The What, the Why, and the How of
Justification of Removal from the
General Education Classroom
Today’s Webinar…
• The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
supports educating students with disabilities in the
general education setting with their nondisabled peers
as much as possible. This webinar explains the written
justification of removal from the general education
setting portion of the Individualized Education
Program (IEP), provides information as to why
participation in general education is important for
students with disabilities, and suggests ways to know
if the written justification for removal is appropriate for
individual students. Examples will be provided to help
you identify what an appropriate written justification
looks like and what it does not look like.
The Legal Definition or Requirement of LRE
Least Restrictive Environment- the place the child would be educated if they
did not have a disability- this is the same as the “Educational Environment ”
code that is reported by districts.
To the maximum extent appropriate, children with
disabilities, including children in public or private
institutions or other care facilities, are educated with
children who are not disabled and special classes,
separate schooling, and other removal of children with
disabilities from the regular education environment,
occurs only when the nature of or severity of the disability
of the child is such that education in regular classes with
the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be
achieved satisfactorily.
20 U.S.C. 1412(a)(5)(A) (IDEA ‘04)
WHAT is a “justification statement”,
and when do we need one?
Exactly what it sounds like… when we have fully
explored adaptations and supports for a student
in their current placement, and the student does
not experience success, we have to justify our
decision to move the student to a more
restrictive placement.
• No longer can we just put a
“canned” statement in the IEP to
allow us to move a student for
anything other than the best
interest of the student.
Making a change to a student’s schedule that
reduces time in the general education
environment is sometimes unavoidable, due to
a student’s individual needs.
That change triggers the need for the
“justification statement” on the Individual
Education Program.
Before we make that change, remember, we’re
not just changing where a child is educated. It
also changes…..
• …time for students to interact with their peers
that may or may not have disabilities.
• …exposure to the general education
curriculum at the level that it is experienced in
the regular classroom.
• …opportunity for incidental social and
academic learning.
Special education is not “one size fits
all…”
• Children are individuals, and so are their
needs- what may work well for one may not
work at all for another!
• When this happens, the full IEP TEAM has to
carefully examine the supports being provided
and consider the best interests of the child.
So, when a placement change is needed, to provide the
best possible service to a student…AND this change will
reduce this student’s time in general education…
NOW we need the statement!
A “justification statement” is required on the IEP in
order to provide a concrete reason that explains which
aspects of the individual student’s needs cannot be
met in general education. It must be supportable, as
research has been shown that time in general
education improves student outcomes.
Does losing time in general education
really have an effect on students?
Research shows that there are clear benefits of inclusion
(LRE placement) including:
1) Inclusion better prepares students with and without
disabilities to deal with differences they will face in
society;
2) No pullout or resource setting can reproduce the
opportunities offered by an inclusive setting; and
3) Students with disabilities are exposed to the same
curriculum as their typical peers in the inclusive setting,
which better prepares them for life beyond school
(Jennings & Rentner, 2006).
Jennings, J., & Rentner, D. (2006). Ten Big Effects of the No Child Left Behind
Act on Public Schools, Phi Delta Kappan, 88(2), pp. 110-113.
WHY does this statement have to be
so specific and student needs based?
• The law says that we MUST:
• …. clearly outline the IEP team’s discussion, with
serious consideration given to the “potential harmful
effects” of removing the student from the general
education setting and from their peers.
(http://doe.sd.gov/oess/documents/SPED_IEP_Justificati
onStatements.pdf)
So, HOW do we write these
statements?
• Start with what we know the student
needs. The statement cannot just
describe the placement option. It has
to go beyond the surface information
and be unique to the student’s
learning needs and characteristics.
The Justification MUST:
• …. clearly outline the IEP team’s discussion,
with serious consideration given to the
“potential harmful effects” of removing the
student from the general education setting
and from their peers.
(http://doe.sd.gov/oess/documents/SPED_IEP_J
ustificationStatements.pdf)
Justification statements
MUST NOT BE:
*based on non-individualized reason
*based on administrative convenience
*based on disability category identical to all
other students in that placement (an example of this would
be that the student would be placed in the “autism
classroom”)
(http://doe.sd.gov/oess/documents/SPED_IEP_JustificationStatements
.pdf)
Must not be…
*based on availability of related services
*based on availability of services
*based on availability of space
• (http://doe.sd.gov/oess/documents/SPED_IEP_Ju
stificationStatements.pdf)
So what does a “good” justification
statement look like?!
