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Identifying and Supporting a Struggling Student in an Eighth-Grade Language Arts Classroom

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Identifying and Supporting a Struggling Student in an Eighth-Grade Language Arts Classroom

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In the eight grade language arts classroom, identifying a struggling student requires a systematic and evidence-based approach. The process must distinguish between language barriers, such as those faced by English Language Learners (ELLs), and learning disabilities that may require specialized support through other special education services Here is a step-by-step framework to ensure appropriate interventions!

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"We worry about what a child will be tomorrow but we forget that he is someone today." - Karl Meninger

Samira's Story

A number of years ago, Kristina taught a Somali English language learner (ELL) named Samira who was dedicated, attentive, and friendly. Kristina thoroughly enjoyed teaching her as they worked on Samira's English skills. When it came to assigning final grades, though, Kristina had a dilemma - Samira wasn't able to successfully complete assignments. She came to the classroom often, asked for additional help, and did her best to understand the directions and complete the work. Kristina felt discouraged every time she corrected her assignments because she realized that, despite her best efforts, Samira either wasn't able to do the assignment or she had copied someone else's work.

Samira was obviously struggling, and at the time Kristina attributed it to her refugee experience and lack of formal education. She thought that she just needed more time and English language exposure.

Now that Kristina has had the benefit of collaborating with Special Education teachers who have experience working with ELLs, she believes it is likely that Samira had a learning disability that went undiagnosed because she and her colleagues had not received training in how to recognize and address special education needs for ELL students.

Kristina also remembers a student who was having significant struggles with learning; when his teacher met with the family and a bilingual interpreter, she was told that the boy had had a brain injury in his home country and that learning had always been difficult for him. There were no special supports available to him in his prior school, so his parents never thought to ask for them.

Eyeglasses Needed!

On the other hand, Lydia recalls a story told by Education Week reporters Lesli Maxwell and Nirvi Shah of a San Diego teacher who referred six ELLs for special education evaluation; after some initial health screenings, it turned out that all of them needed eyeglasses, and one needed a hearing aid. None of the students, however, needed special education services.

Educators know how confusing this issue can be, and in our work, we frequently hear the question "Language or disability?" The authors of Special Education Considerations for English Language Learners: Delivering a Continuum of Services, . (Caslon, 2013) suggest, however, that a more appropriate question would be, "What are this student's needs and how are they being met?"

This complex question of identifying the reasons why students are struggling is one of the most difficult challenges for teachers of English language learners to address. While it is tempting to look for easy answers, solutions are unlikely to come from a single checklist, workshop, meeting, or intervention; rather, they are more likely to come over time and with the help of a team that includes family members working together on behalf of the student.

It sounds like a lot of work, and it is! The extra time and work are worth it, however, as a misdiagnosis will may result in students:

continuing to struggle without the services they need

regressing without the right support

getting tracked into inappropriate programs for the remainder of their school career

A holistic approach

This article is meant to serve as a broad introduction to some of the important issues to consider when determining whether a student's educational needs are being meant. Rather than laying out a series of steps to follow, we offer suggestions and guiding questions to a holistic approach that look at each individual student's situation in lieu of quick decisions about testing or program assignments. For additional in-depth information about putting together a support team, language learning factors, cultural considerations, and instruction for ELLs with disabilities, please look at our in-depth resource section on special education and ELLs.

We also highly recommend the above mentioned Special Education Considerations for English Language Learners and our video interviews with experts in this area, including Dr. Alba Ortiz, Dr. Debbie Zacarian, Dr. Nancy Cloud, and Dr. Lynn Shafer Willner.

Webcast: ELLs with LD

Video bonus: For a great introduction to this topic, take a look at Colorín Colorado's webcast featuring Dr. Elsa Cárdenas-Hagan on the topic of ELL students with learning disabilities.

