IEP accommodations are individualized changes that help a student access instruction or demonstrate what they know without changing what they are expected to learn. Examples may include extended time, preferential seating, audiobooks, written directions, assistive technology, frequent breaks, or alternative ways to respond.
This IEP accommodations list includes examples organized by learning area and student need. It is intended to help IEP teams explore possible supports, not select accommodations from a standard checklist. Every accommodation should address a documented need or learning barrier and reflect the student’s present levels of performance, previous response to support, and individual goals.
What Are IEP Accommodations?
IEP accommodations are changes to how, where, or when a student learns or demonstrates knowledge. They are designed to remove barriers created by a disability so the student can access instruction, participate in school activities, and show what they know.
Accommodations do not change the academic content being taught or lower the learning expectations for the student. Instead, they change the way the student accesses that content or completes a task. For example, an audiobook allows a student to access the same text in a different format, while extended time gives a student longer to complete the same assignment or assessment.
This is different from a modification, which changes what a student is expected to learn or demonstrate. Because the two terms are sometimes used interchangeably, IEP teams should clearly identify the purpose of each support and how it will be implemented.
IEP Accommodations at a Glance
IEP accommodations are commonly grouped into four categories: presentation, response, setting, and timing or scheduling. Organizational supports may also be included when a student needs help planning, managing materials, or completing multistep tasks.
| Student barrier | Accommodation category | Examples |
| Accessing information | Presentation | Audiobooks, captions, large print, visual aids |
| Demonstrating knowledge | Response | Speech-to-text, typed responses, oral responses, a scribe |
| Learning environment | Setting | Preferential seating, reduced distractions, small-group testing |
| Pace or stamina | Timing and scheduling | Extended time, frequent breaks, shorter work sessions |
| Planning and organization | Organizational support | Visual schedules, checklists, planners, interim deadlines |
These categories give IEP teams a helpful way to organize possible accommodations, but the category alone does not determine what a student needs. Each accommodation should be connected to a specific barrier and written clearly enough for everyone working with the student to understand when and how it should be provided.
Presentation Accommodations
Presentation accommodations change how information is delivered to a student. They may be helpful when a visual, auditory, language, reading, attention, or processing need makes it difficult for a student to access information in its standard format.
These accommodations do not change the content or learning expectations. They provide another way for the student to receive the same directions, lessons, assignments, or classroom materials.
Examples of presentation accommodations include:
- Provide directions in written and verbal formats: Allow the student to hear instructions and refer back to a written version.
- Simplify the language used in directions: Use clear, direct wording without changing the skill or content being taught.
- Break multistep directions into smaller parts: Present one or two steps at a time instead of giving the entire sequence at once.
- Repeat or clarify directions: Restate instructions when the student needs additional support understanding what is expected.
- Check for understanding: Ask the student to explain or demonstrate the directions before beginning the task.
- Provide advance access to instructional materials: Share readings, presentation slides, vocabulary, or lesson outlines before instruction when appropriate.
- Preteach important vocabulary: Introduce unfamiliar words, symbols, and concepts before they appear in a lesson or assignment.
- Provide audiobooks: Allow the student to listen to assigned texts when reading print creates an access barrier.
- Provide text-to-speech technology: Use software that reads digital text aloud during designated lessons, assignments, or assessments.
- Provide large-print materials: Increase the font size of textbooks, worksheets, assessments, and other instructional materials.
- Provide Braille materials: Make classroom texts, directions, labels, and assignments available in Braille when required for access.
- Provide captions or transcripts: Include accurate captions with videos and provide written transcripts for recorded audio or multimedia lessons.
- Pair instruction with visual supports: Reinforce information using pictures, diagrams, charts, demonstrations, models, or visual examples.
- Provide graphic organizers: Use tools such as concept maps, timelines, sequencing charts, and cause-and-effect diagrams to organize information visually.
- Provide teacher notes or lesson outlines: Give the student access to completed notes, guided notes, presentation slides, or an outline of the lesson.
- Reduce visual clutter: Remove unnecessary images or text and increase spacing so the student can focus on the most important information.
- Highlight essential information: Use highlighting, bold text, color coding, or other visual cues to draw attention to key words, directions, or details.
- Provide an assistive listening system: Use an FM system, sound-field system, or another appropriate device to improve access to spoken instruction.
Presentation accommodations should be selected in response to a clearly identified barrier. The IEP should also explain when each accommodation applies and how it will be provided so the student receives consistent support across classrooms and school activities.
