U.S. Department of EducationOffice for Civil Rights (OCR)

Title VI, Section 504, Title II – Special Education

and Limited English Proficient

Students in Public Schools

Key Sources of Federal Key Sources of Federal LawLawTitle VI of the Civil Rights Act of

1964OCR PolicySection 504 of the Rehabilitation

Act of 1973Title II of the Americans with

Disabilities Act of 1990

Title VI of the Civil Rights Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964Act of 1964  

No person in the United States shall, on the ground of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance. (42 U.S.C. Section 2000d)

The regulation for Title VI is found at 34 C.F.R. Part 100.

OCR PolicyOCR Policy

OCR policy on LEP students is reflected in the following documents:

May 25, 1970 MemorandumPolicy Regarding the Treatment of National

Origin Minority Students Who Are Limited English Proficient (April 6, 1990, reissuing the December 3, 1985 Title VI Language Minority Compliance Procedures)

Policy Update on Schools’ Obligations Toward National Origin Minority Students With Limited English Proficiency (September 27, 1991)

OCROCR 19701970

MMEMORANDUMEMORANDUM Requires school districts to take affirmative

steps to rectify language deficiencies in order to open its instructional program to national origin minority group students, where inability to speak and understand English excludes the students from effective participation in the district’s educational program.

Prohibits school districts from assigning ELL students to special education classes on criteria which essentially measure or evaluate English language skills.

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Exiting ELL StudentsExiting ELL Students

A school district must provide ELL Students services until they are proficient in the four domains of English to participate meaningfully in the regular education program.

Exit criteria should include objective standards, such as standardized test scores.

Students should continue to receive services until they can read, write, speak, and comprehend English well enough to participate meaningfully in the district’s program.

District may need to remedy academic deficits incurred while learning English.

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SPEDLEPSPEDLEP

Schools may not assign students to special education programs on the basis of criteria that essentially measure and evaluate English language skills.

Section 504 and Title IISection 504 and Title II

Section 504 prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability by schools that receive Federal financial assistance

Title II prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities by public schools (including public vocational schools and public charter schools)

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Section 504: Elementary and Section 504: Elementary and Secondary SchoolsSecondary Schools

Requires a free appropriate public education for qualified students with disabilities

Establishes procedures designed to protect against erroneous determinations of disability.

Instructs that qualified students with a disability should be educated with non-disabled students to the maximum extent appropriate to the needs of the student with a disability

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Section 504 establishes evaluation procedures that are designed to ensure children are not:

• misclassified; • unnecessarily labeled as having a disability; • or incorrectly placedbased on inappropriate selection, administration, or interpretation of evaluation materials.

SPEDLEPSPEDLEP

Specific compliance concerns include:LEP students being inappropriately

placed in special education programs.Special education program provided for

LEP students not addressing the students’ English language development needs.

Schools having policies of “no double services,” i.e. refusing to provide both alternative language services and special education to students who need them.

Purpose of an Evaluation Purpose of an Evaluation for special education for special education servicesservicesThe evaluation is intended to answer two questions:

(1) Does the child have a disability under Section 504/Title II? If so:

(2) What are the child’s individual education needs?

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PLACEMENTPLACEMENT

Question: What are the Question: What are the child’s individual child’s individual education needs?education needs?Needs are identified by looking to a variety of evaluation sources, including: aptitude and achievement tests teacher recommendations – include someone knowledgeable about second language acquisition physical condition social or cultural background – including language background See 34 C.F.R. § 104.35 (c)

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Who Decides? Who Decides? The “team” -- a group that includes

persons knowledgeable about:◦the student◦the meaning of the evaluation data◦the placement options◦for LEP students, person knowledgeable about second language acquisition

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Placement ProceduresPlacement Procedures

The Team carefully considers: evaluation information from a

variety of sources all significant factors affecting

the student’s ability to receive a FAPE

SummarySummary

District ensures that ELL students are not inappropriately placed in special education services because of their inability to speak and understand English. Districts should not misidentify ELL students as

students with disabilities because of their inability to speak and understand English.

District should ensure that evaluations accurately reflect a student’s special education needs rather than lack of English language skills.

ELL students with disabilities should receive special education or related services in accordance with their individual needs.

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OCROCR IINTERNETNTERNET RRESOURCESESOURCES

Home page:www.ed.gov/ocr/

ELL Resources:www.ed.gov/ocr/ellresources.html

Programs for English Language Learners: Resource Materials for Planning and Self-Assessments (“ELL Guide”)www.ed.gov/ocr/ell/

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