This document provides an overview of several laws that affect art and special education, including FERPA, ESEA/NCLB, McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, IDEA, ADA, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. It defines key terms and requirements of the laws, how they are implemented in schools, and considerations for art rooms. The document aims to familiarize readers with the relevant laws, terms, and implications for educational practice.

1. Art and Special Education Law
The law sometimes comes into the art room.
Not as often as it does in other areas of a
school, but it is always there in educational
institutions. This presentation is meant to
familiarize you with some of the laws, terms
and acronyms. I hope that the length of this
does not overwhelm you. As always, get a
lawyer to give you legal advice and follow your
employers’ guidelines.

2. DISCLAIMERS
Since we are talking about laws I felt obligated to do this.
• I am NOT a lawyer.
• I am a parent of children with various needs.
• I am a special educator.
• This is not intended as legal advice.
• I will try not to let my personal biases seep into
this presentation.
• This is not an all inclusive list, though I tried to
make it as exhaustive without being exhausting.

3. Laws that generally effect
education
FERPA, Elementary and Secondary
Education Act (aka No Child Left
Behind), McKinney-Vento Homeless
Act, (Later if we have time…FOIA)

4. Laws Laws Laws
• Most of the laws we will be talking about are Federal Laws.
They are in effect throughout all of the USA.
• Each state interprets the laws a little differently and
certainly names their programs with all sorts of different
acronyms.
• The laws themselves maintain the same names across the
states though.
• These laws are also subject to reauthorization for purposes
of funding and making changes to them, so you have to
keep up to date with these changes. (Thank you internet.)
• Many of these laws are challenged in the Courts –
something else to keep in mind.

5. Laws that generally effect
education
FERPA, Elementary and Secondary
Education Act (aka No Child Left
Behind), McKinney-Vento Homeless
Act, (Later if we have time…FOIA)

6. FERPA
• The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of
1974 (FERPA or the Buckley Amendment) is a
United States federal law.
• This is to protect privacy for educational records.
• School employees may not release information
about a student’s personal information,
academics or behavior with anyone other than
the student and their parents and a school
official who has a legitimate educational interest
in the records.

7. FERPA for older students
• When a student is 18 y.o. their parents are
not allowed access to their records without
the student’s permission.
• The parents of an 18y.o. or older student is
allowed access if the student isa "dependent
student" as that term is defined in Section 152
of the Internal Revenue Code

8. In the Art Room
• CONFIDENTIALITY!!
• Posting things on bulletin boards (keeping
personal information private)
• Meetings
• Talking to parents

9. ESEA Elementary and Secondary
Education Act
• When it was reauthorized in 2001 it was given
the No Child Left Behind name
• First passed as part of Pres. Lyndon Johnson’s
War on Poverty
• It funds primary and secondary education, while
explicitly forbidding the establishment of a
national curriculum.
• It tries to close the achievement gap with high
standards and accountability.
• In 1994 it provided for charter schools to be
created as a public school option.

10. ESEA terms/acronyms
• LEA Local Education Agency
• SEA State Education Agency
• NCLB (pronounced Nickel B.)
AYP Annual Yearly Progress
Safe Harbor
Highly Qualified Teachers
RBI Research Based Instruction

11. EASA in DC
• 44% of K-12 students in DC are educated at public charter schools.
• LEA in DC is DCPS for traditional charter schools.
• LEA for charters is the school (e.g. KIPP, Mundo Verde etc)
• SEA in DC is OSSE (Office of the State Superintendent of Education)
• Elementary Teachers (Grades K-6) •Must have a Bachelor’s
degree; AND •Pass an Elementary content test; OR •Achieve HQ
status via a High Objective Uniform State Standard Evaluation
(HOUSSE) process.
• Secondary Teachers (Grades 7-12) •Must have a Bachelor’s
degree; AND •Pass the appropriate content test; OR •Have a
major or its equivalent in the content area; OR Exemptions •Have
an advanced degree in the content area; OR•National Board
Certification in the content area; OR •Achieve HQ status via a High
Objective Uniform State Standard Evaluation (HOUSSE) process.

12. EASA in the Art Room
• Annual High Stakes Testing
• Teaching subjects that are not directly in the
field of art education.
• Funding
• HQ – Praxis tests
• RBI – this is an area that is just beginning to be
developed in art education (other areas of
research can touch on art education)

13. McKinney-Vento Homeless Act
• individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and
adequate nighttime residence
• Free transportation to and from school
• Stay at the school they were at before they
became homeless
• Schools must register children even if they
lack the documentation

14. McKinney-Vento Homeless Act in DC
States must designate a statewide homeless
coordinator to review policies and create
procedures, including dispute resolution
procedures, to ensure that homeless children are
able to attend school.
Local school districts must appoint Local Education
Liaisons to ensure that school staff are aware of
these rights, to provide public notice to homeless
families (at shelters and at school) and to
facilitate access to school and transportation
services.

15. McKinney-Vento Homeless Act
Court Cases
• In Lampkinvs the District of Columbia, the
District initially rejected further federal money
to avoid complying with the act. Ultimately,
however, the District changed its position and
began receiving federal funds and more
meaningfully implementing the act.

16. McKinney-Vento Homeless Act in the
Art Room
• Project Create is a program in DC that
provides art opportunities for under-
privileged children.
• The ARC is also a place for art opportunities
for children.
• Covent House a homeless shelter has also
provided art opportunities.
• There are others as well.

