Decision-Making Guide For Parents and Staff
What is Extended School Year?
An extended year program may be identified if a student has demonstrated or is likely to demonstrate substantial regression in his or her learning skills and/or experience substantial difficulty in relearning such skills if an extended program is not provided.
All students with disabilities are entitled to free and appropriate public education (FAPE). In order for some students to receive FAPE, services will need to be provided beyond the typical school year.
What is the criteria for ESY?
Teams collect data regarding the student’s skill levels throughout the school year in order to determine whether the student will require extended year services. The Team reviews the data to determine whether the student demonstrates regression or difficulty with recoupment of skills.
Extended School Year services are provided to prevent substantial regression and to assist in recoupment of those skills already being addressed on the IEP.
Regression and recoupment consist of inter-related elements:
- the loss of performance levels that were attained before a break in service
- the child’s limited learning rate, which lengthens the amount of time the child requires to review and/or relearn previously attained objectives, and
- the time for that child to accomplish such recoupment is greater than the period of time the school district allows all other children for review and/or relearning.
How Will We Know?
Some important considerations:
- Does this student need extensive review to demonstrate previously learned skills?
- What inconsistencies does the student demonstrate in mastered or partially acquired skills?
- Has the student reached a critical point of instruction or behavior management where a break in programming would have serious, detrimental effects?
- Is there a degenerative medical condition that might cause regression?
- Will a break in programming jeopardize the student’s placement in the Least Restrictive Environment?
- Is there a lack of progress in meeting short-term objectives over two marking periods?
- Are there significant regression/recoupment problems over short-term vacation periods or other breaks in the school year?
When Will Services Be Provided?
Extended school year services are provided in the summer for a typical period of 4-6 weeks.
What Does All That Look Like?
For each skill area on a child’s IEP, Teams must describe the skill level prior to a vacation; level after the vacation; and time it takes to reach the prior skill level again.
Your child’s teachers must collect data regarding skills in each area on your child’s IEP. These include:
Math: computation; problem solving; word problems
Reading: decoding; sight words/vocabulary; fluency; reading comprehension
Writing: sentences; editing; long composition; organization
Speech and Language: vocabulary; articulation; fluency; expressive language; receptive language
Occupational Therapy: motor; sensory integration; visual perception; visual motor; handwriting
Physical Therapy: functional motor skills; muscle strength; postural stability; physical endurance; range of motion
Preschool: social; emotional; cognitive; self-care
Other: social/emotional; behavior; attention/focus
Important Points to Remember
All extended school year services are data-driven. Sources of data may include:
- historical review of data collected
- review of current and previous IEP’s
- documented regression and recoupment time
- classroom observation
- progress notes
- attendance information
- standardized tests
- samples of student work
- documented clinical evidence
- behavior logs
- parent interviews
Extended school year services are not a replication of the services provided during the school year. Since extended school year services are proposed in order to avoid substantial regression, the portion of the child’s IEP for ESY services may differ somewhat from the portion of the IEP that governs the provision of services for the regular school year. Camping or recreation programs provided solely for recreational purposes and with no corresponding IEP goals or specially designed instruction shall not be considered extended year programs.
Staff
Alison Elmer
Assistant Superintendent of Student Services
Amy Forsythe
AHS Special Education Coordinator
Elizabeth Rollins
OMS Special Education Coordinator
Jennifer Lambertz
Gibbs Special Education Coordinator
Chris Carlson & Louisa Popkin
Elementary Special Education Coordinators
Joyce Schlenger
Early Childhood Coordinator
Chris Carlson
Out of District Coordinator
