What are modifications? The long list of technical terms in special education can be daunting to some parents. And since modification is one of the most basic terms, I thought I'd take a little time here to make sure you could find a clear, concise definition...
Schwab Learning has one of the best explanations of the term modification that I've come across on the Internet:
- Modifications are changes in the delivery, content, or instructional level of subject matter or tests. They result in changing or lowering expectations and create a different standard for kids with disabilities than for those without disabilities. Curriculum modifications are developed formally through the IEP process.
Their page goes on in other places to explain (correctly, I might add) that when modifications are used to address a child's disabilities it is usually to significantly change the expectations being placed on the child.
Modifications can be simple. If a child's disability affects reading ability, a condition like dyslexia for instance, one of the simplest modifications is usually called alternative assignments. Johnny has great difficulty with the placement of letters in words; so instead of learning 20 words for the weekly spelling test, Johnny only has 10.
Some other common modifications include:
- Alternative grading - reshaping the grading process in some way. My favorite example is in spelling. Giving partial credit on a spelling test is rare in the general education setting; but if a child with reading difficulties spells chapter on a test as "chatper," I may give them partial credit because their answer is at least recognizable and they have all the right letters.
- Partial participation - used with students with more severe disabilities. Whether it has to do with attention span, physical limitations, or cognitive abilities, there are many students for whom partial participation is success.
- Parallel instruction - students learn together as a class, but the expectations placed on students vary from individual student to individual student. This is similar to the concept of differentiated instruction.
- Alternative materials - for example, the use of picture books or shorter texts instead of chapter books to teach a science or a social studies lesson.
- Outlines and highlighting - Students are given an outline of a lecture or a reading before instruction takes place with key words and ideas highlighted in some way.
The Advocacy and Learning Center has a good page of links on accommodations and modifications. Parents should distinguish between these two ideas. Modifications actually change the curriculum and expectations placed on a disabled student. Accommodations do not change what is expected of a student in school; they only change the way the student gains access to learning. That piece of vocabulary, accommodations, has been discussed in another article.
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