17. Special Education Laws
All of the laws previously discussed apply to
special education students. In addition…
• IDEA
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
• ADA
Americans with Disabilities Act
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act

18. IDEA
• Comes out of a long history of legislation and
reauthorizations leading up to the current IDEA of
2004 PL 108-446
• Governs how states provide early intervention,
special education and related services
(Speech/language therapy, occupational therapy,
physical therapy, counseling and other therapies)
• Covers children from birth to 18 years old (or 21
years old for certain cases)

19. IDEA can apply to students with…
intellectual disability
hearing impairments (including deafness)
speech or language impairments
visual impairments (including blindness)
serious emotional disturbance
orthopedic impairments
Autism
traumatic brain injury
other health impairments
specific learning disabilities
medical conditions that need special education and related
services.

20. IDEA eligibility
• A team determines eligibility for a child who has one
of the 13 categories of special education and it must
adversely affect their educational performance.
• Response To Intervention (RTI)
All students must be taught with HQ teachers using RBI
for both academics and behavioral/social learning
and problems with learning should be determined
through continual assessment. There are 3 tiers to
RTI. This often affects students with specific learning
disabilities, who prior to 2004 had to have SLD
determined through the discrepancy model.

21. IDEA and RTI
RTI follows a number of core assumptions:
• The educational system can effectively teach all children
• Early intervention is critical to preventing problems from getting out
of control
• The implementation of a multi-tiered service delivery model is
necessary
• A problem solving model should be used to make decisions
between tiers
• Research based interventions should be implemented to the extent
possible
• Progress monitoring must be implemented to inform instruction
• Data should drive decision making

22. IDEA provides
• IEP (Individualized Education Program)
For students age 3 to 18 or 21y.o.)
• Accommodations
• Assessments
• Quarterly Progress Reports
• Due Process
• Related Services
• IEP Meetings
• IEP Team
• Procedural Safeguards

23. IDEA acronyms
• FAPE
Free and Appropriate Public Education
• LRE
Least Restrictive Environment
• FBA
Functional Behavioral Assessment
• BIP
Behavioral intervention Plan

24. Disciplining a child with an IEP
• Discipline must take into consideration their disability
Did they misbehave because of their disability?
Does the consequence take into account their disability?
Does the situation warrant a FBA and BIP?
• Serious Consequences like suspension, expulsion
There is a legal obligation for this student to receive an
education.
There can be an interim alternate educational setting
(IAES) for up to 45 school days while a FBA/BIP is being
prepared.

25. IDEA (K-12) in DC
• Both public and public charter schools have to
serve students with disabilities.
• Students in private schools can still be under
the LEA (e.g. DCPS).
• OSSE is supposed to oversee all of the schools
and help implement the federal laws and
funding.
• OSE (not to be confused with OSSE) is the
Office of Special Education in DCPS.

26. IDEA in the Art Room
• FAPE – The students with disabilities are
entitled to be there
• LRE – Because of the accessibility of art this
may be one of the classes where students
with disabilities are with their non-disabled
peers.
• One to one para-educators
• Discipline
• Accessing their strengths and addressing their
needs --- accommodations

27. IDEA Early Intervention
• Child Find
Every state is obligated to have an agency that looks for
and assesses children with disabilities from birth
• IFSP for IDEA Part C (0 -3)
Individual Family Service Plan (like an IEP more about
daily functioning for little ones not just academics like
the IEP. It can include related services.)
• Service Coordination
This should be provided at no expense to the family

28. Early Intervention in DC
• Early Stages is the agency in charge of
students 3 to 5 years old.
They are developing IEPs or transitioning from
IFSPs to IEPs.
• Child Find (DC EIP) – Strong Start Child Find
Program
This is a program through OSSE in charge of
finding and identifying disabilities in infants
and toddlers (0 through 2 years old)

29. Early Intervention in the Art Room
• This is very similar in legal requirements to the
k-12 educational situations.
• Students at this age really respond to art and
especially students with disabilities in my
opinion.
• Their developmental abilities at this age can
be greatly improved with art room activities.

30. ADA Americans with Disabilities Act
Rehabilitation Act Section 504
If a student does not qualify for an IEP under IDEA, then they
could still qualify for a 504 Plan. (e.g. ADHD students)
Section 504 states that "no qualified individual with a
disability in the United States shall be excluded from,
denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination
under" any program or activity that either receives Federal
financial assistance or is conducted by any Executive agency
or the United States Postal Service.
It is much boarder in its qualifications but does not include
specialized education services.
It does include legal ramifications and accommodations.
It roughly covers students starting at age 3 through adulthood.

31. ADA Americans with Disabilities Act
Rehabilitation Act Section 504 in DC
• Student Support Team (SST): This is the school
team that can determine if a 504 or IEP is
necessary. Usually this team consists of classroom
teacher, special education teacher, counselor,
dean of students etc.
• Often behavior concerns bring a student to the
attention of an SST.
• Section 504 applies to afterschool activities and
other opportunities that are federally funded.

32. ADA Americans with Disabilities Act
Rehabilitation Act Section 504 in the
Art Room
• Accommodations: Examples of common strategies are
to sit the child in front of the class, to have the teacher
cue or redirect the child when he is off task, to
schedule breaks between assignments, and to provide
frequent feedback on how the child is doing. The
school should also maintain regular communication
with the parents about the child's academic,
behavioral, and social progress. For younger children, a
school contract which rewards regular completion of
classwork and homework may be an effective
motivator. The teacher can have the child participate in
group activities with peers who are good role models.

33. Resources
• Wrightslaw
• Childrens Law Center
• NICHCY (funding ending in September)
• Wikipedia
• The students, parents, teachers and
coordinators I have been privileged to know
through the years