EDUCATION LAW:   Understanding IDEA, 504 Plans and RTI....

Please be advised......
The information posted below is for informational purposes only and not in any way intended to be mistaken as "legal advice". If you have any legal issues or questions you are strongly encouraged to seek legal council.

Understanding 504 Plans

(borrowed from Wrightslaw; http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/sec504.index.htm)

Section 504 is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities. Section 504 ensures that the child with a disability has equal access to an education. The child may receive accommodations and modifications.

Unlike the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Section 504 does not require the school to provide an individualized educational program (IEP) that is designed to meet the child's unique needs and provides the child with educational benefit. Under Section 504, fewer procedural safeguards are available to children with disabilities and their parents than under IDEA.
Advocacy
To be an effective advocate for a child with a disability, you need to know your rights and responsibilities under the IDEA and Section 504. You also need to learn advocacy skills.

Download Free Flyer! Help for College Students with Disabilities Flyer. College-bound students need to learn self-advocacy skills - how to present information about their disability and accommodations so professors want to help. If students master these skills, they are more likely to make a successful transition from high school to college.

Qs & As
Child with ADD Kicked Out of After-School Program. Parent attorney Bob Crabtree answers questions and describes responsibilities of private programs to provide services to children with disabilities; suggests strategies parents may use to resolve problems with day care and after-school program providers.

Discrimination: Sending Special Ed Kids Home Early. Surprisingly, we continue to receive questions about school districts that have one set of rules for "special ed kids" and a different set of rules for everyone else. This article answers the questions, then describes a successful OCR complaint brought by a group of parents in Virginia.

Child with 504 Plan Failing, School Won't Evaluate. Child has a 504 Plan; grades dropping; school will not evaluate for IEP because child does not have failing grades on report card. Parent needs a game plan.

How Can I File a Section 504 Complaint? The parent is distressed when his child was suddenly dismissed as manager of a sports team. Sue Heath offers a plan to deal with the crisis and answers his questions about how to get an appropriate 504 Plan and ensure that the school implements the plan.

Child Has Health Problems, School Reports Him Truant Sue Heath explains, "You need to take steps to document that your child's absences were due to illness. You also need to prevent this from happening again. Here is your plan . . .". This article includes links to sample Section 504 plans and health plans.

Self-Advocacy: Know Yourself, Know What You Need, Know How to Get It by Nancy Johnson. "Self-advocacy is the ability to understand and effectively communicate one's needs to other individuals. Learning to become an effective self-advocate is all about educating the people around you. There are three steps to becoming an effective self-advocate . . ."

Who is Eligible for Protections Under Section 504 - But Not Under IDEA? Who is protected under Section 504? A student with AIDS? A student with ADD? A student with asthma?

Word Banks and Calculators: Pete Answers Questions About Accommodations and Modifications. Do teachers have to provide the accommodations and modifications listed in the IEP? Pete answers questions, offers thoughts about teaching skills v. providing accommodations and modifications, Diana Hanbury King and Helen Keller, and his "Big Gripe" about special education.

Accommodations and Modifications for College Students. Do colleges have to provide accommodations for disabled students? Dr. Mike Brown offers advice about dealing with colleges.

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Understanding IEP's and Their Implementation

As any parents of a special needs child knows, an IEP is drafted at an annual review meeting each year with the Committee on Special Education or Committee on Preschool Special Education (CSE or CPSE). The IEP is a LEGAL document, or contract, between you and the district.

In New York State, parents are not required to sign an IEP to indicate your acceptance of the placement and/or recommendations. Unless you reject the IEP, or any part of that document, in writing, it is assumed accepted after 10 days.

YOU MUST READ THIS DOCUMENT! Many parents do not....

Additionally, it is important for you to understand that, although the CSE drafts the IEP, the building principal is ultimately responsible for seeing that the IEP get implemented. If your child’s IEP is not being implemented, your first course of action should be to:

1. Discuss the problem with the resource room teacher (or whoever is providing the special ed. services). It s the resource room teachers responsibility to communicate the IEP goals/accommodations , or any problems they are having, with your child’s general ed teacher(s).

If this is not effective, you should:

2. Discuss your concerns directly with the general ed teacher. Bring the IEP with you and be sure the teacher understands your child’s needs and what the district has legally committed to for the school year.

If there is still no improvement, you should:

3. Write the principal of the school a letter detailing everything you have done to correct the problem and request that he/she get involved IMMEDIATELY to correct this problem. You should also copy the CSE or CPSE chairperson on this letter.

