In a previous post, I shared a metaphor of ice cream for grade-level instruction. Today, I am going to use this metaphor to define all the instructional opportunities available to students and when to modify instruction for students with disabilities.
In this metaphor, I am going to equate grade-level instruction to a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Ice cream is not a finger food. It needs to be served in some sort of vessel. I am going to use a sugar cone because it is my favorite. So, we have a single scoop of ice cream in a sugar cone as a visual representing grade-level instruction served in a general education setting. Every student, regardless of their abilities, should be served at the very least a single scoop cone.
Some students need more “ice cream” to fully benefit from the instruction. When a student needs more support, they can receive intervention, sometimes referred to as Tier II or III, which is targeted skills-based intervention to support Tier I progress, but it is still based on grade-level standards and is available to any student who needs it. Basically, we can offer a cone with more than one scoop of ice cream if the student needs more.
Now, I hear you, not all teachers are vanilla. Some are bright energy, adding excitement and energy to their instruction. Others are quiet, but exude knowledge with passion. Still others are a bit nutty, finding ways to integrate humor. In short, each teacher serves theri own custom ice cream flavor, but they serve the same flavor to every student. Thus, it is still a single scoop cone served to everyone.
Some students, no matter how strong a teacher they have, need some support to access and participate in the instruction. Maybe reading is still a challenge, so they need stories read to them or audiobooks. Or maybe they are not afraid to make a mistake and need word-predicting software. There is a litany of options, but all of these are designed to help the student participate in the same instruction as everyone else. Supports provided without changing the instruction, called accommodations, are like a change from the sugar cone to a cup and spoon when eating ice cream. It is the same ice cream, served differently to make it easier for the person eating it.
Then there are a few students for whom the instruction, no matter how many supports are provided, is not accessible. The student needs different expectations, different instruction, and a different way to demonstrate they learned. This is what a modification is: changing what a student is expected to learn. Using our metaphor of ice cream, it is like needing dairy-free or sugar-free ice cream in order to make it digestible. The ice cream may be served in a bowl or a cone, depending on what the student needs.
Ultimately, an IEP is the custom sundae based on what a student needs to be as independent as possible when provided instruction in a manner needed.