Response Accommodations
Response accommodations change how a student completes an assignment, answers a question, or demonstrates what they know. They may be appropriate when writing, speaking, fine-motor skills, communication, or another disability-related need creates a barrier to responding in the standard format.
These accommodations do not provide the student with answers or change the skill being measured. Instead, they give the student an accessible way to communicate their knowledge.
Examples of response accommodations include:
- Provide speech-to-text technology: Allow the student to dictate a response using software that converts spoken words into written text.
- Allow typed responses: Permit the student to use a computer, tablet, or other device instead of writing responses by hand.
- Allow oral responses: Give the student the option to answer questions verbally when a written response is not required to measure the targeted skill.
- Provide a scribe: Assign a trained adult to record the student’s dictated responses exactly as given without correcting, interpreting, or expanding them.
- Allow audio-recorded responses: Permit the student to record an answer when speaking is a more accessible way to demonstrate knowledge than writing.
- Allow video responses: Give the student the option to demonstrate or explain their understanding through a recorded video when appropriate for the assignment.
- Allow the student to point to or select an answer: Permit responses through pointing, touching, circling, highlighting, or selecting from available choices.
- Provide access to augmentative and alternative communication: Allow the student to respond using an AAC device, communication board, picture system, or another established communication method.
- Use graphic organizers to plan responses: Provide a visual structure that helps the student arrange ideas before completing a written, spoken, or multimedia response.
- Provide sentence starters or response frames: Give the student an appropriate structure for beginning or organizing a response without supplying the answer.
- Allow the use of a calculator: Permit calculator access when computation is not the skill being measured and the tool is appropriate for the task.
- Provide math reference tools: Allow access to approved multiplication charts, number lines, formula sheets, or other mathematical references when appropriate.
- Allow the use of manipulatives: Permit the student to use counters, base-ten blocks, fraction tiles, or other hands-on materials to develop or demonstrate a response.
- Provide adaptive response technology: Allow the use of an alternative keyboard, adapted mouse, touchscreen, switch-access device, eye-gaze system, or another tool that makes responding physically accessible.
Response accommodations should match both the student’s needs and the purpose of the activity. An accommodation that is appropriate during classroom instruction may not be permitted on every assessment, particularly when it would change the skill being measured. The IEP team should clearly identify where the accommodation applies and consult current state testing requirements when necessary.
Setting Accommodations
Setting accommodations change the location or physical environment in which a student receives instruction, completes work, or takes an assessment. They may be appropriate when noise, lighting, classroom traffic, seating, physical access, or other environmental factors interfere with the student’s ability to participate and demonstrate what they know.
A setting accommodation does not necessarily mean removing a student from the general education classroom. Many of these supports can be provided within the classroom by adjusting the student’s seating, workspace, equipment, or access to environmental supports.
Examples of setting accommodations include:
- Provide preferential seating: Seat the student in a location that supports their individual visual, auditory, attention, communication, behavioral, or physical access needs. Preferential seating does not always mean sitting at the front of the classroom.
- Seat the student away from common distractions: Place the student away from doors, windows, pencil sharpeners, high-traffic areas, or other distractions that regularly interfere with attention.
- Provide a reduced-distraction testing location: Allow the student to complete tests or quizzes in an environment with fewer visual, auditory, or social distractions.
- Provide small-group testing: Administer assessments with a smaller group of students when the typical classroom or testing environment creates a barrier.
- Provide access to a quiet work area: Identify a quiet location within or near the classroom where the student can complete independent work that requires sustained attention.
- Adjust classroom lighting: Reduce harsh lighting, provide natural or task lighting, limit glare, or make another appropriate lighting adjustment based on the student’s visual or sensory needs.
- Provide accessible furniture: Supply an adjustable desk, supportive chair, standing desk, footrest, adapted seating, or other furniture needed for safe and comfortable access.
- Ensure accessible classroom placement: Schedule instruction in a room the student can reach and navigate safely, with adequate access to doors, aisles, instructional areas, and classroom materials.
- Allow flexible seating: Give the student access to approved seating options, such as a standing workspace, wobble stool, floor seat, or traditional chair, when a change in position supports participation.
- Provide access to designated sensory tools: Make agreed-upon tools available in the learning environment and clearly identify when and how the student may use them.
- Allow noise-reducing headphones or ear protection: Permit the student to reduce background noise during designated activities without blocking important instructions or safety information.
- Provide additional personal or workspace area: Increase the physical space around the student’s desk, table, or work area when crowding creates a sensory, mobility, attention, or regulation barrier.
