The 504 plan must provide the unique interventions necessary for the individual student at the time of the meeting.

The 504 team must also consider how the student would be likely to perform without the mitigating intervention.

The 504 team should consider history from school records and parent reports of how the student previously performed without the mitigating intervention.

The 504 team must consider what the student’s performance would be without the ameliorative or helpful effect of mitigating measures like medication, tutoring, therapies and other outside help.

The team considered how Jordan would likely perform without the medication and this added to their determination that Jordan should qualify for a 504 plan. The 504 team also discussed that Jordan has been taking medication for his ADHD since third grade and there is no evidence of hyperactivity during school. “The definition of disability is to be construed broadly and determination of whether a student has a disability doesn’t need an extensive analysis.” PRINCIPLE 2Ī determination of a student’s disability must consider the ameliorative effects of mitigating measures. Here is what the 2016 Dear Colleague Letter says: A student who is not attending school on a regular basis may not be attending due to the impact of her disability and may be a student in need of 504 accommodations and services.Students who have a high number of discipline referrals for incidents such as disruptive activities may be in need of 504 plan accommodations and services.For example, a student may be spending many more hours than other students outside of school to complete assignments. A student who is getting good grades and/or scoring well on standardized tests may still qualify for a 504 plan due to the impact on his or her life activities.“Life activities” go beyond just the consideration of traditional academic activities and include other activities such as concentrating and thinking.In either case a student with ADHD might still qualify for a 504 plan. Information from RTI may inform the evaluation process, either showing that the student didn’t respond to typical interventions or showing that he or she needs a continued intervention. Schools can’t delay evaluation because they are using a Response to Intervention (RTI) or multi-tier intervention model.

If evaluation of any kind, including medical, is needed for determination of disability, the school system is responsible for providing the evaluation, at no charge to parents.

However, after observing his difficulty concentrating in classes and listening to the parents’ report of his struggles at home, the 504 team determines that Jordan’s life activity of concentrating is substantially limited and he qualifies for a 504 plan. The 504 team is unsure of whether Jordan’s disability substantially limits a life activity since he reads, writes, and does math at levels that are well above average. Jordan’s parents have a letter from Jordan’s physician in which she has diagnosed him with ADHD. He is often unsure of when assignments are due and spends four hours a night, on average, completing his unfinished classwork and his homework. Jordan is a ninth grader who is getting As and Bs on his report card, including a B in his Advanced Placement US History class. The parents and the other members of the 504 team must have a shared understanding of the disability, including how the disability substantially limits a life activity. These points, based on my experience advocating for 504 plans, are supported by the Dear Colleague Letter.

Following each part of Jordan’s story, I provide some key points that illustrate each principle. To illustrate how these six principles come into play in developing 504 plans, I’ve provided the example of a student I’ve called Jordan. It is my experience that having a shared understanding of the following six basic principles will allow us all to work collaboratively in the best interest of students with disabilities to create meaningful plans. There are several obstacles to overcome if we are to work together, across the table. In my experience in over four decades on both sides of the table, I have advocated for students both as a public school employee and now, in private practice, as an educational consultant and supervisor of other consultants and advocates. Their plans will only be meaningful if parents and schools collaborate to write plans that are individualized, are communicated to all involved staff, are understandable by all staff, and ultimately are implemented by each staff member. GUIDANCE FROM THE OFFICE OF CIVIL RIGHTS at the US Department of Education, consisting of a Dear Colleague Letter and Resource Guide on Students with ADHD (2016), has made it clear that many students with ADHD qualify for school 504 plans.

Common 504 plan accommodations