Instead, you'll work in conjunction with Stephanie's special education teacher to develop accommodations and modifications that will allow Stephanie to learn material from the general curriculum. For example, if Stephanie has fine-motor difficulties due to her disability, she might be allowed to do part of the math homework, or she might need an assistive technology device, such as a laptop, to help her complete all of the math problems. If her disability involves memory difficulties, she might be allowed to use an open book during an exam or listen to a book on tape. In such cases, the definition of fair does not mean equal treatment. Fair means that each student receives what he or she needs to be successful and reach his or her full potential.
Teachers make reasonable accommodations for other students on a daily basis.
For example, eyeglasses are an accommodation. If a student breaks or forgets his or her glasses, the teacher would move the student closer to the board or have another student read to the student who needs glasses. This is not considered an unfair advantage, but something the student needs in order to be successful. If a student in your math class has just arrived in this country and does not yet speak or read English well enough to tackle math word problems, you might allow the student to skip the word problems and just do the calculations. Or you could have someone translate the word problems into the student's native language.