In addition to the suggestions offered in this article, we also strongly encourage educators working with ELLs to:

Educate themselves as much as possible about the process of language acquisition and other important factors in working with ELLs so that they become familiar with typical patterns of language development

Request the support and training needed to provide effective instruction for students, conduct accurate assessment and evaluations, and manage interaction with diverse families effectively

Review and revisit the assessment, evaluation, and screening procedures currently in place in the school or district to determine whether they make sense for ELLs

Seek out collaboration with school or district colleagues who specialize in ELL and bilingual education, special education, speech-language therapy, and parent outreach in order to pull together different areas of expertise as part of a team

Update and improve evaluation processes if needed with input from colleagues who have relevant experiences as well as staff from other districts

While it may seem like these are changes that you can't make on your own, taking small steps to collaborate with colleagues and administrators can have a significant impact for students. The more information all educators have, the better informed their decisions will be and the better their chances are of finding ways to help their students succeed.

Why Do We Need to Get It Right?

As indicated in the introduction, there are two troubling trends when it comes to identifying the services that ELLs need to succeed: over-identification for special education, which results from assigning students to special education programs who do not actually need those services, and under-identification, which is what happens when students who do have learning disabilities or special education needs do not receive appropriate services. It is important to note that an awareness of one trend can sometimes lead to an over-correction towards the other, which is why it is essential to establish a process that focuses on each individual student rather than a vague sense of what has or has not worked it the past.

In the above-mentioned Education Week article, Lesli and Nivri report that a 2003 study commissioned by the U.S. Department of Education found that over-identification tended to happen in districts with small numbers of ELLs (less than 99 ELL students) and under-identification occurred in districts with a large ELL population. More recently, though, research suggests that under-identification is a bigger problem nationally. Yet at the same time, high numbers of special education referrals don't indicate that a district's evaluation program is working and that students are getting the services they need.

Case Study: San Diego

Lesli and Nirvi share the story of San Diego, a district faced with class action lawsuit in 2007 due to its poor special educations services. The district asked Harvard's Thomas Hehir to evaluate their program, and he found that Latino ELLs were 70% more likely to be referred to special education than Latinos who were not ELLs. Two years later, bilingual educator Jaime Hernandez followed up in San Diego with additional research and found that there was still limited use of special education assessments in students' native language as well as a lack of evidence of efforts to take "extrinsic factors" such as health, family conditions, or previous academic experiences into account.

Following these reports, the district began to create a more comprehensive evaluation process that would "slow everyone down" and "look at all the features of a child's life" before making a special education referral. Lesli and Nirvi write, "The goal was valid referrals and accuracy of special education decisions for ELLs, so educators and specialists from across the district - bilingual teachers, special educators, psychologists - developed a set of procedures for district staff members to follow when students are flagged as possibly needing services."

It is easy to understand why under-identification is problematic when students don't receive the services they need, particularly if valuable time goes by when the student could be receiving the necessary help that would address their difficulty or information could be gathered on the student's academic experiences over time.

It is less obvious to understand why over-identification is a problem. In fact, many students have been placed in special education with the best of intentions so that they will receive "some kind of help." The wrong placement, however, is not only unhelpful; it can also be harmful.

The authors of Special Education Considerations for English Language Learners outline a number of reasons why over-identification of ELLs in special education is problematic:

ELLs without special education needs and those students with special education needs require different kinds of support. Even though ELLs and special education students are frequently grouped together as "special populations" and some support strategies that help one group may help another, their needs are quite different. In this excerpt from their book, the authors explain that "interventions that are specifically geared to help processing, linguistic, or cognitive disabilities often do not help children acquire second language proficiency. In fact, special education services can limit the kind of learning that ELLs need."

Misdirected special education placement can actually result in a reversal of achievement. The authors note in this second excerpt from their book that "(s)tudies have shown that Hispanic students who were classified as learning disabled performed at a lower level after three years of special education placement."

There is the question of stigmatization and lowered expectations. ELLs with special education needs may find that their entire academic trajectory, as well as expectations for their success, have changed even though the school has determined that the student's needs have been met. As a result, students may be restricted in their access to challenging academic content and the appropriate language instruction that would address the root cause of their difficulties. (pg. 2)

In addition, when an ELL has difficulties, the authors note that "there is a tendency to assume something is intrinsically wrong with the student," particularly if difficulties are described without any specifics, such as saying a student "can't read." The authors encourage teams of educators to "answer the question 'What' before attempting to answer the question 'Why'" in order to take the appropriate next steps (pg. 36-37). Approaching this issue from the assumption that something is "wrong" with the student also misses an important opportunity to build upon student strengths - an important resource in looking for ways to help students succeed, as described by Lynn Shafer Willner in her article about using a "Can Do" approach in the classroom.