Setting accommodations should be specific enough that school staff understand where the support will be provided and under what circumstances. The IEP team should also consider how the accommodation affects the student’s access to instruction, peers, classroom discussion, and other parts of the school day.
Timing and Scheduling Accommodations
Timing and scheduling accommodations change when a student completes a task, how much time is available, or how the work period is structured. They may be helpful when processing speed, attention, fatigue, anxiety, medical needs, motor demands, or another disability-related factor affects the student’s ability to work within a standard schedule.
These accommodations do not remove an assignment or change the content being measured. They give the student appropriate time and pacing to access the task and demonstrate their knowledge.
Examples of timing and scheduling accommodations include:
- Provide extended time: Give the student additional time to complete designated assignments, classroom tests, or assessments. The IEP should specify the amount of additional time, such as time and a half, rather than simply stating “extended time.”
- Allow additional processing time: Pause after giving directions, asking a question, or presenting new information so the student has time to understand and formulate a response.
- Provide scheduled breaks: Build brief breaks into longer periods of instruction, independent work, or testing at planned intervals.
- Allow breaks when needed: Give the student an agreed-upon way to request a short break when attention, fatigue, anxiety, pain, or regulation needs interfere with participation.
- Use shorter work sessions: Divide a long task or instructional period into shorter sections that the student can complete with greater consistency.
- Administer testing across multiple sessions: Allow the student to complete an assessment in separate sessions instead of finishing it in one extended period.
- Adjust the time of day: Schedule demanding subjects, assignments, therapies, or assessments during a time when the student is best able to participate.
- Provide additional transition time: Allow the student more time to move between classrooms, activities, instructional formats, or parts of the school building.
- Give advance notice of schedule changes: Inform the student as early as possible about assemblies, substitute teachers, testing, altered class periods, or other changes to the usual routine.
- Allow flexible deadlines when appropriate: Adjust a due date when a documented disability-related need affects the student’s ability to complete the work within the standard timeframe.
- Allow a task to be paused and resumed: Permit the student to stop at an agreed-upon point and return to unfinished work later without losing completed responses.
- Provide flexible scheduling for health or disability-related needs: Adjust the student’s schedule when medical appointments, therapies, medication effects, fatigue, pain, or other documented needs affect participation.
Timing and scheduling accommodations should be written with enough detail to support consistent implementation. The IEP team should identify which activities the accommodation applies to, how much additional time or flexibility will be provided, and how breaks or schedule changes will be managed. Teams should also review state requirements before applying these accommodations to standardized assessments.
Organization and Executive Function Accommodations
Organization and executive function accommodations help students plan, begin, manage, and complete schoolwork. They may be helpful when a student has difficulty keeping track of materials, remembering assignments, estimating time, following multistep routines, shifting between tasks, or completing long-term projects.
These accommodations do not remove the student’s responsibility to participate or complete assigned work. They provide external structure that makes expectations easier to understand and manage while supporting the student’s development of greater independence.
Examples of organization and executive function accommodations include:
- Provide a visual schedule: Use pictures, symbols, words, or another visual format to show the order of classes, activities, or daily routines.
- Provide a written daily agenda: Give the student a clear written list of the day’s assignments, activities, appointments, and schedule changes.
- Use assignment checklists: Break an assignment or classroom routine into specific steps the student can check off as each one is completed.
- Divide lengthy assignments into smaller parts: Separate a large assignment or project into manageable sections so the student can focus on one portion at a time.
- Establish interim deadlines: Assign due dates for individual parts of a long-term project instead of requiring the student to manage a single final deadline.
- Provide access to a planner or assignment book: Allow the student to use a paper or digital planner to record assignments, deadlines, materials, and upcoming assessments.
- Use color-coded materials: Assign colors to subjects, folders, notebooks, digital files, or types of work to make materials easier to identify and organize.
- Provide scheduled reminders: Give verbal, written, visual, or electronic reminders about assignments, transitions, deadlines, or required materials.
- Provide organized access to teacher notes: Place copies of teacher notes, guided notes, or lesson outlines in a consistent digital or physical location where the student can find them.
- Schedule regular organizational check-ins: Designate a staff member to meet with the student at planned intervals to review assignments, deadlines, materials, and upcoming responsibilities.
- Verify that assignments have been recorded: Have a teacher or designated staff member confirm that the student has accurately entered assignments and due dates in a planner or digital system.
- Provide an end-of-day materials check: Use a checklist or brief staff check-in to help the student gather the books, devices, papers, and other materials needed for home.
