Episode 115: Championing Equity in Education through Section 504

What if your child could excel in school with the right accommodations, without being segregated from their peers? Discover the transformative power of Section 504 in education as I unravel how this vital anti-discrimination provision supports students with disabilities, particularly those who may not qualify for special education. I promise to enlighten you on the differences between Section 504 and special education, revealing how these accommodations can foster an inclusive learning environment. With a keen focus on parental involvement, I explore the indispensable role parents play in advocating for their children's educational needs, ensuring they thrive academically without unnecessary separation.

Gain insights into the often-overlooked challenges faced by students with mild or undiagnosed disabilities who struggle without a 504 plan. Explore practical strategies to raise awareness of available resources, nurture self-determination, and hone essential life skills like time management and self-advocacy. As we journey through these topics, I emphasize the importance of understanding local school district policies and how Section 504 can offer vital accommodations, from extra time on tests to course substitutions. Equip yourself with the knowledge to champion your child's right to an equitable education, free from discrimination, and bolster their success in both academic and social realms.

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Chapters

• 0:54 Understanding Section 504 in Education
• 16:27 Navigating Section 504 for Students

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:55

Welcome to another episode of K-12 Education Untangled. My name is Dr Kim J Fields, former corporate manager turned education researcher and advocate, and I'm the host of this podcast. I got into this space after dealing with some frustrating interactions with school educators and administrators, as well as experiencing the microaggressions that I faced as an African-American mom raising my two kids, who were in the public school system. I really wanted to understand how teachers were trained and what the research provided about the challenges of the public education system. Once I gained the information and the insights that I needed, I was then equipped to be able to successfully support my children in their educational progress. Support my children in their education progress. This podcast is at the intersection between education, research and parental actions. If you're looking to find out more about the current trends, issues and themes in education that could affect you or your children, and you want to know the specific actions you can take to support and advocate for your children, then you're in the right place. Thanks for tuning in today. I know that staying informed about K-12 education topics is important to you, so keep listening. Keep listening. In this episode, I'll be discussing 504 services, what they are and how to access them. You know that I'm a big proponent for education and that I believe in the power of parent advocates in education. In episode 113, I discussed the IEP meeting process and its value for families who have children in special education. You may not have a child that is in special education, but as parent advocates, we are to advocate for the best outcomes for all children. We want them to gain access to whatever services are necessary that will enhance their academic opportunities.

Speaker 1: 3:13

504 services may be appropriate for children who need a little bit of support to attain their academic success. They may not be only for special education services, but may include other services as well. The thing that makes 504 services worthy of discussion is that many students with quote-unquote hidden disabilities may not receive these services. Can these services be expensive for a school district? Probably so, but remember these services require funding from the school district. However, federal law mandates that these services be provided and thus provides funding to schools to meet these needs. This reminds me about an article I was reading recently by a researcher who indicated that the expense of special education isn't worth it, especially when tutoring may be a viable option. His argument may be reasonable, but not realistic. I'll explore this topic in an episode later in this season. In any case, in this episode I discuss the appropriateness of 504 services for families who need them and how to advocate for your child if he or she needs these types of services. Let's untangle this.

Speaker 1: 4:46

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 is an anti-discrimination provision that protects individuals from disability discrimination in programs and activities that receive federal assistance, including public elementary and secondary schools, as well as some private schools and most colleges and universities. The focus of Section 504 is on eliminating discrimination in public life. It's basically focused on the civil rights of people with disabilities. The law indicates that public and private educational institutions must refrain from taking adverse actions on the basis of a person's disability things like refusing students with disabilities equal access to educational programs. They also must grant reasonable accommodations when necessary to allow students with disability meaningful access to educational programs. Section 504 is not a grant program and does not provide funding for serving people with disabilities, although schools may have their federal funding revoked if they engage in disability discrimination. Section 504 affects a significant number of students. For example, in the 2017-2018 school year, there were nearly 1.4 million public school students who received some sort of service or accommodation solely under Section 504. The Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights has a primary role in enforcing Section 504 in the education context.

