504 Plan

What is a 504 Plan?

A 504 plan falls under the provisions of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, a civil rights law that protects the right of all people with disabilities to participate fully in society. The law applies to any program or activity offered by a agency or organization that receives federal funds, including schools. The law requires that schools provide reasonable accommodations for children with disabilities so that they can fully participate in regular education classes with their peers. A 504 Plan ensures that all children receive a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE). The 504 Plan is a written document prepared by a child's school that outlines the school's obligation to provide reasonable accommodations for a student. A 504 Plan is less cumbersome than the IEP (Individualized Education Plan), but can include many of the accommodations that would be written in an IEP. "Only certain classifications of disability are eligible for an IEP, and students who do not meet those classifications but still require some assistance to be able to participate fully in school would be candidates for a 504 plan." (Mauro, 2008)

Frequently Asked Questions About Section 504 and the Education of Children with Disabilities. Office of Civil Rights. U.S. Department of Education. <http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/504faq.html>

Section 504 and IDEA Comparison Chart. National Center for Disabilities. <http://www.ncld.org/content/view/1127/456169/>

Who is Entitled to a 504 Plan?

Any student whose day to day activities are affected by one of the following disabilities:

This is a list of disabilities that would constitute being eligible for a 504 Plan:

• Learning Disabilities, e.g., language, calculation, motor skill, communication disorders ("Learning Disabilities...", 2007).
• Emotional, and Behavioral Disorders, e.g., anxiety, depression, personality disorder, bipolar, eating disorders, Schizophrenia ("Children's Mental Health Facts...", 2003).
• Developmental Delay (sensory motor, language, social, and emotional delays). Not to be confused with learning disabilities.
• Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Listed separately because it is often coexists with other disabilities.
• Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, e.g., Autism, Asperger Syndrome, Down Syndrom, and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (Prabhala, 2007; Brown and Percy, 2007).
• Physical Disabilities or Impairments, e.g., orthopedic, neuromuscular, cardiovascular and pulmonary disorders (Physical Disabilities, 1996).
• Auditory Disabilities or Impairments (hearing loss, auditory processing disorder).
• Visual Disabilities or Impairments (e.g., blindness, color blindness, partial blindness).
• Medical Conditions, e.g., asthma, food allergies, seizure disorders, diabetics ("Section 504 Primer...", 2006).

What is the Process for Getting the 504 Plan Started?

Each school district's procedure for initiating a 504 Plan differs slightly but generally speaking, the process all starts out with a referral. A teacher, staff member, physician, or a parent can make a referral if they feel there is evidence of issues which adversely affect the student's educational well-being. Any one of these individuals may contact the school psychologist or counselor and inform them about the difficulty the student seems to be having. Next, the school psychologist goes about:

• setting up an initial meeting
• developing a plan for the student (along with the assistance and input of the individuals listed in the following section)- hereafter referred to as "The Team".
• and after the initial meeting, facilitates setting an annual review date to update, report and/or revise recommendations from the plan

Who is Involved in the 504 Plan Process?

The individuals ("The Team") that are involved include but are not limited to:

• a parent/legal guardian
• teachers
• principal
• administration
• support staff (nurse, counselor, psychologist, speech therapist)
• a physician
• the student

What Type of Accommodations is a Student Entitled To?

• Evaluation Accommodations
  • Extended time on assessments, assessments read to them, use of a four function calculator, spelling errors being noted (but not evaluated), and alternative environments
• Environmental Accommodations
  • Changing a student's seating assignment because they can't focus in a certain area, limiting the amount of passes handed out, and avoiding confrontation
• Content Accommodations
  • A student is entitiled to have accommodations such as notes from the teacher, books on tape, use of assistive technology, and extra guided practice when necessary
• Physical Accommodations
  • A student is allowed to go to the nurse's office to take medication at a certain time each day regardless of his class schedule

