Step 5: How to Pick Appropriate IEP Accommodations
- How to Write an IEP
- Step 1: Gathering Teacher, Parent, and Student IEP Input and Collecting Data
- Step 2: How To Write a Present Level of Performance
- Step 3: How to Write IEP Goals
- Step 4: How to Select IEP Services
- Step 5: How to Pick Appropriate IEP Accommodations
- Step 6: Think About Life After Graduation with Transition Planning
Search the Blog
Students with disabilities, by definition, will have challenges in the classroom. In order to overcome these challenges, teachers work hard to build their skills and help them overcome any limitations of their disabilities. But, that takes time. In the meantime, students are struggling.
To help students work around barriers and be better able to participate, IEPs specifically list the supports and changes to the environment that students need to be more successful.
What is an accommodation?
Accommodations are changes to the learning environment that make it more accessible for a student with a disability. Some common examples of IEP accommodations are extended time, small group testing, use of a calculator, and preferential seating. But this is just a very short list of endless possibilities.
A great way to think about accommodations is by what they change in the environment. We can organize accommodations into four big groups.
Changes in…
The Environment
Changes to the environment include both the physical layout of the space and the sensor experience (meaning sights, sounds, and smells) of the classroom.
Some examples of accommodations to the environment include:
- Accessible desks and materials
- Small group testing
- Seating away from noise distractions
- Visual supports
Scheduling and Timing
Many disabilities affect a student’s processing speed, including reading fluency and fluency in math calculations. These challenges are so common that extended time for testing is one of the most used IEP accommodations. However, it isn’t the only change to timing and scheduling that can support your students. Many students also need flexibility in the order that they perform tasks and they need support keeping track of their time and assignments.
Other examples include:
- Advanced warnings of changes
- Visual schedules
- Choice over the order of assignments
- Lessons broken down into shorter segments
- Frequent breaks
Presentation of Material
How students best learn is so varied, especially for students with disabilities. We can make adjustments to how we present material to students so they’re better able to access and remember it.
Many of these accommodations are just good instructional strategies (like the use of a graphic organizer). Others are more specific for students with certain types of disabilities (like the use of a sign language interpreter).
Examples could be:
- Reduced information per page
- Larger font
- Visual supports
- Guided notes
- Repeated directions
Demonstration of Learning
Finally, after a student has learned new material, they may need accommodations in how they demonstrate what they’ve learned. This type of accommodation includes the testing accommodations, such as reduced testing items and the use of a word processor.
The important thing to remember for this type of accommodation is that you want to make sure your assessment is actually assessing the material– not the student’s ability to take a test. If a student fails a science test because they couldn’t read the questions, you don’t actually know if they learned the science material or not. Just that they couldn’t read it.
Here are a few examples:
- Read aloud for non-reading tests
- Use of a dictionary
- Use of a calculator
- Typing responses (rather than handwriting)
- Use of a word bank for fill- in- the- blank questions
- Reduced answer options (3 choices for multiple choice instead of 4)
Many students will need accommodations across these four types of changes to the environment.
Looking for more examples of common IEP Accommodations?
CLICK HERE to download a free list of examples, including common testing accommodations!
Accommodations Vs. Modifications
You may have heard people use these two terms interchangeably. But they’re actually quite different.
Accommodations change how a student accesses the curriculum, but the student is accessing the same curriculum and information as their peers.
Modifications, however, actually change the expectations for what students will learn. Meaning they will not be learning the same state standards as their peers. Modifying the curriculum means that students will not be tested using the same standardized tests that students without IEPs will take.
This means that including modifications to the curriculum in an IEP is a big deal. Students won’t have the opportunity to learn the full curriculum, which in many states means they cannot graduate with a standard diploma. Generally, once a student starts working on a modified curriculum, it’s very difficult for them to return to the standard curriculum because they’ve missed so much learning.
However, it’s fully appropriate for some students to work on a modified curriculum. These are generally students with intellectual or multiple disabilities. But that in no way means that every student with these disabilities will need modifications. Often, accommodations and quality specialized instruction can be enough to support the student on the standard curriculum.
Accommodations
Every student with an IEP will have accommodations. |
Changes in how the student is taught. |
Example: Student takes the same test as everyone else in the class, but is given more time to complete the test. |
Modifications
Only a few students with IEPs will have modifications. |
Changes in what the student is taught. |
Example: Student takes a different, simplified version of the test with fewer, less complex questions. |
How do I pick accommodations to recommend for an IEP?
When you’re drafting an IEP, you’ll need to propose accommodations that will help the student overcome the barriers caused by the disability. After you’ve written the present level of performance, look back at the areas that the student struggles with.
