Step 3: Develop Goals for Teaching Strategies and Making Adaptations
Once the teacher has pinpointed the problem, he or she will need to decide how it will be addressed. Some problems can be solved by adaptations; other problems may signal the need for intensive instruction in skills or strategies. Frequently, teachers may have to provide adaptations simultaneously with instruction in needed learning strategies.
All adaptations lead students to become dependent on the person who makes them. Therefore, before an adaptation is made for an individual student, educators must decide carefully on the best approach to address the student's disability and promote success. Adaptations should be approached as short-term solutions within the context of a long-term plan for teaching skills and strategies that will promote the student's independence as a learner, and ultimately reduce the need for the adaptations. The student's instructional goals should reflect this approach.
More on Adapting L.A., S.S., and Science Materials for the Inclusive Classroom.
Provided in partnership with The Council for Exceptional Children.
