Adaptations Are Essential

A Resource Guide for Adapting

Learning and Assessment Tasks
for Students with Mild Disabilities

Developed by Dr. Mark Jewell, Director of Curriculum, Instruction and

Assessment, Federal Way Public Schools
Adapted for Training by Betsy Minor Reid, Director, Special Services
Sumner School District

June 25, 2004

What Are Adaptations?
• Adaptation is defined as any change
made in the learning and assessment
tasks of the general education program.
What is an Accommodation?
• An Accommodation is an adaptation
that results in the student with a
disability accomplishing the same goals
and objectives as the non-disabled
student and does not fundamentally
alter the general education program.
What is a Modification?
• A modification is an adaptation that
results in the student with a disability
accomplishing different goals and
objectives as non-disabled students and
fundamentally alters the general
education program.
 Adaptations

Accommodations Modifications

Change in conditions Change in task

by which a task is requirements
performed
To bring out the best in
the wood, you need to
rub with the grain.
What the Research Says…

When teachers do not adapt instruction,

the numbers of children with learning
problems increase (Adelman, 1971)
What the Research Says…
(cont’d.)
Despite specific direction on making
adaptations, teachers’ adaptation
tend not to be “special”; instead,
teachers simply extend timelines to
reach instructional objectives, delete
an objective, lower the goals, or
move the child out of the regular
class for instruction (Fuchs, et al.,
1995).
What the Research Says…
(cont’d.)
Adaptations remain infrequent even when
teachers are given intensive training on
how to adapt a child’s curriculum
(Zigmond, 1996)
What the Research Says…
(cont’d.)
Since teaching to the whole group is the norm in
general education, teachers are more apt to
adopt practices that improve instruction for all
learners, rather than implement a practice that
meets the needs of only the learning disabled
(Vaughn & Schumm, 1996)
What the Research Says…
(cont’d.)
General education teachers tend
not to adapt instruction for
students with learning
disabilities or to systematically
monitor learning, despite
recognizing the desirability to
do so (Vaughn & Schumm,
1996)
What the Research Says…
(cont’d.)
A recent national survey found that 66
percent of general education teachers
thought it unfair to adapt tests for the
learning disabled students alone
(Jayanthi, et al., 1996).
 Adaptations
Student
Learning
Goals

Present Level of
Performance
Identify student needs Use the
for adaptation adaptation
strategy with the
student

I–C–U–E
PLANNING

Evaluate the
Choose a CARES
effectiveness of the
adaptation strategy
adaptation strategy
 I-C-U-E Planning and Evaluation Form
Identify student needs for adaptation:

Choose a CARES adaptation strategy:

Intervention Level Adaptation Strategies Change Evaluation

Date
Accommodations

1. Change learning • Change physical environment

environment. (e.g., classroom and schedule)
• Change socio-emotional
climate
2. Alter instructional • Clarify directions.
materials & activities • Scaffold instruction.

3. Revise teaching • Provide additional

strategies presentations.
• Make consequences more
attractive.
• Increase practice opportunities
 I-C-U-E Planning and Evaluation Form
Intervention Level Adaptation Strategies Change Evaluation
Date
Modifications

4. Exchange task • Change conditions.

requirements. • Change presentation mode.
• Change response mode.
• Change quantity criteria.
• Change rate criteria.
• Change accuracy criteria.

5. Substitute an • Select a prerequisite task.

alternate task. • Select a task from a different
domain.

Use the adaptation strategy with the student.

Evaluate the effectiveness of the adaptation strategy.

 Identify Student Needs for
Adaptations

• Review student’s evaluation report.

• Review individualized education
program (IEP).

Continued on next slide…

 Identify Student Needs for
Adaptations
• Determine the requirements for
successful performance in the general
education program…
– What are the specific tasks that the
student must master to succeed in the
classroom?
– What is the sequence in which these tasks
will be presented?
Identify (Cont’d.)
• Identify factors hindering student
performance.
– What do we wish the student would do
that he or she is not doing?
– What is the student doing that we wish he
or she was not doing?
– When does the behavior occur? Does it
happen at a certain time of the day?

Continued on next slide…

Identify (Cont’d.)
– Does the student have the problem during
group activities, independent activities, or
small-group activities?
– Does the problem occur during a particular
academic topic or across different topics?
– Do other children also have this problem?
If so, who and how many children? Is
there something that needs to be changed
for the whole class?
Continued on next slide…
Identify (Cont’d.)
– Does the student know that the problem
exists, or is he oblivious to the problem?
Has the student been directly informed to
change his or her behavior?
– Is the problem related to school behaviors
(attention, work completion), social
behaviors (peer relationships, self-
concept), or academic behaviors (learning
new concepts, remembering to apply
strategies)?

