How to Read an IEP: Missouri
Understanding Hours, Services, Placement, and Least Restrictive Environment
Missouri IEP Guide: Hours, Services, and Related Services
What is the hours and services section of an IEP?
This is the part of the IEP that tells you how many hours of special education and related services a student will receive– and where they will be receiving them. Typically, special education services, also known as specially designed instruction, is kept separate from related services. In special education services, you should see the total number of push in hours (aka hours of support in general education) separate from total number of pull out hours (aka hours in a separate classroom). You should also see who is providing those supports. Some districts put paraprofessional support under related services. Some under special education services. In either case, under special education hours you should see where and how much services are being provided and who will be providing them. For funsies, some districts also specify what the services are for, like reading, writing, or math– although that is pretty rare.
Then there is normally a separate box that has related services. Related services include nursing, transportation, occupational therapy, psychological services, counseling, speech and language pathology…. And more. If a student qualifies for any of these, the provider has to enter the hours of support they will offer and where they will offer it. Transportation is pretty straight forward. It’s daily and just means bussing. The others can get complicated. For example, a speech pathologist can see a student for direct services or for consult. Direct services means that the SLP has scheduled hours they meet with the student (once a week for 30 minutes; once a month for 30; whatever). Consult means that the SLP is playing problem solver. They might meet directly with a student, but only as needed. Mostly they are serving as a knowledge base when the student’s teachers are hitting issues. They monitor and provide consultation as needed.
Where are the hours and services found in an IEP?
Weirdly, hours are normally at the very beginning or very end of an IEP. Districts seem split on that– but they rarely appear in the middle.
How do services and hours vary across states and districts?
The big question here is why do some students get occupational therapy and some don’t– and why do some get services in general education and others are pulled out. There are a lot of differences in how special education is structured between schools, districts, and states. We are working on putting up some case studies of different ways that special education can be structured. This section, however, focuses on how the section is set up in the IEP and how that might look different in different places.
I cannot fathom why one district will do minutes per day, another hours per year, and another minutes per month. It is so confusing and I always wind up needing a calculator when I look at a different district’s IEP! So the first thing to check for is how the service frequency is written. Also, some districts write services in two lines– one pre summer break and one for after summer break. That just means that the district is worried that if they write services for the year, someone will think they are supposed to provide services over the summer. Note that this is false– unless a student has Extended School Year (ESY) no one reasonably thinks you are providing services over the summer…. But still some districts split hours. So expect the service units (minutes, hours), time frame (weeks, day, month, year) to vary a lot, along with how the hours are broken up. Also, hours can be at the beginning or end of an IEP so good luck! I often have to hunt for hours, which should be the most basic part of an IEP. Every IEP, however, will have a student’s hours and the settings where they will be delivered, with hours in general education and in special education settings listed separately.
This IEP comes from the Missouri Department of Education. See the full IEP here.
Because the images are hard to read, a transcript is below.
5. Services Summary
Total Building Minutes: = 1,875 min WKLY
| Special Education Services | Amount | Frequency | Location | Begin Date* | End Date* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Specialized instruction in written expression | 50 min | Daily | ☑ sped | — | — |
| Specialized instruction in math calculations | 50 min | Daily | ☑ sped | — | — |
| Specialized instruction in functional life skills | 50 min | Daily | ☑ sped | — | — |
| Specialized instruction in reading comprehension | 50 min | Daily | ☑ sped | — | — |
| Specialized instruction in work skills | 122 min | Daily | ☑ community based | — | — |
Related Services
☑ None
Supplementary Aids/Services
☑ None
Program Modifications and Accommodations
☑ Documented on alternate Form F
☐ None
Supports for School Personnel
☑ Documented on alternate Form F
☐ None
If you are a parent, look for whether the hours seem appropriate for your child’s need. For example, if the child is functioning three grade levels below and the special education services are 20 minutes a week, it seems like that is not likely to be enough to provide what your child needs. You should also be looking at where services are provided– is your child getting pulled out all? Are they mostly in their general education classroom? As an IEP team member, you have the right to push back and say you want more services or want your child in general education more. Also, who is providing services? Is it a paraprofessional? If so, who are they? Are they trained? Ask questions! You have a right to know who is working with your child and how they will know what to do.
If you are a teacher, look at the hours closely. Pull means time a student will miss from your class. When will that be? You want to negotiate that! If you are an elementary teacher, you don’t want a student missing core math instruction for example. Push in means time you will get support. Do you want time during art? Probably not. You need to speak up and say when you need that time. Let’s be real. Scheduling is a beast and you might get ignored– but the squeaky wheel gets the grease so speak up! Also, hours are written at the annual IEP due date. That might be March– and the student in your class in September. Are those hours right? Are they what the student is getting now? Are they what the student needs? If not, speak up. IEPs can always be amended and the hours should reflect what a student needs and is getting now– not what they came up with last year.
Missouri IEP Guide: Placement and Least Restrictive Environment
What is the placement and least restrictive environment section of an IEP?
