What is the difference between accommodations and modifications?

Accommodations are how you learn or how you show what you know, but you are using the same material to learn the same content. For example, if a student cannot write due to a disability that affects their fine motor skills but needs to complete an essay, having a scribe would be considered an accommodation because it doesn’t change the content. An accommodation can address how a student is provided with information, how much time they’re given to complete work, how they will show content mastery, what supports they use to access content (for example, an audio version of written material), and in what settings.

On the other hand, a modification is when you change the expectations for what the student will actually learn of the grade-level content. For example, a teacher may modify an essay-writing assignment by making it significantly shorter or about a less complex topic. Simply put, an accommodation adjusts how a student learns, while a modification adjusts what they learn. Whether something is considered an accommodation versus a modification will depend on whether or not the student is showing mastery of the grade-level standard.

For more about this topic, check out our article What You Need to Know About Accommodations and Modifications in the Classroom.