Interventions, Accommodations, & Modifications

There often seems to be a lot of confusion about what exactly interventions, accommodations, and modifications are so perhaps a brief description of each is in order.  

Intervention: An intervention is a specific skill-building strategy implemented and monitored to improve a targeted skill (i.e. what is actually known) and achieve adequate progress in a specific area (academic or behavioral).  

• Intervention is not simply additional time for instruction or re-teaching, unless the re-teaching is being done in an alternative manner. 
• Require a targeted assessment, planning, and data collection. 
• Should be evidence-based and monitored regularly to determine growth and to inform instruction. 
• Differ from accommodations and modifications in that they teach new skills to help students overcome specific deficits or maladaptive response. 
• Examples of research-based interventions can be found in many places: interventioncentral.org is one good resource for several areas. 

Accommodations:  Provides augmentation so that the student is able to perform or demonstrate knowledge without the barrier of their disability. 

• Does not alter what the student is expected to learn, but makes learning accessible and allows them to demonstrate what they know. 
• For example, a shortened test provided to a student who has difficulty focusing. They are still responsible for understanding the same concept, but it is distributed to them in a manageable format. 
• Accommodations are basically physical or environmental changes. 

Modifications:  fundamentally alter or lower the standard or expectation of the course, standard, or test. 

• If a student is taking a shortened test, but is still responsible for demonstrating the same targeted skill as peers then this is not a modification.
• Involves lowering the level of the materials presented. 
• Grading is subject to different standards than general education, often based on IEP goals.

Accommodations level the playing field. 

Modifications change the field you're playing on.