The gap between research and practice revisited: Accommodation practices amid the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond

Previous research suggests that there is a demonstrated need to provide instructional and assessment accommodations for students with special needs in Canada and worldwide. Therefore, we conducted nine semi-structured interviews to better understand how Canadian elementary special education teachers' perceived understanding of accommodations affected their practices before the COVID-19 pandemic, during school closures, and after school reopened in the province of Saskatchewan. Our interview data show that teachers' perceptions of accommodations did not align with research and theory. Elementary teachers tended to utilize groupwise strategies for students with special needs. Overall, teachers' perceptions and practices of accommodations remained constant prior to school closures and after school reopened, excepting some practices that were changed due to the COVID-19 safety protocols.