IEP vs 504 Plan

IEP

An Individualized Education Program (IEP) is a written statement of the educational program designed to meet a child’s individual needs. Every child who receives special education services must have an IEP (Center for Parent Information and Resources, 2013). This is the result of special education law, specifically the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) (Hancock, 2009a).

The IEP has two general purposes: (Center for Parent Information and Resources, 2013)

1) Set reasonable learning goals for a child, and

2) State the services that the school district will provide for the child.

Steps to an IEP: (Hancock, 2009b)

Step 1: Referral for a special education evaluation

·      Request for referral can originate from a parent, teacher, or other school personnel

·      Initial request is for eligibility evaluation only, parents must consent for any type of services

Step 2: The evaluation eligibility meeting

·      To be eligible for special education services, students must fall under the category of one of the 13 types of eligible disabilities

·      This meeting is used to gather information to determine this

Step 3: Determining eligibility for the 13 categories:

Step 4: Write the IEP

·      The IEP is a written legal document that must include certain information.

Step 5: IEP Meeting

·      Meeting of the IEP team: Student, parents, special education teacher, classroom teachers, psychologist, school administrators, etc.

·      Contents of the IEP will be shared by the person who performed the evaluation

·      IEP team then agrees or disagrees with the plan.

·      Implementing the plan requires the consent of parents

Funding is provided by the federal government for eligible students (Lee, 2014)

504 Plan

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 is a federal law that protects individuals with disabilities. It is enforced by the Office of Civil Rights to ensure that any institution that received federal funds do not exclude individuals based on their disability. Section 504 requires that school districts provide a free appropriate public education (FAPE) to each student (U.S. Department of Education, 2015).

Under section 504, modifications and accommodations to provide students building access, classroom accommodations, and curriculum modifications, are what most commonly occur. Section 504 usually applies to students who have “normal” ability to learn, but have some other major limiting factor such as a mobility impairment like being wheelchair bound. Students may also have medical conditions such as epilepsy, allergies, and cerebral palsy that qualifies them for section 504. Students who fail to qualify for special education services may qualify for accommodations and modifications under section 504 (Hancock, 2009a).

A section 504 evaluation can be asked for by any party involved with the student (parent, teacher, & school employee). It includes classroom observations, academic assessment, teacher reports, and assessments from other medical and learning professionals. The 504 plan that is generated should specifically outline the student’s disability and the modifications and accommodations that will be provided to address it. It must also contain who is providing the modifications and accommodations, and who is responsible to ensure that the plan is implemented (Hancock, 2009a).

Funding is provided by the local schools, no federal funds are available. The federal government can take away funding from schools that do not comply (Lee, 2014).

Similarities

Both 504 & IEP are federally mandated entities designed to protect student’s rights to educational services. This is done through accommodations and modifications to school activities.

Differences

IEP: is the result of educational law (IDEA). To qualify, students must fall under one of the 13 disabilities. A required process is followed with the result being a legal document with mandated contents. Federal funding is available

504 Plan: is the result of civil rights law (Rehabilitation Act of 1973). There is no formal process or legal document that results from this process. There is no federal funding for the accommodations or modifications, but schools can lose federal funds if they do not comply.

Venn Diagram

 

References:

Center for Parent Information and Resources. (2013). The Short-and-sweet IEP overview.   Retrieved from http://www.parentcenterhub.org/repository/iep-overview/

Hancock, M. (2009a). Understanding section 504: The American with Disabilities Act.   Retrieved from http://www.understandingspecialeducation.com/section-504.html

Hancock, M. (2009b). Understanding the IEP process.   Retrieved from http://www.understandingspecialeducation.com/IEP-process.html

Lee, A. M. I. (2014). The difference between IEps and 504 plans.   Retrieved from https://www.understood.org/en/school-learning/special-services/504-plan/the-difference-between-ieps-and-504-plans

U.S. Department of Education. (2015). Protecting students with disabilities.   Retrieved from http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/504faq.html

Time, Current Status, & Challenges of Special Education

Timeline

            Here is a preview of the timeline that I created to show the major events that have occurred in the history of special education.