Continued on next slide…

 Setting Demands Inventory
I have provided I expect my students to: I have taught and/or modeled
these the skill:
accommodations
/modifications

___read grade level instructional materials

independently ____yes ____no
___preview what is read ____yes ____no
___identify main ideas ____yes ____no
___support generalizations ____yes ____no
___take notes from reading assignments ____yes ____no
___write in response to what they read ____yes ____no
___answer multiple-choice questions ____yes ____no
___answer short answer questions ____yes ____no
___answer extend-response questions ____yes ____no
___increase their reading vocabulary ____yes ____no
___use context clues ____yes ____no
___use the dictionary ____yes ____no
___manage their time ____yes ____no
___participate in class discussions ____yes ____no
___write a well-developed paragraph ____yes ____no
Identify (Cont’d.)
– Is it a problem that can be ignored
because addressing it may create more of
a disruption than the problem itself?
– Should we discuss the problem with
another teacher so that we can get
someone else’s perspective on it and
because talking about it may help us
understand the problem more fully?
 Choose a C-A-R-E-S
Adaptation Strategy
• Accommodations:
• Level 1—change the learning environment
• Level 2—alter materials and activities
• Level 3—revise teaching strategies

Continued on next slide…

C—Choose (Cont’.d)
• Modifications:
• Level 4—exchange task requirements
• Level 5—substitute an alternate learning or
assessment task
Accommodations
I. Change the Learning Environment
 A. Physical arrangement, size,
and comfort of the furniture or
equipment.
 B. Sensory climate:
temperature, ventilation, lighting,
colors, or odors.
 C. Traffic flow and amount of
physical activity.
Continued on next slide…
I. Change the Learning
Environment (Cont’d.)
 D. Schedule the time of day.
 E. Social climate, including the
teacher and peers.
 F. Daily curriculum and related
school activities

Continued on next slide…

I. Changing the Learning
Environment (Cont’d.)
 G. Physical and emotional health
of the student, teacher, and peers.
 H. Teaching style and expectations
of the teacher.
 I. Learning styles and self-esteem
of students.
Choose a CARES Adaptation
Strategy
Accommodations

II. Alter instructional materials and

activities
• Clarify directions
• Scaffold instruction
II. Alter—Clarify Task Direction
• Give directions both orally and in
writing.
• Restate oral directions in simpler
language.
• Give only one or two oral directions at a
time.

Continued on next slide…

II. Alter – Clarify Task Directions
• Be sure students are able to see
directions written on the chalkboard.
• Keep written directions on the student’s
reading level (not for assessment).
• Explain any new or unfamiliar terms
(not for assessment).
Choose a CARES Adaptation
Strategy
II.Alter Instructional Materials and
Activities
*Determine the appropriateness of
materials and activities:
– Use a student’s sight vocabulary
– Oral reading rate and accuracy
– Ability to answer comprehension
questions
II. Alter – Scaffold the Learning
Task
• Guidance an adult or peer
provides through verbal
communication.
• Lease amount of assistance to
the greatest amount of
assistance.
Level Description Example
Cue Ask again; student may not have “Read the word.”
attended to the question

Visual Highlight correct response in some Point to first word

way.

Verbal Partially supply or describe the answer. Read first word aloud for
them.

Model Show or tell the correct answer. “You say/they say”

Manual Give physical assistance. Place hand over the child’s

to read and write word.
Choose a CARES Adaptation
Strategy
Accommodations

III.Revise Teaching Strategies

• Provide additional presentation of target
skills and information.
• Increase practice opportunities.
• Increase motivation for successful
performance task.
General Teaching Strategies
• Use graphic organizers whenever
possible.

• Provide clear & logical transitions

between ideas & units.

• Post schedule of events & long-term

project dates.
General Teaching Strategies
• When completing long-term projects,
break into smaller due dates.

• Provide a list of missing work and have

them check-off as they complete it.
What this looks like in practice.
• Essay question is - Compare and contrast the
2 main characters in the novel The Outsiders.

