Legal Mandates for Students with Disabilities
There are a number of federal and state legal mandates that have particular emphasis for students with disabilities. For example, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA 2004) and its implementing federal and state regulations provide guidance to stakeholders to ensure that the rights and needs of students with disabilities are addressed. In fact, since the passage of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 - Subpart D, the rights of preschool, elementary and secondary students with disabilities have become federally protected civil rights. In New Jersey, Chapter 16 - Programs to Support Student Development and N.J.A.C. 6A:10A - Improving Standards-Driven Instruction and Literacy and Increasing Efficiency in Abbott School Districts provide additional legally-mandated supports for all students, including students with disabilities. Stakeholders can easily access the federal and state mandates by clicking on the corresponding hyperlinks below:
N.J.A.C 6A:14 -
New Jersey's Administrative Code for Special Education
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act
of 1973
TITLE 6A:16 - Programs to Support Student Development
Although the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act changed the landscape of special education programs and services through a number of its mandates (e.g., school and district accountability for disaggregated student subgroups, "highly qualified" teachers and instructional aides, etc.), this electronic resource does not contain the complete text of this law; however, IDEA 2004 fully aligns with its mandates and many of NCLB's provisions are cited in other parts of this electronic resource.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
These special education staff development modules were developed collaboratively by the Newark Teachers Union (NTU), the Newark Public Schools and the Statewide Parents Advocacy Network (SPAN). Utilize the hyperlinks below to access the corresponding training modules: