- tests are administered;
- students are permitted to respond to test items;
- the test setting is arranged; and
- the way testing time, working conditions, or scheduling is managed.
- Accommodations in how tests are administered involve how the test is delivered to the student. For example, reading test items aloud to a student with dyslexia may be an appropriate accommodation.
- Accommodations in students' work involve giving them options to demonstrate their skills and knowledge on a topic. Allowing a student with dysgraphia to dictate his answers to a person who writes them for him is an example of an appropriate accommodation for a student who cannot write.
- Setting Accommodations involve changing the location in which a test or assignment is given or the conditions of the assessment setting.
- Timing and Scheduling Accommodations increase amount of time a student is given to complete the test or assignment.
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Accommodations are not intended to reduce the difficulty or content a student is expected to learn. Rather, they are designed to reduce or eliminate the impact of the student's disability on his ability to demonstrate what he has learned.
Modifications may reduce the amount of work a student performs and/or reduce the complexity of the concepts she must learn. Parents and teachers must carefully consider whether or not to use modifications because they can negatively impact the child's overall achievement over time. Examples of modifications:
- Requiring a student to learn less material such as fewer units or lessons, an alternative reader, fewer concepts or ideas;
- Reducing assignments and assessments so a student only needs to complete the easiest problems; and
- Revising assignments or tests to make them easier such as reducing the number of questions a student must answer or giving hints or clues to correct responses.
