Extended School Year Its not summer school'''

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Extended School Year - Its not summer school...

• Michelle Powers and Robin Cline
• Office of Special Education
• Statewide Special Education Conference
• November 3, 2000

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IDEA 97, FAPE and ESY...

• IDEA 97 defines FAPE as special education and
  related services that are provided at public
  expense and are provided in conformity with an
  individualized education program (IEP).
• A central issue in FAPE is the IEP teams
  determination of what services are appropriate

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FAPE and ESY continued...

• Another important question regarding appropriate
  education is whether the educational program is
  sufficient to provide meaningful educational
  benefit.
• Educational benefit is seen through skill
  acquisition and making progress on educational
  goals.
• Progress towards goals and objectives and
  documentation of that progress are key to
  ensuring the provision of FAPE.

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FAPE and ESY continued...

• Some children may not be receiving FAPE unless
  they receive needed services during time periods
  when other children, whether disabled or not,
  normally would not be served.
• For these children, restricting services to a
  standard number of school days per year does not
  allow development of an education program that is
  truly individualized.

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FAPE and ESY, continued...

• A child may require extended school year (ESY)
  services in order to receive FAPE

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What is extended school year (ESY)?

• ESY is defined in 300.309 as meaning special
  education and related services that are provided
  to a child with a disability-
• beyond the normal school year of the school
  district,
• in accordance with the childs IEP, and
• are at no cost to the parents of the child.

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What do the regulations say about ESY?

• ESY must be provided only if the childs IEP team
  determines, on an individual basis, that the
  services are necessary for the provision of FAPE.
• School districts may not
• limit ESY services to a particular category of
  disability
• unilaterally limit the type, amount or duration
  of those services

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What is the purpose of ESY ?

• ESY is provided to assure that a childs
  meaningful progress during the regular school
  year will be maintained, and to prevent the loss
  of critical skills.
• ESY is not provided for the purpose of helping
  children with disabilities advance in relation to
  their peers.

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How are ESY services determined?

• The IEP team determines on an individual basis if
  such services are necessary for the provision of
  FAPE
• The IEP team determines the length of the school
  day and duration of ESY services based on the
  individual childs needs.
• A district may not
• limit ESY services to a particular disability
• unilaterally limit the type, amount, or duration
  of those services
• apply a regression/recoupment criterion to
  children in need of prolonged assistance

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What criteria is used to determine the need for
ESY?

• IDEA analysis provides that in most cases, a
  multi-factored determination would be
  appropriate, but for some children, eligibility
  may be appropriately determined based on only one
  criterion or factor.
• Johnson v. Independent School District No. 4
  (1990) provides that regression-recoupment is
  just one of the many factors to consider.

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Criteria, continued...

• The court identified a list of factors that were
  identified in the case that could be considered,
  though not all will apply to each particular
  case
• degree of impairment
• parents ability to provide an educational
  structure at home
• students rate of progress
• behavioral and physical problems
• availability of alternative resources
• ability of the student to interact with
  nondisabled children
• curriculum areas that need continued attention
• students vocational needs

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How is the need for ESY measured?

• The information that is needed by an IEP team to
  determine a childs need for ESY services is
  gathered through ongoing measurement of the
  childs progress toward the current IEP goals and
  objectives.
• Information can be gathered through a variety of
  informal and formal measures, such as daily
  performance, criterion and norm-referenced test
  data, behavior samples, student work samples,
  anecdotal records

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Measurement, continued...

• The IEP team should consider the following points
  in determining the need for ESY services
• Consider information from a variety of sources
• Measurement should be sensitive to small changes
  that may occur during short breaks in services
• Team should consider both prior experience with
  regression/recoupment and predictive information

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When should ESY data collection occur?

• Recommended times for data collection
• at the end of the regular school year
• at the end of the summer program
• at the beginning of the subsequent school year
• before/after school vacations
• ongoing collection of information throughout the
  school year and
• before/after student has been out of school for
  other reasons

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When does the IEP team make the determination for
ESY?

• All children with disabilities must be considered
  for ESY services at least annually.
• There is no specific timeline for determining
  whether a child should receive ESY services.
• Districts are expected to ensure that these
  determinations are made in a timely manner in
  order to ensure students can receive the
  necessary services.
• (taken from Federal Register, Part B- Analysis of
  Comments)

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Does LRE apply to ESY?

• School districts are not required to ensure the
  availability of a full continuum of alternative
  placements solely for the purpose of providing
  ESY services.
• Options on the continuum must be made available
  to the extent necessary to implement a childs
  IEP.