• Change to:
List 1 way that PonyBoy & Johnny
are the same (compare)

List 1 way that PonyBoy & Johnny are

different (contrast)
What this looks like in parctice
Change this . . . to this . . .
Compare and contrast Spain’s
How alike?
Settlement of Latin America with
French, Dutch, and English
settlement of North America.
How Different??
Include at least three similarities
and three differences.
What this looks like in practice.
Change this . . . to this . . .
Solve each proportion
1. 18 = 24 Question #1 Question #2
12 X

2. 3 =X
13 325

3. X = 4 Question #3 Question #4
100 5

4. 5 = 2
X 20
Choose a CARES Adaptation
Strategy
Modifications
IV. Exchange Task Requirements
• Change conditions
• Change presentation mode
• Change response mode
• Change quantity criteria
• Change rate criteria
• Change accuracy criteria
Choose a CARES Adaptation
Strategy
Modifications

IV. Exchange Task Requirements

• Change frequency expectation
• Change duration expectation
• Evaluation procedures
• Schedule
ACTIVITY—Exchange Task
Requirement

• Original task: Given a reading passage

written at 6.5 grade level, general
education students will read aloud at a
rate of 130 words per minute with 95
percent accuracy over three consecutive
days by May 2001 as measured by daily
one-minute timings.

Continued on next slide…

ACTIVITY—Exchange Task
Requirement (Cont’d.)
Original Task Adapted Task

Task Conditions Given a reading passage

written at 3.5 grade level
Task Characteristics General education
student will read aloud
Criteria for Successful At a rate of 150 words
Performance per minute with 95%
accuracy
Evaluation Procedures As measured by daily
one-minute timings
Schedule Over three consecutive
days

Continued on next slide…

Choose a CARES Adaptation
Strategy
Modifications

V. Substitute an alternate task.

• Select a prerequisite task.
• Select a task from a different domain.
Select an alternate task
• Teachers should assess whether
students understand an idea before
asking them to use it.
• If a student fails to perform at one of
the higher levels of the taxonomy,
teachers should determine if
prerequisite knowledge and skills at the
lower levels is a problem.
 Use Adaptation Strategies
• Plan a description implementation
• Make a timeline
• Assess obstacles
• Implement the change
 Evaluate Effectiveness of
Adaptations
• Data collection procedures:
• Use session-by-session (one or more daily)
Assessment Frequency

recording when student progress is rapid through

a small-step sequence;
• Use daily recording when student behavior
fluctuates and daily program adjustments are
needed;
• Use daily recording when the daily progress of the
student is needed for intervention modifications;

Continued on next slide…

Evaluate Effectiveness of
Adaptations (cont’d.)
• Data collection procedures:
• Use daily recording when the daily
progress of the student is needed for
intervention modifications;
• Use biweekly probes or weekly probes
when student progress is slow;
Data Collection (Cont’d.)

• Use biweekly or weekly probes when

Assessment Frequency

general monitoring of progress is

needed and frequent adjustments are
not needed;
• Use biweekly, weekly, or monthly
probes when evaluating maintenance
or generalization of previously
mastered skills.
C-A-R-E-S Approach to
Adaptation
• Principle of least assistance (Adelman
and Taylor, 1993)
• Helps a teacher identify tasks on which
the student should be instructed.
Adaptations Before the
Assessment
Classroom assessment adaptations
• Study guides
• Practice assessments
• Teaching assessment-taking skills
• Modified assessment construction
Adaptations During the
Assessment
• Alternative presentation modes
• Alternative means of response
• Alternative sites
• Direct assistance
• Alternative times
Adaptations After the Assessment

• Change letter or number grades

• Change grading criteria
• Use alternatives to number and letter
grades
• Follow-up instruction
Oral Reading Prompts
• Correct rate intervention
– “Read more words correctly.”
• Error rate intervention
– Tell students to slow down
– Read each word correctly
– “Reduce number of reading errors.”
• Comprehension intervention
– “Answer more comprehension questions.”
TELLS – Fact or Fiction
• T – Tells
• E – Examine
• L – Look
• L – Look
• S – Setting
• Fact or Fiction
Plans-and-Goals Example
Understanding story elements (plot,
character setting, point of view,
problem, solution).
Conduct discussion:
1. What is the main character in this
story likely to want?
2. How is the main character going to
accomplish the goals?
3. What do you think the main character
should do?
Plans-and-Goals Example
Make prediction, red story, complete
comprehensive assessment:
1. What was the main character’s plan?
2. Would you have done the same?
3. How would you go about
accomplishing this goal?
4. Have you ever had a experience?
5. What is the main idea of the story?
6. Why did the story end the way it did?
Reading POSSE
POSSE
• Predict
• Organize
• Search
• Summarize
• evaluate
Story Maps
• Prepare overhead transparencies of the
following questions and of the story
map diagram.
Story Map Questions
1. Where did the story take place?
2. When did the story take place?
3. Who were the main characters in the
story?
4. Were there any other important
characters in the story? Who?
5. What was the problem in the story?
6. continued –next slide
Story Map Questions, continued
6. How did ____ try to solve the
problem?
7. Was it hard to solve the problem?
8. Was the problem solved? Explain.
9. What did you learn from reading this
story?
10. Can you think of a different ending?