This is a weird section that appears on some IEPs. Basically, every student is required to be educated in the least restrictive environment possible. That means that every district is legally required to report to federal government what amount of students’ time is spent with general education peers and what part is spent in special education only settings. Many districts will calculate this number for you based on service hours. The program will automatically add up the number of minutes a student is getting services in a separate setting (special education class) based on the hours of service and spit out a placement percentage (82% included, 35 hours in general education, or something like that). Other districts use ooooooold software programs that can’t calculate that and so they make the general education teacher manually add up the number of hours in special education and general education settings. Note that special education teachers seem to be really bad at mathematics and so these often don’t match the hours of service. That’s why districts have switched to more sophisticated programs– eventually this as a separate, manually entered section will vanish from all IEPs.
Where is placement and LRE found in an IEP?
Anywhere. Often at the end of service hours, on the front page, or at the end of the IEP.
How does placement and LRE vary across districts and states?
This varies so much! You might not see this on an IEP at all, it might be a small box, or it might be a big section that the parent has to sign separately from the IEP. TBH it depends on how antiquated the software the district uses is. Yay for upgrades.
This IEP comes from the Missouri Department of Education. See the full IEP here.
Because the images are hard to read, transcripts from them are below.
7. Regular Education Participation
Extent of Participation in Regular Education
For Preschool:
Will all of this child’s special education and related services be provided with non-disabled peers in a regular education setting (designed primarily for children without disabilities)?
☐ Yes
☑ No
If no:
a. To what extent will the child not receive special education and related services in a regular education setting?
(minutes or % of special education and related service minutes on the IEP in special education settings)
47%
b. Describe the reasons why the IEP team determined that provision of services in the regular education setting was not appropriate for the child.
Student A requires specialized instruction within a small group setting due to the intensity of the need to work on functional skills. She is unable to read and comprehend material at the pace of her peers, requires small group instruction for her academic subjects, and support in her elective courses with the general population. Due to her academic needs, Student A requires modifications and accommodations to complete most of her coursework, as well as some tasks related to her job at the hospital. Student A is also working on her personal skill in self-awareness.
Participation in Physical Education
The student will participate in:
☐ Regular physical education
☐ Regular physical education with accommodations as addressed in this IEP
☐ Adapted physical education (includes special PE, adapted PE, movement education and motor development)
☑ No physical education activities are required for one of the following reasons:
☑ Credit already earned
☐ Credit waived
☐ Child is preschool age
☐ Other: _______
Participation in Program Options, Nonacademic, and Extracurricular Activities
The district assures that this student will have an equal opportunity to participate in program options, nonacademic and/or extracurricular activities and services offered by the district.
8. Placement Considerations and Decision
This section is a SUMMARY of all of the following: Present Level of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance, goals, objectives/benchmarks (if applicable), characteristics of services, adaptations, and special education and related services information.
Annual Consideration of Placement
For ECSE: At least annually the IEP team must consider whether all the special education and related services will be provided with non-disabled peers in a regular education setting (designed primarily for children without disabilities).
For K-12: At least annually, the IEP team must consider if the IEP goals can be met with services provided 100% of the time in the regular education environment.
Check all placement options that were considered for the provision of special education and related services (for K-12, Inside regular class at least 80% of time must be checked. For preschool an EC setting must be checked).
Check the one placement option that was selected.
Placement Continuum (K-12)
| Considered | Selected | Placement Option |
|---|---|---|
| ☑ | ☑ | Inside regular class at least 80% of time |
| ☑ | ☐ | Inside regular class 40% to 79% of time |
| ☑ | ☐ | Inside regular class less than 40% of time |
| ☐ | ☐ | Public separate school (day) facility |
| ☐ | ☐ | Private separate school (day) facility |
| ☐ | ☐ | Public residential facility |
| ☐ | ☐ | Private residential facility |
| ☐ | ☐ | Homebound/hospital |
Placement Options (ECSE)
| Considered | Selected | Placement Option |
|---|---|---|
| ☐ | ☐ | Early childhood setting |
| ☐ | ☐ | Early childhood special education |
| ☐ | ☐ | Home |
| ☐ | ☐ | Part-time early childhood/Part-time early childhood special education |
| ☐ | ☐ | Residential facility |
| ☐ | ☐ | Separate school |
| ☐ | ☐ | Itinerant service outside the home |
For K-12 students:
Is this student’s placement as close as possible to the child’s home and/or in the school he/she would attend if nondisabled?
☑ Yes
☐ No
If you are a parent, look for whether the hours seem appropriate for your child’s need. For example, if the child is functioning three grade levels below and the special education services are 20 minutes a week, it seems like that is not likely to be enough to provide what your child needs. You should also be looking at where services are provided– is your child getting pulled out all? Are they mostly in their general education classroom? As an IEP team member, you have the right to push back and say you want more services or want your child in general education more. Also, who is providing services? Is it a paraprofessional? If so, who are they? Are they trained? Ask questions! You have a right to know who is working with your child and how they will know what to do.
If you are a teacher, look at the hours closely. Pull means time a student will miss from your class. When will that be? You want to negotiate that! If you are an elementary teacher, you don’t want a student missing core math instruction for example. Push in means time you will get support. Do you want time during art? Probably not. You need to speak up and say when you need that time. Let’s be real. Scheduling is a beast and you might get ignored– but the squeaky wheel gets the grease so speak up! Also, hours are written at the annual IEP due date. That might be March– and the student in your class in September. Are those hours right? Are they what the student is getting now? Are they what the student needs? If not, speak up. IEPs can always be amended and the hours should reflect what a student needs and is getting now– not what they came up with last year.
