Accommodations for Students with Special Needs - Essay Example

Accommodations present numerous ways for students to take in information or converse the knowledge back to the instructor. The changes fundamentally don’t alter or lower the standards or expectations for a subject or test. Accommodations are defined as an adjustment to guarantee students have equal access to the curriculum and a way to be successful. According to Tom E.C., Polloway, Edward, Patton, James R., and Dowdy, Carol A. (2003), accommodations are adjustments that create children with special needs capable of partaking in the regular grade level educational program or working more intimately to that level than would be probable without any accommodations. Once those accommodations are completed, nonetheless, the standards of achievement remain the same.

Here are some areas of accommodations: Physical arrangement of the classroom - In this, it means the settings, where the student works. For instance, the use of a study carrel, provides a quiet environment, exceptional lighting, background music, and a separate room. Present preferential seating, for instance, seated near the front of the room and away from distractions if such a location helps him/her keep better focus. Stand near him/her when giving instructions. Have a daily routine in writing where it's simple to see. Include opportunities for physical activity in the schedule; Instruction - This is how the material is presented to the child. Let tape recording of lectures. Give a written outline of the material covered. Use overhead and other visual media with oral instruction. Incorporate technology, for example, computers, calculators, and videos. Other accommodations may contain enlarging worksheets, highlighting key vocabulary terms, or drawing boxes around individual math problems to avoid difficulty with visual tracking. Accept typed or word-processed assignments. Permit oral or audio-taped assignments. Individualize assignments, for example, length, number, due date, and topic. Use peer tutoring. Teach specific study skills, for example, organization, and note-taking; Testing - Give practice questions for study. Provide open-book tests. Permit one page of notes to be used through testing. Vary the format of the test. Read questions aloud. Permit students to respond to questions orally. Allow use of technology, for example, calculator, and word processor. Give extra time to complete the test. Provide parts of the test in more than one sitting. Permit the opportunity to take the test in another room or at another time of day. Allow students to retake tests. Provide more frequent short quizzes and fewer long tests; Pacing - This tackles the rate at which new content is presented and the frequency of review. Slower students need more time spent per lesson while gifted students advance more easily and rapidly; Grades - Mark correct answers rather than mistakes. Base grades on modified standards. For example, IEP objectives, effort, amount of improvement, and content rather than spelling. Identify the skills he's mastered rather than give a letter grade. Homework - Limit homework to a certain amount of time spent productively, rather than an amount of work to be completed. Provide modified assignments. Permit extra credit assignments. Permit him to work on homework at school. Give a written explanation of homework assignments. Select a study buddy who can copy assignments or clarify by phone. Provide reminders regarding due dates for long-term assignments. Develop a reward system for work completed and turned in; Home-School Communication - Develop a daily or weekly home-school communication system, for example, notes, checklists, voice mail, or email. Mail assignment sheets directly to the home. Hold periodic student-teacher meetings. Schedule regular parent-teacher meetings; and Responses - How the child demonstrates knowledge. Examples include: permitting the child to mark answers in a book instead of a separate sheet of paper, oral testing vs. written work, Short answers as an alternative to essays, and giving non-verbal answers such as pointing to the correct answer choice.

One of the most often utilized accommodations is a reduced distraction place for testing. This accommodation means that a student needs a reduced distraction place outside the classroom to take exams. This should be a room, as free as possible of noise and distraction. It is preferred that this be done within the department. The student must contact his/her instructor before an exam, and if necessary, make arrangements with one of the testing centers. It is the instructor’s task to make certain the exam gets to that facility. Another frequent accommodation is extended testing time. This accommodation is frequently paired with the reduced distraction place accommodation and can be listed as time and a half, double time, or unlimited testing time. In this situation, the instructor would merely need to be aware that this student was permitted more time to complete his/her exam, and then follow the instructions for reduced distraction place, if that is an accommodation as well.

There are numerous accommodations that students with special needs may employ in the pursuit of equal education. Several are simple; others may need thought, effort, and cooperation on the part of the student and instructor. Read More