Signed Life Experiences, Testimonies, and Stories

I had never known what a 504 plan or IEP meeting was until I began working at my current job 3 years. Forms started showing up in my mailbox about IEP meetings, signatures were needed to signify my participation in the process, and the students 'Plans' were starting to accumulate into a personal file folder I had created called "504/IEP". What was all of this? At first I was perplexed because never had this been brought to my attention at my previous job. I never was invited to an IEP meeting, given paperwork alerting me to the fact that some of my students might have a 504, etc. I have found that the 504 Plans have been extremely beneficial to me as a teacher because it really helps me give a little extra attention to those who need it. In my content are of music, organizational skills are important because the scheduling demands placed on students can sometimes be intense. If I know a student has a 504 plan and that organizational skills are something that is included in their plan, I can accomodate for that in a number of ways. For example, I had a student in the fall of 2005 that just wasn't remembering materials, missing after school rehearsals, etc. At I tried to be patient and calm and hope that it was just an oversight and it might correct itself. Unfortunately it didn't and I began to grow impatient with the student. Finally, after about a month into the school year, I received a copy of his 504 plan stating that 'organization skills' were a severe problem. If I wouldve known that right away the whole situation could have been avoided. To combat future occurences, I gave him multiple copies of the schedules, assignments, and communicated constantly with mom and dad when important dates were coming up. This is just one of many instances where the 504 plans can prove effective when teachers are informed. These plans are designed with the students best interests in mind and if we as teachers understand this, we can hopefully help improve and maybe even correct the students deficiency(s). -J. Daeschler (June 2006)

As an elementary teacher, I am quite familiar with 504 Plans, though the school in which I work refers to these plans as "Personalized Education Plans or PEP's." At the beginning of the school year, students are put on PEP's based on information gathered from a variety of sources including: district assessments and benchmark levels, state learning goals and objectives, and/or classroom observations. Usually, students are put on these PEP's if their academic performance is deemed to be a year below grade level. Our school focuses on writing and implementing PEP's for students in the areas of reading and math, though I am not quite sure why other subject areas are not given the same consideration. The teacher is responsible for setting goals for these PEP students, as well as spelling out the conditions in which these goals will be monitored and how teacher instruction will be tailored to meet the needs of the PEP student. Goal conferences are held with the PEP student and their parents at least three times throughout the year. After these conferences, goals are redefined and rewritten based on the needs of the student. At the end of the school year, a final conference is held in which data that has been collected by the teacher over the course of the year with regards to a particular PEP goal, is presented and reviewed. Following this conference, the teacher then decides whether or not to modify the goals and thus increase the learning and performance expectations of that PEP student, or, if the goals have been met and the results of the data are consistent with performances of students at the same grade level, the student may be released from the plan altogether. These plans, while time-consuming and requiring much in terms of data collection and analysis, are extremely beneficial to the struggling student as well as the teacher, who, through these PEP's, has developed a more tailored plan for the focus of his/her instruction. -D.Jacob (June 2006)

In my experience, 504 plans have been issued for students who are not in Special Ed. but have specific issues which may affect their performance or behavior. For example, during my student teaching, I worked with a fourth grader who was having anxiety attacks. The prinicipal suggested that we give her a 504 plan which indicated she would be allowed to have more time or an alternate testing environment during the ISAT test that was coming up. Another year, I had a student who was a diabetic with a very unstable blood sugar count. She, too, was given a 504 plan to allow for more time if needed during the ISAT, etc. As far as I know,neither of them had any extenuating circumstances, but it something that is worth having in place to support them if needed. ~S. Ward

In the beginning of each semester I get "invited" to many 504 plan meetings with the counselor, teachers, student and their parents. These meetings are beneficial for everyone. As a teacher I appreciate hearing from the other teachers about how a student's particular accommodations are working in other classes. The student has an opportunity to speak up for themselves and tell their teachers what is and is not working for them in their classes. Sometimes we see a pattern of behavior that is repeated throughout all of a student's classes. As a team we can come up with a plan to change an inappropriate behavior. It also gives the teachers an opportunity to praise a student for a job well done. The parents enjoy this part of the meeting as well! -R. Fruin

While I believe that 504 plans can be beneficial for students that require accommodations but are not learning disabled according to state and federal definitions, I am often concerned about the consistency of these plans. The need for a 504 plan seems to come more from parent request as opposed to student need sometimes. Many students who might benefit from such a plan do not have one because their parents are either not keeping up with their school progress or are unaware that such services are available outside of the special education continuum. Mike G.

I also agree that the benefits of 504 plans can be a great way to make education fair and accessible for all students. My only concern is that, like the previous testimonial, a 504 plan can become a crutch more for the parent than the student. My first year teaching, I had a student with a 504 plan and some very vocal parents who were sure that all their student needed was a few extra accommodations. So, we met every two months, the parents called me every week, and the student was granted environmental, content, and evaluation accommodations, and he had a home tutor. It seemed that we all were working extremely hard to help this student succeed--well, all of us but the student. Despite our many hours of work trying to meet the accommodations set forth by his 504, this student refused to do/turn in any work. As a first year teacher, I felt that it was unfair to my other students to spend so much time with just one student who didn't seem to really even care. When the student grades were posted, this student barely passed. Despite a differentiated curriculum, extended time lines, and the opportunity to work before or after school, this student turned almost nothing in, and his parent were incensed! Not at the student, but at the teachers! They were unwilling to believe that their student was not producing work but instead felt sure that the teachers were failing to follow the 504 plan. This is unfortunate, because I was so excited about the implications of 504 plans. Maybe someday, I'll erase that memory from my first year, but for now, it still pops up every time I see a new '504' in my mailbox. L.A.

