Accommodations
This support gives students additional time on an exam.
What is an accommodation?
Both an accommodation and a modification can change how a student approaches an assignment. What makes a modification different in this scenario?
A modification changes the level or amount of learning expected, while an accommodation provides access to the same standard.
This type of intervention targets phonemic awareness for struggling readers.
What is explicit phonics instruction?
Who is legally responsible for delivering SDI?
What is a special education teacher?
A student with dysgraphia is given guided notes during lectures. What type of support is this?
What is an accommodation?
This seating arrangement places students near the teacher for focus.
What is preferential seating?
If a student reads a simplified version of the class novel, what question should the teacher ask to determine if it’s a modification or an accommodation?
Does the simplified version change the standard being taught? If yes, it’s a modification; if not, it’s an accommodation.
This intervention uses repeated practice and immediate feedback to build math fact fluency.
What is drill-and-practice or cover-copy-compare?
This legal document specifies the type and frequency of SDI.
What is an IEP (Individualized Education Program)?
A student with an intellectual disability is assigned alternate functional math goals (e.g., counting money instead of algebra). What type of support is this?
What is a modification and SDI?
Students can listen to the text instead of reading it with their eyes using this.
Response: What is an audiobook (accommodation)?
True/False: A student receiving modifications is still expected to master the same grade-level standards.
What is False?
What are two key features of interventions that distinguish them from accommodations?
They are evidence-based and progress-monitored to close skill gaps.
How does specially designed instruction for a student with autism differ from a classroom-level social skills activity?
SDI is individualized, systematically taught by a special educator, and directly linked to IEP goals — not a general class activity.
A student with ADHD + reading comprehension disability receives graphic organizers and explicit small-group reading instruction. Identify the two supports.
What are an accommodation and an intervention/SDI?
A student receives a calculator for math tests. Under what conditions would this be an accommodation, and when could it become a modification?
It’s an accommodation if it helps access grade-level math reasoning; it becomes a modification if it replaces the skill being assessed (e.g., basic computation).
Two students complete a science project: one builds a model with written labels; the other writes a 5-page paper. Both address the same standard. Has the curriculum been modified? Explain.
No — the content standard hasn’t changed, only the mode of demonstrating learning. That’s an accommodation or differentiated assessment, not a modification. What is a modification?
A student attends a small reading group four times a week using explicit phonics instruction. After six weeks, there’s little progress. What should the teacher do next within the intervention process?
Review data, intensify or adjust the intervention, and consider a referral for special education evaluation if progress remains limited.
How is SDI different from an intervention?
SDI is individualized and written into an IEP, while interventions are supplemental supports not tied to an IEP.
Sophie, who has dyslexia, listens to audiobooks but also attends daily phonics instruction with the special educator. Identify the two supports.
What is an accommodation and SDI?
A student with ADHD frequently misses key instructions and turns in incomplete assignments. The IEP team wants to add classroom accommodations. Which supports would be most effective, and why would these not be considered modifications? Two supports that help students with ADHD stay on task.
Supports like preferential seating, visual checklists, and task chunking are effective because they help the student access the same expectations without lowering the academic standard or changing the curriculum. What are breaks, visual reminders, or extended time?
Explain how using too many modifications can unintentionally affect a student’s access to the general education curriculum and postsecondary opportunities.
Excessive modifications can lower expectations, limit progress toward grade-level standards, and may affect diploma eligibility or readiness for postsecondary settings.
Why is fidelity of implementation critical when determining whether an intervention is effective or if a student needs referral for SDI?
Answer: Because without consistent implementation and progress monitoring, teams can’t accurately determine whether the student’s lack of progress is due to instructional need or disability.
Why must SDI adapt content, methodology, or delivery of instruction?
To ensure the student can make progress toward IEP goals despite their disability.
An IEP team meets to discuss a student who struggles in math fluency and attention. They consider adding visual cues, daily progress monitoring, and simplifying multi-step word problems. Classify each proposed support and justify which ones maintain grade-level expectations.
Visual cues → Accommodation.
Daily progress monitoring → Intervention.
Simplified word problems → Modification.
Only the first two maintain grade-level expectations.