What is Section 504?

Section 504 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Individualized Education Program Information (IEP)

 Section 504 is a law that helps ensure that kids with disabilities can get the same chances to learn and do things as all the other kids. It helps ensure that the school or other places that kids go to learn or play can figure out ways to help kids with disabilities do things like everyone else. Section 504 helps make sure that kids with disabilities can have the same chances to learn, play, and be part of the fun things that everyone else gets to do. 

What is Section 504?

 "Section 504" refers to the section of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which guarantees certain rights to individuals with disabilities, including ADHD.  This federal law states that no person "... shall, solely by reason of her or his disability, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance" (Sec. 504.(a).

FAPE, or Free Appropriate Public Education, is the provision of special education and services at public expense in accordance with an IEP designed to help the child receive educational benefits.

Who is entitled to FAPE?

 All qualified persons with disabilities within the jurisdiction of a school district are entitled to a free, appropriate public education. The ED Section 504 regulation defines a person with a disability as any person who (i) has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, (ii) has a record of such an impairment, or (iii) is regarded as having such an impairment.[3]

 For elementary and secondary education programs, a qualified person with a disability is a person with a disability who is:

 of an age during which it is mandatory under state law to provide such services to persons with disabilities;

of an age during which persons without disabilities are provided such services or

a person for whom a state is required to provide a free appropriate public education under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). (IDEA is discussed later in the pamphlet.)

In general, all school-age children who have disabilities are entitled to FAPE.

More IEP Info

FAPE provisions in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)

 Part B of IDEA requires participating states to ensure that a free appropriate public education (FAPE) is made available to eligible children with disabilities in mandatory age ranges residing in the state. To be eligible, a child must be evaluated as having one or more of the disabilities listed in IDEA and determined to be in need of special education and related services. Evaluations must be conducted according to prescribed procedures. The disabilities specified in IDEA include mental retardation, hearing impairments including deafness, speech or language impairments, visual impairments including blindness, emotional disturbance, orthopedic impairments, autism, traumatic brain injury, other health impairments, specific learning disabilities, deaf-blindness, and multiple disabilities. Additionally, states and local education agencies (LEAs) may adopt the term "developmental delay" for children aged 3 through 9 (or a subset of that age range) who are experiencing a developmental delay as defined by the state and need special education and related services.

 States and LEAs that opt to use the term "developmental delay" still may use the disability categories in Part B of IDEA for children with diagnosed disabilities.

 The requirements for FAPE under IDEA are more detailed than those under Section 504. In specific instances detailed in the Section 504 regulation (for example, with respect to reevaluation procedures and the provision of appropriate education), meeting the requirements of IDEA is one means of meeting the requirements of the Section 504 regulation.

 IDEA requirements apply to states receiving financial assistance under IDEA. States must ensure that their political subdivisions responsible for providing or paying for education for children with disabilities meet IDEA requirements. All states receive IDEA funds. Section 504 applies to any program or activity receiving ED financial assistance.

 IDEA is administered by ED's Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), a component of ED's Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS). For more information about IDEA, contact OSERS at 400 Maryland Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20202. Additional information is also available at: http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osers/osep/.

My child gets all As and Bs; can she still get IEP accommodations?

 Yes.  Academic performance in and of itself is not enough to determine eligibility for services one way or another.  According to the U.S. Dept. of Education's Office of Civil Rights, "If the protections of §504 . . . are to have any meaning for a qualified handicapped person of superior intelligence, then the student must be entitled to implementation of a Section 504 Accommodation Plan which allows him to achieve educational success reasonably commensurate with his ability,"  (cf. 27 IDELR 858).

 Thus, even if a child receives A or B grades in classes but is having difficulty paying attention in class, with behavior at school, or with homework at home, the child may still be eligible for accommodations. The deciding factor will be to what extent the learning disability impacts the student's ability to learn or behave in class.

Does my child have to be in a different classroom if she has an IEP or gets special education?

