Find resources to use while reading with your children at home.

What Parents Should Know About 504 Plans and IEPs

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As a parent, you know your child best. If your child is struggling more than expected in school, you might be wondering what support is available. In Colorado, families have the right to ask their school district for a formal evaluation to see if their child qualifies for special education services through an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or accommodations under a 504 Plan.

The process often begins with a written request to your child’s school or the district’s Child Find office. From there, the school will gather information, conduct assessments (with your consent), and meet with you to discuss whether your child qualifies for extra supports.

Knowing where to start can feel overwhelming, but the good news is that Colorado offers clear procedures, resources, and parent supports to guide you every step of the way. Below are some key differences between each service and some help on how to get started.

Section 504 Plan

  • Based on Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability.
  • Ensures that a student with a disability has equal access to education and school programs by providing accommodations and supports.
  • Accommodations might include preferential seating, extended time on tests, breaks, use of assistive technology, modified assignments, etc.
  • You can learn more about Section 504 here: https://www.ed.gov/laws-and-policy/individuals-disabilities/section-504

Individualized Education Program (IEP)

  • Governed under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
  • An IEP is a legally binding document that spells out special education services, supports, and modifications your child needs to make progress in school.
  • It describes your child’s current performance, measurable goals, how those goals will be assessed, and when/where services will be delivered.
  • You can learn more about the IDEA here: https://www.ed.gov/laws-and-policy/individuals-disabilities/idea

Key Differences

Feature 504 Plan IEP
Legal basis Rehabilitation Act (civil rights) IDEA (special education law)
Who qualifies Broad definition of disability; substantial limitation in one or more life activity (e.g., learning) Must meet IDEA’s criteria (one of the categories) and need special education to benefit from school
Type of support Accommodations and supports in general education Specialized instruction, related services, accommodations/modifications
Academic goals or benchmarks Typically no (or less detailed) goals Yes — annual goals, progress measurement
Team and process Usually a 504 team (teacher, admin, parent) Formal IEP team (parents, teachers, specialists, administrator)
Frequency of review Varies (often annually) At least annually; full reevaluation every 3 years (or more frequently if needed)
Scope of protections Includes access to extracurriculars, nonacademic settings, discrimination protections Also includes protections but more focused on instruction and educational progress

What to Expect and What Parents Should Do

 

Getting Started / Eligibility

Development

  • For an IEP, the IEP team meets to write the plan, including goals, services, accommodations, and how progress will be reported.
  • For a 504 plan, the team decides what accommodations and supports are needed to give your child equal access.

Implementation and Monitoring

  • Parents should stay involved: ask for progress reports, observe how supports are working, and request changes if needed.
  • Both plans should be reviewed periodically. For IEPs, there is at least an annual review and triennial reevaluation.
  • If you disagree with decisions, you have the right to due process, mediation, or an impartial hearing (for both 504 and IEP).

Why They Matter

  • Promote access and equity. These plans help reduce barriers so children with disabilities can engage meaningfully in school and reach their potential.
  • Reduce unnecessary frustration. With appropriate supports, a child may be better able to demonstrate their true strengths and keep pace with peers.
  • Legal protection. These are not merely helpful — they are rights guaranteed by law.

Navigating the world of resources and services can be daunting. Feel free to reach out the the Colorado Reading Center if you have any questions about this process or would like to start with an academic assessment to get an accurate measure of you child’s reading skills.

 

The Importance of Vocabulary for Reading Comprehension

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When it comes to reading comprehension, vocabulary knowledge is essential. Without a strong vocabulary, readers may struggle to make sense of the texts they encounter. But why is vocabulary so important, and how can parents and educators help build it effectively?

Vocabulary: The Key to Unlocking Meaning

Family reading togetherVocabulary is the foundation of understanding. When readers know the meanings of the words they encounter, they can better understand sentences, paragraphs, and entire texts. Without this knowledge, comprehension becomes much harder, and the joy of reading can fade.

Research shows that a rich vocabulary enhances both basic understanding and deeper comprehension. Readers use vocabulary to grasp the literal meaning of a text and to infer hidden messages. Both types of understanding depend on a reader’s knowledge of words.

Vocabulary, Mental Imagery, and Cognitive Development

Oasis imageVocabulary development plays a key role in cognitive growth. Each new word represents a concept or idea, and the more words a child learns, the better they understand the world. This expanded understanding helps them connect texts to their own experiences, deepening comprehension.

