Classroom Accommodations Checklist for Special Education Students

If you’re a classroom teacher, more likely than not you have at least one student with an IEP or Individual Education Plan. This plan is a written, legal document that outlines the student’s disability, present levels of performance, and educational and/or social-emotional goals. During the IEP meeting, much of the discussion is focused on which specific accommodations that the student needs in order to access the curriculum and meet his or her goals.

In this blog post, I’ll explain how to use a classroom accommodations checklist for your special education students. I’ll also share what accommodations are and provide examples of each type.

What Are Accommodations?

An accommodation is a change in environment or content delivery, or the use of special equipment, that allows students with a disability to access and learn the same curriculum as their non-disabled peers.

➡️ Accommodations are not modifications.

A modification changes the content of the curriculum that the child is expected to learn. The easiest way to understand the difference: Accommodations are changes to how a student learns while modifications change what they are expected to learn.

Classroom accommodations:

• Do not change or reduce what the student is required to learn
• Do not reduce the requirements of the learning task

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A student’s IEP will specify which accommodations are to be used in the classroom and which are allowed during state testing.

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What are some examples of classroom accommodations?

Exactly which accommodations a student receives depends on the child and they will often have more than one type on their IEP.

What are the 4 types of accommodations?

For the purpose of an IEP, accommodations fall into one of four categories: presentation, response, setting, and timing/scheduling.

Here are some examples of each type that you may encounter:

Presentation

• providing visual aids or graphic organizers
• previewing vocabulary
• large print books
• providing oral directions
• having a human reader
• color coding information
• repeating or clarifying directions
• using text to speech devices
• braille or sign language

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Response

• allowing oral responses
• using a scribe
• writing directly in the test booklet (instead of bubble sheets)
• increased wait time
• using speech to text devices
• graphic organizers for written responses
• using math manipulatives to solve

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Setting

• small group instruction and testing
• preferential seating
• reduced distractions
• study carrels
• noise-reducing headphones
• special lighting

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Timing or Scheduling

• extra time to complete assignments
• frequent short breaks
• testing in several shorter sessions
• using timers
• breaking assignments into smaller tasks
• special schedule changes

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How to Use a Classroom Accommodations Checklist

All of this information can be a little bit confusing for the parent and even teachers in the general education classrooms. That’s why, as a special education teacher, I always take time to review my IEPs with the classroom teachers and help them understand all of the jargon. I do this at the beginning of the school year with their list of new students and after each new staffing throughout the year.

In addition to a copy of their students’ IEPs, I always give teachers a handy classroom accommodations checklist. This is a single-sheet that shows the accommodations each child is allowed to have in the classroom.

A classroom accommodations checklist is an incredibly helpful tool. Teachers already have a lot on their plates. Having an easy-to-understand list right at your fingertips saves a lot of time.

Here are some ways a classroom accommodations checklist can be used:

• to plan differentiated activities
• to ensure IEP compliance
• as documentation
• to guide lesson planning
• to help create alternative assessments

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A smart, and often required, spot to keep a list of accommodations is in your lesson plans. In this day and age of lawsuits, you must be able to demonstrate that you are aware of, understand, and are following a student’s IEP. There is no wiggle room here! An accommodations checklist makes documenting accommodations in the classroom quick and easy.

Last, you will want to share a simple checklist with the student’s parents. Why? It’s important for the child to get the same accommodations on homework assignments as he or she does on classwork. I try to write my checklist in clear language that parents can understand and I include my email address and phone number in case they have any questions!

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This is the classroom accommodations checklist I give to the gen-ed teachers I work with:

A full-size checklist goes in the teacher’s files. A smaller checklist gets stapled to assignments or tests to show which accommodations the student received. It’s an easy way for teachers to document any accommodations they provide in the classroom!

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⏬ Download a copy of these classroom accommodations checklists for teachers in the Free Resource Library.

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Important Tips:

• Be sure to include the child’s full name and student ID at the top of the checklist for documentation purposes.
• Only check the accommodations that are actually on the student’s IEP. The ones I have included are suggestions of commonly used accommodations. They may or may not apply to your student.
• Make multiple copies so you can use them regularly as suggested above.
• If you are a SPED teacher, give each gen-ed teacher you work with copies of your classroom accommodations checklist so they can use it too – team effort!

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No matter what grade you teach, understanding your students’ IEPs and accommodations is essential. I hope the information in this blog post makes it easier.