Disclaimer

Please read this before you rely on anything on this site.

General information, not legal or educational advice

The IEP & 504 Library is an independent educational reference. Everything on this site is general information about the IEP and 504 process, written to help a parent walk in informed. It is not legal advice and it is not educational advice. Reading it does not create any professional relationship between you and this project. Nothing here tells you what your child needs, what the team should decide or what to do in your situation. Those decisions belong to your child's IEP or 504 team, made from your child's evaluation. For advice on your specific situation, a special education advocate or an attorney who works in your state is the right person to ask.

Examples to discuss, never prescriptions

Every sample goal, accommodation and letter on this site is a starting point to discuss and adapt with your child's IEP or 504 team, not a script to hand the school and not a target your child must meet. The rates, percentages and grade levels in the sample goals are illustrations of what a measurable goal looks like, not standards for any child. The team writes the actual goals and decides the actual supports from your child's own evaluation.

Not a school district or a government agency

This site is not operated by, affiliated with or endorsed by any school district, any state education agency, the U.S. Department of Education or any law firm. We do not evaluate children, write IEPs or 504 plans, make eligibility decisions or represent families. Where a page links to a statute, a regulation or a state agency, that source is the official authority; we are a private publisher summarizing what it says.

Rules change and vary by state

IEP and 504 rights run on a federal framework, but some details, most notably the initial-evaluation timeline and the dispute-resolution routes, vary by state. The law also changes through rulemaking and guidance. A page can be accurate on the date we verified it and change afterward. Every page shows the date we last read it against the source. The federal deadlines noted across the site are defaults; always confirm the specific rule for your state and the current process with your district.

No guarantee of outcomes

We work to keep every page accurate and cite a primary source for each load-bearing legal fact, but we do not guarantee that the information is complete, current or error-free. We also do not guarantee any particular result. Using this site does not guarantee that a child will qualify for a plan, that a team will agree to any goal or accommodation or that any timeline will hold. You are responsible for your own decisions.

The companion Command Center

The IEP & 504 Command Center, our paid companion, is likewise an educational and organizational tool. It helps a parent prepare, organize and follow along. It does not evaluate a child, write a plan, make a legal or educational determination or replace the team's decision or, where your situation calls for it, a special education advocate or an attorney.

External links

We link to statutes, regulations and agency pages so you can check the source. We are not responsible for the content of those external sites, which can move or change.

Report an error

If you believe a page is wrong or out of date, please tell us so we can check it against the source and fix it.