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student success

Make Learning Accessible for All Students: Accommodation, Modification, and Intervention

by Dr. Bruce Ellis September 28, 2021

written by Dr. Bruce Ellis

School is underway and you are probably busy once again! You juggle a hectic school schedule along with family activities while trying to maintain some semblance of sanity. To assist you, we have some clarification and ideas to help with your teaching. In this post, we’ll be identifying several critical terms that all educators should know. We will also share a few ideas and strategies to help you with them. Additionally, just to make the reading more fun, we have a quiz for you down below to check how well you know the difference between accommodations, modifications, and interventions. You may also have some ideas that we didn’t include, so please scroll down to the comment section and share them with our audience!

Accommodation

An accommodation is a change in the environment, curriculum format, or equipment. Students use accommodation to gain access to the content and to complete the work or meet expectations. Though the format of the curriculum might be altered, the curriculum or content itself is not. As a result, the work expectation and skill acquisition of the student with the accommodation is the same as other students who do not have accommodation. In essence, the adaptation lies in how the information is presented, how the student demonstrates mastery, the learning environment, expectations regarding time, scheduling, or utilizing strategies to assist with organization.

Here are a few examples of common accommodations:

Respond orally instead of writing the response on paper (response accommodation)
Use large-text print version of text (presentation accommodation)
Have instructions read aloud (presentation accommodation)
Allow the student to sit where he/she feels they learn best (setting accommodation)
Extended time for task or testing (time accommodation)
Take a test over several shorter periods and possibly over several days (scheduling accommodation)
Use a timer to help with time management (organization accommodation)
Take the test in a small group setting (setting accommodation)
Use a calculator, dictionary, or word processor (response accommodation)
Get an outline of a lesson (presentation accommodation)

Modification

On the other hand, modifications do not address how the student learns, but what the student learns. In this case, modifications to the curriculum or assignments are in place so that the student is not expected to learn the same material. For example, students who are not able to understand all of the content or concepts being taught should have modifications. As a result, assessments may cover less material or have fewer questions. The student is still expected to learn and demonstrate mastery, but the content is changed according to the plan designed for that particular child. In addition, the child can have curriculum modifications, assignment modifications, or both.

Here are a few examples of common modifications:

Different questions on a text are given to a student (assignment modification).
Different/alternative projects are assigned (assignment modification).
A different grading scale is used to assess the student (curriculum modification).
The student learns different content than other students, possibly from another grade level (curriculum modification).

Accommodations are for ALL students. Modifications are only for those with an Individualized Education Program.

Intervention

An intervention is a strategy that is implemented for a student to learn a new skill or concept that he may be struggling with. The purpose of the intervention is for the student to master the expected skill or concept taught to the class. As a result, interventions help students make progress towards the expectations or standards. They utilize assessment, planning, and monitoring of student progress.

Some interventions may include:

A student is provided time/access to a state-approved reading fluency program to improve decoding skills.
One student attends an afterschool (or Saturday) session to learn helpful math strategies for solving division problems.
A student participates in a small group for 30 minutes, twice a week, to improve reading comprehension skills
Particular students receive instruction in study skills so they can better learn the content and master academic goals.

Scenarios and a Quiz

Below are several scenarios. After reading each one, decide if it is detailing an accommodation, modification, or intervention. Last but not least, check your answer! If you’re on a laptop or desktop, hover your mouse over the top left corner of the “?” icon to the left of each scenario to see the answer.

Mrs. Miller is a fourth grade reading teacher. They are starting to read “Wonder” by R. J. Palacio. To help one particular student, Jackson, Mrs. Miller has allowed him to listen to the book on tape instead of reading the book like his peers.

Mr. Moore seems to be the favorite teacher of all his tenth grade students. He enjoys teaching chemistry and makes learning fun. He has three students in fifth period that get a shortened version of the test for each chapter. Instead of 25 questions like all the other students recieve, these few students have only ten questions.

Ms. Williams teaches eighth grade science. They are about to do a unit on light and sound waves and how they interact with different materials. Each year, her students say this is their favorite unit. She anticipates that even Irene, who has a different grading scale than her peers, will enjoy this unit.

Professor Jones teaches at the community college. He also teaches a dual credit class for the local high school. Fortunately, he is a master at teaching accounting to both college and high school students. Last week, he noticed that some of his students struggled when applying auditing concepts to evaluate the conformity of financial statements. He was able to pull those students aside and review Auditing Standard No. 15 with them. This was a standard they should have learned about in a prerequisite course.

Dr. Taylor is the principal at Crockett Junior High. As she was doing a walkthrough, she noticed that one of the students wasn’t able to finish an assignment within the class period. Dr. Taylor noted that the student had the same assignment as the other students. She suggested that the teacher provide extra time for the student to finish the assignment.

Suggest Helpful Accommodations, Modifications, and Interventions

What are some accommodations, modifications, and interventions that you have found helpful with your students? We would love for you to share with us, but be sure to use a fake name for your student(s). Also, if you have a great website to share that lists strategies and ways to accommodate, modify, and intervene, our readers would appreciate you sharing it. Just jump to the comment section below and pay it forward.

