Accommodations and Modifications

Accommodations

Accommodations are changes to assessments that allow ELs to "show what they know."

Examples of Accommodations include:

  • Giving students extra time to complete an assignment

  • Reading aloud directions, test items, or

  • Chunking assignments or directions

  • Allowing students to show understanding in an alternate way, such as drawing, pointing, or labeling

  • Providing a word bank or sentence stems

  • Simplifying the language of an assignment

  • Using native language support

  • Highlighting key words and phrases

Accommodations available on state tests include:

  • Read Aloud

  • Extended Time

  • Small Group

  • Word to Word Native Language Dictionaries, including printing the Bilingual Glossaries

Resources:

The Five Pillars of Equitably Grading ELLs

SupportEd - Free Tools

Modifications

Modifications are changes to instruction that allow ELs to access the content you teach. Assessments can also be modified to support a student's language progress if they are changed to assess something different than the original assessment

Examples of Modifications include:

  • Using a lower reading level

  • Providing remediation of previously taught skills

  • Using sentence frames or word banks

  • Including scaffolded opportunities to talk about content using academic language

  • Providing alternate assignments based on EL student progress in acquiring English

  • Using cognates

  • Using visuals

  • Modeling

  • Using hands-on learning or manipulatives

Resources:

Colorin Colorado

EdWeek Article by Larry Ferlazzo