2.2 Section 504, ADA, and FERPA

2.2 Section 504, ADA, and FERPA

Quick Answer: Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) are civil rights laws that prohibit disability discrimination and require reasonable accommodations for a broader population than IDEA covers. FERPA is a separate privacy law governing who may access and control a student's education records. Together with IDEA, these four laws form a decision framework the FTCE ESE exam tests repeatedly: which law applies to a given scenario, and what does that law actually require?

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act

Section 504 is a federal civil rights law — not a special education law — that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance, including public schools. Its definition of disability is intentionally broad: a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities (learning, concentrating, breathing, walking, self-care, and others). This means many students who do not meet one of IDEA's 13 specific eligibility categories — for example, a student with ADHD, a severe food allergy, asthma, or a temporary but significant medical condition — can still qualify for protection and services under Section 504.

A student found eligible under Section 504 typically receives a 504 Plan rather than an IEP. Section 504's version of FAPE is defined differently than IDEA's: it means the provision of regular or special education and related aids and services that are designed to meet the individual educational needs of students with disabilities as adequately as the needs of nondisabled students are met — a comparative, access-oriented standard rather than IDEA's more prescriptive, individually calculated progress standard. Section 504 does not require a full IDEA-style multidisciplinary evaluation, a written IEP with measurable annual goals, or a specific reevaluation cycle, which makes 504 eligibility procedurally lighter but also less specific about services than an IEP.

The ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act)

The ADA, particularly Title II, prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability by state and local government entities, including public school districts, regardless of whether the district receives federal funds. Because virtually every public school already receives some federal funding and is therefore already covered by Section 504, ADA Title II mostly reinforces and extends the same nondiscrimination floor established by Section 504, closing any gap for entities that might not otherwise be reached by 504's funding-based trigger. In practice, schools apply Section 504 and ADA Title II together, and courts frequently analyze 504 and ADA claims under the same standard.

FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act)

FERPA is fundamentally different from the other three laws: it is a privacy statute, not a disability or civil rights law. FERPA applies to any school that receives funding from the U.S. Department of Education and governs the confidentiality of education records. Under FERPA, parents have the right to:

• Inspect and review their child's education records
• Request amendment of records they believe are inaccurate or misleading
• Consent to (or withhold consent for) most disclosures of personally identifiable information
• Receive an annual notification of their FERPA rights

These rights transfer to the student — called an eligible student — once the student turns 18 or enrolls in a postsecondary institution, regardless of disability. IDEA incorporates and cross-references FERPA's confidentiality protections for special education records, but FERPA itself does not create any right to services or accommodations — only a right to control and access records.

Comparing the Four Laws

Overlap, Coordination, and Common Exam Traps

A student found eligible under IDEA is automatically also protected by Section 504 and the ADA, because IDEA eligibility satisfies the broader 504/ADA disability definition — schools do not typically create a separate 504 Plan on top of an active IEP. The reverse is not true: many students protected under 504 (a student with diabetes needing blood-glucose monitoring, or a student with ADHD needing extended time and preferential seating) do not qualify for an IEP because they do not need specially designed instruction. FTCE items often present a student profile and ask which law applies; the fastest sorting question is: does this student need specialized instruction, or just access and accommodation? If specialized instruction is needed, think IDEA; if only accommodations/access are needed, think 504/ADA. A separate, frequently tested trap involves records: a question describing a parent requesting to review or amend their child's cumulative folder is a FERPA question, not an IDEA procedural-safeguards question, even though IDEA also references confidentiality of records.