will
have to complete the assignments or tests
(e.g., allow more time for completing a task)
 Level of Support: Increase the level of
assistance provided to the student (e.g.,
assign peer buddies, peer tutors, cross-age
tutors or teaching assistants)
 Degree of Participation: Adapt the extent to
which the student will be actively involved in
the task (e.g., in geology, have a student hold
the globe, while others point out locations)
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Types of Adaptations (cont.)
Description & Examples
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Difficulty: Adapt the skill level, problem type, or
the rules on how the student may approach the
work (e.g., allow the use of a calculator to figure
math problems)
Alternate Goals: Adapt the goals or outcome
expectations while using the same materials
(e.g., in social studies, expect the student to be
able to locate just the states, while others learn to
locate the capitals as well)
Substitute Curriculum: Provide different
instruction and materials to meet the student’s
individual goals (e.g., during a spelling test, one
student is learning self-help skills)
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Steps for Modifying the
Curriculum
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Can the student do the same activity at the same level as
peers? (e.g., spelling) If not….
Can the student do the same activity but with adapted
expectations? (e.g., less words) If not….
Can the student do the same activity but with adapted
expectations and materials? (e.g., matching the words to
pictures) If not….
Can the student do a similar activity but with adapted
expectations? (e.g., words that are functional and in the
student’s daily environment) If not….
Can the student do a similar activity but with adapted
material? (e.g., computer spelling program) If not….
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Steps for Modifying the
Curriculum (cont.)
6.
7.
8.
Can the student do a different, parallel activity? (e.g., learn a
computer typing program, write or put pictures in a journal?)
If not….
Can the student do a different activity in a different section of
the room? (e.g., water the plants, file for the teacher) If not….
Can the student do a functional activity in another part of the
school? (e.g., help the librarian, office staff, coach, or kitchen
staff to perform various duties)
David Gaston
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Curriculum Modification
Planning
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What is everyone else doing?
Can
participate just like everyone else?
If yes, go for it!
If no, what can we do to include
?
Can we give
some help from friends?
From who
?
Can an adult help
? Who?
Can
use different materials? What materials?
How will they be used?
What else can
do that is related to what the
class is doing?
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Guidelines for Making
Accommodation Decisions
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Accommodations should facilitate an accurate demonstration of
what the student knows or can do
Accommodations should not provide the student with unfair
advantage or interfere with the validity of a test
Accommodations must be the same (or nearly the same) as
adaptations used by the student in completing classroom
assignments and classroom assessment activities
Accommodations must be necessary for enabling the student to
demonstrate knowledge, ability, skill or mastery
Accommodations must be familiar to the student and must not
be used for the first time on state assessments
California Department of Education
Special Education Division
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Variables to Support IEP
Team Derived
Accommodations
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Clear step by step communication procedures are in place,
demonstrating district general education support for using
accommodations
A systematic on-going inservice program, with specifically
designated personnel, to provide continuing education about
appropriate accommodations for individuals with exceptional
needs
Methods to address teacher concerns about the effects of
accommodations on standards and course competencies are in
place, including alternative grading methods
Involvement of both site-based and district-wide administration
Diana Browning Wright
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Alternative Grading
Methods

Individualized Education Program (IEP) grading
 Student self-comparison
 Contract grading
 Pass/Fail
 Mastery level/criterion systems
 Checklists
 Multiple grading
 Level grading
 Shared grading
 Descriptive grading
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Teaching Students to Use
Learning Strategies
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Pretest students and get them interested in
learning the strategy
Describe the strategy
Model the strategy
Practice the strategy
Provide feedback
Promote generalization
Neil Sturomski
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Upland Unified School District; SN 1653-99
Placement: Offer, Appropriateness, Reimbursement
for Unilateral Placement

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The district lost the case and was ordered to pay for
a unilateral placement made outside the district by
the parents.
…..the IEP listed no modifications other than “teacher
modified lessons as needed.” The Hearing Officer
ruled that the IEP was deficient in that it did not list
the support services and modifications which the
student needed to benefit from the general education
program.
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REMEMBER:
The child is not static, but a
dynamic being that is living,
breathing, and changing …..
…..therefore, the
IEP must change
with the child!
IEP Best Practices

Do not simply collect information, consider
where it fits in the puzzle.
 Do not lose the forest for the trees in
assessing the child’s progress. Keep the big
picture in mind!
 Make sure the goals and objectives match
the child’s skill level and abilities.
 Be wary of too many goals and objectives.
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IEP Best Practices (cont.)