Find other TechNotes posts on accommodation, modification, and intervention here.

Header image attribution: People photo created by lookstudio – www.freepik.com

September 28, 2021 6 comments

Good Teaching

Ensuring That Feedback Is Meaningful: Part 2

by Lori Gracey May 17, 2019

written by Lori Gracey

Students want to improve. They want to learn better, faster, and retain knowledge longer. Our job is to provide them the specific help that they need.

That’s where feedback comes in. In this graph from John Hattie’s Visible Learning, you can see that students recognize the value of specific feedback strategies in learning something new, in this case, to draw:

feedback

In the last blog, we looked at Hattie’s definition of feedback and its importance in accelerating student learning. We also examined the four types of feedback, and which ones are best used when.

Now we’ll attempt to put those into practice, and look at some examples of powerful feedback and when it should be given.

Things That Must Be in Place First

Before a student can learn from feedback, there are several things that the teacher must put into place. The very first thing is that the student must fully trust the teacher. This requires that they have a positive relationship which has been developed over time. Secondly, students are more likely to pay attention to feedback and take steps to close the performance gap when the intended goal is clear.

This means that the teacher has shared the goal and its importance in a way that the student can fully understand. Then, both the teacher and the learner must be committed to achieving the goal. Finally, the student must believe that the goal is actually achievable. If all of these pieces are not in place, then feedback becomes meaningless.

Providing Good Feedback

Once a trust and clarity are established, students can begin benefitting from meaningful feedback.

Feedback that allows a student to grow and improve their learning focuses on three concepts:

Where am I going? — focusing on the learning intentions, goals, or targets
How am I going? — focusing on the progress toward the goal and how to proceed relative to a personal best or curriculum progression
Where to next? — focusing on the learning activities needed to make more progress such as enhanced challenges, greater fluency, different strategies and processes to work on the tasks, and deeper understanding

When to Provide Feedback

Obviously, if a student is doing a task incorrectly, then the feedback about that should happen before they continue it any further. But at other times and for the other types of feedback, it may be better to wait a little bit before providing a response.

Hattie says, “Yes, there can be many instances when delayed feedback is more powerful than immediate. Sometimes in the hustle and bustle of the moment we do not ‘hear’ feedback or focus on the wrong part of the feedback information, so delay can sort some of this out.”

So, for example, the teacher may find it helpful to record video or audio feedback at the end of the day for the student to listen to the next day.

Knowing when to provide feedback helps us understand how to better deliver it, but teachers must also account for different types of feedback, and the strengths and challenges of each.

Making Different Types of Feedback Meaningful

As we learned last time, task-level feedback is the least effective, as it focuses on the task (answering the question correctly, finding the main idea, even behaving in a certain manner), and does not help the learner to improve the process of learning. However, there are times when it is beneficial to provide feedback about how the student is doing the task itself, especially when new material is being learned. It might sound like:

“Your learning goal was to structure your writing in a way that the first thing you write is the first thing you did. Then you write about the other things you did in the same order that they happened. You have written the first thing first, but after that it becomes muddled. You need to go through what you have written and number the order in which things happened and re-write them in that order.”
“I think that the answer you have found in this problem may not be correct. Perhaps you should recalculate it, checking for accuracy.”
“Your report may not provide all of the information that a reader might want. What additional information could you add to make sure you answer all of the possible questions?”

Process-level feedback is about the procedure the student is using to learn. It may help them develop or apply strategies for completing or fixing a performance. It sounds like:

“You are stuck on this word and you have looked at me instead of trying to work it out. Can you work out why you may have got it wrong, and then you try a different strategy?”
“Please edit this section of your paper by elaborating on each of the descriptors listed in class.”

Feedback at the self-regulation level focuses on how the student monitors, directs, and regulates actions toward the learning goal. It might sound like:

“Your paper shows you know the three key features of supporting a claim; now reread this section of your paper to see whether you have incorporated these features.”
“You checked your answer with the resource book [self-help] and found you got it wrong. Any ideas of why you got it wrong [error detection]. What strategy did you use? Can you think of another strategy to try and how else could you work out if you are correct?”

Learning Together

At the end of the day, it is the teacher’s job to provide information about what a student does and does not understand and what direction the student must take to improve. A powerful way to implement this is to simply ask a student to tell you what they think you are trying to say to them. Creating a mutual understanding is a catalyst for learning, and using feedback wisely is how teachers and students can gain such an understanding.

Part 3 of this series will dive deeper into feedback and its use in the classroom.