Speaker 1: 6:32

Under Section 504, an individual with a disability includes any person who has a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more major life activities, has a record of such an impairment or is regarded as having such an impairment. An impairment that affects any major life activities can qualify, and major life activities are broadly defined. For example, these can include basic activities like seeing, hearing, walking, bending, communicating and thinking, as well as the function of body systems such as the immune system, digestive system, including bowel and or bladder dysfunction, endocrine system or neurological function, including brain injuries and autism, are all considered major life activities. Section 504 is a regular education initiative and not a special education support. Students who may not be eligible for special education services may still receive support through Section 504. It protects students from discrimination when they have a history of disability or are assumed to be disabled, even when they have no present impairment. This law may require a school to accommodate a child's absences to attend medical appointments following up on a disabling condition that is cured or in remission. A school can violate Section 504 by discriminating against the student on the basis of a perceived disability. In other words, the school might offer a student inferior academic opportunities because it erroneously perceived the student to have an intellectual disability.

Speaker 1: 8:24

Once a child has been evaluated to have a disability or a major life impairment, been evaluated to have a disability or a major life impairment, the child is placed in a classroom program or educational environment within the school that he or she attends. Section 504 requires that schools educate children with disabilities in the regular educational environment to the maximum extent appropriate to the student's needs. In other words, schools should educate students with disabilities alongside children with disabilities, and schools are not to place them in separate schools or classes or remove them from the regular classroom unless education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily. Section 504 also requires schools to avoid unnecessarily separating children with disabilities from their peers in non-academic settings, like at lunch, recess and extracurricular activities. This applies to both public and private schools. Schools cannot refuse to provide needed services and modifications in the general education environment. This means that denying students with disabilities access to accelerated programs such as advanced placement and international baccalaureate classes, solely because of the student's need for special education or related aids and services violates Section 504. Services violates Section 504.

Speaker 1: 10:00

Reasonable accommodations and modifications are the crux of Section 504. Services and accommodation is a change in the school's policies, processes or environment to enable a student with a disability to enjoy equal opportunities. Accommodations can include things like changes or exceptions to policies, programs or procedures, such as providing extra time on tests or assignments, making course substitutions or allowing service dogs at school. Accommodations also include the removal or restructuring of physical barriers, such as building a ramp, moving an activity to an accessible space or allowing the students to use a service elevator. Further accommodations include provision of services or agents such as tutoring or medication administration.

Speaker 1: 10:47

A school is not required, however, to eliminate an essential part of a program to accommodate a student with a disability. Schools must also furnish auxiliary aids and services when necessary to ensure effective communication with students with disabilities. Examples of auxiliary aids and services often include interpreters, transcription services, materials in accessible formats like videos with captions or embedded signing for deaf students or braille, or accessible digital materials for blind students, readers, specialized equipment and a variety of other communication aids. What's determined to be reasonable depends on the individual facts of each situation and can vary considerably by context. Interestingly, schools do not need to provide accommodations or aids and services that impose, quote-unquote, significant difficulty or expense, given their overall financial and administrative resources. Also, keep in mind that schools do not have to allow students with disabilities to participate in programs when their participation creates a direct threat to the health and safety of others.

Speaker 1: 12:37

The process of implementing a 504 plan includes first sending an official notice and consent for a 504 evaluation to parents and giving them a packet filled with information about their rights. Once the parents grant consent to a 504 evaluation, the 504 team must find evidence of a student's disability and determine if that disability is keeping the student from performing according to his or her potential. The 504 eligibility team is generally composed of an administrator, a general education teacher, a case manager, a school psychologist and any other individuals with expertise regarding the student and his or her disability. Students are often provided with case managers who work closely with an identified student to ensure that reasonable accommodations are provided and followed up on. The case manager ensures that the general education teacher understands the student's accommodations, the rationale for the accommodations and the necessary terminology, like preferential seating, extended time or even sign language interpreter. 504 plans must be updated prior to the start of each new school year, parents are encouraged to review their local school district's Section 504, as well as special education policies and procedures, so that they know what can be offered to their child. As with other programs within the public education system, the feedback from parents is critical, because they know their child very well. They need to be certain that their child's accommodations are explicit and that they are implemented. Teachers, administrators, parents and students need to understand and support implementation of the 504 plan in order for students with disabilities to have an equal opportunity to be successful in the classroom.

