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Sharing a link about 504 Plans

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A 504 plan is a blueprint for how the school will support a student with a disability and remove barriers to learning. The goal is to give the student equal access at school.

504 plans are formal plans that schools develop to give kids with disabilities the support they need. That covers any condition that limits daily activities in a major way.

504 plans often include accommodations. These can include:

Changes to the environment (like taking tests in a quiet space)

Changes to instruction (like checking in frequently on key concepts)

Changes to how curriculum is presented (like getting outlines of lessons)

Accommodations don't change what kids learn, just how they learn it. The goal is to remove barriers and give kids access to learning.

While it's rare, 504 plans can provide modifications. Unlike accommodations, modifications do change what a student is taught or is expected to learn. Students might get fewer homework assignments, for instance. Or they may be graded in a different way than their classmates.

The process for getting a 504 plan is different, and simpler, than the process for getting an IEP. But it varies from school district to school district

With 504 plans, schools look at information about a student from a few different sources. One source might be a medical diagnosis. Schools might also look at the student's grades, test scores, and teacher recommendations.

Families or schools can request a 504 plan through the school district's 504 coordinator. This person may also be the IEP coordinator. (Ask the principal if you're not sure who to contact.) The request must be in writing. The school will then hold a meeting to decide if the child qualifies and what supports are appropriate.

Legal rights under 504 plans

The 504 process has fewer protections than the special education process. But families can still play an important role by staying involved and making sure kids with disabilities get the same education as kids who don't.

Key takeaways

504 plans are designed to help kids with disabilities learn alongside their peers.

A 504 plan isn't the same as an IEP.

There are fewer safeguards in the 504 plan process than in the IEP process, so it's important to be proactive.

About the author

About the author

The Understood Team is made up of passionate writers and editors. Many of them have kids who learn and think differently.

Reviewed by

Reviewed by

Melody Musgrove, EdD served as director of the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) in the U.S. Department of Education.

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A 504 plan is a blueprint for how the school will support a student with a disability and remove barriers to learning. The goal is to give the student equal access at school. 504 plans are formal plans that schools develop to give kids with disabilities the support they need.

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How long does it take to find the appropriate LRE for a student?
I learned the first step in the process of getting a 504/IEP for a child.

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Learning that inclusion in a classroom is not just for learning or physical disabilities but rather making sure everyone in the classroom is comfortable. Also thinking about the different disabilities you may have in a classroom and thinking about how to support those students. I have not really had to do this so doing so in this course allows me to gain experience with it. 

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I would like to know how often teachers think of UDL in thier classroom?

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I would like to see more examples of UDL lesson plans. Today's session left me thinking of ways that I can make the classroom I work in now more inclusive. 

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I would like to see more examples of UDL lesson plans. Today's session left me thinking of ways that I can make the classroom I work in now more inclusive. 

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I learned lots of new vocabularies and concepts. I love the acitivity that we did in the classroom.

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How are accomodations assigned for different students with disabilities?

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Really appreciate the great questions people are asking and Stephanie's clear presentations and helpful illustrations through a variety of life experiences.  I can't help but thinking that UDL is really just a reflection of the structure of good teaching....

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Left me thinking about how disabilities are diagnosed and legal responsibilities as teachers in respect to disabilities.

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Left me thinking about how disabilities are diagnosed and legal responsibilities as teachers in respect to disabilities.

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I was thinking a lot today about the students in my 4th grade class and the supports and accommodations that I've seen my Supervising Practitioner implement. We have ELLs, students with attention disorder, EF difficulties, trauma, medical conditions, etc. I realized today that there are a lot of things that we are not currently doing to support those students and I'm looking forward to bringing my knowledge from this course to the classroom so we can better meet the needs of all students.

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I'm curious about the percent of students on IEPs in America. Are there parents or teachers that want their child/student to be on one, but struggle to get it approved? I'm interested in learning more about the overall process and possible barriers involved.  

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I'm curious about the percent of students on IEPs in America. Are there parents or teachers that want their child/student to be on one, but struggle to get it approved? I'm interested in learning more about the overall process and possible barriers involved.  

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I wonder about that “bag of tricks” you can use to teach students effectively. Strategies. While not everything would work for everyone, some hints would be very much appreciated.

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Today provided clarification on the different abbreviations in special education that I had previously heard but wasn't too sure on the meaning (UDL, DI, 504, IEP). I am looking forward to learning more about UDL and how to create lessons plan that incorporate that.

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I'm eager to gain experience putting Universal Design for Learning into action. Today's lesson felt more real because the example was a third grade unit on biographies and a lesson that included a read aloud of a book on Wilma Rudolph, and my third grade class did the same unit and lesson this semester.

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I learned a lot of ideas about how to make classroom more inclusive. I would like to learn more about the ways to meet the needs of each child. I would also like to look at more examples of UDL lesson plans to give myself an idea of what it would look like.

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- How one teacher can differentiate a lesson for all students
- How one teacher can successfully address all the needs in his/her classroom without taking away from any of the other students.
- I saw examples of how students with different learning abilities could still be present and participate in a general classroom - least restrictive environment.

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Thinking of inclusion as social justice. The first article we read really resonated with me. We need to create a school (or at least classroom) community of inclusion rather than exclusion. If we start there, being an inclusive community, the way students, and teachers, will approach differences is from a place of understanding and compassion. I agree with this article that it is important to have these explicit conversations with our students (and ourselves), as well as model this behavior and show what inclusion looks like.

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Today, I learned the differences between a 504 plan and an IEP. I wasn't very clear on the differences before today. I also learned about the differences between LD, ED, HI, OHI, etc. and which characteristics/conditions fall under each one.

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I learned how to look at inclusion in different ways. I found it interesting to look at school stats and create our own classroom with those stats in mind.

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I like the focus on different ways to engage the brain! I also like the idea that we can't engage everyone in the best way at every moment, but that we can try to meet children where they are as often as possible.

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Learned more in depth of the process of IEPS and 504s.

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One thing I noticed is that a lot of the successful different learners we encountered in videos etc. seemed to have a lot of parental support. Multiple videos we watched involved parents talking about how they had ambitions for their children to learn in a general class setting, and how they took on an advocacy role to make this happen. Given this, I wonder what teachers should to to help students with differences who don't have strong family or parental support. How can teachers make up for a lack of support in a student's home life?

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Lots of different ways to think about Inclusion - as social justice, everyone has differences and learns differently - some of our differences impact the way we learn in greater ways.

Legal history of inclusive education - we have so much in place to support students with disabilities.

UDL gives us so many ways to think about how we are teaching and engaging ALL of our students.

I wonder how substantially we are adjusting lessons for the number of students with varying abilities in our classes - each student has such an in depth profile of how they learn and we need to balance instruction for the whole group.

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Lots of examples of how to apply UDL in the classroom and for students.

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Learning that inclusion in a classroom is not just for learning or physical disabilities but rather making sure everyone in the classroom is comfortable. Also thinking about the different disabilities you may have in a classroom and thinking about how to support those students. I have not really had to do this so doing so in this course allows me to gain experience with it.

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My greatest take away from this weekend is viewing inclusion as a social justice practice. Often times when I thought of inclusion in education, I specifically only thought about students with disabilities. But of course, inclusion does not exclude anyone. Therefore an inclusive classroom is welcoming to all, regardless of ability, background and other factors.