School Leader's Guide to Special Education, The. Margaret J. McLaughlin

on Section 504, including information on evaluation, placement, procedures, and discipline, visit the Council of Educators for Students With Disabilities website (www.504idea.org/Council_Of_Educators/Resources.html).

Americans With Disabilities Act

      Congress enacted ADA in 1990 to protect against discrimination of individuals with disabilities. While many ADA provisions are similar to those defined in Section 504, ADA provides even broader antidiscrimination coverage by protecting individuals in both public and private sectors (Marshall & Patterson, 2002). Although most provisions of ADA are already covered under IDEA and Section 504, there are a few additional situations in which ADA affects school operations. For example, under ADA, school districts must ensure that all school events are physically accessible to students with disabilities. Therefore, school districts are required to provide a barrier-free school environment including access to specialty areas of the school such as auditoriums and athletic stadiums (La Morte, 2005). Although there are no direct funds attached to ADA, many federal agencies offer grants to support training and technical assistance on ADA requirements. Also, businesses, organizations, and schools that are working on removing architectural or transportation barriers could be eligible for a tax credit. Visit www.ada.gov/publicat.htm for more information about ADA regulations, organizations that provide technical assistance, and funding opportunities that are available to help support the implementation of ADA regulations.

      The purpose of this chapter was to provide a general overview of IDEA and its key provisions and provide a basic structure for understanding special education policies, including not only IDEA but also Section 504 and the ADA. In the next chapter, we turn our focus to the detailed process of determining student eligibility for receiving special education and related services and to the role of the principal throughout the eligibility and evaluation process.

      CHAPTER 2

       Determining Who Is Eligible for Special Education

       Questions Principals Ask

      • Who is eligible for services under IDEA?

      • How is the decision made to evaluate a child?

      • What information must be collected?

      • What is RTI?

      Eligibility for special education is contingent on two criteria. First, a student must be determined to have one or more of the disabilities specified under IDEA, and second, that disability must adversely impact the student’s educational performance.

      IDEA includes the following disability categories (Assistance to States for the Education of Children With Disabilities, 2010a):

      • Intellectual disability

      • Hearing impairment

      • Deafness

      • Speech or language impairment

      • Visual impairment (including blindness)

      • Serious emotional disturbance

      • Orthopedic impairment

      • Autism

      • Traumatic brain injury

      • Specific learning disability

      • Other health impairment, including attention deficit disorder and Tourette syndrome

      • Deaf-blindness

      • Multiple disabilities

      • Developmental delays (children ages three through nine)