Note on ELL and Special Education Services

If the district does identify an ELL student as also requiring support from special education, then the student should get both kinds of services - it's not a question of one or the other. For example, if the district develops a more culturally and linguistically responsive RtI process / Multi-tiered System of Supports (MTSS), then the district will need to intensify the ELL-appropriate support a child/children receive. If the student then additionally qualifies for special education services, the collaboration that began in RtI would continue so that all the child's needs are met (both ELL and special education.)

Physical Difficulties or Disabilities

There are, of course, situations in which immediate action is needed. If a child has obvious signs of cognitive or physical issues such as those listed below, they need to receive immediate support. Factors leading to immediate referral include (but are not limited to):

Documentation of known previous medical condition(s)

Known brain damage

Problems with hearing or vision

Physical disability

Cleft palate

Cerebral palsy

Brain injury

Polio

Post traumatic stress

Documented severe malnutrition

A concern or concerns shared by parents, family or the student herself/himself

An accident/injury

Information from family members may provide more background on these conditions. See our tips for working with diverse families around questions of special education below for more guidance, as well as information about the various categories of disabilities under the special education legislation IDEA.

What Information Do We Need?

When the cause of difficulty is not so obvious, where do educators begin to look for answers? Here are some questions to ask about the student.

Student background

How much do you know about your student's previous educational experiences?

Has the child switched schools or language programs?

Are there any traumas or difficult family situations that you should know about?

Do you have access to accurate records of the student's previous school experience, the location of previous schools, and length of time at each school?

Tips for learning more about your student's background information can be found in Getting to Know Your ELLs: Six Steps for Success.

Family background

Another source of information about the student's background is the family, and it may be most effective to conduct a family interview to gather additional background. Parents have a legal right to interpretation for IEP notifications and meetings, and it is extremely important that a highly trained interpreter be available to assist in this conversation, as well as to explain any information in a way the family can understand. For example, in the Somali language, there is no direct term that means "Special Education." If the interpretation is not done sensitively, the family may believe the staff is referring to the student as "crazy" or "mentally defective."

If there is no trained interpreter at the building, it is possible that the district has a central interpretation staff that has had training in special education assessments. If the district does not have such staff, the state may have resources to assist with translation or a local technical assistance center may be able to help. Ideally, the translator will have experience interpreting about these topics and within a particular cultural setting.

How can administrators help?

There are a number of ways that administrators can support this process, including allowing time for collaboration. It's also important to begin to increase the number of multilingual staff to reflect the languages and cultures of the students at the school.

As a pro-active action, this helps give families and students access to the school and curriculum much earlier in the process, possibly preventing some challenges in the future. This also allows schools to build a commitment to cultural reciprocity (Kalyanpur & Harry, 2012). This is also true at the district level; hiring bilingual professionals who have received training and/or are certified in Bilingual/ESL education, which can have a significant impact for students.

At the interview, a special education staff member and an interpreter can ask many in-depth and background questions to get more insight into environmental or physical factors that may be affecting the child's learning. Example questions might include:

Have there been any serious health problems in the family? Parents? Grandparents? Aunts and uncles?

What is the formal educational level of the parents and of the child?

What was the child's educational experience prior to coming to the U.S.? At previous school districts? At other schools / classrooms within the same district?

Has there been any trauma in the family? For example, has the child been involved in a violent situation, or witnessed violence and death in a war situation?

Has anyone in the family ever had psychological issues such as depression? (This may need to be described more in behavioral ways, such as describing someone who was sad or slept a lot.)

Have there been any other identifiable behaviors in the family such as stuttering or dyslexia? (Again, the behaviors may need to be explained.)

Families may be hesitant to answer these questions, particularly if they are newcomers to the U.S. Assure them that their answers will only be shared with staff who support the students as well as social workers and are only meant to guide decisions for providing the best possible services for their children.

