Accommodation
The plan designed to maximize a child's engagement in the classroom and equalize or increase opportunities, access, or participation in experiences and routines without changing the expectations for learning.
Adaptation
The act of altering the environment, instructional materials, or other objects to make accommodations that facilitate participation of a child in an activity, routine, or learning experience that otherwise would have had limited accessibility.
Assistive Technology
Equipment, tools, systems, and such that are used to allow individuals to better engage in activities and routines. In early childhood educational settings these tools, which can be modified, adapted, or used as designed, usually help the child participate more fully in classroom routines and experiences.
Differentiated Instruction
Instruction that provides teaching strategies and curriculum to meet the needs of children with different abilites and disabilities in the same classroom.
Individuals with Disabilites Education Act (IDEA)
Public Law 108-446, whose official title is the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004. IDEA sets out specific guidelines and procedures that are meant to give students with access to education.
Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)
Referred to in IDEA, paragraph 300.114 through 300.120. LRE specifies that children with disabilities be educated along with children who do not have specific disabilities (in both public and private settings) and that only if a child's educational needs cannot be met satisfactorily, will he or she be educated separately.
Modification
A significant alteration in curricular expectations to address the needs of an individual child. A modification may include a change in the learning outcomes or instructional strategies (how a child is expected to participate in an activity). A modification should only be made when accommodations or adaptations to the activity, materials, or classroom environment cannot support a child's participation.
Response to Intervention (RTI)
A well-defined problem-solving process that includes ways to identify children with learning problems at an early age and helps teachers offer the right level of instructional support for each child's specific needs. It is evidence-based and provides a method for continual evaluation of both the child and the strategies used with the child so that if more or less intervention is needed, it can be undertaken in a timely manner.
For more information, read the REC Building Blocks brief, Response to Intervention in the Inclusive Early Childhood Classroom. You can also watch REC's free webinar Let's Talk RTI.
Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
An approach to classroom and curriculum planning that is founded on research and takes into account a full range of possible differences in children.
For more information, read the REC Building Blocks brief, Universal Design for Learning In Early Childhood Inclusive Classrooms. You can also watch REC's free webinar Let's Talk UDL.