For each difficulty the student has, ask yourself:
“How could we change the…
- Environment
- Schedulting or Timeing
- Presentation of Materials
- Demonstration of Learning…
to make it easier for this student to be just as successful as their peers?”
Let’s look at some examples
Below are a few examples of common difficulties for kids with disabilities. Next to each is a list of a few possible accommodations that would support the student through the challenge. The list doesn’t include all possible supports, and students might need just one or multiple of the examples.
If the student struggles with…
Transitioning between tasks |
Attention during whole group lessons |
Reading Comprehension |
Testing Anxiety |
possible accommodations might be…
– A First-Then Board – Use of a Timer – A Visual Schedule – Advanced Warning of Transitions |
– Preferential Seating (Close to the Teacher) – Guided Notes – Fidgets or Sensory Tools – Frequent checks for understanding |
– Read Aloud for Non-Reading Tests – Extended Time for Tests – Use of Text-to-Speech for Computer Based Tasks |
– Small Group Testing – Tests Broken Down in Smaller Chunks – Extended Time for Tests – Verbal Encouragement During Testing |
What Are Testing Accommodations?
Testing Accommodations are different from “Instructional” or “Classroom Accommodations,” which is what we’ve discussed so far.
Instructional Accommodations can be used all year to help the student access the curriculum and be assessed appropriately.
However, because state tests are standardized, Testing Accommodations, which are used during standardized tests, are typically limited.
This allows the test to still be reliable without denying the student reasonable accommodations to take the assessment. Check with your local (state or district) representative to find out what accommodations are permitted on each specific test. Many districts will require testing accommodations to be pre-approved in advance of the test or be selected from a pre-approved list.
Also, keep in mind that any testing accommodations should also be provided throughout the year. This gives the student a chance to practice with the accommodation before the test. Students could get thrown off by an accommodation they’ve never used before- like a formula sheet or speech-to-text technology.
Some Challenges with Accommodation
Accommodations are vital. But, they’re not as simple as writing it in the IEP and carrying it on. Here are a few common mistakes people make when selecting and implementing accommodations.
- Selecting accommodations that reduce a student’s independence too much. Often, accommodations require the support of an adult- like additional prompting or the support of a paraeducator. If we put accommodations in place that have an adult working with the student more than needed or we don’t plan for how we can pull that adult back later, the student may become over-reliant on this support. To prevent this, think about ways we can fade the adult. Things like visuals and timers are great supports. So are speech-to-text and text-to-speech technology. The adult can also stand farther away from the student when they’re not directly needed. And, we can have peers do some of the natural prompting as well.
- It can take more than one try to find the right accommodation. There’s no rule that every student with attention needs the same accommodations. Some students may just need more time or breaks. Others may need to use tools like timers or self-monitoring checklists. And others may need the teacher to prompt them back to work more frequently. You won’t know what works best for the student unless you give them a try. And sometimes more than one tries to find the right combination of support. Once you find it, make sure to document it in the IEP.
- If you want the accommodation to be implemented correctly, make sure you’re specific! All too often, teachers get confused by IEP accommodations. Let’s take for example, “Preferential Seating.” I’ve seen this accommodation in countless IEPs. But, not every student’s preference for seating is going to be the same. For some, this means sitting close to the board so they can better see. Others may need to sit close to the teacher so they can pay better attention. Some may need to sit near the door for a quick exit. And for some students sitting too close to a noisy air vent or with a clear view of the window is very distracting. When you’re writing accommodations that could be interpreted in different ways, make sure that you’re very clear about what it should look like.
Lastly, accommodations aren’t a quick fix. You’ll often have to teach students how to use them.
The perfect example here is fidgets. Teachers can get very frustrated when they see fidgets written in a student’s IEP because they have had bad experiences in the past. But, you can’t just give a student a fidget and have it magically “fix” their attention. You need to teach them the expectations for using it in the class and how it can be a tool- not a toy. They may also need to try out a few fidgets before they find the one that works for them.
Keep this in mind for other accommodations as well- students need to know how to use the accommodation for it to help. Other examples include how to take a break from work, how to use a checklist or ask for help, and how to use the text-to-speech features on their computers.
Trying to keep track of all of your student’s accommodations? Supporting general education teachers with multiple students with IEPs?
Make it easy on yourself! Check out this IEP Accommodation Matrix Fillable PDF!
Quickly organize all of the IEP and 504 accommodations your students need!
IEP Accommodation Matrix Fillable
Here’s a few reviews:
Extremely Satisfied
This resource is fantastic! It is easy to edit, and allows me to have SDI’s at a glance. I do building wide behavior support and this allows me to organize 100’s of SDI’s by classroom. — Taylor C.
Extremely Satisfied
This is going to be a great tool for me to utilize in the classroom and to offer to gen ed teachers that have my students in their classes. — Haley F.