Welcome to the sixth module of the
Paraprofessional Training Series that Volusia
County Schools is providing for all ESE paraprofessionals in the district. This will be the
final module for this school year. At the end of the
module, after you complete the quiz, there will be one additional survey for you to rate your overall
learning throughout all modules as well as
provide topics that you would like to see covered in the coming school year. We would greatly
appreciate your feedback as we plan for next
year. This training module will help you develop a better
understanding of accommodations and
modifications for exceptional students in three important sections:

First, we will examine the importance of providing access to the state standards, identify the
difference between accommodations and
modifications, determine who is eligible to receive accommodations and modifications, and review
the process for making decisions about
accommodations. Next, we will review and explain the four
categories of accommodations and related
student characteristics. And finally, we will discuss the importance of implementing and
monitoring the effects of using accommodations.
You may wish to take notes throughout this module as there will be a ten question quiz at the
end for you to successfully demonstrate your
understanding. Before we identify the difference between
accommodations and modifications it’s important
to understand the rationale for providing them. Federal and state law, along with Volusia County
Schools, requires that all students must have
access to the general education curriculum. The curriculum is what the students should learn and
be able to do. It can be delivered through a variety
of services and settings. The bottom line is that access is the law. We’re going to look at how we
can put this into action in a way that works for
students, teachers, and paraprofessionals. We provide access to curriculum by providing
appropriate accommodations and modifications
for each student with a disability. You’ll learn about the importance of choosing, teaching, and
monitoring appropriate accommodations and
modifications in this module, but first, let’s make sure we know the difference between the two.

Accommodations involve the use of different strategies, assistive technology, changes in the
schedule or environment, or support from a
person to increase, maintain, or improve the performance of a student with disabilities.
Generally, a student is given the SAME (or nearly
the same) types of accommodations for both instruction and assessment.

Accommodations are changes that can be made in the way a student accesses information and
demonstrates what they know and are able to do.
Many students with disabilities need only small changes in the way they are instructed and tested
to participate successfully in general education
classes. In general these students are pursuing a standard diploma. Accommodations do not
change the content. In other words
accommodations change HOW students learn not WHAT they learn.

For example, students who are blind may need to use braille textbooks or books-on-tape. Students
in wheelchairs may need a ramp or elevator to be
able to move independently in a school environment. Students who are deaf or hard-of-
hearing may need to have a sign language
interpreter. Accommodations are whatever it takes to ensure students with disabilities the
opportunity to participate as fully as possible in
the general curriculum. Modifications are changes to the curriculum, or
what students are expected to learn. In this way,
modifications are different than accommodations, as these students are working toward a different
set of standards and objectives called the Access
Points and Core Content Connectors. Students working on these sets of standards are generally
working to earn a special diploma.
Students are eligible for accommodations after
they have been properly evaluated, determined to
be eligible for ESE services, and have had a meeting to develop an Individual Educational Plan
or IEP. The IEP team will determine what
accommodations are needed for a student to access the curriculum. The team will consider
the student’s learning and behavior
characteristics. Decisions about accommodations to instruction
and assessment for an individual student should
be based on three principles: First, accommodations must be necessary. They
should include only what the student needs,
based on his or her disability, to achieve the desired learning outcomes…not simply what is
“nice to have.” Next, accommodations should
facilitate an accurate demonstration of knowledge and skills. For example, using a calculator to
solve simple addition problems will show whether
the student can use a calculator to solve addition problems but NOT whether the student knows
how to add. So, make sure that what is selected
will allow the student to demonstrate their understanding. Finally, accommodations should
not compromise the validity of a test. It is
important for you to follow the directions given in standardized tests. And while some
accommodations are allowed on high stakes
testing, it is imperative for test administrators to know what accommodations are not. For
example, you cannot read a test aloud to a
student if the test measures reading skills. However, you could read math problems or a
science passage from a test to students in order
for them to be able to solve the problems or answer the questions.

Accommodations can be organized into four main categories: Presentation is determining how
the student will access information. Response
considers how the student will demonstrate their learning. Setting would determine where the
student will be instructed and assessed and
Scheduling addresses when the student will be instructed and assessed. Let’s explore these
accommodation categories in more depth.
Presentation accommodations make it possible
for students to gain access to information that is
presented in text, graphics, or spoken formats. Students may need accommodations in the way
information is presented because they have
limited reading abilities, difficulty understanding lectures and discussions, or have visual or
hearing impairments.
Students may read below grade level, read
slowly, or may make word recognition mistakes.
These students benefit from accommodations that help them access concepts in alternative
ways to bolster understanding. Accommodations
may include digital or audio versions of the text, or books that include the same material but are
written on a lower reading level. This
accommodation does not change what students are expected to learn, it changes how the student
accesses the information.
Students who have difficulty with reading
comprehension or identifying the main points
when reading, often get caught up in details and have trouble knowing what is important. These
students benefit from accommodations that help
focus their attention on the important concepts. Accommodations for increasing comprehension
may include highlighting important points,
previewing essential vocabulary, or providing guided notes or a study guide to prepare the
student for instruction ahead of time.
Students who find it hard to follow class
discussions may have difficulty with learning by
listening, or they may have trouble maintaining attention. These students will benefit from
accommodations that provide structured support
to guide listening and promote understanding. To increase listening comprehension, include visual
supports in the presentation, utilize graphic
organizers, or provide an appropriate summary of information for the student.

