Transcript Accommodations Manual: How to Select, Administer, and

ACCOMMODATIONS
Step 1
Expect students with disabilities to achieve
grade level academic content standards
EQUAL ACCESS TO GRADE LEVEL
CONTENT


Remember that equal access to grade level
content is the goal
Collaboration between general and special
educators is key
BENEFITS OF COLLABORATION


Definition: General and special education
teachers working as a team for the benefit of
students with disabilities
Promotes understanding of general and
special education teacher roles and
responsibilities
COLLABORATION


Provides opportunities to gain new skills
(e.g., general educator’s knowledge of
content—special educator’s knowledge of
specialized instructional techniques)
Serves as a support building process that
fosters the creation of a collaborative school
culture
Step 2
Learn about accommodations for instruction
and assessment
ACCOMMODATIONS


Definition: Accommodations are practices
and procedures in the areas of presentation,
response, setting, and timing/scheduling that
provide equitable instructional and
assessment access for students with
disabilities.
Accommodations reduce or eliminate the
effects of a student’s disability and do not
reduce learning expectations.
ACCOMMODATIONS APPLICATIONS

The use of accommodations is linked
through each of these areas:
Classroom
instruction
Classroom
assessments
State & district
assessments
Content standards
ACCOMMODATIONS CATEGORIES

Presentation Accommodations
–
Allow students to access information in ways that
do not require them to visually read standard
print. These alternate modes of access are
auditory, multi-sensory, tactile, and visual.
ACCOMMODATIONS CATEGORIES

Response Accommodations
–
Allow students to complete assignments, tests,
and activities in different ways or to solve or
organize problems using some type of assistive
device or organizer.
ACCOMMODATIONS CATEGORIES

Setting Accommodations
–
Change the location in which a test or assignment
is given or the conditions of the assessment
setting.
ACCOMMODATIONS CATEGORIES

Timing/Scheduling Accommodations
–
Increase the allowable length of time to complete
a test or assignment and may also change the
way the time is organized.
MODIFICATIONS



Changing, lowering, or reducing learning or
assessment expectations
May result in implications that could
adversely affect a student throughout that
individual’s educational career
Examples include
–
–
Requiring a student to learn less material
Revising assignments or tests to make them
easier
Documenting Accommodations

Accommodations can be documented in 3
areas of the IEP
–
–
–
Consideration of Special Factors—
assistive technology devices and services
Supplementary Aids and Services—
aids, services, and other supports
Participation in Assessments—
how a student will participate in state and
district-wide assessments
WHAT DOESN’T WORK


Checking off every accommodation available
on the IEP form, hoping “something” will work
What else doesn’t work?
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER


What are the student’s learning strengths
and needs?
How do the student’s learning needs affect
the achievement of grade level content
standards?
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER


What specialized instruction (e.g., learning
strategies, organizational skills, reading
skills) does the student need to achieve
grade level content standards?
What accommodations will increase the
student’s access to instruction and
assessment by reducing the effects of the
disability?
REVIEW CURRENT
ACCOMMODATIONS



What accommodations are currently used by
the student during instruction and for
assessments?
What are results for assignments and
assessments when accommodations were
used and not used?
Are there effective combinations of
accommodations?
REVIEW CURRENT
ACCOMMODATIONS



What difficulties did student experience when
using accommodations?
What is student’s perception of how well
accommodations “worked”?
What are perceptions of parents, teachers
and specialists about how well
accommodations “worked”?
BASED ON THIS REVIEW

Decide whether the student should
–
–
–
Continue using an accommodation “as is”
Use an accommodation with changes
Have an accommodation discontinued
OF THE ACCOMMODATIONS THAT MATCH
THE STUDENT’S NEEDS, CONSIDER



The student’s willingness to learn to use the
accommodation
Opportunities to learn how to use the
accommodation in classroom settings
Conditions for use on state assessments
PLANNING USE OF NEW
ACCOMMODATIONS



Plan how a student will learn to use each
new accommodation
Be certain there is sufficient time to learn to
use instructional and assessment
accommodations before test day
Plan for the ongoing evaluation and
improvement of accommodations use
INVOLVE STUDENTS



Involve students in selecting, using, and
evaluating accommodations
The more input students have in selecting
their accommodations, the more likely the
accommodations will be used
Students should see accommodations as
adding value to their daily life—not only in
school—but for postsecondary, career, and
community life
Accommodation and Modification
" I have too many students in my class to follow
the I.E.P. and make special
accommodations for your child !”
"It's not my job to read and follow the I.E.P.
That's only for the special ed teacher" !
These types of comments are unlawful and
violate a student’s rights.
Office of Civil Rights

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) enforces
Section 504 in programs and activities that receive
financial assistance from ED. Recipients of this
assistance include public school districts, institutions
of higher education, and other state and local
education agencies. ED maintains an Office for Civil
Rights (OCR), with ten regional offices and a
headquarters office in Washington, D.C., to enforce
Section 504 and other civil rights laws that pertain to
recipients of ED funds.
Legal Protection and Mandate

"No otherwise qualified individual with
handicaps in the United States . . . shall, solely
by reason of her or his handicap, be excluded
from the participation in, be denied the benefits
of, or be subjected to discrimination under any
program or activity receiving Federal financial
assistance....“
http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/hq5269.html
Repercussions of Refusal


Regular classroom teachers employed by a school
district will have very limited liability exposure in
special education so long as the duties assigned to
them regarding implementation of the IEP are
executed in a legal and appropriate manner.
Failure to implement the IEP as specified could
result in disciplinary action, criminal charges, and
civil lawsuits that could result in personal liability
exposure.
Repercussion of Refusal


Accommodations, modifications, behavior
intervention plans, and supplementary aids and
services are examples of IEP items that are typically
the responsibility of the regular classroom teacher.
IF a parent believes these items have not been
implemented, they may file a complaint with the state
department of education alleging noncompliance
with the IEP.
Repercussion of Refusal


The state department will launch an inquiry and
possible investigation. Typically, if the school district
is found to be in noncompliance, a corrective action
plan will be developed and the matter is resolved.
If, however, the parent elects to pursue a due
process hearing, one will be held to determine if the
district did, in fact, fail to implement the agreed-upon
IEP and denied the special education student the
entitlement to a "free, appropriate public education"
(FAPE).
Costly Repercussions

If the hearing officer decides that the school
district denied the student FAPE, the district
will be required to implement the IEP as
written, pay attorney's fees and other costs
the parent may have incurred and may be
required to pay the cost of compensatory
services.
http://www.ci.maryville.tn.us/mhs//MCSSped/teachtools.htm
The regular education teacher who got sued for not following
modifications:

The case is Doe v. Withers (W. Va., Cir Ct. 1993).
$15,000 was awarded a student with a Learning
Disability from a public school History teacher who
refused to implement the IEP, when he refused to
allow the student to take his exams orally and
untimed. This decision alerts teachers that they must
be serious about the knowledge, understanding and
implementation of the IEP. Students and their
families often sue ISDs or School Boards, but this
case highlights that an individual teacher may also
be targeted.
Litigation
Complaint NO. 03-14 8th grade student
with learning disabilities denied FAPE in part due to
failure to implement appropriate accommodations.
Corrective action plan: 1) district must submit massive
documentation for a period of years 2) training for
staff regarding IEP and accommodations 3)
compensatory education

With how much of the IEP
should I be familiar?

As a regular classroom teacher, you are required by law to
have knowledge regarding the contents of the IEP for each
special education student enrolled in your classes, and you are
legally obligated to implement any portions of an IEP that apply
to you. To successfully meet this obligation, you should read
the IEP for each special education student for whom you deliver
instruction in order to fully understand the student's education
condition, their instructional needs, any specific activities that
have been assigned to you and your classroom, and what, if
any, accommodations or modifications you should be
implementing.