IEP Accommodations During Distance Learning

The coronavirus pandemic is bringing new challenges to special education and distance learning. One of the biggest challenges is how to implement accommodations for students who have an Individualized Education Program (IEP).

To make accommodations work in an online setting, you’ll need some innovative thinking and an understanding of the tools available to you and your students. Take a look at the charts below for some examples of how commonly used accommodations can transfer to a virtual setting.

Accommodations that change the way information is presented to students

Accommodation	Virtual Learning Alternative	Microsoft Education Tools	G Suite for Education
Use audio recordings instead of reading text	Audiobooks Text-to-speech	Immersive Reader Office Lens	Immersive Reader (Chrome extension)
Format pages with fewer items per page or line	Larger font Reduced amount of material per page (virtually and in packets)	Immersive Reader	Increased line spacing
Work with text in a larger print size	Built-in accessibility features on smartphones or computers to change font size	Immersive Reader Magnifier accessibility feature	Larger font Zoom in and zoom out accessibility feature
Have a “designated reader” or hear instructions spoken aloud	Record the teacher reading the instructions Text-to-speech	Immersive Reader Narrator Office Lens	Immersive Reader (Chrome extension) Mote extension
Record a lesson, instead of the student taking notes	Speech-to-text Transcript of the lesson Screen recording of the lesson	OneNote Dictation	Voice typing in Google Docs Loom (Chrome extension) Screencastify (Chrome extension)
Get class notes from teacher or another student	Shared files Web captioning Teacher notes before the lesson or a transcript after the lesson	Captions in Microsoft Teams meetings	Captions in Google Meet sessions
Get written instructions	Scheduled assignments to share and review before the lesson Bulleted list of concise instructions in the chat feature for live lessons (or directly on assignments)	Assignments in Microsoft Teams	Assignments in Google Classroom
See an outline of a lesson	Lesson outline sent via email or learning management system (LMS) before the lesson	OneDrive OneNote	Google Docs outline tool
Use visual presentations of verbal material, such as word webs	Collaborative whiteboard tools, like Miro	Whiteboard	Jamboard Bubbl.us Padlet
Minimize auditory and visual stimulation	Study carrels or room dividers (families can pick up from school, if possible) Separate, quiet room (if possible) Slides and materials with fewer visuals, fonts, and colors	White Noise	White Noise (Chrome extension) Noisli

Accommodations that change the way students complete assignments

Accommodation	Virtual Learning Alternative	Microsoft Education Tools	G Suite for Education
Give responses in a preferred form (spoken or written)	Dictation to an adult or a peer Speech-to-text Uploaded audio or video recordings Check in with a family member to see if they can help write responses One-to-one conference with the student	Microsoft Teams meetings Audio in Flipgrid OneNote Dictation in Word	Google Meet sessions Voice typing in Google Docs Upload recordings to Google Drive
Use a calculator or a table of math facts	Online calculator or a built-in computer/smartphone calculator tool Graphic organizers Assistive technology tools for math	Math Assistant in OneNote Math Solver app	Google Docs equation editor
Use manipulatives to learn and practice math skills	Send home physical manipulatives Paper/printable manipulatives Virtual manipulatives	n/a	Number Pieces (Chrome extension) Geoboard (Chrome extension)
Use graphic organizers and sentence starters to help structure and generate writing ideas	Graphic organizers to use with assignments. Websites to create graphic organizers: Popplet, MindMup, Creately, Mind Meister, Mindomo, SpiderScribe	n/a	n/a

Accommodations that can help with scheduling, timing, and organization

Accommodation	Virtual Learning Alternative	Microsoft Education Tools	G Suite for Education
Use sensory tools, like an exercise band that can be looped around a chair’s legs	A fidget to use at home A sensory toolkit to be sent home or picked up by the student	n/a	n/a
Small group learning	One-to-one videoconferences or breakout rooms to allow students to ask questions or complete assignments with teacher support	Microsoft Teams meetings	Google Meet sessions
Take more time to complete a task or a test	Explanations to students and families on how to “chunk” assignments and set due dates accordingly	Assignments in Microsoft Teams	Assignments in Google Classroom Google Keep to-do lists
Have extra time to process spoken information and directions	Assignments and directions given ahead of time, with time to check in with the student to answer questions Shared class document for students to add questions during or after a lesson	Microsoft Teams meetings	Google Meet sessions Google Docs
Take frequent breaks	Brain breaks during virtual classes Scheduled time for brain breaks in the middle of independent assignments Embedded brain break videos in digital assignments Assignments broken into smaller tasks or chunks Videos with exercises within lessons	Microsoft Stream or screen share for brain break videos Chat feature to remind students to take a break	Videos embedded in Google Slides Chat feature to remind students to take a break Two Google Forms (or a Google Doc and a Google Form) to break down parts of an assignment
Take a test over several days or complete the sections in a different order	Test broken up into smaller tests or create multiple digital forms for each section	Microsoft Forms	Google Forms
Use an alarm to help with time management	Visual timer on Zoom or screen share a visual timer on other platforms Website blockers to increase focus	Cold Turkey Stopwatch	Stopwatch & Timer (Chrome Extension) WasteNoTime (Chrome Extension) Strict Workflow (Chrome Extension) Task Timer (Chrome Extension) Pause (Chrome Extension)
Mark texts with a highlighter	Highlighter function on PDFs and other documents (with explicit instruction on how students can use the highlighter)	Text annotations and highlighting in Office Lens Text highlight in Edge browser	Highlight Tool (Google Docs add-on) Kami for annotation (Chrome extension)

Even students who don’t have an IEP need to learn differently during distance learning. Try these accommodations. Then explore how to make online assignments easier for your students to access.

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Online Assignments: Best Practices for Teachers to Use With Students

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On the next page, you’ll think about how to implement IEPs in your classroom during distance learning.

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