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IEP and 504 Accommodations and Modifications

When a student has an  (IEP) or a , you’ll likely hear the word accommodation. You may also hear school staff members say modification. While the two words sound similar, they mean different things. An accommodation changes how a student learns the material. A modification changes what a student is taught or expected to learn. Here is a chart that explains the differences.

Link to Accommodations for students by disability

Here are some common accommodations and modifications for students with IEPs and 504 Plans:
 
Presentation Accommodations:

  • Listen to audio recordings instead of reading text

  • Learn content from audiobooks, movies, videos, and digital media instead of reading print versions

  • Work with fewer items per page or line

  • Work with text in a larger print size

  • Have a “designated reader”—someone who reads test questions aloud to students

  • Hear instructions spoken aloud

  • Record a lesson, instead of taking notes

  • Get class notes from another student

  • See an outline of a lesson

  • Use visual presentations of verbal material, such as word webs

  • Get a written list of instructions

Response Accommodations:

  • Give responses in a form (spoken or written) that’s easier for them

  • Dictate answers to a scribe who writes or types

  • Capture responses on an audio recorder

  • Use a spelling dictionary or digital spell-checker

  • Use a word processor to type notes or give answers in class

  • Use a calculator or table of “math facts”

Setting Accommodations:

  • Work or take a test in a different setting, such as a quiet room with few distractions

  • Sit where they learn best (for example, near the teacher)

  • Use special lighting or acoustics

  • Take a test in a small group setting

  • Use sensory tools such as an exercise band that can be looped around a chair’s legs (so fidgety kids can kick it and quietly get their energy out)

Timing Accomodations:

  • Take more time to complete a task or a test

  • Have extra time to process spoken information and directions

  • Take frequent breaks, such as after completing a worksheet

 Scheduling Accommodations:

  • Take more time to complete a project

  • Take a test in several timed sessions or over several days

  • Take sections of a test in a different order

  • Take a test at a specific time of day

Organization Skills Accommodations:

  • Use an alarm to help with time management

  • Mark texts with a highlighter

  • Use a planner or organizer to help coordinate assignments

  • Receive study skills instruction

Assignment Modifications

  •  Complete different homework problems than peers

  • Answer different test questions

  • Create alternate projects or assignments

 Curriculum modifications
  •  Learn different material (such as continuing to work on multiplication while classmates move on to fractions)

  • Get graded or assessed using a different standard than other students

  • Be excused from particular projects