How to Choose and Use Accommodations for Students with Disabilities: Professional Development for IEP Teams

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How to Choose and Use Accommodations for Students
with Disabilities Professional Development for
IEP Teams

• Dan Farley
• PED Special Education Bureau
• Transition Specialist CADRE
• April 22, 2005

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Introduction

• Find out what we know about accommodations
• Learn five easy steps to implementing
  accommodations
• Training package brought to you by

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5 Important Steps

• Expect students to meet grade level academic
  content standards
• Learn about accommodations for instruction and
  assessment
• Choose accommodations with students
• Administer assessment accommodations
• Evaluate and improve accommodations use

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Step One

• Expect students to meet grade level academic
  content standards
• New Mexico Content Standards and Benchmarks
  Extended Performance Standards

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Student Participation in Assessments

• Participation of students with disabilities is
  required by the following federal and state laws
• No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB)
• Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
  (IDEA)
• NMAC 22-2C-4 (D)

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Assessments for Accountability

• Assessments for accountability help to measure
• How successful schools are in including all
  students in standards-based education
• How well students are achieving standards
• What needs to be improved for specific groups of
  students

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Include All Students in Assessments

• To include all students in standards-based
  assessments
• Provide accommodations to increase access
• Use alternate assessments for students with
  significant cognitive disabilities
• Follow state guidelines for decisions about the
  provision of alternate assessments

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3 Conditions for High Expectations

• Teachers certified in content areas and trained
  to differentiate instruction for diverse learners
• IEPs that provide specialized instruction, such
  as reading strategies, study skills, etc.
• Accommodations designed to increase access to
  instruction and assessment

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Equal Access to Grade Level Content

• Think about ways to provide access to NM Content
  Standards and Expanded Performance Standards as
  the goal
• Every IEP member must be familiar with NM content
  standards
• IEP team members must know how to tie
  instructional goals to the NM content standards
• Collaboration between general and special
  educators is key

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Benefits of Collaboration

• Definition General and special education
  teachers as a team for the benefit of students
  with disabilities
• Promotes understanding of general and special
  education teacher roles and responsibilities
• Provides opportunities to gain new skills, such
  as knowledge of the NM content standards and
  instructional differentiation
• Serves as a support-building process that fosters
  the creation of a collaborative school culture

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Step Two

• Learn about accommodations

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Definition of Accommodations

• Accommodations are procedures in the areas of
  setting, scheduling, presentation, and response
  that provide equitable instructional and
  assessment access for students with disabilities.
• Accommodations mediate the effects of a students
  disability and do not reduce learning
  expectations.

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Accommodations Applications

• The use of accommodations is linked through each
  of these areas

Home, School, Community
Classroom Assessments
Classroom Instruction
State/District Assessments
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Accommodations Categories

• Timing Change the allowable length of test or
  assignment and may change the way the time is
  organized. (No longer applicable to NMSBA system)
• Presentation Allow students to access
  information in ways that do not require them to
  visually read standard print (visual, tactile,
  auditory).
• Response Allow students to complete
  assignments, tests, and activities in different
  ways.
• Setting Change the location in which a test or
  assignment is given or the conditions of the
  assessment setting. (Allowable for all students)

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Modifications

• Changing, lowering, or reducing learning or
  assessment expectations
• May result in implications that may adversely
  affect a student throughout his or her
  educational career
• Examples include
• Requiring a student to learn less material
• Revising assignments or tests to make them easier

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Modifications to the New Mexico Statewide
Assessment Program

• Modifications to any subtest invalidate the
  results of the subtest, student is reported as
  not proficient
• If a student is provided with modifications they
  will not count toward participation rates for AYP
• IEP teams have been instructed not to choose
  modifications, but have the right to do so

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Step Three

• Choose accommodations

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What Doesnt Work

• Checking every accommodation available on the IEP
  form, hoping something will work
• What else doesnt work?

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Questions to Consider

• What are the students strengths and needs?
• How do the students needs affect the achievement
  of grade level content standards?
• What specialized instruction does the student
  need to achieve state standards?
• What accommodations will increase the students
  access to instruction and assessment?

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Review Current Accommodations

• Accommodations currently used by the student in
  the classroom and on tests
• Test and assignment results when accommodations
  were used and not used
• Effective combinations of accommodations
• Difficulties of accommodations use
• Students perception of how well accommodations
  worked
• Perceptions of parents, teachers and specialists
  about how well accommodations worked

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Based on the Review

• Decide whether the student should
• Continue using an accommodation as is
• Use an accommodation with changes
• Discontinue an accommodation

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Considerations for New Accommodations

• A list of the students access needs and possible
  accommodations to try
• Of the accommodations that match the students
  needs, consider
• The students willingness to learn to use the
  accommodation
• Opportunities to learn how to use the
  accommodation in classroom settings
• Conditions for use on assessment

