504 or IEP

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504 or IEP?

• The Right Plan for Your Child
• Janet H. Brewer M. Ed
• FactorHealth

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Factor Health Management

• The following is a summary of 504/IEP processes
  and plans. This is just a summary and is in no
  way intended as legal advice. This presentation
  is an overview and does not cover all issues that
  may arise under these laws. The information
  provided herein is not intended, nor should it be
  used as legal advice. The advice of legal
  counsel should be sought to answer any specific
  questions. This presentation is the sole
  property of Factor Health Management and may not
  be copied or reproduced without permission.

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IDEA

• IDEA Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
• AKA PL 94-142 or Education of the Handicapped Act
• Federal law enacted originally in 1974
• Amended in August 2004 with the final regulations
  published in August 2006
• 300 page document located at www.nichcy.org

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IDEA

• IDEA requires states to provide a free,
  appropriate public education to children with
  disabilities so they can be educated to the
  fullest extent possible with other children. If
  qualified, children are provided with special
  education AND related services under an
  Individualized Education Plan.

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504

• Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
• Commonly referred to as Section 504
• Focus is on non-discrimination
• Maintains that no otherwise qualified individual
  with a disability will be excluded from
  participation in, be denied the benefits of or be
  subjected to discrimination under any program or
  activity receiving Federal financial assistance.

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ADA

• Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
• Passed in 1990
• Almost like an extension of the 1973
  Rehabilitation Act or Section 504
• Provides for the elimination of barriers related
  to accessibility for the disabled to buildings,
  transportation and communication.

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In short

• IDEA-provides special education AND related
  services to qualified individuals with a
  disability through an Individualized Education
  Plan
• 504/ADA provides related services to qualified
  individuals with a disability through a 504 plan.
  Focus is on providing access or removing
  barriers to participation

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What is a disability?

• The term child with a disability means a child
  who has been evaluated and is determined as
  having
• mental retardation
• hearing impairment including deafness
• speech or language impairment
• visual impairment including blindness
• serious emotional disturbance
• orthopedic impairment
• autism
• traumatic brain injury
• other health impairment
• specific learning disability

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Other Health Impairment

• Having limited strength, vitality or alertness,
  including a heightened alertness to environmental
  stimuli that results in a limited alertness with
  respect to the educational environment, that
• Is due to chronic or acute health problems such
  as asthma, attention deficit disorder or
  attention deficit hyperactivity disorder,
  diabetes, epilepsy, a heart condition,
  hemophilia, lead poisoning, leukemia, nephritis,
  rheumatic fever and sickle cell anemia and
• Adversely affects a childs educational
  performance

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Medically Related Disability

• Any person who
• Has a physical or mental impairment which
  substantially limits one or more major life
  activities (those basic activities that the
  average person in the general population can
  perform with little or no difficulty)
• Has a record of such impairment
• Is regarded as having such an impairment

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So Now What??

• Help!

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Door Number 1

• Scenario
• Your child is a great student!
• You-nor your childs teachers have any academic,
  attention or behavioral concerns
• Your child has a bleeding disorder
• Recognized disability by both IDEA and ADA/504
  federal laws
• Will benefit from Related Services and/or
  Accommodations

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Solution

• Contact your childs principal
• Explain that your child has a bleeding disorder
• Ask to convene a parent meeting with your childs
  teacher, school nurse and administrative
  representative
• Develop an Americans with Disabilities Act or 504
  Plan

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Door 2

• Scenario
• Your child is struggling with academic subjects
• Oral Expression
• Listening Comprehension
• Written Expression
• Basic Reading Skill
• Reading Comprehension
• Mathematics Calculation
• Mathematics Reasoning

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The Evaluation Process

• Begins with a screening process
• For students with academic concerns
• Curriculum-based or performance-based assessments
• Observation (behavioral difficulties)
• Intervention based on above assessments
• Assessment of students response to intervention
• Determination if difficulties are the result of
  lack of instruction or limited English
  proficiency
• Determination as to whether the students need
  exceeds their ability to function in a regular
  education setting
• Activities for parental involvement

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The Evaluation Process

• Screening Process is designed to last for 60
  days.
• If prescribed and assessed interventions appear
  insufficient, the evaluation process becomes more
  formal
• Screening activities do not prevent the parent
  from requesting a written evaluation

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The Evaluation Process

• Upon receipt of a written request from parents,
  the school system will conduct an evaluation in
  all areas of suspected difficulty-including an
  assessment by the school psychologist
• This initial evaluation will be completed and
  copies of all reports will be provided to parents
  no later than 60 school days after consent is
  received

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The Evaluation Process

• Will include
• Variety of assessment tools
• Parental information and developmental background
• Teacher assessment
• Specific to the childs native language
• Take into account limited vision, hearing or
  motor impairment

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Determining Eligibility

• After 60 school days when all assessments and
  reports are complete, a meeting is scheduled.
• Specialists will share results with parents, and
  as a team determine whether the childs
  difficulties are the result of a specific
  disability and is not the result of a visual,
  hearing or motor impairment, mental retardation,
  emotional disturbance, environmental, cultural or
  economic disadvantage or lack of instruction

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IEP or 504?