Helpful IDEA Tips from Pam & Peter Wright of Wrightslaw
For more info, go to their web site; www.wrightslaw.com

On July 1, 2005, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 (IDEA 2004) went into effect.

In 10 Tips: How to Use IDEA 2004 to Improve Your Child's Special Education, you will learn how to use IDEA 2004 and the No Child Left Behind Act to ensure that the needs of children with disabilities are met, while also improving educational outcomes and results.

1. Use the Findings and Purposes in IDEA 2004 to Establish a Higher Standard for a Free, Appropriate Public Education (FAPE).
2. Use IDEA 2004 and No Child Left Behind (NCLB) to Obtain a Better Individualized Education Program (IEP).
3. Include Research Based Methodology in the IEP.
4. Ensure That Annual Goals are Comprehensive, Specific and Measurable.
5. Use New Evaluation Procedures to Monitor Academic Progress and Progress on IEP Goals.
6. Give Consent Only for Evaluations or Portions of the IEP to Which You Agree.
7. Insist that the Child’s Regular Education Teacher(s) Participate in IEP Meetings.
8. Avoid Three-Year IEPs Like the Plague.
9. Challenge Suspension or Expulsion if Child’s Behavior was a Manifestation of the Disability, or if the Alternate Placement Does Not Provide FAPE.
10. Avoid Due Process Hearings if Possible.

Understanding RTI: Response to Intervention

What You Need to Know About IDEA 2004
Specific Learning Disabilities: Discrepancy & Response to Intervention Models
by Peter Wright, Esq. & Pamela Wright, MA, MSW
www.wrightslaw.com

Identifying Children with Specific Learning Disabilities

Learning disabilities account for nearly half of all children enrolled in special education programs. This led experts in the field to question the models for identifying children with learning disabilities.

Experts in the field of learning disabilities believe that many children identified with specific learning disabilities are “victims of poor teaching. The statement that many children identified as LD are “teaching disabled” is often accurate. Almost all children can learn to read if taught appropriately, but many do not get the help they need because their teachers are not adequately prepared. (Early Warning System by G. Reid Lyon and Jack M. Fletcher)

When Congress reauthorized IDEA, they changed the law about how to identify children with specific learning disabilities. IDEA 2004 says schools “shall not be required to take into consideration whether a child has a severe discrepancy between achievement and intellectual ability in oral expression, listening comprehension, written expression, basic reading skill, reading comprehension, mathematical calculation, or mathematical reasoning.” (Section 1414(b)) (See Wrightslaw: IDEA 2004, page 88)

Abandon Discrepancy Models

In the Commentary and Explanation to the proposed special education regulations, the U. S. Department of Education describes reasons why discrepancy models should be abandoned:

The IQ-discrepancy criterion is potentially harmful to students as it results in delaying intervention until the student’s achievement is sufficiently low that the discrepancy is achieved. For most students, identification as having an SLD occurs at an age when the academic problems are difficult to remediate with the most intense remediation efforts (Torgesen, et. al., 2001)

… the “wait to fail” model does not lead to “closing the achievement gap for most students placed in special education. Many students placed in special education as SLD show minimal gains in achievement and few actually leave special education. (Donovon & Cross, 2002).

Adopt "Response to Intervention" or "Response to Instruction" (RTI) Models

IDEA 2004 states, “In determining whether a child has a specific learning disability, a local educational agency may use a process that determines if the child responds to scientific, research-based intervention…” (Section 1414(b)(6)(B)). (See Wrightslaw: IDEA 2004, page 88)

In the explanation and commentary to the proposed IDEA 2004 regulations, the U. S. Department of Education “strongly recommends” that schools use a response to intervention model that

…uses a process based on systematic assessment of the student’s response to high quality, research-based general education instruction…that incorporate response to a research-based intervention…
Identification models that incorporate response to intervention represent a shift in special education toward the goals of better achievement and behavioral outcomes for students identified with SLD…” Commentary and Explanation of the Proposed Regulations for IDEA 2004

Diagnosing Learning Disabilities

Psychologists often diagnose learning disabilities by exclusion. If the a child has a disability that adversely affects educational performance, and the child is not retarded, does not have a visual, hearing or motor disability, is not emotionally disturbed, and is not negatively affected by environmental, cultural or economic disadvantages, it is likely that the child has a learning disability.

According to the proposed IDEA 2004 regulations, States “may prohibit the use of a severe discrepancy between intellectual ability and achievement,” and “must permit the use of a process that determines if the child respond to scientific, research-based intervention as part of the evaluation procedures,” and “may permit the use of other alternative research-based procedures for determining whether a child has a specific learning disability…”