iSearch Proposal

Topic: Are accommodations for students helping or hurting students from becoming autonomous learners?

 Possible Questions: 

Are schools relying on accommodations more than they should to shuffle students along?

In what situations are accommodations the only option for students?

What evidence is out there that shows accommodations are helping?

Are read-aloud accommodations the best option for some students?

Are teachers misinterpreting what the child actually needs?

People to Interview: 

My best friend is a 9^th and 12^th grade English teacher at Princess Anne High School. I feel she will give me honest answers to some difficult questions because of our openness with one another. She teaches two inclusion classes as well as honors and core courses. She has had a lot of experience with accommodations and has seen first hand how it affects the student.

I also may interview my brother. He grew up having a 504 plan and I think it would be interesting to get a student's point of view.

 Titles of Articles You Plan to Use: 

 I have found tons of articles that I think will help me answer this question, although I still need to comb through a lot of it. Whether I come to an answer or not, I think some of these sources will give me some great insight on the subject.

The Effect of a Read Aloud Accomodation on Test Scores of Students with and Without a Learning Disability in Reading

 I think the articles I have found concerning accommodations for students without disabilities will be key to the answers I find.

A Summary of Research on the Effects of Test Accommodations: 2002 through 2004. Technical Report 45

This will give me concrete evidence on the effects of testing accommodations.

Confirming the Need for Individual Accommodations for Students with Learning Disabilities

Through this article, I hope to better understand the process of deciding if a student is in need of accommodation with a learning disability.

Effects of an Oral Testing Accommodation on the Mathematics Performance of Secondary Students With and Without Learning Disabilities

I think it is important to research articles like this one to find evidence of outcomes of accommodations through content area subjects.

Patterns of Accommodations Provided to Students with Disabilities in Integrated Classrooms

Enabling or Empowering? Adaptations and Accommodations for Twice Exceptional Students

This article is especially important because it points out how parents, students and teachers perceive adaptations and accommodations.

There were a few more articles I did find, but I think the above are the ones I will start with in my journey.

Notes:

I feel accommodations are becoming more prevalent in schools. I want to do research to see if I am alone in this or if there is some truth to it. I feel as though students are getting shuffled along through the grade levels without actually learning to read or write well because of accommodations that aren’t actually necessary for some students.