The process of acculturation

Another factor to keep in mind is that ELL students need time to adjust to their new surroundings and language and to have an opportunity to demonstrate their learning over time. This process may take quite some time when accounting for cultural adjustment, a silent period, and the development of literacy skills in a second language. This is why familiarity with the language acquisition process can help provide some context for the student's language development. What appears to be slow growth in learning English may actually be quite typical for the child's age and educational background.

Student work and behavior

Over time, it is important to track the student's work and behavior in order to establish some benchmarks. It can be tricky to determine if the challenges the ELL student is experiencing are a result of the normal developmental process of learning a new or additional language or if he/she has special needs because at the surface many of the behaviors displayed appear to be the same.

This excerpt from Special Education Considerations for English Language Learners shows some example of contrasting explanations for similar observed behaviors:

Has trouble following directions

Not enough English proficiency to understand what is being said

No demonstrations or context given for directions/procedure

Can't process the entire set of directions with sufficient speed

Distractibility

Memory limitations

Not able to understand the temporal or spatial concepts

(Table 3.2, pg. 47)

For example, if during English instructional time, a teacher observes an ELL student who refuses to answer questions, makes inappropriate comments, has poor recall, comprehension and vocabulary, and struggles when sequencing ideas, the teacher might be concerned that the child needs special education support. While that may be the case, it's important to remember that these behaviors can also be explained from the perspective of an ELL student in the process of developing academic English. In the case of "refus(ing) to answer questions," ELL students may often not participate in class because while they might have proficiency enough to understand the message, they might not have enough proficiency in English to answer. Here are two examples of questions you can ask to tease out whether a student's difficulties may be part of learning a new language.

Is the disability present in both languages?: One important clue is to see whether the disability is present only in English. If the student only shows the difficult behavior in English settings and not in his/her non-English language(s), then it cannot be an indicator of a disability. A true disability will manifest across all the child's languages and in most settings. If an ELL "struggles to retell events" in English and not in his/her home language or in a bilingual retelling, then this cannot be evidence of a disability.

How does the student compare with his/her peers?: Another initial question to ask is whether the student is making academic progress at about the same rate as other ELL students from similar backgrounds (students who share similar linguistic, cultural, educational, or refugee experiences) and to compare that progress over time.

Academic interventions

It is essential that different academic interventions are tried and the results recorded before any formal special evaluation assessment is requested. This process may be part of a Response to Intervention approach. (You can learn more from this RtI framework developed by Cristina Sánchez-Lopez for WIDA.) This is important because students may have very different learning styles or comfort levels with the U.S. educational environment, or may be struggling with literacy skills. When a teacher does intentional interventions to provide support and documents the results, valuable information is then available if an assessment is needed in the future. Here are some common academic intervention options:

Give ELL students access to the content by having them read multiple level readings (in English and in students' non-English languages) and other resources (brochures, websites, outlines, Powerpoints, podcasts, etc.) on the topic of study.

Write hints or reminders in the text. Analyze text structure of the materials read and highlight/bold key characteristics and content.

Use real life experiences when discussing the reading material.

Using Language Experience Approach / Shared reading/ Shared Writing across the content areas and grade levels to build on students' linguistic resources and bridge to literacy.

Pair ELL students with other ELLs.

Use manipulatives or hands-on materials and visuals to build content area schema and to support oral academic language development.

Use a tape recorder to play books on tape. Have students develop podcasts / recordings of their own dual language stories, memoirs, reports, etc.

Have students preview content visually, orally and through literacy (when available) in their non-English language before reading/learning about content in English. Actively invite students' languages and cultures into the classroom.

Explicitly teach study skills/habits, as well as effective ways of using educational resources and materials.

Use the student's name in instructional examples. And use culturally and linguistically relevant materials, books, as well as multicultural literature

Provide visuals to support academic work.

Encourage re-reading of tasks/instructions. Or, using multiple texts and other resources on the same topic to give access and to deepen comprehension and build vocabulary.

Provide more time to finish assignments/tests.

Pair the English Language Learner with a gifted or older same-language student in tutorial situations.

Once those options have been exhausted and the student is progressing much more slowly than other ELL students with a similar background, or needs a lot of repeated instruction when other ELLs with similar educational experience do not, it is time for the team get together to examine the data gathered and determine if the student is eligible and entitled to receive special education services.

Who Should Be Involved?

