How is the Extent of Non-Participation in General Education calculated in an IEP?

IDEA requires that IEPs include “an explanation of the extent, if any, to which the child will not participate with nondisabled children in the regular class and . . . activities (P.L. 108-44 20 USC 1414 (D) (1) (a) (V)). For example, if a student is receiving services from the speech pathologist to work on articulation, and counseling services to work on emotion regulation, the student may leave the general education classroom to receive those services. The IEP team would then calculate the number of minutes the student is pulled out of the general education classroom each week. The total number of minutes a student is not in general education per week is then calculated into a percentage of time per day. This amount of time outside of general education must be justified and based on the individual student's needs. The reason for removal should not be based on disability label, availability of services or settings, tradition, or preference alone.

For more details, see our article Key Parts of an IEP.