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Planning New Accommodations

• Plan how a student will learn to use each new
  accommodation
• Be sure that at least three months for a student
  to learn to use an assessment accommodation are
  provided before test day
• Plan for the ongoing evaluation and improvement
  of accommodations use

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Involve Student in Choice-Making

• Involve students in the process of choosing and
  using accommodations
• The more say students have in choosing their
  accommodations, the more likely the
  accommodations will be used
• Students should see accommodations as adding
  value to their daily life not only in school
  but for postsecondary, career, and community life
  goals as well

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Documenting Accommodations

• Accommodations can be documented in 3
• areas of the IEP
• Consideration of Special Factors assistive
  technology devices and services
• Supplementary Aids and Services aids, services,
  and other supports
• Participation in Assessments how a student will
  participate in state and district-wide assessments

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Step Four

• Plan for the administration
• of assessment
• accommodations

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Coordinating the Logistics

• Logistics of providing the actual accommodations
  must be mapped out
• Teachers and other IEP team members are often
  given the responsibility for arranging,
  coordinating, and providing assessment
  accommodations
• Prepare for the implementation of accommodations
  at least three months prior to test day, on test
  day, and after test day

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Following Through on Test Day

• A key logistical aspect for providing assessment
  accommodations is following through on test day
• Accommodation request forms and databases can be
  used to monitor the implementation of
  accommodations on test day
• Test administrators must understand the
  importance of
• Ethical testing practices
• Standardization
• Test security

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Ensuring Ethical Testing Practices

• Ethical testing practices Interactions between
  test administrators and students taking the test
• Unethical practices include
• coaching students during testing
• editing student work
• giving clues in any way
• allowing a student to answer fewer questions
• reducing the number of responses required
• changing the content by paraphrasing or offering
  additional information

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Ensuring Standardization

• Standardization The adherence of uniform
  administration procedures and conditions
• Strict adherence to guidelines detailing
  instructions and procedures for the
  administration of accommodations is necessary to
  ensure that test results reflect actual student
  learning
• The objective of providing assessment
  accommodations is to make fair comparisons with
  other students taking the tests

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Test Security with Special Test Formats

• Test security Ensuring the confidentiality of
  test questions and answers
• Vital in maintaining test integrity and validity
• Can become an issue when accessible test formats
  are used or when someone other than the student
  is allowed to see the test
• To ensure test security and confidentiality
• Keep all test content confidential
• Keep testing materials in a secure place
• Return all materials as instructed

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Step Five

• Evaluate and improve
• accommodations use

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Using Formative Evaluation

• Use formative evaluation to turn over useful
  information quickly to make improvements
• Useful information can be obtained from members
  of the IEP planning team evaluation is a team
  effort.
• Formative evaluation is based on the premise of
  using information for continuous improvement

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Why Evaluate Accommodations Use

• To ensure the meaningful participation of all
  students in state and district-wide assessments
• To reveal questionable patterns of accommodations
  use
• To identify IEP/504 team members, test
  administrators, or others in need of additional
  training and support

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Questions to Guide Evaluation at the School or
District Level

• How many students with IEPs or Section 504 are
  receiving accommodations?
• What types of accommodations are being provided
  are some being used more than others?
• Are students receiving accommodations as
  documented in their IEP/504 plans?
• Are there procedures in place to ensure that test
  administrators adhere to directions for the
  implementation of accommodations?

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Questions to Guide Evaluation at the School or
District Level (cont)

• Are there policies in place to ensure that test
  administration procedures are not compromised
  with the provision of accommodations?
• Are there policies to prevent the disclosure of
  test answers to unauthorized persons?
• Are there policies to ensure that ethical testing
  and security practices followed before, during,
  and after the day of the test?

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Questions to Guide Evaluation at the Student Level

• What accommodations are used by the student in
  the classroom and on tests?
• What are the results of classroom assignments and
  tests when accommodations are not used?
• What is the student perception of how well the
  accommodation worked?
• What seem to be effective combinations of
  accommodations?
• What are the difficulties encountered in the use
  of accommodations for a student?
• What are the perceptions of teachers and others
  about how the accommodation appears to be
  working?

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Where to Get More Information

• Other training sessions Tri-Annual Meetings
• School district assessment coordinators
• Online resources
• http//www.cast.org/ncac/
• http//education.umn.edu/NCEO/
• http//www.studentprogress.org/
• NMPED websites
• http//www.ped.state.nm.us/seo/index.htm
• http//www.ped.state.nm.us/seo/assessment/index.ht
  m

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Summary

• Found out what we know about accommodations
• Learned how accommodations are used for
  instruction, assessment, and life after school
• Used 5 steps to choosing and using accommodations
  for students with disabilities

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Feedback??

• Any remaining questions?
• What future needs do you anticipate?
• How was todays training helpful?
• How could it have been improved?
• Do not hesitate to contact me if you have any
  further questions or concerns
• [phone]
• dfarley_at_ped.state.nm.us