Special Education

I. Special Education Resources II. The Laws III. Special Ed in NYC

Special Education in New York City

Legally, districts must provide your child with the services he or she needs to progress in the general curriculum to the best of his or her ability, meet his or her annual goals, and be educated in the least restrictive environment appropriate for his or her needs. Rigid definitions of what services are available in a particular environment are not usually legal.

In New York City, however, special education has become an alphabet city of special classes for students with similar disabilities. The Board of Education has recognized that this may not comply with the spirit of the continuum or LRE requirements, and has proposed grouping students in classes based on their academic and behavioral needs, rather than by disability. For the time being, however, parents should probably become familiar with the following options.

In June 2000, the NYC Board of Education adopted a new Continuum of Special Education Services. This continuum is a list or a menu of possible special education services and placements. It emphasizes education of students with special needs in the LRE. Because many children in the system were already receiving services under another continuum, it's important to be familiar with both. What follows are outlines of the new and old continuums.

New Continuum

I. NON-SPECIAL EDUCATION

Supports/Interventions For The General Education Student: The Pupil Personnel Team (PPT) Intervention Process

Pupil Personnel Teams (PPTs) are school-based committees to identify services and interventions for students having academic, physical or social difficulties. These are services/interventions that can be begun and provided without the involvement of the Committee on Special Education (CSE).
Services the PPT may recommend include, but are not limited to:

• Educationally related support services
• Reading intervention
• Remedial instruction
• Behavioral support
• Social skills program

The PPT process is not meant to supercede the CSE process; despite the PPT process, a parent may refer his/her child for a special education evaluation by the Committee on Special Education at any time, and the PPTs cannot be used as a precondition for referral by responsible school staff.

Declassification Support Services

When a student is recommended for decertification from special education, support services may be provided for up to one additional year to help the student transition from the special education program to a general education classroom. Declassification support services must be indicated on the IEP that recommends decertification.
Declassification support services may include, but are not limited to:

• Services that provide instructional support or remediation
• Instructional modifications
• Individual and/or group speech/language services, and
• Individual and/or group counseling.

II. SPECIAL EDUCATION SERVICES/SUPPORTS

If referral to special education is indicated, the student must be evaluated by the Committee on Special Education. Based upon this evaluation, an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) is created for the student by an IEP Team (including a parent). The following are services, supports, and/or placements that can be specified upon the student’s IEP.

Related Services and Supports

Whether placed in a general education class or special class, students with disabilities may be provided with the following additional services as long as they are specifically identified on the student’s IEP.

1. Related services are developmental, corrective and other support services required to help a student with a disability benefit from instruction in the general education curriculum in general education classes.
Related services may include, but are not limited to:

• Counseling
• Hearing education services
• Occupational therapy
• Orientation and mobility services
• Physical therapy
• School health services
• Speech/language therapy
• Vision education services, and
• Other support services, e.g.
  • paraprofessional support services (e.g. a special transportation paraprofessional for a child whose behavior is hazardous on the school bus, or an Orientation and Mobility paraprofessional to guide a student who is visually impaired)
    
  • sign language and oral interpreters, and
    
  • Cued Speech Transliterators (which are necessary to transmit the spoken message into Cued Speech—a manual and spatial representation of English sounds and lip movements).

2. Other support services which can be provided to children throughout the full range of placements in the Continuum (i.e. from general education classrooms to segregated special classes) include, but are not limited to:

• Assistive technology devices
• Specific instructional practices
• Behavior intervention plans
• Instructional adaptions
• Curriculum modifications
• Adaptive physical education
• Travel training; and
• Toilet training.

General Education With Special Education Teacher Support Services (Formerly Consultant Teacher and Resource Room)

Special Education Teacher Support Services are specially designed, supplemental instruction provided by a special education teacher. That teacher may work directly with a student with a disability to support participation in a general education classroom, and/or indirectly with the student’s general education teacher to adjust the learning environment and/or modify and adapt instructional techniques and methods to meet the student’s individual needs. Special education teacher support services may be provided for as few as two hours a week and as much as 50% of each day.

Collaborative Team Teaching

In Collaborative Team Teaching classrooms students with disabilities and general education students are educated together, by a full-time general education teacher and a full-time special education teacher who collaborate throughout the day. The special education teacher in the class works to adapt and modify instruction for the students with special needs. The general education teacher is responsible for assuring the entire class has access to the general education curriculum.

Twelve Month School Year Services

Students with disabilities educated in any setting may be provided with extended school year services if the IEP determines they are at risk of substantial regression during the summer months.

Transitional Support Services

Transitional support services such as consultation and/or training may be provided for a short period of time to staff working with students with disabilities as they move from self-contained settings to less restrictive classrooms.

Transition Services

For students at age 14 and updated annually, the IEP Team must develop a statement of the transition service needs that focus on the student’s course of study including long term adult outcomes and diploma objective. The team poses the question of what the student’s life will be like after high school, and what transition services s/he needs to make it as independent and fulfilling as possible. Transition services are required services for children beginning at age 15 (or younger if the IEP Team determines necessary) to help a young person develop skills to move from school to post-school activities, including but not limited to post-secondary education, vocational training, competitive employment (including supported employment), continuing or adult education, adult services, independent living or community participation. The coordinated set of services must be based upon the individual student’s needs, preferences and interests
Transition services may include, but are not limited to:

• Instructional activities provided to achieve a stated outcome
• Community-based experiences
• Post High School educational services
• Independent living skills or supports
• Acquisition of daily living skills
• Adult Services

III. SPECIAL CLASS SERVICES

Special Class Services serve students with disabilities whose needs cannot be met within the general education class, even with the supports described above. They are services provided in a self-contained classroom without non-disabled students. They may be provided part-time or full-time, and in community school districts and high schools or in specialized schools.