 No. If your child has an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) or receives special education services, it does NOT automatically mean she will be placed in a special education classroom.  IDEA has a Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) clause, which states that children should be educated in the least restrictive environment that is still sufficient to meet their academic needs. Therefore, if your child can learn in a regular education classroom, then that is where the law says she should be placed.

If I request an IEP evaluation, doesn't the school have to do it?

 No. The school is only obligated to evaluate a child if they feel there is a substantial impact on the child's learning or behavior. If the school chooses not to evaluate, then they must supply a written response explaining why they refused to evaluate.

What is the difference between Section 504 and IDEA?

 There are significant differences between Section 504 and IDEA.  Perhaps the most significant is that Section 504 is a civil rights law, and IDEA is an educational benefit law.  Section 504 is designed to level the playing field for individuals with disabilities.  Its purpose is to ensure that individuals with disabilities have the same access to education that individuals without disabilities have. It does this by eliminating barriers that exclude individuals with disabilities from participating in protected activities, including free and appropriate public education.  As an educational benefit law, IDEA offers additional services and protections for those with disabilities that are not offered to those without disabilities.

 These laws are also distinguished by their different eligibility requirements and the benefits they provide.  The definition of a disability is much broader under Section 504 than under IDEA.  All IDEA students are covered by Section 504, whereas not all Section 504 students are protected under IDEA.   An IEP, provided to students covered by IDEA, must be tailored to the child's unique needs and result in educational benefits.  However, a Section 504 Plan provides accommodations based on the child's disability and resulting weaknesses but does not require academic improvement.

 Additionally, fewer procedural safeguards are offered to children and parents under Section 504 than under IDEA.

What is LRE in an IEP?

 LRE, or Least Restrictive Environment, is a term used to mandate that students with disabilities be placed in special classes, separate schools, or positions other than regular education classrooms only when the nature or severity of the disability is such that even with aids and services, education can not be achieved. The placement must also allow the disabled student to be with non-disabled peers to the greatest extent possible.

 How is an appropriate IEP education defined?

 An appropriate education may be defined in different ways. An appropriate education could consist of education in regular classes, education in regular classes with supplementary services, or special education and related services in separate classrooms for all or portions of the school day. Special education may include specially designed instruction in classrooms, at home, or in private or public institutions and may be accompanied by such related services as speech therapy, occupational and physical therapy, psychological counseling, and medical diagnostic services necessary to the child's education.

 An appropriate education will include:

educational services designed to meet the individual educational needs of students with disabilities as adequately as the needs of nondisabled students are met;

the education of each student with a disability with nondisabled students to the maximum extent appropriate to the needs of the student with a disability;

nondiscriminatory evaluation and placement procedures established to guard against misclassification or inappropriate placement of students, and a periodic reevaluation of students who have been provided special education or related services; and

establishment of due process procedures that enable parents and guardians to receive required notices, review their child's records, and challenge identification, evaluation, and placement decisions and that provide an impartial hearing with opportunity for participation by parents and representation by counsel, and a review procedure.

Educational Services Must Meet Individual Needs

 To be appropriate, educational programs for students with disabilities must be designed to meet their individual needs to the same extent that the needs of nondisabled students are met. An appropriate education may include regular or special education and related aids and services to accommodate the unique needs of individuals with disabilities.

 One way to ensure that programs meet individual needs is to develop an individualized education program (IEP) for each student with a disability. IEPs are required for students participating in special education programs and recipients of funding under the IDEA.

 The quality of educational services provided to students with disabilities must be equal to that provided to nondisabled students. For example, teachers of students with disabilities must meet certification standards as high as those teachers of nondisabled students. Facilities must be comparable, and appropriate materials and equipment must be available.

 Students with disabilities may not be excluded from participating in nonacademic services and extracurricular activities based on disability. Persons with disabilities must be provided an opportunity to participate in nonacademic services equal to that provided to persons without disabilities. These services may include physical education and recreational athletics, transportation, health services, recreational activities, special interest groups or clubs sponsored by the school, referrals to agencies that provide assistance to persons with disabilities and employment of students.

