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Overview of Accommodations
Accommodations are practices and procedures that allow students to demonstrate their knowledge and skills through a subject area assessment to obtain valid scores. For each student with disabilities, a separate decision regarding the appropriate assessment must be made for each subject area scheduled for testing. These decisions must be reviewed and revised yearly as the IEP team convenes. In selecting the most appropriate assessment for a student receiving special education services, IEP /504 Plan teams must determine what, if any, accommodations are needed for the student to access the assessment. The accommodations provided to a student on a state assessment must be ones that the student is familiar with in day-to-day instruction and that are used on classroom and local assessments.
Accommodations are available for MSP (Measurement of Student Progress) and HSPE (High School Proficiency Exam) administration. Selection of accommodations must be based on an individual student‘s needs. In choosing appropriate accommodations for large scale assessments, it is important that IEP teams keep in mind: Accommodations must be considered and discussed individually for each state assessment mandated for the student‘s grade level and should not be broadly assigned across all assessments. Students should receive the accommodations they need in order to participate in the assessment, but should not be given more accommodations than are necessary to participate meaningfully. Accommodations are not to be used to compensate for a student‘s lack of knowledge and skills. Students need opportunities to learn which accommodations are most helpful for them in day-to-day classroom instruction and assessment as well as on large scale assessments. The more input students have in selecting their accommodations, the more likely the accommodations will be used.
The use of any accommodation must be considered in light of the student‘s disability and must be required by the student to access the test because of his/her disability. Accommodations may not be provided solely as a way to help ensure proficiency on the standards. The team must be sure that the accommodation(s) recommended for each student in each subject area are providing access not advantage.
Accommodations or Modifications: How do they differ?
Accommodations are different from modifications. Accommodations are intended to reduce or even eliminate the effects of a student‘s disability; they do not reduce learning expectations and should not give a false picture of what a student knows and can do. For example, suppose a student is taking a mathematics problem-solving test and has a significant reading disability. An appropriate accommodation would be to read a test question, wait until the student works through his/her answer to the question, read the next question, and so forth. Since the intent of the test is to measure mathematics problem-solving and not reading skills, the resulting scores would be valid as long as the reader does not coach the student in his/her responses.
Accommodations are different from modifications. Modifications actually change what is assessed; therefore, they affect the validity of scores. For example, suppose the same student (described above) is taking a mathematics problem-solving test and has a significant reading disability. An example of a modification would be to adjust the test questions to lessen the content demands of the problem (e.g., use whole numbers rather than fractions) and to provide scaffolding for the student so that he/she works through the problems one step at a time.
The goal of the Washington State Assessment System is to assure that all students have the opportunity to demonstrate knowledge of grade-level content on the WASL without providing a special advantage. Therefore, each of the accommodations described in this guide can be used to provide support without changing the meaning of the assessment results.
Categories of Accommodations
There are four general categories of accommodation:
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Presentation Accommodations allow students to access instruction and assessments in ways that assist them when reading standard print. These alternate modes of access include auditory, tactile, visual, and a combination of auditory and visual accommodations.
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Response Accommodations allow students to complete activities, assignments and assessments in different ways or to solve or organize problems using some type of assistive technology, device or organizer.
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Setting Accommodations change the location in which a test or assignment is given or the conditions of the assessment setting.
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Timing and Scheduling Accommodations increase the allowable length of time to complete an assessment or assignment or change the way the time is organized.
Each of these accommodation categories provides equitable access and is integrally intertwined during instruction and assessments for students with disabilities. Typically, accommodations do not begin and end in school. Students should see accommodations as adding value to their daily lives, not only in school, but also for their postsecondary, career and community lives.
Questions to Guide Accommodation Selection for Individual Students
Selecting accommodations for assessment is the role of a student‘s IEP or Section 504 Plan team. The questions below can guide the selection of appropriate accommodations for students receiving special education services or on a 504 plan. Consider each question for each individual student.
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What are the student‘s learning strengths?
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How can you use those strengths to help the student access the assessment? For example, if a student with reading disabilities is a good listener, reading the test‘s mathematics questions aloud might be an appropriate accommodation.
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How do the student‘s learning needs affect the achievement of grade-level content standards? For example, if the student relies heavily on mathematics tools such as a calculator, abacus or manipulatives to solve problems, making certain that these tools are available during testing might be an appropriate accommodation.
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What specialized instruction (e.g., learning strategies, organizational skills, reading skills) does the student need to achieve grade-level content standards? For example, if the student uses graphic organizers to organize his thinking when doing mathematics problems, encouraging the student to draw graphic organizers while solving problems on the test might be an appropriate accommodation.
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How can you increase the student‘s access to instruction and assessment by reducing the effect of the student‘s disability? For example, if a student has good ideas during writing workshops but struggles to get his ideas into written form, voice-to-text software might be an appropriate accommodation.
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What accommodations are regularly used by the student during classroom instruction and assessment?
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How can these accommodations be made available during state level assessment events? For example, if the student is easily distracted in large groups and works well when in a quiet, small space, part of the building plan should be to ensure that there is an appropriate location for the student to complete the test.
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What are the results for assignments and assessments when accommodations were used or when they were not used? For example, if you find that a student‘s performance increases when a particular accommodation is available but decreases when the accommodation is removed, then it may be an appropriate accommodation. On the other hand, if all students‘ performances increase with the accommodation, it may be that the accommodation is changing what is assessed.
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What is the student‘s perception of how well an accommodation is working?
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What difficulties did the student experience when using accommodations? For example if the student finds that having a scribe is awkward and uncomfortable, then the scribe is not working for the student, is not likely an appropriate accommodation, and might be a disadvantage for the student.
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Are there effective combinations of accommodations? For example, if a student with attention deficit disorder also has difficulties reading complex scientific text, it might be appropriate to provide several breaks during the assessment, provide a way to mask irrelevant information during testing, and have science test questions read aloud.
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What are the perceptions of parents, teachers, and other specialists about how the accommodation is working? For example, suppose an accommodation was provided during classroom assessments, however in the judgment of parents, teachers, and specialists, the student has begun to use the accommodation as a crutch. In this case, the accommodation may not be appropriate.
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Should the student continue to use an accommodation, are changes needed or should the use of the accommodation be discontinued? For example, suppose a student uses voice-to-text software during elementary assessments, but as he/she develops better motor and writing skills, he/she writes well in class without voice-to-text software. Then, it may be time to eliminate the voice-to-text software during the state testing event.
Based on the answers to the above questions, the team then decides to:
- Continue using an accommodation as is.
- Use an accommodation with changes.
- Have an accommodation discontinued.
- Begin using a new accommodation.
When selecting the accommodations that match the student‘s needs, be sure to consider:
- The student‘s willingness to use the accommodation.
- Opportunities to learn how to use/practice the accommodation in classroom settings.
- Whether use of the accommodation is appropriate on state assessments.
Not all classroom accommodations can be used on large scale assessments
Note: IEP/504 case managers must work closely with the building assessment coordinator to ensure that each student receives that appropriate accommodation(s). Some accommodations may require personal contacts between the IEP/504 providers, the testing proctors, and/or the building IT or network specialist. Each building‘s testing plan should delineate the communication required among all of the professionals involved in testing administration.
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