The
Fly Paper 
A bulletin from the director on those sticky issues in special education
March 21, 2005
Extended School Year (ESY)
23 Illinois Administrative Code Section 226.75 defines extended school year (ESY) services as, “special education and related services that are provided to a child with a disability beyond the normal school year of the public agency in accordance with the child’s IEP and at no cost to the parents of the child and meets the requirements of Section 226.750 (c) of this part.” As a refresher to the information that was shared at the district-wide department meeting back in September of this school year I offer the following points:
- No single factor is determinative of the need for Extended School Year services. Extended School Year services must be provided only if the child’s IEP team, on an individual basis and in accordance with the district’s IEP procedures, determines that ESY services are necessary to insure a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) (34 CFR 300.309). As with all IEP decisions, the final determination of what services will be provided must be individually determined based on the needs of the student.
- The determination of whether or not a student will qualify for ESY is made by the IEP team, including the parents/guardians. Every student with an IEP must have ESY addressed at his/her annual review/IEP meeting. This includes children receiving speech and language services only, LD resource kids, etc.
- ESY is to be provided for students who demonstrate significant problems with regression and recoupment related to their progress on IEP annual goals. In order to be considered for ESY based on regression and recoupment, the following must be answered “yes”:
- During periods of non instruction (the winter break, 3 or 4-day weekends, spring break, etc.) does the child return to school showing excessive regression in skills related to his/her IEP goals?
- Once the child has returned to school after a break, and demonstrating significant regression on IEP goals, does the amount of time it takes to re-teach lost skills limit the student’s ability to learn NEW skills?
If the answers to those questions are yes, then the child should be considered eligible for ESY services. In other words, what is the relative impact of short breaks on the student’s performance?
Reliable sources of information for determining the factors relative to a student’s eligibility for ESY include: 1) Progress on goals in consecutive IEPs; 2) progress reports maintained by teachers and others having direct contact with the student before and after interruptions in the educational program; 3) observations and opinions from teachers, parents and others, and 4) results of criterion referenced tests, assessments and other equivalent measures.
We all know of students who, when they return to school from a break, seem to have forgotten everything about any of the skills related to their IEP, and virtually everything that has been taught up to that time in the school year. And, typically that is the same student that seems to take weeks (not days) to regain those same IEP related skills. They are often the students for whom you send IEP related work home over a break so that you hope he/she will come back at least remembering some of the skills you have been covering in class.
- ESY is meant to provide for the maintenance of acquired skills and knowledge NOT the acquisition or continued development of new skills.
- ESY is not to be provided simply because parents want an option for their child during the summer, or because parents are looking for extended summer childcare.
- Once the child’s IEP team has determined the need for ESY services, the IEP must reflect: 1) the specific ESY service(s) to be provided with a link to a measurable goal, short-term objective or benchmark; 2) who will be providing the service; 3) the amount of time the service(s) will be offered; 4) how the service(s) will be delivered (direct or consultation); 5) where the service(s) will be provided (LRE); and 6) how the service(s) will be evaluated.
- What questions might the IEP team ask to determine on an individual basis the need for extended school year services?
1. Does regression/recoupment data suggest that this student’s skill losses over breaks are excessive and that it takes an unacceptably long period of time for lost skills to be regained upon return?
2. Would the time needed to re-teach lost skills limit the student’s ability to learn NEW skills?
3. To what extent does this student lose skills if those skills are not practiced during the school year?
4. What is the relative impact of short breaks on student performance?
5. At what rate did the student make progress on existing IEP goals?
6. To what extent were IEP goals met?
7. Is there any pattern to the timing of the progress (or lack of progress) that would indicate the need for ESY services?
8. Does the student make progress at expected levels given the nature/severity of his/her disability?
9. What else is significant about the nature and severity of the child’s disability? For example, could ESY services markedly slow the rate of degeneration anticipated due to a student’s medical condition?
10. Are there any other individual circumstances that make the provision of the ESY services critical so that this child can learn or participate in school activities upon return to school?
You should be able to gather some meaningful data prior to, and upon return from the upcoming week long spring break. Students who are able to go on break and return with some loss of IEP related skills, but seem to recover reasonably quickly, should not be considered eligible for ESY. Please work with your Special Education Coordinator when eligibility for ESY is being considered for a student.