 Students With Disabilities Must be Educated With Nondisabled Students

 Students with disabilities and students without disabilities must be placed in the same setting to the maximum extent appropriate to the educational needs of the students with disabilities. A recipient must place a person with a disability in the regular educational environment unless it is demonstrated by the recipient that the student's needs cannot be met satisfactorily with the use of supplementary aids and services. Students with disabilities must participate with nondisabled students in both academic and nonacademic services, including meals, recess, and physical education, to the maximum extent appropriate to their individual needs.

 Specific supplementary aids must be provided for students with disabilities as necessary to ensure an appropriate educational setting. Supplementary aids may include interpreters for deaf students, readers for blind students, and equipment to make physical accommodations for students with mobility impairments.

 A recipient that places an individual with disabilities in another school is responsible for ensuring that the student receives a free, appropriate public education as close to his/her home as possible.

 If a recipient operates a facility for persons with disabilities, the facility and associated activities must be comparable to other facilities, services, and activities of the recipient.

 Evaluation and Placement Must be Nondiscriminatory

 Failure to provide persons with disabilities with an appropriate education frequently results from misclassification and inappropriate placement. It is unacceptable to base individual placement decisions on presumptions and stereotypes regarding persons with disabilities or on classes of such persons. For example, it would be a violation of the law for a recipient to adopt a policy that every student who is hearing impaired, regardless of the severity of the child's disability, must be placed in a state school for the deaf.

 Section 504 requires the use of evaluation and placement procedures that ensure that children are not misclassified, unnecessarily labeled as having a disability, or incorrectly placed based on inappropriate selection, administration, or interpretation of evaluation materials.

 An individual evaluation must be conducted before any action is taken with respect to the initial placement of a child who has a disability or before any significant change in that placement.

 Recipients must establish standards and procedures for initial and continuing evaluations and placement decisions regarding persons who, because of disability, need or are believed to need special education or related services.

 These procedures must ensure that tests and other evaluation materials:

 have been validated for the specific purpose for which they are used and are administered by trained personnel in conformance with the instructions provided by their producer;

include materials tailored to assess specific areas of educational need and not merely materials that are designed to provide a single general intelligence quotient and

are selected and administered to best ensure that, when a test is administered to a student with impaired sensory, manual, or speaking skills, the test results accurately reflect the student's aptitude or achievement level or whatever other factor the test purports to measure, rather than reflecting the student's impaired sensory, manual, or speaking skills (except where those skills are the factors that the test purports to measure).

Recipients must draw upon various sources in the evaluation and placement process to minimize the possibility of error. All significant factors related to the learning process must be considered.

 These sources and factors include, for example, aptitude and achievement tests, teacher recommendations, physical condition, social and cultural background, and adaptive behavior. Adaptive behavior is the effectiveness with which the individual meets the standards of personal independence and social responsibility expected of his or her age and cultural group.

 Information from all sources must be documented and considered by a group of knowledgeable persons, and procedures must ensure that the student is placed with nondisabled students to the greatest extent appropriate.

 Periodic reevaluation is required. This may be conducted in accordance with the IDEA regulation, which requires reevaluation at three-year intervals or more frequently if conditions warrant or if the child's parent or teacher requests a reevaluation.

 Recipients Must Have Due Process Procedures for the Review of Identification, Evaluation, and Placement Decisions

 Public elementary and secondary schools must employ procedural safeguards regarding the identification, evaluation, or educational placement of persons who, because of disability, need or are believed to need special instruction or related services.

 Parents must be told about these procedures. In addition, parents or guardians must also be notified of any evaluation or placement actions and be allowed to examine the student's records. The due process procedures must allow the parents or guardians of students in elementary and secondary schools to challenge evaluation and placement procedures and decisions.

 If parents or guardians disagree with the school's decisions, they must be afforded an impartial hearing, with an opportunity for participation and representation by counsel. A review procedure must be available to parents or guardians who disagree with the hearing decision.