Accommodations: Changes in the way the assessment is administered or the way in which a student with special education needs responds to its components. Accommodations do not alter the content of the assessment or affect validity or reliability.
Modifications: Changes to the content of the assessment. These are not permitted, because they affect the validity and reliability of the assessment.
Prompt: A tap on the desk or a verbal signal (e.g., a word or phrase) to draw the student’s attention back to the assessment. Prompts are used for students who are off task. Prompts do not include clarification, explanation or translation of any part of the assessment and may not be used to draw the student’s attention to a specific part of the assessment.
Scribe: An individual who supports the accommodations the student receives on a regular basis for all forms of assessment by recording student responses verbatim. Scribes must be adults and must not be relatives of the students they are assisting. Scribes should work only with students who have been identified as receiving a scribing accommodation, and they should not scribe for any other students.
Special Circumstance: A circumstance where a student is unable to participate in the assessment without accommodations.
Special Provisions: Extended periodic supervised breaks for English language learners.