- Use a consistent folder and filing system: Establish clearly labeled locations for completed work, unfinished assignments, homework, parent communication, and important classroom materials.
- Provide duplicate materials when appropriate: Keep an additional set of textbooks, reference materials, or frequently used supplies at home or in another classroom when transporting materials creates a consistent barrier.
- Provide a prioritized task list: Identify which assignments or steps should be completed first when the student has several competing responsibilities.
- Provide time-management tools: Allow the student to use visual timers, countdowns, calendars, or other tools to understand how much time is available and monitor progress through a task.
Organization and executive function accommodations should identify the specific structure the student needs and who will provide it. The IEP team should also review these supports periodically to determine which accommodations remain necessary, which need to be adjusted, and where the student may be ready to manage a task more independently.
Communication and Language Accommodations
Communication and language accommodations help students understand information, express ideas, participate in discussions, and interact with others throughout the school day. They may be appropriate when receptive language, expressive language, speech, auditory processing, social communication, or another disability-related need creates a barrier.
These accommodations should provide access to communication without lowering academic expectations or limiting opportunities to participate. They should also reflect the communication methods the student already uses successfully.
Examples of communication and language accommodations include:
- Allow additional communication processing time: Pause after asking a question or making a comment so the student has enough time to understand the message and prepare a response.
- Provide visual communication supports: Use picture symbols, visual choice boards, written keywords, conversation maps, or other visual tools to support understanding and expression.
- Present directions in multiple formats: Pair spoken directions with written instructions, pictures, gestures, demonstrations, or another accessible format.
- Repeat, rephrase, or clarify spoken information: Restate a message using clearer or more familiar language when the student does not understand it the first time.
- Provide consistent access to AAC: Ensure the student’s augmentative and alternative communication system is available, charged, programmed, and accessible during instruction, transitions, social activities, and assessments.
- Reduce linguistic complexity when appropriate: Use shorter sentences, direct wording, and clearly organized information without changing the meaning, content, or academic expectation.
- Provide advance access to vocabulary and discussion topics: Share key terms, definitions, questions, or background information before lessons, group discussions, presentations, or new activities.
- Provide trained communication partner support: Make sure teachers, paraprofessionals, peers, and other communication partners understand how to wait, model language, respond to the student’s communication attempts, and use the student’s established system appropriately.
- Allow multiple forms of communication: Accept communication through speech, sign language, gestures, pointing, pictures, typing, AAC, or another method identified by the IEP team.
- Support communication repair: Give the student a consistent way to indicate that a message was misunderstood, request clarification, ask for repetition, or try a different way of communicating.
Communication and language accommodations should be available across the settings in which the student needs them, not only during speech-language therapy. The IEP should clearly identify the supports, tools, and communication methods that school staff are expected to use. When AAC or another established system is included, the student should have access to it throughout the day rather than only during selected activities.
Sensory and Regulation Accommodations
Sensory and regulation accommodations help students remain comfortable, attentive, and available for learning when environmental input or regulation needs create a barrier. A student may be affected by noise, lighting, movement, touch, crowded spaces, unexpected changes, or the length and intensity of an activity.
Some sensory and regulation accommodations overlap with setting, timing, and organizational supports because the student’s environment and schedule can directly affect regulation. These accommodations should be individualized and based on observed needs rather than assigned solely because of a diagnosis.
Examples of sensory and regulation accommodations include:
- Provide scheduled movement breaks: Build short opportunities for walking, stretching, or other appropriate movement into the student’s school day.
- Allow the student to stand or change position: Permit the student to stand at a workspace or change positions during instruction when movement supports attention and participation.
- Provide access to a quiet regulation area: Identify a safe, supervised space where the student can briefly reduce sensory input and regain regulation before returning to the activity.
- Provide flexible seating options: Allow access to an approved seating option that supports the student’s posture, movement, attention, or regulation needs.
- Provide access to approved sensory tools: Make agreed-upon tools available and clearly identify when, where, and how the student may use them.
- Adjust lighting when appropriate: Reduce glare, limit fluorescent lighting, use natural or task lighting, or allow another reasonable adjustment for light sensitivity.
- Reduce unnecessary background noise: Close a classroom door, turn off unused equipment, adjust the student’s location, or make another environmental change that reduces competing sounds.
- Maintain predictable routines: Follow a consistent schedule and clearly communicate the order of activities so the student knows what to expect.
- Provide warnings before transitions: Give verbal, visual, or timed reminders before the student is expected to stop one activity and begin another.
