Article - Remediation, Accommodation, Or What?

2008 Catalog

February 14, 1997

REMEDIATION, ACCOMMODATION, OR WHAT?

Many times teachers and parents are caught up in trying to decide whether to remediate, or accommodate. This issue is further confused by two nagging questions: is the accommodation a true accommodation, or just a way to by-pass critical remediation?

In order to decide which is which, three critical questions must be asked. Does the student have the necessary skill(s) to accomplish a given task? If the answer is, "yes," we stop there. If the answer is, "no," we must consider remediation. If there has been appropriate remediation for an appropriate amount of time, and the student is successfully remediated, no accommodation, other than possibly some extended time, is needed. If the appropriate remediation has been tried for an appropriate amount of time, and the remedial intervention has not been successful, is an alternative remedial strategy available? If yes, then the new remediation process is put in place. If the answer is "no," can the parent(s), student, teachers, and administrators responsible for the Individualized Educational Plan or Section 504 Plan of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act, agree on an appropriate accommodation to be put in place?

NOTE: Accommodations are not substitutions for remediation! An accommodation is only to be used if the student is not capable, after appropriate remediation attempts, of doing the essential task. An accommodation is the bridge between what the student can do for him/herself and what is expected of that student. An accommodation should be the critical difference that accesses a student to success, and "levels the playing field".

A Decision Tree of Questions

If a school system has been trying to teach Shawn how to add, subtract, multiply and divide, whole numbers, decimals and fractions for six years and he still hasn't learned them, who is the slow learner here? An appropriate and essential skill accommodation is to teach him to use a calculator and get on with the math curriculum.

Is Joan capable of memorizing formulas? If so, no accommodations, maybe! Is she able to apply the formulas even though they are memorized? If not, remediation or other teaching strategies to teach application of formulas should be tried. Is Joan capable of applying the formulas if the formulas are provided? If so, that is a reasonable skill accommodation. If remediation does not work, and the accommodation does not work, then is this class placement appropriate for Joan?

Is Kevin capable of spelling words on demand as in an essay test? If not, the following accommodations should be considered: no points will be taken off for in-class writing assignments; or "The Underlining Option;"* or the use of an electronic dictionary. The advantages and disadvantages of each accommodation will have to be weighed. For example, the use of the electronic dictionary will take too much test time. The "Underlining Option" will hit most of the words, but some will be missed. The no points off, for Kevin, may be an invitation to become lax in the areas where he is strong such as adequate sentence structure. Which of these accommodations does Kevin need to access success? The building level committee, including the student (from 5th grade on) and the parent(s), decides the accommodation. If the agreed upon remediation/ accommodation strategy fails, the committee can make another choice.

*See "The Underlining Option" article listed.

Permission to reproduce this article is given. CWA