• SCENARIO: Your student has been in the general education classroom
for 3 months- he/she began the school year there. After implementing
adaptations and ongoing consultation between general and regular ed
teachers and support staff, he/she is still not being successful. The IEP
team has met and reviewed the adaptations and determined that
going to the “resource room” for 2 classes per day is critical to improve
reading skills in order to maximize the student’s outcomes. It might
look like this:
•
STATEMENT: (Student) requires
additional repetitive reading
interventions that allow time for self correction and repeated
drill and practice to master concepts at each level before
introducing a new skill level. (Student) requires additional
time to speak without being interrupted or hurried.
(http://doe.sd.gov/oess/documents/SPED_IEP_JustificationStatements.pdf)
What if that placement doesn’t work,
either?!
And- even after the resource pullout placement has been
tried, with planning and implementation of strategies, the
student continues to be unsuccessful, due in large part to
the student’s distractibility.
The team has decided that even a resource room
placement will not provide the needed level of support.
We need to provide a statement of why the “regular ed”
room AND the “resource” room are not appropriate.
So, the statement portion might look
like this…
• Regular Classroom with Modifications: Rejected:
Instruction with peer tutoring and accommodations in the general
education setting affected her self esteem. (Student) requires more
intense instruction on concepts and additional practice.
• Resource Room: Rejected: This setting did not meet (student’s)
educational needs. Even with the modifications to the curriculum and one
to one re-teaching of skills, he/she could not maintain the pace and level
of learning. She needs a curriculum which focuses on functional concepts.
• Self-Contained: Accepted:
(Student) requires a more functional curriculum and practical daily
experiences that will lead to greater future independence. (Student)
needs an individualized program tailored to learning style with additional
practice to master skills and extended support in managing her adaptive
behavior.
• (http://doe.sd.gov/oess/documents/SPED_IEP_JustificationStatements.pd
f)
There is an array of student support systems
that provide various levels of support to children
with IEPs.
When we look at this array, all but the bottom 3
represent some facet of placement in the
general education classroom.
ONLY these last 3 trigger the need for a
justification statement on the IEP.
Student Support Services
• We’ll take a look at this array of placement
alternatives, which are the physical places that
students receive their services.
• Each one of them has pros and cons- you will be
able to access additional documents that
describe and define each of these, as well as
considerations for supports to maintain students
in general education as much as possible.
Student Support Structures
Diff Instruction in Gen Ed
Interventions: push-in model
Adaptations
Periodic classroom support
Classroom support- para
Co-teaching
Periodic pull-out: resource**
Self-contained in district**
Separate Facility**
Diff Instruction in Gen Ed
• Quality instruction in the general education
classroom with a wide variety of support from
the special education teacher is the least
restrictive for a student with an IEP.
• Ongoing monitoring of classroom practices
and data in order to monitor student progress.
Interventions: push-in model
1. Teaching staff provides interventions in the general education classroom.
2. Integrated related services, whereby a speech-language pathologist, OT, PT, etc.,
may push in into the general education classroom and provide interventions during
the context of typical classroom, content related activities. Collaboration between
related service staff and classroom staff so that interventions are known and that they
have opportunities to implement them as well.
3. Support of internal coach or instructional coach in the building or district with
collaboration with the classroom teacher and teaching staff to implement
interventions within the context of general education instruction.
4. Students with and without disabilities may participate in interventions. Some
interventions may come from RtI-Response to Intervention plans, Title plans, IEP goals
and objectives, etc. Interventions are continually evaluated to determine
effectiveness.
Adaptations
“Adaptations” is the umbrella term and there are two kinds of adaptations (refer to
adaptations resource) accommodations and modifications. Accommodations are
provided to all students who need them and they do not change the learning
standard. Examples of accommodations are extended time, books on tape, word
banks, and verbal assessments. Modifications are outlined in a student’s IEP and can
significantly change the learning standard.
Examples of modifications are:
1.
2.
