When I first started teaching, I had no idea what IEPs and
504s were. I came in halfway through the
school year at an independent all girls high school and while I knew that many
of the girls had accommodations (mainly extended test time), I never heard the
words IEP or 504 plan come out of a teacher’s mouth. That being said, I decided (with the
encouragement of an assignment from my Master’s program) to do a little
research on the difference between IEPs and 504 plans. You can see my findings in a Venn Diagram
below. Basically, an Individualized
Education Plan (IEP) is meant for children that have an identified disability
that impedes learning to the point that the child needs to have specialized
instruction. This plan is written up in
an IEP meeting, which must include a special educator, a psychologist, a parent
of the child, a general teacher of the student’s, and a representative of the
school agency. There is a list of necessary
items that the plan must address. A 504
plan is also for students with a disability.
This disability does not need to be one of the thirteen listed in IDEA,
like the IEP does. 504 plans are meant
for students that have a disability, but does not necessarily interfere with a
student’s progress in the general curriculum.
A 504 plan does not have the rigid guidelines and restrictions that the
IEP has, and has a recommendation of what should be addressed, but there are no
legal requirements on what should be included in the 504 plan.
References:
Special Education Process: IEP vs. 504 Plan. (2009). Retrieved
July 15, 2015 from
http://www.davidsongifted.org/db/Articles_id_10671.aspx.
The Difference Between IEPS and 504 Plans. (2014). Retrieved
July 15, 2015 from https://www.understood.org/en/school-learning/special-services/504-plan/the-difference-between-ieps-and-504-plans.
Dear Karen,
ReplyDeleteI saw that you have a lot of extended time 504s. I am wondering how you implement this modification and how you engage your non-504 students during the additional time provided. I feel like I am always trying to find a balance between those who need more time (w/504), those who should be taking more time (w/504), those who will easily take on enrichment activities (no 504) and those who would rather not engage (no 504).
At the school I taught at last year, we had 70 minute classes with 15 minutes between classes. There was also a 30 minute period built in for office hours at the end of the day, as well as multiple free periods/half periods for each of the girls. I was surprised at the amount of free time that these girls had. For most of the girls with extended time, they would either stay after class/school or come back during a free period. There was a lot of trust with the girls, so they were allowed to take the test to the library to complete it on their own time. Because of this, the extended time didn't affect the rest of the class. Most of the girls with extended time worked hard and meshed well with the rest of the class and didn't take extra time for non-assessment activities.
DeleteHi Karen, I was wondering in your current position at your independent school how are accommodations determined? I'm changing positions this year from public to independent, which in this regard seems to be going from extreme strict protocol to purely subjective.
ReplyDeleteI came into teaching at the independent school halfway through the year, so I was simply informed of which girls were given extended time. There was a master list on the teacher server, and it seemed like most of the girls were given accommodations due to IEEs. I looked to my mentor for guidance on accommodations (mainly because I was coming in halfway through the year), but a lot of it seems up to the teachers. The majority of the girls I worked with were extremely hard working and very rarely used/took advantage of their accommodations in the classroom.
DeleteSince you're working in a private school, do you get a lot of involvement from parents of your IEP/504 students? I'm in a low-SES public school in Baltimore and my IEP and 504 students' parents were usually extremely difficult to get in contact with. Even worse was trying to get them to come in for conferences!
ReplyDeleteOops! Forgot to update my "about me" section. I was at a private school last year, but this year I am student teaching at a public school in Baltimore County. Because I came in halfway through the year, I didn't have a lot of interaction with IEP/504 set ups, I was just informed of what accommodations each girl received. I honestly didn't even know who had IEPs and who had 504 plans. Most of the interaction I had with parents were more from girls that needed extra help in their math class with a different teacher (I ran a tutoring session about once a day for all math classes in the upper school). Each student was part of an advisory (with 10-12 girls and an advisor), so I think that the advisors handled most of the grunt work when it came to parent interaction.
DeleteI do believe that there is going to be an extreme difference with parent interaction when comparing independent and public schools. I'll let you know more later in the year!