The relationship between instructional and assessment accommodations on student IEPs in a single urban school district

The relationship between instructional accommodations and assessment accommodations has its roots in special education law and standards-based educational reform. Students with diagnosed disabilities may need accommodations in order to access general education curriculum and participate in state-mandated assessments. The problem under study is that accommodations a student receives in order to mitigate the impact of a disability when accessing the curriculum should match the accommodations the student receives for mitigating the impact of a disability upon performance in the state assessment system.;This study examined the match between instructional and assessment accommodations on the Individualized Educational Plans (IEPs) of 39 students in a single urban school district. The students' 78 IEPs were collected from two separate school years. Instructional and assessment accommodation counts were analyzed for match relationships relative to each IEP, disability grouping, and academic year. Approaches to analysis included bi-directional (all accommodations included) and unidirectional (starting analysis with the presence of either instructional or assessment accommodations).;Results indicate that accommodation use is increasing over time, accommodation match is increasing over time, accommodation assignment is not disability-specific, accommodation match is not disability-specific, and some accommodations may be instruction-specific or assessment-specific. Additionally, reported match relationships are highly dependent upon approach to analysis. Unidirectional analysis produces greater match percentages than bi-directional analysis.;An implication for policy is the need to further explore the possibility that some accommodations are instruction-specific or assessment-specific. Legislation in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and at the federal level states that accommodations provided for assessment should have a matching instructional accommodation. The possibility of accommodation specificity challenges the legislative call for consistent accommodation match.;An implication for practice is the need to review the increasing use of accommodations and determine if student need is the reason why accommodations are being provided. Over-accommodation of students, or accommodations based on something other than mitigating the impact of a disability would be inappropriate.;Future research should expand this study by increasing sample size and longitudinal parameters. Additionally, studies should examine IEP team decision-making and the effect approach to analysis has on reported results.