Speaker 1: 14:39

Students with disabilities are often provided testing accommodations through the use of extended time. However, this is controversial. Critics of extended time accommodations argue that extended time is used without concern for how it changes the skills measured by tests, essentially leading to scores that cannot be compared fairly with those of other students. Advocates, on the other hand, argue that many students with disabilities are only able to demonstrate their skills with extended time. In most K-12 educational settings, documentation of a disability is necessary to obtain extended time, and extended time is usually made a part of some students' individualized educational programs, but this may not occur for all students. There are a couple of points to consider about this. One, non-disabled students almost always benefit from extended time accommodations on tests, although students with disabilities typically show somewhat greater benefits. The second point to consider is that some students with high incident disabilities can be taught to adapt to standard timing conditions, interventions for reading fluency, for example, as well as other issues like test anxiety that can lead to extended time. Accommodations are available and, although they will not benefit all examinees equally or address all problems that lead to extended time, they should be considered when providing sets of services for students with disabilities, in the hopes that eliminating the need for extended time for at least some test takers.

Speaker 1: 16:28

Many students with mild disabilities or disabilities that are undiagnosed, such as psychological or emotional challenges that include anxiety and depression, learning disabilities and chronic or acute health issues, including migraines, receive no special education services, while in counseling and other services, their own challenges never seemed to be serious enough in the eyes of teachers and school staff to warrant diagnostic tests or an IEP, yet they were able to struggle through high school and earn a diploma without receiving such services. The reality is that many qualified high school students do not receive the benefits from a 504 plan, and this may be due to underfunding, lack of training for school personnel to identify less immediately discernible disabilities, as well as the lack of awareness among students and their families of the complex and changing landscape of disability law. Respondents in a recent survey gave advice to students that had disabilities but were not receiving supports in high school. Their advice centered on three main areas Gain an early awareness of the resources available to them while still in high school and those available to them in college. Develop a strong sense of self-determination. And acquire specific skills such as time management, note-taking, effective studying strategies and self-advocacy.

Speaker 1: 18:23

With the discussion about 504 services and plans that are appropriate for some children, how does what I just discussed apply to you? Here are the action steps you can take regarding this topic. It's important that you continue advocating for your child, whether he or she is in special education or not. Knowing the disabilities that may not be apparent by physically looking at a child could mean that your child is missing out on appropriate and necessary services for him or her to succeed in school. Your feedback is vital, because you know your child better than your child's teacher, school administrators and counselors. You need to be certain that your child's accommodations are explicit and that they are actually implemented you and your child, as well as teachers and administrators, need to understand and support the implementation of a 504 plan in order for students with disabilities to have an equal opportunity to be successful in the classroom. Although services provided under Section 504 represent an especially powerful way to support students through general education services, few parents indicate that their children were receiving Section 504 plan services. This may mean that schools are not informing parents of the support service. I encourage you to review your local school district's Section 504, as well as special education policies and procedures, so that you know what can be offered to your child. Here are this episode's takeaways.

Speaker 1: 20:22

The focus of Section 504 is on eliminating discrimination in public life. It's basically focused on the civil rights of people with disabilities. This law indicates that public and private educational institutions must refrain from taking adverse actions on the basis of the person's disability, things like refusing students with disabilities equal access to educational programs. Under Section 504, an individual with a disability includes any person who has a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more life activities, has a record of such an impairment or is regarded as having such an impairment. An impairment that affects any major life activity can qualify, and major life activities are broadly defined. For example, these can include basic activities like seeing, hearing, walking, bending, communicating and thinking, as well as the function of body systems such as the immune system, digestive system, endocrine system or neurological function. All are considered major life activities.

Speaker 1: 21:41

Section 504 is a regular education initiative and not a special education support initiative and not a special education support. Students who may not be eligible for special education services may still receive support through Section 504. It protects students from discrimination when they have a history of disability or are assumed to be disabled, even when they have no present impairment. Reasonable accommodations and modifications are the crux of Section 504 services. An accommodation is a change in the school's policies, processes or environment to enable a student with a disability to enjoy equal opportunities. Accommodations can include things like changes or exceptions to policies, programs or procedures, such as providing extra time on tests or assignments, making course substitutions or allowing service dogs at school. A school is not required, however, to eliminate an essential part of a program to accommodate a student with a disability. Schools do not need to provide accommodations or aids and services that impose significant difficulty or expense given their overall financial and administrative resources. Also, schools do not have to allow students with disabilities to participate in programs when their participation creates a direct threat to the health and safety of others.

Speaker 1: 23:22

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