Creating a team

In examining a student's needs, a collaborative team approach is best. Background information on why coordinating support services for ELLs is provided in this tip sheet from the Michigan Department of Education. Someone who speaks the child's native language must be involved in the process along with colleagues with expertise in ELL and/or bilingual education, special education, speech-language therapy, and parent outreach. Even if your school doesn't formally use a team when assessing or evaluating students, creating an informal team is a better option than trying to figure it out alone, and informal steps may lay the groundwork for more formal processes in the future.

This vignette from Special Education Considerations for English Language Learners highlights the ways in which bilingual professionals can provide valuable insight into how students are using and learning language. A bilingual coordinator recalls an instance of a kindergarten teacher who was preparing to refer a student to special education screening because she thought he didn't understand her questions about the sounds that letters make. The bilingual coordinator was able to determine that the student was in fact answering the teacher's questions correctly - but he was answering them in Spanish.

In Palm Beach County, Florida, Lesli and Nirvi report that the multicultural team that works on evaluating ELLs for disabilities includes bilingual psychologists and speech-language therapists and that the district hires interpreters and consultants when necessary to work with students and families who speak other languages.

Working with families

Families are a valuable source of information about their children and an important part of a student's support team. It's essential that ELL families are kept informed about their student's progress so that they understand each step of the way, just as would be done for monolingual English students. Keeping families informed also builds trust so that if evaluation or referral are needed, the family understands what is happening and why. This is another reason why getting to know ELL families throughout the year is a key part of student success since it builds a positive foundation that makes it easier to find solutions together!

What Happens If Special Education Assessment Is Needed?

If your team determines that special education assessment is needed, the next question is to ask which evaluation methods will be used to determine what kinds of services the student might need and to learn more about the language used in those tools. According to expert Kathy Escamilla, who Lesli and Nirvi interviewed for their article, "When most of the tools that are used to assess learning disabilities are in English and were normed on monolingual English-speaking kids who are part of the dominant culture, you can't rely on that to tell you if a child with a different primary language has a learning disability or if they just don't know the language." An added complication is the evaluation of long-term ELLs who were born in the U.S. but don't have strong literacy skills in English or Spanish. Ideally, the evaluation process will include multiple sources of data that can take those realities into account.

Here are some questions to ask:

Does documentation show limited or no progress or change resulting from instructional strategies, alternative instruction, or interventions?

Do ESL and/or bilingual staff support the position that the student is performing differently than his/her cultural peers?

What evaluation measures are most appropriate for this situation (even if those are different than what the district typically uses)?

What is our evaluation plan and parent communication plan?

Parent conference

If the interventions have not been effective up to this point, then further information must be gathered and an initial conference must be held with the parents of the student. In the initial conference, it is important to share with the parents (and make sure that they understand) the interventions that have been tried in the classroom, an explanation of what is involved in an initial assessment, what support would be available to the child if he/she qualifies, and the parent and student rights. Find out from a bilingual staff member or interpreter if there are any cultural considerations that will need to be addressed during the conversation.
Special Education Support
If the child qualifies for special education services, then due process is followed, and an Individualized Education Program (IEP) will be created based on the services and instruction that the student needs. This information from the National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities offers IEP considerations for ELLs. (Note: This document will be online through September 2014.)

Again, it is very important that the family have a skilled interpreter at the meeting when they consent to service and for all future IEP meetings. It's important that professionals continue to collaborate in order to support all of the student's needs as an ELL student as well as a student with particular special education needs.

Your district or state may be the best source for figuring out what guidelines to follow or how to create an IEP for an ELL. These statewide resources, modules, and guidebooks also have extensive information, support materials, and translated forms:

You can find additional information in these resources, as well as those that follow this article:

Concluding Thoughts

As educators begin to collaborate more and look more deeply into students' experiences and needs, there is a better chance that students will get the support they need to succeed. Building a more culturally and linguistically responsive RtI / MTSS process will help to address the needs of ELLs who are having significant challenges in a more timely manner as well as provide a framework for making more informed decisions about ELLs who may also have special education needs.

Even if you feel like you don't have all of the answers, we encourage you to come together with colleagues and think about what steps you can in the short-term and long-term to improve these practices in your setting, ensuring that students like Samira get the services they need to become successful.