Make sure the goals and objectives are not
too general.
 Describe skills to be achieved instead of
promising levels of achievement.
 Make sure each service provider has a copy
of at least that portion of the IEP he or she is
responsible for implementing.
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IEP Best Practices (cont.)

Make sure each service provider knows the
evaluation schedule for assessing student
progress on goals and objectives.
 Make sure the child’s progress toward the
goals and objectives is reported to the
parents as agreed in the IEP.
 Be mindful of the student’s privacy.
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IEP Best Practices (cont.)
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Listen to the parents’ concerns and
expectations.
Communicate with the parents and keep
them informed.
DOCUMENT!
DOCUMENT!
DOCUMENT!
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Thank you for your
attendance and interest in
IEP Accommodations and
Modifications!
48
Appendix
Guiding Principles of IDEA
 FAPE & LRE
 IEP Meeting Members
 Parent Rights
 Alternative Dispute Resolution
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Guiding Principles
of IDEA
High Expectations and Agency
Accountability
 Improving Results through the General
Curriculum
 Education with Nondisabled Peers
 Parental Involvement and Partnerships
 Increased Efficiency and Flexibility

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Free and Appropriate Public
Education (FAPE), Definition

Provided at public expense, under public
supervision and direction, and without
charge
 Meets the standards of the State
Education Agency
 Includes preschool, elementary and
secondary
 Provided in conformity with the IEP
requirements of IDEA
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FAPE Definition (cont.)

Requires specially designed instruction
 Meets unique needs of the student with
disability
 Provides related services when required
including: Transportation and such
developmental, corrective and other
supportive services as are required to
assist a child with a disability to benefit
from special education
 Defines the relationship to the general
education curriculum
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FAPE (cont.)
Requires that alternative services
continue to be made available
to suspended or expelled students.
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Least Restrictive
Environment
To the maximum extent possible, children with
disabilities, including children in public or
private institutions and other care facilities, are
educated with children who are not disabled,
and special classes, separate schooling, or
other removal of children with disabilities from
the general education environment occurs only
when the nature or severity of the disability of
the child is such that education in the general
class with use of supplementary aids and
services cannot be achieved satisfactorily.
Section 612(a)(5)(A)
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Key Concepts of LRE

Must be individually determined and based
on a student’s individual needs
 Applies to all children with disabilities
 The general education class is always the
first choice
 Consideration and use of supplementary aids
and services to make the general education
class a first and viable choice is required
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LRE Placements Must:

Be based on the IEP which must be
developed before the team determines the
placement
 Be as close to the child’s home school as
possible and unless the IEP requires
something else, be in a child’s home school
 Consider any potential harmful effect on the
child or quality of services
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The IEP Team
Members
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Parents
General education teacher
Special education teacher
Administrator or designee (Representative
of the Local Education Agency authorized to
commit LEA resources)
Individual who can interpret assessment
results, if sharing assessment
Others (i.e. agency representative)
Student, when appropriate and always
included in development of transition plan
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Role of the Parents

Provide consent to assessment and provision
of special education services
 Participate in meetings for the identification,
evaluation, placement and FAPE
 Parents are included in eligibility and
placement decisions
IDEA recognizes the importance
for parent/school partnerships and
non-adversarial dispute resolution.
Parents are offered mediation as a voluntary
option for dispute resolution.
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Role of the General
Education Teacher
Provide information about the general
education curriculum
 Identify the need for supplemental aids
and supports
 Design program modifications
 Request support for
school personnel
 Consider request for
positive behavior intervention

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Parent Rights

To receive prior
notification
 To participation in
decision-making
 To be informed of
options
 To provide written
consent to
assessment and
special education
services

To access an
independent educational
evaluation, if they
disagree with district’s
assessment
 To access to all records
 To settle disputes
voluntarily
 To Due Process through
state level hearing and
complaint options
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Alternative Dispute
Resolution
The opportunity to resolve disputes at
the lowest level and in the most timely
manner under neutral,
non-adversarial conditions.
1. Resource Parents (Parent to Parent Support)
2. Program Specialists (Placement Specialist
Support)
3. Facilitated IEPs
4. Solutions Panel
5. Local Mediation
61
Thank you for your
attendance and interest in
Accommodations and
Modifications!
62