- Provide a break card or agreed-upon signal: Give the student a consistent, accessible way to request a brief regulation break without having to explain the need verbally in the moment.
- Prepare the student for high-sensory activities: Preview assemblies, drills, crowded transitions, performances, or other activities that may include unusual levels of noise, light, movement, or social demand.
- Develop an individualized regulation routine: Identify a brief sequence of approved strategies the student can use when becoming overwhelmed, along with the staff support needed to return to learning.
Sensory and regulation accommodations should support access and participation rather than be used as rewards or removed as consequences. The IEP team should clearly describe how each accommodation will be provided and periodically review whether it is helping the student participate more successfully and independently.
Testing Accommodations
Testing accommodations help students access an assessment without changing the skill being measured. Supports already included in this guide, such as extended time, breaks, small-group testing, and alternative response methods, may also apply during testing.
However, classroom and state testing accommodations are not automatically interchangeable. Each state determines which accommodations are allowed and how they must be administered. IEP teams should always review the rules for the specific assessment.
IDEA requires IEPs to identify the accommodations a student needs for state and districtwide assessments. U.S. Department of Education
Additional examples of testing accommodations include:
- Provide individual testing administration: Allow the student to test individually when a group setting creates a documented barrier.
- Provide approved digital accessibility features: Enable permitted tools such as screen magnification, color contrast, keyboard navigation, zoom, or a digital line reader.
- Allow answers to be recorded in the test booklet: Remove the need to transfer responses to a separate answer document.
- Provide a masking tool or line guide: Allow the student to view one question, answer choice, or line of text at a time.
- Provide approved planning materials: Allow permitted scratch paper, graphic organizers, or other tools for organizing work before recording an answer.
- Repeat or clarify general test directions when permitted: Allow the administrator to clarify directions without explaining test content or guiding the student toward an answer.
Testing accommodations should be clearly documented in the IEP, familiar to the student, and administered by trained staff. If an accommodation is not permitted on a particular assessment, the team should review the state’s guidance and any effect on administration or score reporting.
Alternate assessments are separate from accommodations and must follow federal and state participation requirements.
Finding IEP Accommodations by Student Need
The right IEP accommodations begin with the barrier affecting the student, not the student’s diagnosis alone. This chart can help IEP teams connect common areas of need with accommodations they may want to consider.
| Student need or barrier | Possible IEP accommodations |
| Attention and executive functioning | Visual schedules, assignment checklists, reminders, reduced-distraction seating, planners, movement breaks |
| Reading access | Audiobooks, text-to-speech, large print, reduced visual clutter, preteaching vocabulary |
| Writing and fine-motor access | Typed responses, speech-to-text, a scribe, adapted writing technology, graphic organizers |
| Communication and language | AAC, visual communication supports, additional processing time, clarified directions, multiple response formats |
| Sensory regulation | Adjusted lighting, noise reduction, sensory tools, flexible seating, transition warnings, access to a quiet area |
| Hearing or visual access | Captions, Braille, large-print materials, assistive listening systems, visual supports, accessible digital tools |
| Anxiety and emotional regulation | Predictable routines, advance notice of changes, break signals, quiet testing areas, shorter work sessions |
| Physical access and fatigue | Accessible furniture, accessible classroom placement, flexible scheduling, breaks, additional transition time |
These examples are starting points for discussion, not automatic recommendations. The IEP team should select accommodations based on the student’s documented needs, present levels of performance, and response to previous supports.
How to Write Accommodations Clearly in an IEP
An accommodation is only useful when the people responsible for implementing it understand exactly what to do. Phrases such as “give extra time” or “provide breaks as needed” may identify the general support, but they leave important questions unanswered. How much extra time will the student receive? When can a break be requested? Which assignments or settings does the accommodation cover?
Clear IEP accommodations describe the support in enough detail that teachers, service providers, substitutes, and families can understand how it should work. The wording should be specific without becoming so rigid that it no longer responds to the student’s needs.
| Too vague | More specific |
| Give breaks as needed | Allow one five-minute movement break after 30 minutes of independent work |
| Provide preferential seating | Seat the student where they have an unobstructed view of instruction and reduced visual distractions |
| Give extra time | Provide time and a half for classroom tests and written assignments |
| Check for understanding | After multistep directions, ask the student to restate the steps before beginning |
| Provide reminders | Give one verbal reminder five minutes before each classroom transition |
| Reduce distractions | Provide a reduced-distraction location for classroom tests and independent written work |
| Provide notes | Give the student a copy of teacher notes or presentation slides before or immediately after instruction |
| Allow assistive technology | Allow speech-to-text for written assignments longer than one paragraph |
When writing an accommodation, the IEP team should clarify:
- What will be provided: Name the specific support, tool, adjustment, or action the student will receive.