• Question
• Does the student have one or more of the
  following types of disabilities?
• Physical, sensory, mental or emotional
• Emotional disturbance
• Orthopedic impairment
• Hearing-Vision impairment
• Autism
• Traumatic brain injury
• Other Health
• Specific Learning Disability
• Multiple Disabilities

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AND

• Require Specially Designed Instruction to make
  Progress?
• Adapted instruction designed to meet the unique
  need of the child with a disability.
• The content, methodology or delivery of
  instruction is changed to ensure the child access
  to the general curriculum

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IEP/504

• If BOTH of these criteria are met, then the child
  qualifies for an IEP
• If the child is identified as having a disability
  but does not require specially designed
  instruction then they qualify for a 504 which
  will provide related services and accommodations.

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IEP

• Individualized Education Plan
• Team Members
• Parent
• One general education teacher
• One special education teacher
• Someone who can interpret evaluations
• School district representative
• Qualified to provide or supervise special
  education plans
• Typically principal or assistant

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Timelines

• Evaluations completed within 60 school days
  following written parental consent
• A copy of the evaluation report and a summary
  will be communicated to you a least 10 days
  before the IEP meeting
• IEP must be completed within 30 calendar days
  after the evaluation team issues its Evaluation
  Report
• IEP put into action no later than 10 school days
  after completion

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Individualized Education Plan

• An IEP will contain
• Statement of childs present levels of
  performance
• How the disability affects the childs
  involvement in the regular curriculum
• Measurable annual goals and objectives
• Statement of special education and related
  services that will be provided
• Explanation as to the extent that they child will
  be serviced outside the regular education
  classroom

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Individualized Education Plan

• An IEP will contain
• Statement of modifications to state or district
  wide assessments or if the child will use an
  alternate assessment
• Statement as to how the childs progress will be
  measured and how often parents will be informed
• Transition services (14 or older)
• Advanced-placement courses
• Vocational training
• Interagency linkages

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Student Accommodation PlanSection 504,
Rehabilitation Act of 1973

• 504 Will Include
• Reason for intervention
• Assessments used to determine handicap
• How handicap affects major life activities
• Reasonable Accommodations/Modifications/Adaptation
  s
• Meeting Participants

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Reasonable Accommodations

• Schedule of Physical Education activities
• Extra set of books at home
• Extended travel time around building
• Extended time for homework/make-up work
• All medically related absences are excused with
  no loss of credit
• Field trips to include a nurse

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Reasonable Accommodations

• Medications, needles and supplies maintained in
  the nurses office
• Permanent pass to the school nurse
• Staff in-service
• Tutoring due to absences
• Physical education credits for participating in
  outside physical therapy
• Audio or video tapes of class lectures

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Reasonable Accommodations

• Regular email contact from teachers regarding
  missed assignments
• Note takers
• Homework posted on the school district internet
• Permanent pass for school elevator
• Individualized Health Care Plan

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Related Services

• May Include
• Speech/language
• Audiology (hearing loss)
• Psychological
• Physical/Occupational therapies
• Counseling
• Rehabilitative counseling
• School health services
• Transportation

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Your Rights

• Your child has the right to a free appropriate
  public education
• Your child has the right to the same access as
  their non-disabled peers
• You have the right to an independent evaluation
  at the districts expense if you are not
  satisfied with the schools evaluations

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Your Rights

• You are entitled to review your childs records
• You are entitled to being a part of all decision
  making when it comes to educating your child
• You are entitled to a hearing or mediation if you
  feel your childs rights are not being honored

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Grievances

• Start with your local school system
• Teacher
• Principal
• Special Education Director
• ADA Coordinator
• Superintendent
• Department of Education
• Office for Civil Rights

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Your Rights

• If you have exhausted all avenues with the school
  system
• File a formal written complaint with the Office
  for Civil Rights
• Office for Civil Rights enforces federal civil
  rights laws that prohibit discrimination in
  programs or activities that receive federal
  financial assistance from the Department of
  Education

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Civil Rights

• Apply to
• All state education agencies
• Elementary/Secondary Schools
• Colleges/Universities
• Vocational schools
• Libraries
• Museums

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Resources

• PA Special Education ConsultLine
• 800-879-2301
• www.pde.state.pa.us
• www.pattan.net
• www.ericdigests.org
• United States Department of Health and Human
  Services
• 800-368-1019
• Office for Civil Rights
• Eastern Division 215-656-8541