| Courts' applications of the reasonable accommodation standards from Section 504 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in educational settings since the passage of the ADA were investigated. West's Education Law Digests defined the set of 51 employment cases and 56 student cases, which were summarized using a structured case brief method to form the data for the study. The study was a qualitative, document-based, legal-historical, multiple-case research project from a legal positivist perspective.; Results indicated that affirmative action controversies exist between the courts and both the EEOC and the OCR, though their effects are not pervasive. Court decisions evidenced a consistent nondiscrimination stance that at times came into conflict with regulatory mandates, questioning the statutory authority of the issuing agencies. The study also affirmed the assertion that reasonable accommodation and otherwise qualified are legally equivalent under the acts and extended it to add that the constructs were also equivalent to causing an institution no undue burden or substantial or fundamental alteration of its programs or purposes. Further, the findings were consistent with the notion of a shrinking legal view of disability and the findings of various other studies from the area.; The need for further legal studies from an educational perspective still exists. Studies by lawyers may confuse educational issues because of their language and perspective. The Supreme Court will likely continue to render opinions further defining the reasonable accommodation standards for employment and education. Future educational/legal research will be necessary to properly frame the issue for educational administrators. |