My daughter was diagnosed with early onset bipolar as a young child. From preschool through third grade she had an Individualized Education Plan (IEP). She is very bright and has excellent organizational skills, so she proved to be very successful academically. Because of this we converted her IEP to a 504 Plan that would allow for accommodations if and when she needs them. There are times when she is going through a depressive episode when she is very tired and has a hard time paying attention. During these times, the 504 plan allows her to have additional time in completed class work, tests, and homework. There are other times where she is in a manic episode where she is very irritable and hypersensitive. During these times, the 504 provides her with services from the counselor and states that she can leave the classroom and do her work in a quite place. Most of the time, however, her moods are stable and she needs no accommodations, but knowing that there is support a support system in place for her when she needs it helps her tremendously to be successful in school year round. M.T.

I've had both good and bad experiences with the 504 plan. While growing up, I required lower back surgery at the age of thirteen and was not able to climb stairs or carry books while at school. The 504 plan in place for me gave me two copies of each book (one for home, one for school) and the ability to take more time between classes or have classes on the first floor (if no elevator was available). Unfortunately, the school counselor that was responsible for the 504 plan was not as responsive as she should have been and it was a struggle at the beginning to ensure implementation was correct. It seemed almost as if the 504 plan was not as "important" as those who fall under Special Education guidelines. I'm now an adult with three children, two of which who fall under the 504 guidelines for a genetic heart condition. We've had no problems with this at the current school and I can safely say my experience during my school years were not repeated. (M.Hooper-Mortensen, 2010)

I don't have anything against 504 Plans, however, the only problem that most of the students with 504 plans that I have worked with have is their parents. One 504 Plan that I encountered basically allowed the student to sit in class and do absolutely nothing. He didn't have to take notes or do his work in class. The interesting thing was that he didn't have any physical disabilities and didn't even seem to have ADHD. From what I was told by other teachers, during his initial 504 meeting they gave the parents whatever they wanted because they didn't want to have to deal with them complaining. I have a huge problem with this. I have had some students who genuinely needed their 504 plan and I don't have any issues abiding by it. My problem is when it becomes an excuse for students to be lazy and not pay attention in class. E. Brand

References and Other Links of Interest

Bowman, Cynthia Ann, and Paul T Jaeger. Disability Matters: Legal and Pedagalogical Issues of Disability in Education. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002.

Brown, Ivan and Percy, Mary (Eds.). A Comprehensive Guide to Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. Table of Contents. Baltimore: P.H. Brookes, 2007). 15 April 2008. <http://www.brookespublishing.com/store/books/brown-67007/index.htm>.

"Children's Mental Health Facts Children and Adolescents with Mental, Emotional, and Behavioral Disorders." (SAMHSA) The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2003. 15 April 2008. <http://mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/publications/allpubs/CA-0006/default.asp>.

Colarusso, Ron, and Collen O'Rourke. Special Education for All Teachers. 1st ed. United States of America: Kendall Hunt Publishing Company, 2004.

"Learning Disabilities: Types, Symptoms, and Interventions." Helpguide.org, 2007. 15 April 2008. <http://www.helpguide.org/mental/learning_disabilities.htm>.

Mauro, Terri. How does a 50 Plan differ from an IEP. http://specialchildren.about.com/od/504s/f/504faq2.htm Retrieved April 25th, 2008.

"Physical Disabilities." The Career Center's Disability Resource at California State University Northridge, 1996. 15 April 2008. <http://www.csun.edu/~sp20558/dis/physical.html>.

Prabhala, Anna. "Mental Retardation No More: New Name is Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities." News Release. American Association of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, Feb. 20, 2007. 15 April 2008. <http://www.aaidd.org/About_AAIDD/MR_name_change.htm>.

"Section 504 Primer for Parents & Educators of Children with Food Allergy and Asthma. Education and Advocacy Solutions, LLC. , 2006. 15 April 2008. <http://www.foodallergyadvocate.com/index.htm>.

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