Accommodations for Students with Disabilities

The National Center on Secondary Education and Transition (NCSET) has published the results of a study on the use of accommodations for students with disabilities in school. Accommodations are defined in the study as changes in materials or procedures that provide access to instruction and assessments for students with disabilities. The type of accommodation that a child receives in elementary school may change as he or she moves into middle school and high school.

The study found that elementary school students receive accommodations in assessment and instruction more often than students in middle school and high school. The reasons for the decline in the number of students receiving accommodations in high school are not clear. Further research will be necessary to determine if there are fewer students in high school who need accommodations or if students are not receiving the accommodations they need. This research will be important since the accommodations that high school students receive has an effect on their transition activities.

The National Center on Secondary Education and Transition (NCSET), Patee Hall, 150 Pillsbury Drive, SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455, 612.624.2097 (voice), 612.624.9344 (fax), ncset@icimail.coled.umn.edu (email).