Preschool LRE & No Instructional Setting Coding
Consultancy Dilemma
Background:
Currently school districts struggle with finding least restrictive settings for preschool students (students ages
3-5 years old) due to the fact that many preschool students that are considered typical peers are still in a home
or daycare settings and not a school setting. Another issue is that students with speech impairments make up
the majority of this population and many are served on a “drop in” basis and coded at “00-No Instructional
Setting”. Speech eligibility is the highest eligibility in the state & region for students ages 3-5 served in special
education.
Regional Data
3,851
= State Total number of students ages 3-5 served in special education
2,658 (69%) = (SI) Speech as primary eligibility
2,082
= No Instructional Setting (00)
State Data
43,208
= State Total number of students ages 3-5 served in special education
28,619 (66%) = (SI) Speech as primary eligibility
20,910
= No Instructional Setting (00)
Issue:
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PEIMS setting codes 40 (mainstream) and 41 (receive resource room services less than 21% of the
day) are the only environments that are considered less restrictive for PBMAS Preschool LRE
Indicator #6
PEIMS setting code 00 (No instructional setting) is considered as part of the denominator for
PBMAS Indicator #6 (District number of students ages 3-5 served in special education), but only
codes 40 & 41 are considered LRE
If students with disabilities are not eligible for Pre-K/Head Start programs without a disability then
the best PEIMS coding that child could receive in these settings is code 42 (receive resource room
services at least 21% and less than 50% of the day)
Students are identified early with speech impairments, but it may be masking another disability that
has not been identified yet.
3 & 4 year olds must receive special education services by a certified Special Education teacher. Dual
certification is allowable for teachers serving students ages 3-5.
Students must be served a minimum of 2 hours to receive ½ day funding or 4 hours for full-day
funding.
A student can be eligible as Speech Impaired (SI), but receive services beyond “drop in” speech by
using the Speech Indicator Code 2.
Question:
What are some alternative considerations for serving students ages 3-5 with speech impairments in the least
restrictive settings defined by Texas?