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Addressing ELLs' Language Learning and Special Education Needs: Questions and Considerations

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"We worry about what a child will be tomorrow but we forget that he is someone today." - Karl Meninger A number of years ago, Kristina taught a Somali English language learner (ELL) named Samira who was dedicated, attentive, and friendly. Kristina thoroughly enjoyed teaching her as they worked on Samira's English skills.

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Monitor individual student performance through classroom participation, reading comprehension, in-class writing assignments, and exams.

Identify specific difficulties such as struggles with grammar, vocabulary, reading comprehensions, or writing.

Privately compare performance with 8th grade-level expectations and peers.

Source: Edutopia - Formative Assessment https://www.edutopia.org/article/7-smart-fast-ways-do-formative-assessment/

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Step 2: Tier One Interventions and Differentiation

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Step 2: Tier One Interventions and Differentiation

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Provide individualised support for learning differences, such as graphic organizers, guided in-classroom reading, and after school reading/writing conferences.

Apply strategies such as explicit vocabulary instruction and sentence frames to determine if the student improves with structured support within 6-8 weeks.

Document student progress and response to teacher-parent interventions.

Sources: Edutopia- 6 Scaffolding Strategies to Use With Your Students: https://www.edutopia.org/blog/scaffolding-lessons-six-strategies-rebecca-alber?

IES Practice Guide- Improving Adolescent Literacy: Effective Classroom and Intervention Practices

https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/docs/practiceguide/adlit_pg_082608.pdf?

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6 Scaffolding Strategies to Use With Your Students

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Support every student by breaking learning up into chunks and providing a concrete structure for each.

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Step 3: Tier Two Collaboration with Specialists and Teaching Team

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Step 3: Tier Two Collaboration with Specialists and Teaching Team

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Consult with the particular school's ESL specialists if the student is an English Language Learner to assess whether the difficulty stems from language acquisition.

Work with special education teachers or interventionists to discuss observed challenges and strategies implemented within the classroom.

Sources: Teacher Vision - Collaboration Between General and Special Education Teachers https://www.teachervision.com/teaching-strategies/collaboration-between-general-and-special-education-teachers?

Edutopia - Enhancing Collaboration Between Classroom Teachers and ELL Specialists

https://www.edutopia.org/article/working-english-language-learning-specialists-school/

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Collaboration Between General and Special Education Teachers

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Read this publication funded by the U.S. Department of Education on collaboration between general and special education teachers.

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Step 4: Differentiating Between a Learning Disability and a Language Need

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Step 4: Differentiating Between a Learning Disability and a Language Need

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Assess if struggles exist across academic subjects or only in specific language-heavy tasks. If the student struggles with literacy across multiple areas, a learning disability may be a factor.

Consider the student’s language proficiency level using assessments such as ACCESS for ELLs.

Evaluate whether errors are common with second-language learners. For instance, grammatical errors can be influenced grammatical errors by eclectic native language structures. As well as, evaluate whether versus patterns align with a learning disability.

Sources: WIDA - ACCESS for ELLs https://wida.wisc.edu/assess/access?utm_

LD @ School - Language Acquisition Difficulty or Learning Disability? How to Differentiate and Support English Language Learners with a Learning Disability

https://www.ldatschool.ca/language-acquisition-difficulty-or-learning-disability/

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A suite of secure, large-scale, summative English language proficiency assessments

ACCESS for ELLs (ACCESS) is the collective name for WIDA's suite of summative English language proficiency assessments. ACCESS is taken annually by English learners in kindergarten through grade 12 in WIDA Consortium member states. WIDA provides this flexible suite of tests because we know that no single test is suitable for all students.

ACCESS for ELLs

Is available to WIDA Consortium member states as a primary benefit of membership

Is administered to kindergarten through grade 12 students who have been identified as English language learners (ELLs)

Is given annually to monitor students' progress in learning academic English

Meets U.S. federal requirements of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) for monitoring and reporting ELLs' progress toward English language proficiency

Is anchored in the WIDA English Language Development Standards

Assesses the four language domains of Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing

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A suite of secure, large-scale, summative English language proficiency assessmentsACCESS for ELLs (ACCESS) is the collective name for WIDA's suite of summative English language proficiency assessments. ACCESS is taken annually by English learners in kindergarten through grade 12 in WIDA Consortium member states.