 

Below is the link to my special education timeline, it has some interactive features to it, so please be sure to take a look:

https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/1313737

Current Status & Challenges of Special Education:

            As a new teacher and someone who has had limited exposure with special education I find it difficult to begin discussing the current status and daily challenges of special education. As a learning exercise, this may provide an opportunity for me to see how much I have learned, however at this time it is all very new to me. To try and familiarize myself with the topic I attempted a simple google search, “Current status of special education”. That did not help shed any light, but did provide some information for me to at least present here.

            The reading that was assigned in Module 1 focused on the idea that racial minorities are disproportionately represented in special education settings. This is termed “disproportionality in special education” (Skiba et al., 2008). This makes sense, especially in the light of all the racial disparities that are obvious on the news every night these last few weeks. However, the simple google search I referenced earlier resulted in another perspective. According to a team of researchers, the opposite is true, there are too few minorities in special education (Samuels, 2016).

            While I appreciate the debate that many professions have as it can result in productive struggle for the benefit of the people that it serves, this is a difficult debate for me. I am not familiar with any of the research and have limited prior knowledge of the profession. This seems like it may be more of a researcher’s debate, which leaves the practitioners to figure out what to do. As a result, it appears that the current status of special education of a bit muddied.

            From my perspective, if we ignore the side of the actual issue, it appears that there are some common sense guidelines that could help teachers dealing with special education situations from both of these research areas. Teachers should be trained in culturally and linguistically sensitive evaluation methods (Samuels, 2016) and intervene within their own classroom before sending a student to special education (Heller, Holtzman, & Messick, 1982; Skiba et al., 2008). While the details about the effects of race are important, the key issue seems to be focused on knowing your students and running the best classroom a teacher can.

            With regards to the challenges in special education, the simple google search did help to find a list of 10 challenges that a veteran special education teacher faces (Ferry, 2012). While each one could warrant a lengthy discussion, I will focus on the three that I would find most difficult to deal with. The author noted that paperwork is an issue, with one IEP coming back at fifty-six (56) pages long, and the norm being somewhere between 10-20 (Ferry, 2012). I have a great difficulty following that much paperwork in addition to the normal forms and documentation that is required of teachers.

            The next two challenges are related to each other: data collection and evidence of student growth. While there is a decrease in the emphasis on data that is being collected, special education teachers must be able to validate what they are doing with students. They must prove the claims of the IEP (Ferry, 2012). This can add an incredibly difficult new layer to working with the student and other teachers to collect this data and align it with the student’s needs. Data collection is also related to evidence of student growth, as special education teachers must prove the student is improving (Ferry, 2012). We have spent several weeks in this program on the use of formative assessments and the idea of trying to capture those into data or evidence the demonstrates growth. To try and align these with data that was used to demonstrate a need for special education services is not something I would do well.

References

Ferry, M. (2012). Top 10 challenges of special education.   Retrieved from http://www.friendshipcircle.org/blog/2012/02/01/the-top-10-challenges-of-special-education-teachers/

Heller, K. A., Holtzman, W. H., & Messick, S. (1982). Placing children in special education : a strategy for equity. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.

Peterson, J. (2007). Timeline of Special Education History.   Retrieved from http://www.fortschools.org/m/content.cfm?subpage=62980

President's Panel on Mental Retardation. (1963). Retrieved from Washington, DC:

Samuels, C. A. (2016). Are there too few minority students in special education?   Retrieved from http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2016/06/01/are-there-too-few-minorities-in-special.html

Skiba, R. J., Simmons, A. B., Ritter, S., Gibb, A. C., Rausch, M. K., Cuadrado, J., & Chung, C.-G. (2008). Achieving Equity in Special Education: History, Status, and Current Challenges. Exceptional Children, 74(3), 264-288. doi:10.1177/001440290807400301

Turnbull, R., & Turnbull, A. (2015). Looking Backward and Framing the Future for Parents’ Aspirations for Their Children With Disabilities. Remedial and Special Education, 36(1), 52-57. doi:10.1177/0741932514553124