Three Pieces of Student Information From Their IEP
IEPs begin with a focus on three essential pieces of information related to the child. This information provides the foundation for identifying a “just-right” adaptation. IEP teams are tasked with determining the child’s:
- Needs
- Strengths
- Present levels of academic and functional performance
Using this Information to Select a “Just-Right” Adaptation
It’s not a coincidence that this information is the exact information needed to select that “just-right” adaptation. Here’s how you do it:
- Select adaptations that align to a child’s need: A just-right adaptation is directly connected to a specific student need. Certain adaptations work well for a sensory processing need while others are connected to a reading fluency need. Some adaptations work well for multiple needs, so if the child has multiple needs and all align to an adaptation, that adaptation may be perfect! Accomods’ builder method is designed to help you find this just-right adaptation!
- Select adaptations that are empowered by the child’s strengths: It’s human nature to use our strengths as leverage against our needs. Think about the last time you needed to complete a task that was difficult for you. What did you do? Chances are you used your strengths to overcome it! Similarly, you should consider student strengths to select appropriate adaptations. If the child enjoys social situations, consider adaptations that leverage their social skills against their needs. Is the child good with technology? Then consider ways technology can be used as an adaptation to empower the child.
- Select adaptations that match the child’s degree of need: The present levels from a child’s IEP tell you how intensive an adaptation needs to be. This is the data that we use to determine what we call the degree of need. Data helps you pick a just-right adaptation by ensuring the appropriate amount of support is provided. Recall that the function of an adaptation is to make the curriculum accessible by supporting the child around their need NOT to make learning, assignments, and tests easier. When an adaptation is too intensive it makes learning activities easy and that’s not the goal! Alternatively, if an adaptation isn’t intensive enough, the child will begin to demonstrate frustration and become disengaged. By selecting just-right adaptations that match the child’s degree of need you’re ensuring engagement!
Let Action Driven Education make it simple to help you find, select and implement that perfect, just-right, adaption with Accomods and our popular Tools for Effective Inclusion course!
Be Action Driven: Things To Do
- Learn more about how to select “just-right” adaptations check out our Tools for Effective Inclusion asynchronous course.
- See previous newsletters where “just-right” is a common theme. Be sure to sign up to receive our future newsletters! (form is in our website footer)
- Jump in to Accomods to consider ways you might support a child around their needs. Don’t have an account? Learn more here.