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Step 5: Tier Three Teacher Referral for Special Education Evaluation (If Necessary)

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Step 5: Tier Three Teacher Referral for Special Education Evaluation (If Necessary)

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If the student persists to struggle with the academic material despite appropriate interventions and differentiation, I as the teacher would initiate a conversation with the parents to consider the referral for a formal evaluation.

Then, with parental permission I would collaborate with the school’s special education team to conduct assessments in reading writing, and additional processing skills.

Ensure that assessments account for language differences to avoid incorrect evaluations.

Sources: National Education Association -Special Education Referrals https://www.nea.org/professional-excellence/student-engagement/tools-tips/special-education-referrals

Parent Center Hub - Evaluating School-Aged Children for Disability https://www.parentcenterhub.org/evaluation/

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Verifying you are human. This may take a few seconds.

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If a student learning disability is identified, I as the teacher would work with the Individualized Education Program (IEP) team to create student accommodations, such as extended time or modified assignments.

If the student has a language need, provide continued ESL support by integrating language development strategies in instruction.

Regularly monitoring student progress and adjust instruction as needed.

Source: We Are Teachers - 140+ IEP Accommodations Every Special Ed Teacher Should Bookmark https://www.weareteachers.com/iep-accommodations/

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Accommodations may be buried in an IEP-usually listed after the specially designed instruction and service time-but they're important. Accommodations are all about how a child with a disability accesses the general curriculum. When provided thoughtfully, accommodations make all the difference for students who need a different way of accessing information, making grade-level progress, and showing what they've learned.

Here's our comprehensive list of IEP accommodations you can use to design each student's plan. Use this list and what you know about the student to design a plan that works for them. There is no right number of accommodations, but each accommodation should help the student and not overwhelm them.

Plus be sure to fill out the form on this landing page to get a free printable list of all the accommodations below. Save and/or print it to reference throughout the year.

IEP Accommodations for Students With Learning Disabilities

This is a list of accommodations that could be helpful for most students with IEPs. Start here when planning accommodations for a student who has a learning disability, and use this list for additional accommodations for students with other disabilities depending on their profiles and needs.

Provide instructions orally

Provide text on audio tape

Reduce the number of items per page

Provide a designated reader

Allow for verbal responses (could be talk-to-text or a scribe or a tape-recorded answer)

Permit responses to be given via computer

Frequent breaks during independent work (once every 5 minutes, for example)

Present work in chunks (break a longer assignment into manageable chunks)

Provide a way to block extraneous information on classwork (a blank sheet of paper to cover sections that the student is not working on, or a window to show one math problem at a time)

Provide additional practice for core skills

Provide a content area glossary or reading guide (for older students)

Repeat directions

Paraphrase directions

Have student restate directions

Provide frequent check-ins to ensure the student is on task

Provide assignments with the most important aspects highlighted

Provide assignments with problems ordered from least to most difficult

Provide models of completed or exemplar assignments

Provide extra time to complete in-class assignments

Provide preferred seating (near the teacher, away from distraction)

Provide visuals alongside verbal information (writing directions on the board and stating them, for example)

Allow use of a calculator on math assignments

Reduce homework assignments

Provide textbooks and materials for at-home use

Provide a study carrel

Provide extra visual or verbal cues and prompts

IEP Accommodations for Testing

Permit responses to be recorded in a test booklet

Frequent breaks (every 10 minutes, for example)

Extend allotted time (by 60 minutes or double the time permitted for the test)

Untimed testing

Test in a separate location

Testing in small groups (less than 10 students)

Testing in a one-on-one setting

Administer the test in several sessions or across several days

Allow students to take sub-tests in different orders

Administer a test at a specific time of day

Provide extra paper or space for writing

Allow choice of test format where applicable

Allow open-book or open-note tests

Highlight key directions

Provide study guide prior to the test

Read test or read directions aloud to student

Preview test procedures

Rephrase or simplify test wording and/or directions

In addition to the accommodations for learning disabilities, these accommodations are also good for students with dyslexia.

