Page 16 - Education Supplement February 2026
P. 16
EDITORIAL
How academic
How academic
accommodations
accommodations
can change a child’s
school experience
here is a quiet What academic accommodations actually are
misunderstanding that still Academic accommodations are practical adjustments to how a child
Tsits at the heart of many accesses learning or how they demonstrate what they know.
school conversations: that The curriculum remains the same. The learning outcomes remain the same.
academic accommodations give What changes is the method.
children an unfair advantage.
In reality, the opposite is true. Accommodations can include:
Accommodations exist to level • Extra time in tests and exams
the playing field, not tilt it. • Access to a reader, scribe, or computer
• Assistive technology such as text-to-speech or speech-to-text
For some children, school works • Reduced handwriting demands
more or less as designed. For • Alternative formats for assignments or assessments
others, the system itself creates • Movement or sensory breaks during the school day
obstacles that have nothing to do • Quieter or separate assessment environments
with ability, intelligence, or effort.
Academic accommodations are These supports do not change what a child is expected to learn. They change
not about lowering expectations the conditions under which learning and assessment take place.
or making things “easier”. They
are about removing barriers that This is an important distinction. Accommodations are often confused
should never have been there in with academic modifications, which do alter learning expectations.
the first place. Accommodations do not.
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