What is compensatory education (comp ed)?

Compensatory services are extra services provided by school districts to compensate for gaps in a students’ learning. Broadly speaking, if a student doesn’t receive a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) as outlined in their IEP, that student has a right to compensatory education. Dr. Sarah Pelangka sums it up this way:

“Compensatory education is whenever FAPE has been denied on the basis that either the district failed to properly develop the IEP or they violated the IEP.”

For example, if a child’s school completes a triennial assessment, but parents find that the triennial failed to assess the student in all areas of need, they can request additional assessments. If the district agrees to the additional assessments, and those assessments find that the student qualifies for additional services, the district would then owe compensatory services to make up for the time lost.