Modifications and accommodations: a preliminary investigation into changes in classroom artifact quality

ABSTRACT

Teachers are ultimately responsible for implementing school policy changes, including those driven by current United States (US) mandates that emphasize rigorous career and college readiness standards requiring high expectations for all students. In order to create multiple entryways to instruction for students with disabilities, teachers are faced with an amalgam of possible accommodations and modifications, while simultaneously being expected to assure high standards. This study seeks to provide insight into how teachers in the US are adapting instruction for students who have federally legislated supports and services including modifications or accommodations and are instructed within general education classrooms. Thirty-five unique classroom artifacts (i.e. assignments and assessments) were analyzed for the type of accommodation/modification and alignment to the Next Generation Science Standards, a movement to increase the quality of science instruction. Results indicate that this group of students was assigned tasks that were substantially different from their peers, were afforded fewer opportunities to access challenging, rigorous work, and that teachers may require further support to differentiate instruction. This preliminary investigation within a specific US context raises questions about equitable access to quality instruction that merit further exploration.

KEYWORDS:

• Curriculum and instruction
• inclusive education
• educational reform
• classroom artifacts

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Jeanette Joyce received her doctorate in learning, cognition, instruction, and development from Rutgers University and has more than 15 years of experience in K-12 classroom instruction, special education services, language learning, and evaluation. She has conducted research to investigate classroom artifacts (assignments, assessments) as evidence of teaching practice and quality to ensure that all students have access to challenging work.

Judith R. Harrison received her PhD from Texas A&M University in Educational Psychology with an emphasis in Special Education and Emotional and Behavioral Disorders (EBD). Prior to earning her PhD, Dr Harrison taught and counseled youth served by special education experiencing emotional and behavioral challenges in K-12 public school settings. Her current research interests include the effectiveness, acceptability, feasibility, and sustainability of classroom-based services to increase academic and behavioral success.

Drew H. Gitomer, Ph.D., is the DeMarzo Chair in Education at the Rutgers University Graduate School of Education. His research centers on the assessment and evaluation of teaching and related policy issues in teaching and teacher education. His current work focuses on a range of constructs, including the quality of classroom interactions, teacher knowledge, teacher beliefs, and student achievement.

ORCID

Jeanette Joyce http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5930-2367

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by National Science Foundation [grant number 1445632].