Mental imagery strengthens the connection between vocabulary and comprehension. Descriptive words help readers create pictures in their minds, making the text more engaging and easier to remember. For instance, phrases like “lush forest” or “towering skyscraper” trigger vivid mental images, enhancing understanding and creating a richer reading experience.

Building Vocabulary: Strategies for Success

Here are some practical strategies to support vocabulary development:

  1. Read Aloud Together: Reading aloud introduces children to new words in context. Choose books slightly above their independent reading level to help expand their vocabulary.
  2. Encourage Wide Reading: Provide access to a variety of materials, including fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and informational texts. Different genres introduce unique words and ideas.
  3. Teach Word-Learning Strategies: Show students how to figure out unfamiliar words by teaching prefixes, suffixes, root words, and context clues.
  4. Play Word Games: Games like Scrabble, Boggle, or vocabulary apps make learning fun and interactive.Example of a word game like a word scramble.
  5. Talk About Words: Discuss interesting or unusual words during conversations at home or in the classroom. This builds curiosity about language.
  6. Use Visual Imagery: Use visual imagery to create vivid mental images of vocabulary words. This taps into personal experience as well as visualization for better memory.
  7. Reinforce Through Writing: Encourage students to use new vocabulary in their writing. This strengthens understanding and helps solidify word meanings in memory.

Long-Term Benefits of a Strong Vocabulary

A strong vocabulary doesn’t just support reading comprehension—it’s a lifelong skill. From academic success to career readiness, vocabulary enables individuals to express themselves clearly, understand complex ideas, and engage with the world. It also enhances critical thinking and problem-solving abilities, which makes it a vital part of overall learning.

Final Thoughts

Building a strong vocabulary is an investment in a child’s success. By creating word-rich environments at home and in the classroom, parents and educators can empower young readers to thrive. Incorporating mental imagery techniques can make reading more vivid and memorable and turn every book into an adventure. The more words a child knows, the more opportunities they have—in books and in life.

 

If you or your child needs help with Reading Comprehension, we can help! Reach out to learn about our ReadingFish program for reading comprehension today!

Practice with a Word Box

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As emerging readers develop, they begin to add significantly to their word base. Reading consists of several skills, one of which is the memorization of many high frequency words, or sight words. These are words that occur often when we read and tend to make up the majority of the words we read when reading. There are many high frequency or sight word lists that parents and teachers can choose from. For our purposes, we us the Fry’s Instant Word List.

According to E. B. Fry, who developed the Fry’s Instant Word List, there are 300 words that are essential to developing readers. It is suggested that: “This list contains the most commonly used words in written English, ranked in frequency order. The 300 instant words and their common variants make up 65% of all the words in any textbook, any newspaper, or any writing sample in English.” (Rite Flight: A Classroom Reading Program: 2006, 169) Therefore, the faster a student is able to recognize these words, the less effort they will need to decode these words and the quicker their reading rate will be.

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The Word Box is a tool designed to give students repetitive practice with orthographically inconsistent words, or high frequency sight words. It is a simple tool that, when used consistently and properly, is very powerful. Words are added that the student doesn’t know from either a high frequency word list or from words missed in their reading.

Every student will have a box, which will hold all their unknown sight words. There are several categories of sight words: slow, medium, fast, and graduates. We encourage students to pick their own labels for these categories in order to personalize their box (ex. snails, dogs, eagles, etc).

When a new word is added, it will begin in the slow category. Once the student is able to correctly read the word, it will move up to the medium category.

When the student is able to read the word within two seconds, it will move up to the fast category.

Once a word is in the fast category, the student must read it correctly 5 times in a row to move it up to “graduate.” This must be read within a second. Remember these should be instant words, and students should recognize them as quickly as they recognize their own name. We will mark each correct reading of a fast word with a check on the back of the index card to keep track. Occasionally a word may be misread, or slow, in which case it will need to move down a category.

The word is printed neatly in black marker on the blank side of an index card and added to the box. Every so often a student may need a visual “hint” to help them recognize a word. This is done lightly in pencil and is erased when the word has moved up to the fast category.

When students miss words, it is helpful to have them image or visualize the word by drawing it on the table or in the air with their finger. This will help develop their visual memory for the word so it can be easily recognized in the future.

Students should practice their box several times a week for 10-15 minutes. The word box is an effective and strategic way for students to develop their word knowledge.