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Disability Law: An Overview of How the Law Works in K-12 and Post-Secondary Education
EDU A238

Course Information

Description

This course will address several areas of disability law, including physical accessibility, digital accessibility, service animals and emotional support animals, the process to request and receive accommodations, and other related areas. Note that this course is designed to discuss both K-12 and higher education disability law, and will focus primarily on the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and the Fair Housing Act as it applies to residential services on post-secondary campus and related rights. It will discuss generally the technicalities of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (commonly known as "IDEA"), given that law could subsume the entire course. Even though not focused on every aspect of the IDEA, we will discuss how the special education process works at K-12, from duties on school districts to locate and evaluate students with disabilities, through program development, and up to and through litigation when school districts and students cannot reach resolution. A similar approach wll be taken with regard to the process at post-secondary institutions.

School Graduate School of Education
Credits 2
Cross Reg

Available for Harvard Cross Registration

Department Education
Course Component Regular Course
Instruction Mode In Person
Subject Education
Grading Basis HGSE Letter Graded
Learning Goals The learning goals will be to convey the legal principles, practical challenges, and potential issues on the horizon for each topic point. Some weeks we will focus on technical guidelines, and other weeks we will grapple with regulatory agencies. Each week we will grapple with the overarching legal issues and the impact on both individuals with disabilities and the institutions legally obligated to accommodate those disabilities in different contexts.
Career Focus This course would be appropriate for K-12 or higher education teachers, administrators, and other leaders who are interested in understanding disability law and the varying ways that it can present in both secondary or post-secondary education.