Students who have difficulty following instructions often are unable focus their attention when they
are being given, are unable to remember multiple
steps, and have difficulty comprehending the task. It is important for the teacher or
paraprofessional to provide clear, step-by-step
instructions. These students benefit from accommodations that help them understand and
remember the instructions, like the use of visual
supports to demonstrate the steps of a task or a checklist for them to keep track of what they have
and have not yet completed. After you have given
the instructions, you need to follow-up to make sure that the student understands and is following
them. Give the student a chance at that time to
ask any additional questions for clarification. The next category of accommodations is
Response accommodations. Students typically
respond to classroom tasks by speaking, writing, drawing or other types of expression. Response
accommodations allow students to use different
ways to complete assignments, tests, and other activities.

Students with disabilities who write illegibly may need special pencil or pen grips, a word
processer, or a voice recorder to assist with
written responses. For students experiencing difficulty with written
expression, checklists, writing templates, graphic
organizers, or task adaption may be considered. To accommodate students who have difficulty
understanding and using spoken language,
increased wait time allows students to think about what they want to say and how they want to say
it. The use of visual supports help students
convey the spoken message through pictures, drawings or other graphics. For students whose
verbal communication skills are limited,
communication devices may also be utilized to be the student’s voice to initiate and respond to
teacher requests and classroom discussion.
Setting accommodations involve changes in the
location or conditions in the educational setting or
environment. Students may need setting accommodations to address accessibility issues,
behavior management, and problems with
organization of space and materials. Accommodations to the physical environment
may be needed for students who have physical or
sensory impairments. These students may need preferential seating based upon their individual
needs. Special lighting and tilt-top desks may be
needed by some students who have visual impairments. Students in wheelchairs may need
to have raised desks or countertops. It is also
essential that these students are able to easily access and navigate through every part of their
school environment, classrooms, hallways,
cafeteria, media center, gymnasium, and auditorium. Students who have hearing
impairments may need classrooms that have
special acoustical treatments. Accommodations to classroom management
may also be needed for students who need
support to manage their own behavior. It is essential to reduce sources of distraction and
establish clear expectations, procedures, and
routines. Frequent breaks with or without opportunities for movement would also be a
setting accommodation consideration for these
students. Students with disabilities may have trouble
managing their own space and materials in the
instructional setting. As a result, they may be unable to complete the requirements of specific
tasks because they are unable to find the
resources they need. Some accommodations to keep in mind for students with these needs are
checklists of materials needed for each class that
can be kept in a student’s binder, notebook, or locker, binders with color-coded dividers or
folders to separate materials for different
subjects, or a limited amount of materials available to the student at any one time, only the
ones they need to use for a particular task.
Scheduling accommodations involve changes in
time allocation, scheduling, and time
management. Students may need scheduling accommodations to address issues with difficulty
completing assignments, structuring work in a
manageable way, accepting personal responsibility for completing work, and monitoring
their own progress.
Accommodations in the area of time allocation to
consider would be to provide extended time for
tasks, allow the students to take breaks during a task, and allow instruction or assessment to be
provided for a specific time of day where the
student is most likely to be engaged. Regarding time management, students thrive on
predictable routines and procedures throughout
the school day, be willing to separate tasks into smaller chunks, provide timelines to help the
student keep track of his or her progress toward
a goal, use checklists of individual responsibilities to help the student remember what is expected,
use assignment planners to identify work periods
and requirements, or consider electronic devices for alarms and signals to remind students of
important due dates or to define work periods.
Although planning and preparation is a necessary
part of providing accommodations, teachers and
paraprofessionals find that they must take additional steps to ensure that students with
disabilities use them. If they are new to the
student, instruction and guidance will be needed to teach the student how and when to use the
accommodation. Students should use the
accommodation more independently as they become more proficient, but may need
assistance or prompting to use it in new
situations. The value of any accommodation should be
measured in terms of its impact on the
performance and attitude of the student with a disability. Some questions to consider when
reflecting on the impact of an accommodation
include: Did the student regularly use the accommodation? Was the student able to
participate fully in the activity with the
accommodation? Was the student able to master the objectives of the lesson or course
with the accommodation? Did the
accommodation help the student feel a part of the class? If the answer to all of these questions is
yes, then the accommodation is appropriate and
working as intended. If the answer to any of these questions is no, then troubleshooting is
needed to find out why the accommodation is not
working as planned. It’s possible that another type of accommodation is needed.

Remember that the use of certain kinds of accommodations, particularly assistive
technology, may require that a student use them
on a trial basis to determine their effectiveness on performance. If the use of the accommodation
results in a positive outcome, then its use should
be continued. However, if a positive outcome does not result, then other types of
accommodations should be considered and tried.
For some students, accommodations may always be necessary to help them perform to
their maximum potential, an example being the
use of braille materials for reading. However, some accommodations may be initially used very
regularly and then their use may fade as the
student gains independence and more reliant on their own skills and abilities with tasks.

To have the greatest impact, the students’ use of accommodations must be continually monitored
and supported through data analysis, intentional
planning, implementation and evaluation of effectiveness. In your role as a paraprofessional
you may be asked to assist in teaching students
how and when to use accommodations, monitor the use of accommodations or help collect data
on the effectiveness of accommodations.
This brings us to the end of Module 6.
Remember, this is the final module of the training
series for the year, we have included an additional “End of Year” survey for you to rate your overall
training experience throughout the year as well as
to provide topic ideas that you would like to see covered in future training modules. It’s been
wonderful sharing this content with you
throughout the school year and we hope you have found the information beneficial. Thank you so
much for participating!
To fully complete this module, remember to take
the Module 6: Exploring Accommodations and
Modifications quiz. Please reference this screen or the “Guide: How to Access the
Paraprofessional Training Series” for directions to
access the quiz. Remember that an 80% is required to pass the quiz and you have 2
attempts, if needed, to obtain that score.