- The easiest way to think about accommodations is in terms of what is changed-the setting in which the assessment is given, timing of the assessment, scheduling of when the assessment is given, presentation or how the assessment is given, and response the student makes to an assessment item.
- Accommodations are provided to students with disabilities to "level the playing field" when they take an assessment.
- "Over-accommodation" is a tendency for people making decisions about the accommodations a student would use during an assessment to pick nearly every accommodation possible-with the mistaken belief that accommodations might increase the student's score, and the more the better.
- There should be a direct link between accommodations a student uses during instruction and during classroom tests and the accommodations recommended for the student when taking a district or state assessment.
- Instructional accommodations must be related to the student's unique learning needs.
- The IEP team should be involved in accommodation decisions.
- Those who make decisions about accommodations need to know about the nature and purpose of the assessment, instructional accommodations the student uses, state or district accommodations guidelines, needed preparation for optimal use of accommodations, and how accommodations might change over time.
- There are seven criteria for good accommodation decisions, which local decision makers can use to guide individual decisions about accommodations.
- Most of the Do's and Don'ts of testing accommodations relate to the purposes of the assessment, what happens during instruction, and common sense.
- Issues surrounding accommodations impact both general and special education students.
- Most district and state tests are criterion-referenced, which create the fewest challenges for accommodations.
- There are five principles to follow if your district is using a norm-referenced test that does not allow the accommodations a student needs.
- Three "complications," which surround the use of accommodations, are IEP documentation issues, non-approved accommodations, and an appeals process.
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