Foundations of Special Education
The six pillars of IDEA
Know the core guarantees of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act: zero reject (including child find), nondiscriminatory evaluation, free appropriate public education (FAPE), least restrictive environment (LRE), procedural safeguards, and parent participation. FAPE means individualized special education and related services, at public expense, that conform to the IEP and confer meaningful benefit; the Rowley standard asks whether the plan is reasonably calculated to enable progress, not whether it maximizes a child's potential. LRE requires a continuum of placements and a written justification any time services are delivered outside the general education setting.
504 and ADA are different tools
Section 504 is a civil-rights antidiscrimination law: it covers any impairment that substantially limits a major life activity, requires equal access, and may call for a 504 plan, but it carries no federal funding stream and no IEP. The ADA extends similar protections more broadly. A medical diagnosis alone never creates IDEA eligibility; the disability must adversely affect educational performance and require specially designed instruction.
Traps to watch
Items that claim a student must be fully included all day, that treat an IEP as guaranteeing a specific reading methodology, or that credit Brown v. Board rather than PARC and Mills for special education rights. Watch for items confusing eligibility categories with service models, and for timelines presented as universal when they vary by state.
Rule of thumb
Ask: is this an access question (504/ADA) or an individualized instruction plus procedural rights question (IDEA)? Example: a capable student with ADHD who needs extended test time fits 504; the same profile with depressed achievement requiring specialized reading instruction warrants an IDEA evaluation.