Modifications Can Be The Ticket For Inclusion

Published: Tue, 04/10/18

Is your child being excluded because their level of academic performance is two or more grade levels below their peers in general education classrooms?

The good news, that's where modifications come in to play!

More good news, there are federal regulations to support your son or daughter's right to have modified curriculum in general education classes.

You might also be puzzled as to what to say when you hear your child can't be included because he/she couldn't possibly meet content grade level standards when they're performing much lower. We'll talk more about the regs and content standards a little further down this blog.

Last week I interviewed Nicole Eredics, creator of the blog, The Inclusive Class about her recently published book: INCLUSION in Action: Practical Strategies to Modify Your Curriculum.

Nicole shared how modifications change what the student is learning in the curriculum. Here are just three of the many ways Nicole showed how modifications can be made.

1. Altering the Content: The student will learn some of the key concepts of the content, but not to the depth as his/her peers in the general education classroom. In the science unit below, the class is learning about the plant's cellular functions. Modified lessons could have the student learn about plants by planting seeds and measuring the plant's growth.

2. Altering the Conceptual Difficulty: The learning outcomes are modified. In the example below, most students will be labeling 5 parts of the dog. The modified assignment is to only label two parts of the dog, using words provided by the teacher.

3. Altering The Educational Goals: A student's modified assignment is aligned with his/her IEP Goals. Some students may be given a multiplication worksheet to complete. Look at the example below. The student with the modified work is learning to identify the numerals 3 & 4 and his/her task is to circle and write all the numerals 3 & 4 on the same worksheet.

Discover at least 7 more types of modifications by watching the replay of our live show! Click here.

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Now, let's look at the advocacy side of getting modifications for your child. Please remember I'm an advocate, not an attorney and I can't give you legal advice.

If your child is being denied inclusion in general education classes because they need modified work, that is a continuum of placement/Least Restrictive Environment issue.

See the federal regulations, 34 C.F.R. Section 300.116(e) In determining the educational placement of a child with a disability...each public agency must ensure that ---a child with a disability is not removed from education in age-appropriate regular classrooms solely because of needed modifications in the general education curriculum.

Another common statement that you may hear, "Your child won't be able to made grade level progress and therefore, he/she needs to get services in the special education classroom."

However, you and I know that there is no mandate for every student without disabilities to make grade level progress. Students with disabilities should not be prevented from receiving their education in general education classrooms because their progress may be at a different level.

You can just hit Reply to this email and ask me any questions about modifications and your child's inclusion in general education classes.

If you're being told your child doesn't qualify for Extended School Year (ESY) services...or if you've been told ESY will be in June, Mon. - Thurs. from 8:30 - 11:30 am (or another predetermined schedule) you need to watch this week's live video.

PLEASE NOTE: THIS WEEK'S LIVE SHOW WILL BE AT 1:30PM MTN. TIME, 3:30pm ET, 2:30pm CT, 12:30pm PT.

Have a terrific week!

Take care,

P.S. If you're in our membership group, Parent Advocate Trailblazers, a transcript of the interview with Nicole Eredics is posted in our Facebook group. I even highlighted the important parts of the conversation, so it's easy for you to find Nicole's nuggets about modifications.

P.S.S. Are you bummed when you miss one of my live Facebook shows? My #IEPBot can send you a friendly reminder before we go live. Click here.

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