May 17, 2019 0 comment

Android iOS Tips and Tricks Leadership Professional Learning

Showcase Your School’s Success

by Miguel Guhlin April 23, 2017

written by Miguel Guhlin

“Tell It! Tag It! Share It!” exhorted the #TxEdTuesday Twitter chat organizers. The goal? To capture and share what great things are happening in Texas K-12 public schools. Share it with whom? Legislators at the Texas Capitol Building in Austin, Texas, of course! Your motivation, however, may be a little more simple. Your desire may be simply to celebrate the awesome teaching and learning happening in your classroom, your school, and/or your district. In this blog entry, let’s explore three ways to achieve the mission of #TxEdTuesday with free tools you have on your mobile phone.

Note: This is another in an ongoing series on productivity tools for leaders and do-ers. Check back often to see more!

A Framework for Showcasing Success in Schools

Let’s take a look at the framework suggested by #TxEdTuesday and adapt it for our use in our own school or organization.

TELL IT: See: Tell the great things happening in your schools. Use pictures and videos.; Adapt: Use pictures, video, and audio you capture via interviews, snapshots, and vidcasts with students and teachers.
TAG IT: See: Tag your TX reps and senators. Use #TxEdTuesday; Adapt: Use the school hashtag when tweeting/Facebooking, and share that hashtag on all print publications, including t-shirts and baseball caps. Share the school hashtag at PTA meetings. Help people see the hashtag and understand they don’t need a Twitter account in order to follow it.
SHARE IT: See: Re-tweet and share stories from other great public schools.; Adapt: Encourage all campus staff, news organizations (in tandem with your district public relations team) to re-share tweets with the hashtag. Use Tweetdeck to quickly schedule tweets throughout the day featuring great content!

We can easily adapt this model for use in our schools. Even better, students, parents, and teachers can adapt the model. Let’s explore how.

#1 – Tell It!

Remember show-and-tell in school? I do. I was always a bit nervous about what to share with others in front of the class. The pressure of the audience kept my presentations short and to the point. Brevity in virtual show-and-tell efforts remains a welcome guideline to keep in mind. Here are some tips:

Use your mobile phone’s camera app to capture pictures and video clips. You probably use this already for personal stuff; take advantage of the native camera app for school success, too. If you want more sophisticated tools, read this blog entry featuring iOS and Android apps with photo tips.
Use Shadow Puppet EDU (iOS) or StoryMaker 2 (Android) to arrange your photos and videos. These apps allows you to add audio narration and background music, if you want. Keep it peppy and upbeat.
Set up a free blog like Dr. Tim Tyson did for Mabry Middle School that allows you to create an archive of all the great stories you’re sharing.
Create infographics using free, web-based tools featuring your school. Or ask students to create them!

Want to get more sophisticated? Consider one of these digital storytelling apps!

#2 – Tag It!

Go global with your sharing, and your school community will get the message. Aim just for your community, and you will certainly go unheard and unseen. And that would be a shame given the great things students and staff are about. Nothing is so exciting as seeing an international or national retweet of something your students are doing. In addition to inviting others to share using the campus hashtag, here are some quick tips:

Keep your hashtag short and to the point. Use Twitter Search to make sure your hashtag hasn’t been used by others.
Keep tweets brief: “Check out my students’ writing! #mycampusname” with a picture of student writing.
Check out the Participate.com chat hashtags and add one or two that will illustrate points. If your students are engaged in #coding or #STEM, then be sure to add the pound symbol (#) in front of those words.

#3 – Share It!

“I have other things to do every day. I just don’t have time to hunt down and showcase what students and staff are doing!” Be careful you don’t fall into the “I don’t have time!” trap and despair. Seeking and showcasing spectacular student work isn’t just your mission. Every staff member, student, and parent is responsible. Invite them to join you. Model appropriate hashtag usage. Consider these tips:

Take pictures throughout the day or week, then arrange them into a slideshow with music (easy to do with ShadowPuppet EDU on iOS). This will be shared as a video.
When including videos, post them to your school’s YouTube channel (use YouTube Capture app on iOS to make that easy), a Seesaw class blog, or Shadow Puppet EDU site if possible.
Only have time once a week? Take pictures from the previous week, then use Tweetdeck to schedule them in advance, one or two per day. This can eliminate the pressure of always being “on” with social media.

Showcase Your School

In his book, Digital Leadership, Eric Scheninger shares the story of Dr. Spike Cook. Dr. Cook moved from printed newsletters sent home several times a week to a regularly-updated online blog. Blog entries featured images, video, text, and more. These blog entries make it easy to share content and create a digital archive organized in reverse chronological order. You need only update the blog once a week, but capturing and showcasing amazing learning at your school, well, that’s a rewarding venture for leaders and do-ers!

Need help showcasing your school’s work? Ask a TCEA Director of Professional Development to help you get started! Reach out to Dr. Bruce Ellis (@drbruceellis or via email to bellis@tcea.org) or fill out a logistics form.

Find Out More

Want to learn other ways to save time and be more productive at work? Attend the Productivity Tools for Administrators on Thursday, June 15, 2017 in Austin. The one-day learning experience is guaranteed to provide you a wealth of hands-on activities to ensure you walk away with the tips and techniques you need to do more in less time. Register here.

April 23, 2017 0 comment