This brief paper summarizes legal requirements for non-standard accommodations for students with special needs or disabilities in educational assessments based on the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and Section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act. After noting that all students have due process rights under the 14th Amendment, the paper addresses the following topics: (1) test validity; (2) accommodations and modifications for children with disabilities; (3) the different views of accommodations and modifications as defined by the IDEA and psychometrists; (4) the responsibility of states and districts to set standards and develop fair and valid tests; (5) the mistaken view that the law requires that standards be fundamentally altered or lowered in order to accommodate children with disabilities; (6) the mistaken view that the law requires that students are automatically entitled to use Individualized Education Program accommodations on state tests; and (7) the mistaken view that it is unlawful to test a student in his or her area of disability, if that is what the test is designed to measure. (DB)