IRISJAWS test

JAWS test

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Functional Considerations	Guidelines for Accommodations
Visual ability	Students with different visual abilities may have distinctly different needs related to classroom arrangement. Example: While Emily may be able to use her existing vision to navigate through a complex path of classroom furniture to her desk, Evan may benefit from a simpler, more straightforward furniture arrangement that allows him to walk in straight lines to reach his desk.
Level of restrictiveness	Teachers should use the accommodation that is closest to the natural environment and draws the least attention to the student, while still ensuring that the student is able to perform independently. Example: Young children with visual disabilities may need a distinctive object or braille label placed on their storage cubbies to distinguish them from other students’ cubbies, while older students may not need any adaptation at all and may be able to locate their cubbies by learning their positions in relation to the others.
Cognitive ability	When children have cognitive limitations in addition to visual impairments, more extensive use of accommodations may be essential for them to perform tasks. Example: A middle school student who is blind may only need a tactile map to become oriented and move independently within his or her school campus. But a student who also has cognitive limitations may require more extensive tactile guidelines and artificial landmarks to maintain orientation, sustain a straight line of travel, or find and recognize key destinations on the campus.

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TEACHERS

STUDENTS

Teachers use benchmarks as targets for their instruction and to monitor student progress so they can adjust instruction as needed. Benchmarks allow teachers to reflect on students’ strengths and needs. Teachers use several forms of assessment to gather evidence of student performance rather than relying on assumptions of what teachers think students know.

Example: Here is a benchmark developed across the K–4 grade span by the New Mexico Public Education Department’s Curriculum, Instruction and Learning Technologies: Understand patterns, relations, and functions.

Teachers alert students to benchmarks. Students learn what they are expected to learn by a certain point in time, which in turn allows the students to see the relationship between their effort and progress. In doing so, learners might develop a greater sense of responsibility.

Example: A fourth-grade teacher from New Mexico might transfer the mathematics benchmark information for her students by explaining that the students will be learning: 1) how to use symbols or letters to stand for any number in mathematical equations; and 2) how to analyze patterns depicted in tables and graphs.

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Step 1:	Identify the required general curriculum goals and objectives for your particular grade or subject.
Step 2:	Identify specific benchmarks and performance standards.
Step 3:	Identify how student progress will be measured.
Step 4:	Consider the timing of local, state, and national assessments.
Step 5:	Consider the timing of related topics covered in other classes.
Step 6:	Determine themes for instruction and the applicable objectives that need to be covered within each topic. This is done by applying the curriculum guidelines.
Step 7:	Keeping in mind the material to be covered, decide on what sequence of instruction will best meet the needs of the students.
Step 8:	Outline topics to be covered within specific time periods (semesters, weeks, etc.). Identify what part of the required curriculum is being covered with individual topics in order to ensure all of the required curriculum will be taught.