U.S. Department of Education
Office for Civil Rights (OCR)
Title VI, Section 504, Title II –
Special Education
and
Limited English Proficient
Students
in Public Schools
Key Sources of Federal Law
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
 OCR Policy
 Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act
of 1973
 Title II of the Americans with
Disabilities Act of 1990

Title VI of the Civil Rights
Act 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 Policy
OCR policy on LEP students is reflected in the
following documents:
 May 25, 1970 Memorandum
 Policy 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)
OCR 1970
MEMORANDUM
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 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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SPEDLEP
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 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
Secondary 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 nondisabled students to the maximum
extent appropriate to the needs of the
student with a disability

Section 504 establishes
evaluation procedures that are
designed to ensure children are
not:
• misclassified;
• unnecessarily labeled as
having a disability;
• or incorrectly placed
based on inappropriate
selection, administration, or
interpretation of evaluation
materials.
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SPEDLEP
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 for
special education services
The 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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PLACEMENT
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Question: What are the child’s
individual 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?

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 Procedures
The Team carefully considers:

evaluation information from a variety of
sources

all significant factors affecting the
student’s ability to receive a FAPE
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Summary

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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OCR INTERNET RESOURCES

Home page:
www.ed.gov/ocr/

ELL Resources:
www.ed.gov/ocr/ellresources.html

Programs for English Language Learners:
Resource Materials for Planning and SelfAssessments (“ELL Guide”)
www.ed.gov/ocr/ell/
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