True or False?
The term ‘accommodation’ is used to refer to the special teaching and assessment strategies, human supports and/or individualized equipment required to enable a student to learn and to demonstrate learning
True!
Having a quiet corner of the room to calm down and relax when anxious. Am I a modification or an accommodation?
I am a general accommodation as changes are made in order to provide a student with equal access to learning and an equal opportunity to show what he or she knows and can do
A student who is not on an IEP breaks their wrist and is unable to write their math test by hand. Does this student require a modification or an accommodation?
Accommodation. By having someone scribe for them, for example, they will be able to access the same learning as before their injury.
Specific accommodations do allow altering the scoring of a standardized test.
False - Only modifications can alter scoring of assessments. Accommodations only alter how students learn, they do not change what the student is expected to demonstrate through their learning.
Assistive devices or adaptive equipment. Am I an instructional accommodation, an environmental accommodation and/or an assessment accommodation?
Assistive devices or adaptive equipment can be considered to be any of the three!
Johnny is unable to learn the twenty-word spelling list of the week. His teacher tells him he only has to learn ten now. Is this student requiring a modification or an accommodation?
Modifications! The grade level expectations of the assessment being given to the student is changed to a lower level.
Modifications refer to only decreasing the number and complexity of the regular grade-level curriculum expectations for a student.
False - Modifications can be used to develop expectations that reflect knowledge and skills required in the curriculum for a different grade level and/or INCREASING or DECREASING the number/complexity of the regular grade-level curriculum expectations.
Allowing a student to submit a powerpoint, rather than a written report. Am I a modification or an accommodation?
This could be considered either a modification or an accommodation for the student
Jessica has difficulty focusing and tends to fidget quite regularly at her desk. She loves getting up and walking around the room. What does Jessica need to succeed in the classroom?
An environmental accommodation.
A student with a learning disability may not need to use an accommodation for every lesson.
True - Most students who learn and think differently spend the majority of their school day in the general education classroom. But these students vary in the amount of support they need. Some accommodations are needed in just one or two classes or subjects.
Moving obstacles in a classroom so that a student with a wheelchair can move throughout the classroom is an example of a modification or accommodation?
Accommodation! The student’s level of learning is not being altered; rather, the learning environment is becoming more accessible.
Michael is in grade 2 and struggles with reading during quiet time. It appears that during this period, he is always looking at other students and what’s going on in the classroom rather than reading the book itself. The teacher has tried to give him easier books to read but it isn’t changing his behaviour.
The teacher should provide Michael with an environmental accommodation in the form of a quiet and out of the way corner of the room for him to read in. It appears as though he is easily distracted by other students. He does not need a modification based on this information (in the form of an easier book).
When a modification is applied to standardized testing, modifications do impact the interpretation of the test results.
True - Students with modified assessments are being tested on different grade-level curriculum, therefore, their results should not be interpreted in the same way as others.
Who is primarily responsible for determining the student’s programming needs and identifying which subjects and programs require accommodations and/or modifications? The principle, the parents, the teacher or the student?
The teacher responsible for direct instruction of the student has the primary responsibility for this task. They seem them on a daily basis in the learning environment and therefore know what is best for that student.
Bill has moderate hearing loss. He is in the process of getting cochlear implants but currently is using an FM hearing aid to hear both his teacher and his fellow students. He struggles with speech and interpreting language, too. What does he need?
Based off the information provided, Bill would benefit from both accommodations in the form of preferential seating and modifications based on the literacy learning goals.