- When it will be provided: Identify the activities, situations, or times when the accommodation applies.
- Where it applies: State if the accommodation is needed in every class, during assessments, in specific subjects, or in another school setting.
- Who is responsible: Identify the staff member or team responsible for providing, preparing, or monitoring the accommodation when that responsibility may otherwise be unclear.
- Frequency, duration, or conditions: Include details such as how often the support is available, how long it lasts, how much additional time is provided, or what prompts its use.
IEP teams should also consider how the accommodation will be communicated to everyone working with the student and how its implementation will be monitored. If the wording leads different staff members to interpret the accommodation differently, the description may need to be more specific.
Accommodations vs. Modifications
Accommodations and modifications both support students, but they serve different purposes. Accommodations change how a student accesses learning or demonstrates knowledge. Modifications change what the student is expected to learn or the academic standard used to evaluate their work.
| Accommodations | Modifications |
| Change how the student learns | Change what the student learns |
| Maintain the same learning expectations | Adjust the learning expectations |
| May include extended time, audiobooks, or typed responses | May include alternate assignments, reduced standards, or different grading criteria |
Because these terms are sometimes confused, IEP teams should clearly identify the purpose of each support. Learn more in our guide to accommodations vs. modifications. [Link to future article]
How to Determine Whether an Accommodation Is Working
An accommodation should remove a barrier and help the student participate more successfully. The IEP team can evaluate its effectiveness by reviewing:
- Whether the accommodation is being provided consistently
- Changes in the student’s performance or participation
- The student’s ability to work more independently
- Feedback from the student, family, teachers, and service providers
- Classroom data and progress toward IEP goals
If an accommodation is not helping, the team should first confirm that it is being implemented as written. The support may then need to be clarified, adjusted, replaced, or removed based on the student’s current needs.
Download the IEP Accommodations List PDF
Download our free printable IEP accommodations checklist to use during IEP meetings, staff discussions, and planning sessions. The PDF includes all 100 examples from this guide organized by accommodation category, along with space for notes.
Download the IEP Accommodations List PDF
This checklist is intended to support discussion. Accommodations should always be selected and written according to the individual student’s documented needs.
Frequently Asked Questions About IEP Accommodations
What are the four main types of IEP accommodations?
The four main categories are presentation, response, setting, and timing or scheduling. IEPs may also include supports for organization, communication, sensory regulation, physical access, and other individual needs.
What are common examples of IEP accommodations?
Common examples include extended time, preferential seating, audiobooks, text-to-speech, written directions, frequent breaks, assistive technology, and alternative ways to respond.
Do accommodations change what a student learns?
No. Accommodations change how a student accesses instruction or demonstrates knowledge without changing the learning expectations. A modification changes what the student is expected to learn.
What is the difference between an accommodation and a modification?
An accommodation removes a barrier while preserving the learning expectation. A modification changes the content, standard, assignment, or level of mastery expected from the student.
Can a student have accommodations without an IEP?
Yes. A student who does not qualify for an IEP may receive accommodations through a Section 504 plan if eligible. Students may also receive classroom supports outside a formal plan, although those supports are not the same as accommodations documented in an IEP or 504 plan. U.S. Department of Education
Who decides which accommodations are included in an IEP?
The IEP team makes this decision based on the student’s evaluation results, present levels of performance, individual needs, and response to previous supports. The team includes the student’s parent or guardian, educators, a district representative, and other required or relevant professionals.
Do IEP accommodations apply to state testing?
Only when they are documented for the assessment and permitted under the state’s current testing rules. A classroom accommodation is not automatically allowed on every state assessment.
How often should accommodations be reviewed?
The IEP must be reviewed at least annually, but accommodations can be reviewed sooner if the student’s needs change or the support is not working as intended. IDEA
Can accommodations be changed before the annual IEP meeting?
Yes. The IEP team can meet to revise the IEP before the annual review. After the annual meeting, the parent and school may also agree to make a written amendment without convening the full team. IDEA
What happens if an IEP accommodation is not implemented?
The concern should be reported promptly to the student’s case manager or school. The district should determine what happened, correct the implementation problem, and consider how the student was affected and whether additional action is needed. Failure to implement an IEP can violate IDEA, but the appropriate response depends on the circumstances.
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