The Following Environments Deliver Special Class Services:

1. General Education Part-Time and Special Class Support Part-Time
2. Special Class Full-Time In Community School Districts/High Schools
3. Special Class Full-Time In Specialized School (District 75)
4. State Supported/Operated Schools and SED-Approved Non-Public Schools
5. Home/Hospital Instruction (Temporary)

Description of Special Class Service Delivery

Students will no longer be categorized as needing Modified Instructional Services (MIS) or Specialized Instructional Environments (SIE) as they currently are under the old Continuum, but some children will continue to require more individualized and structured, self-contained settings. Students must be grouped for these self-contained special class services by similarity of educational needs. Students in restrictive settings all or part of the day MUST have access to the general education curriculum and will be subject to the same state and city standardized tests (some with accommodations), unless their IEP says otherwise. Special classes may contain students with the same disability or with different disabilities as long as they have similar education needs. Generally, the greater a student’s academic and/or management needs, the more adult supervision he/she will need, so staffing intensity varies by student needs.

Below are descriptions of the Special Class by maximum sizes and staffing ratios, stated as number of students to number of teacher(s) to number of paraprofessionals. These descriptions are very general and broad; it is important to visit the class your child is offered to make sure it is appropriate for your child (see Implementation section below).

1. Special Class Ratio 12 students : 1 special education teacher (elementary and junior/middle school); 15 students : 1 special education teacher (High School)

This is a placement for students whose academic and/or behavior management needs require specialized/specially designed instruction that can best be accomplished in a self-contained setting.
2. Special Class Ratio 12 students : 1 special education teacher : 1 paraprofessional

A placement for students requiring specialized instruction that can best be accomplished in a self-contained setting and who require additional adult support due to academic and/or behavioral management needs that interfere with the instructional process.
3. Special Class Ratio 8 students :1 special education teacher :1 paraprofessional

A placement for students whose management needs are severe and chronic, requiring highly individualized instruction and intervention, intensive behavior management, and adult supervision.
4. Special Class Ratio 6 students :1 special education teacher : 1 paraprofessional

A placement for students with very high needs in most or all areas – academic, social, physical development and management -- who require intense individual programming, continual adult supervision and specific behavior management plans for aggressive, self-abusive behaviors.
5. Special Class Ratio 12 students : 1 special education teacher : 4 paraprofessionals (one paraprofessional for every three students)

A placement for students with severe and multiple disabilities, needing a program primarily of training and treatment, including training in daily living skills and the development of communication skills, sensory stimulation and therapeutic interventions.

Old Continuum

General Education with Related Services: Students in this category spend almost their entire week in the regular classroom, and are pulled out to receive related services. These services include:

• Counseling
• Speech and Language Therapy
• Physical Therapy
• Occupational Therapy (like Physical Therapy, but for more fine tuned motor skills)
• Hearing Ed. Services
• Vision Ed. Services
• Orientation and Mobility Training

General Education with Special Education Teacher Support: Students who need "readiness skills" (the ability to organize themselves and function in a regular classroom) can receive consultant teacher services in their general education classroom. This is a special education teacher that usually works a few hours a week with the student and the student's teacher to direct them on how to manage the student's needs.

General Education with Resource Room (SIS): For students with more serious adacemic difficulties, Resource Room offers a small class (up to 8 students) with a special education teacher to help the students develop their academic skills (mostly reading and math.) Resource Room is also available for children with vision and hearing difficulties.

Modified Instructional Services (MIS) Classes: These are separate classes in the community schools for students with mild disabilities. Maximum class size ranges from 15 to 18 students. The MIS classes include:

• MIS IV: For children ages 5-7 with mild disabilites,
• MIS I: For children with learning disabilites,
• MIS II: For children who are mildly "emotionally disturbed,"
• MIS III: For children who are speech and/or language impaired,
• MIS V: For children who are moderately mentally retarded,
• MIS VI & VII: For visually impaired students,
• MIS VIII: For hearing impaired students.

Specialized Instructional Environment (SIE) Classes: These are separate classes, which are usually located outside of the community schools, for children with more severe disabilities. Maximum class sizes range from 6 to 12 students. SIE classes include:

• SIE I: For children who are severely to profoundly retarded, multiply handicapped, and/or blind/deaf,
• SIE III: For children with autism,
• SIE IV: Provides career education to students 14 and up who are learning disabled, emotionally disturbed, speech impaired or mildly mentally retarded,
• SIE V: Provides occupational educational skills to children 14 and up who are mildly to moderately mentally retarded,
• SIE VI: For children with severe learning disabilities and who are "emotionally disturbed,"
• SIE VII: For children who are severely "emotionally disturbed," and
• SIE VIII: For children who are severely "emotionally disturbed" with more aggressive behaviors.

Hospital and Agency Programs: For children who are severely emotionally disturbed, there are day programs at hospital and agency sites, where the site provides a therapeutic environment and the Board of Education provides educational services.

Private Schools:

Residential Placements: Mostly for students with serious needs that can only be addressed in a 24 hour therapeutic environment, the Board of Education will provide a full time residential program at the Board's expense.

back to Information and Resources