3.
instead of completing a 3 page report on a topic, the student identifies 3
important points about the topic
instead of learning all the planets, a student would be able to learn about one
planet, their own.
instead of learning 35 new vocabulary words from a story, this student would
select 3-5 that are the most important for them to remember, etc.
Periodic classroom support
• Multiple use of a variety of supports in the
general education classroom, including, but
not limited to:
• Adult support- sp ed teacher, para-educator,
classroom volunteers, peer tutors and support
• Consultative and collaborative support from
other teachers
Classroom support- para
1. Use of the para-educator may be based on the time or
times when a student may need some specific support. This
support may be provided by a classroom para-educator
instead of a student needing a one on one para-educator.
2. Para-educator involved in planning sessions with the
general education teacher and special education teacher on a
regular basis so that the para-educator understands their role
and responsibility.
3. Para-educators and teachers, both special education and
general education may need to have training on paraeducator partnerships, so that they can work collectively as a
team to support each student.
Co-teaching
1. Co-teaching is one model for providing support to a student. Coteaching is when two professional teachers, a general education
teacher and a special education teacher jointly instruct the curriculum.
Each person takes on an active teaching role. Co-teaching can provide
for a high level of support and should not be used as a way to support
struggling learners, i.e., the class, which would consist of students with
IEP’s, and students who have failed the class previously or are
struggling with the class for other reasons.
2. Differentiated Instruction is encouraged as the way co-teachers
instruct.
3. Co-planning is essential and should take place on a weekly basis. If
co-teachers do not co-plan they cannot effectively co-teach.
4. There are a variety of co-teaching models for co-teachers to utilize
based on what they are teaching and how they want to instruct.
Periodic pull-out: resource**
1. A student does not have to be in resource class
all day. Resource support can be for one subject or
two, based on the needs of the student.
2. A resource classroom provides supports in a
variety of ways to support the learning in the
general education classroom.
3. Data is collected to measure interventions and
strategies used in the resource room to evaluate
effectiveness.
Self-contained in district**
• Certified special education staff provides instruction in
a "stand alone” classroom setting. Instruction may be
provided in small groups or on a one-on-one basis. The
student with an IEP is receiving instruction separate
from non-disabled peers. Educational content reflects
common core learning standards, but is specifically
designed and modified to best meet the needs of
individual students and the goals listed on their
respective IEPs. Para-educators are often utilized in a
self-contained classroom to assist children, either as a
program aide helping several students, or as a personal
aide assigned to a specific student.
Separate Facility**
(9A- Separate Day School)
• Wide variety of types of day schools which
provide specific developmental support based
on the intensity of student need (i.e., visual
impairment, hearing impairment, et.al.) when
the student would not receive the intensive
level of support required in a general
education setting. This placement option is
often used for students who behavioral issues
are perceived as too intense to be dealt with
in a typical school setting.
Separate Facility**
(9B- Residential Facility)
• Setting that provides around the clock care
and intervention for residents. Often involves
a component of medical treatment. A wide
variety of related service providers may work
with residents. This placement option is often
used for students who behavioral issues are
perceived as too intense to be dealt with in a
typical school setting.
Separate Facility**
(9C- Hospital/Home
• Student may receive special education
services-academic and/or related services- in
a hospital or home setting due to concerns
around a fragile medical condition. Prolonged
exposure to others may compromise the
student’s health if the student is dealing with
a medical issue which compromises his/her
immune system.
The problem with segregated special education is that
"youngsters will not learn in segregated settings how to
function in a non-disabled world," said Art Shapiro, a professor
of special education at Kean University and author of Everybody
Belongs: Changing Negative Attitudes Toward Classmates With
Disabilities. "In a school or class for youngsters classified as
emotionally disturbed, the normal thing is to be disturbed,"
Shapiro told Education World. "Similarly, many times youngsters
classified as communication-handicapped are placed in
segregated settings with other children who do not
communicate.
Article used with permission. Article by Wesley Sharpe, Ed.D.
Education World® Copyright © 2001 Education World Updated
2/28/2003
• Thank you so much for taking your time to be
with us today!
• If you have questions and need more
information, give us a call!
• Mandy Waggoner
Project CHOICES
awaggoner60@gmail.com