Provide audiobooks

Clarify or simplify written directions

Highlight written directions on worksheets and assignments

Provide guided notes

Provide printed notes before the lesson

Highlight essential information in a reading or textbook

Provide study sheets

Provide teacher notes

Post visuals in the classroom

Use large print on handouts and in texts

Provide text-to-speech software

Pre-teach new concepts and vocabulary

Provide advance organizers to support following along with the lesson

Read instructions out loud

Read instructions step-by-step

Check in frequently to monitor work progression

Arrange work from simplest to most complex

Do not include reading fluency in grading

Provide guided or pre-copied notes

Provide a graphic organizer to support note-taking and organization

Provide choices for how the student presents information (selecting from options, underlining answers)

Provide extra space for writing responses

Allow student to write on a whiteboard or tablet writing app

Provide a specific type of writing paper to support handwriting

Allow student to complete writing assignments early

Allow student to type assignments rather than handwrite

Remove "neatness" or "handwriting" from grading criteria for writing assignments

Provide worksheets with all problems provided so the student doesn't have to copy any work to their worksheet

Provide a model or reference sheet for letter formation

Allow use of a spellchecker

Do not grade spelling for handwritten assignments

Permit student to turn paper sideways for math assignments

Provide pencil grips

Permit student to write in different colors

Provide visual supports (schedules, first-then strips, checklists, directives)

Limit oral language when presenting directions

Use reinforcements (token board)

Pair verbal directions with visuals

Provide social stories

Provide social supports

Provide an organization system

Limit distractions in the classroom (e.g., number of posters on the walls)

Provide assistive technology (low- to high-tech)

Allow use of fidgets

Allow flexible seating (wobble stool, standing, rocker)

Provide access to a calming corner or sensory room

Provide extra breaks and movement

Schedule movement breaks

Allow extended processing time

Provide sentence or paragraph starters

Provide a self-editing checklist

Provide lists to support writing or math work (transition word list, math operations word list)

Provide access to noise-canceling headphones

IEP Accommodations for Students With ADHD

Provide use of assignment book or calendar for organization

Allow flexible deadlines for assignments

Provide checklist to stay organized

Provide a table or desk divider to support focus

Allow submissions of revisions or corrections

Provide extra processing time or additional wait time to process information

Provide support in desk organization

Support time management (provide reminders and cues)

Provide immediate feedback

Seat student near peer models

Limit repetitive tasks when a student has demonstrated mastery of a skill

Break tasks into smaller segments

Provide a visual timer during work time

Provide frequent breaks

Provide movement breaks

Provide tools to help with organization (e.g., colored folders)

Provide clear, positive feedback for expected behavior

IEP Accommodations for Students With Emotional Disabilities

Break tasks into smaller chunks

Provide frequent breaks

Allow opportunities to use a pass to have a break from work

Offer choice in how students access and present material

Frequent check-ins with teacher

Use a nonverbal cue to communicate negative behavior

Provide immediate feedback on behavior and work

Provide seating near a positive role model

Provide a seating assignment for classes and lunch

Provide visual of the daily routine

Provide a quiet corner in the room to calm down

Provide text in large print (their assessment will determine the size of the text)

Provide notes and text in braille

Provide verbal descriptions of visual aids

Provide computer with optical character reader and voice output

Provide magnification devices

Provide screen reader software

Preferred seating (near instruction or with access to materials)

Provide special acoustics (like an audio amplifier)

Provide sign language interpreter

Provide a notetaker

Provide scribe to record responses

Provide teacher-created notes

Provide speech-to-text

Provide an assistive listening system

Provide preferential seating

Provide captioning and captioned media

Get Your Free IEP Accommodations Printable List

Just fill out the form on this page to get instant access to a free printable with all the IEP accommodations listed above. It's perfect to save or print for reference.

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Samantha Cleaver, PhD, Special Ed & Reading Intervention

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140+ IEP Accommodations Every Special Ed Teacher Should Bookmark

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Your go-to list of IEP accommodations. Use this list and what you know about the student to design a plan that works for them.

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Ultimately, by following this structured and methodical process, educators can ensure that struggling students receive the appropriate support! The goal is to provide accessible learning opportunities as well as, preventing misidentification of learning needs.