Frequency / Duration / Location

Special Education Procedures Manual‎ > ‎Individualized Education Program (IEP)‎ > ‎

What is Required

“What is required is that the IEP include information about the amount of services that will be provided to the child, so that the level of the agency's commitment of resources will be clear to parents and other IEP Team members. The amount of time to be committed to each of the various services provided must be appropriate to the specific service, and clearly stated in the IEP in a manner that can be understood by all involved in the development and implementation of the IEP.” Federal Register, Vol. 71, No. 156, page 46667

Documenting the Frequency, Location and Duration of Related Services The Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) requires that the Individualized Education Program (IEP) for a student receiving related services contain a statement of the “anticipated frequency, location, and duration of those services, 34 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) §300.320(a)(7).

The Federal Register dated August 14, 2006, provides guidance in this area within its discussion of the comments regarding the proposed 2006 IDEA regulations. A comment to the regulations asked for clarification regarding the term duration. The response in the Federal Register was: The meaning of the term ‘‘duration’’ will vary, depending on such things as the needs of the child, the service being provided, the particular format used in an IEP, and how the child’s day and IEP are structured. What is required is that the IEP include information about the amount of services that will be provided to the child, so that the level of the agency’s commitment of resources will be clear to parents and other IEP Team members. The amount of time to be committed to each of the various services to be provided must be appropriate to the specific service, and clearly stated in the IEP in a manner that can be understood by all involved in the development and implementation of the IEP. (Federal Register, Vol 71 No 156 p. 46667)

What We Do

Requirements for Documenting the Provision of Related Services:·

Frequency – how often the child will receive the service(s) (number of times per day or week). If the service is less than daily then the conditions for the provision of the services must be clearly specified within the IEP documents using a weekly reference (ex: 1 hour per week, 30 minutes every two weeks)
Duration - how long each “session” will last (number of minutes) and when services will begin and end (starting and ending dates)
Location - where services will be provided (in the general education classroom or another setting such as a special education resource room.

When determining appropriate service times for students, service providers should report their services using specific language or lowest common denominator to clearly describe services for the student.

ELEMENTARY

An instructional year consists of 36 instructional weeks.
Previous Terminology	More Specific language or Lowest Common Denominator
Services were determined based on 9 week grading period = 4 Grading periods per year.	Services will be provided based on a 3 week (12x a year), 4 week (9x a year), or 5 week grading period (7.2x a year)
30 minutes 1x9wks = 4 sessions/year	30 min 1x9wks = 4 sessions/year
30 minutes 2x9wks = 8 sessions/year	30min 1x4wks = 9 sessions/year
30 minutes 3x9wks = 12 sessions/year	30min 1x3wks = 12 sessions/year
30 minutes 4x9wks = 16 sessions/year	30min 2x5wks = 15 sessions/year
30 minutes 5x9wks = 20 sessions/year	30min 2x4wks = 18 sessions/year
30 minutes 6x9wks = 24 sessions/year	30min 3x5wks = 22 sessions/year
30 minutes 7x9wks = 28 sessions/year	30min 3x4wks = 27 sessions/year
30 minutes 8x9wks = 32 sessions/year	30min 4x5wks = 29 sessions/year
30 minutes 9x9wks = 36 sessions/year	30min 4x4wks = 36 sessions/year 30min 5x5wks = 36 sessions/year
30 minutes 10x9wks = 40 sessions/year	30min 6x5wks = 43 sessions/year
30 minutes 11x9wks = 44 sessions/year	30min 5x4wks = 45 sessions/year
30 minutes 12x9wks = 48 sessions/year	30min 6x4wks = 48 sessions/year
30minutes 13x9wks = 52 sessions/year	30min 7x5wks = 50 sessions/year
30minutes 14x9wks = 56 sessions/year	30min 8x5wks = 57 sessions/year
30minutes 15x9wks = 60 sessions/year	30min 7x4wks = 63 sessions/year
30minutes 16x9wks = 64 sessions/year	30min 7x4wks = 63 sessions/year 30min 9x5wks = 64 sessions/year
30minutes 17x9wks = 68 sessions/year	30min 9x5wks = 64 sessions/year
30minutes 18x9wks = 72 sessions/year	30min 8x4wks = 72 sessions/year
30minutes 19x9wks = 76 sessions/year	30min 9x4wks = 81sessions/year
30minutes 20x9wks = 80 sessions/year	30min 9x4wks = 81 sessions/year
30minutes 21x9wks = 84 sessions/year	30min 7x3wks = 84 sessions/year

DESCRIPTOR OF RELATED/OTHER SERVICES SUGGESTIONS:

Please note that you are not required to see the student for 30 minutes. This is a guideline and a student can be seen more or less depending on their specific need. Please be sure to describe how the services will be implemented per service period. For example, “The student will receive direct (indirect) ____ services for 30 minutes 3 times a 4 week period. Services will be provided ___ (weekly, twice weekly, biweekly, etc) and adjusted as needed to accommodate for special student/school activities (i.e. assemblies, state testing, etc.) for 3 weeks with no direct services during the 4^th week. Weeks without direct services, will allow the service provider to collaborate with classroom teacher and/or monitor student for carryover of skills.”

SECONDARY

An instructional year consists of 36 instructional weeks.
Previous Terminology	More Specific language or Lowest Common Denominator
Services were determined based on 6 week grading period = 6 grading periods per year.	Services will be provided based on a 3 week (12x a year), 4 week (9x a year), or 5 week grading period (7.2x a year)
30 minutes 1x6wks = 6 sessions/year	30 min 1x6wks = 6 sessions/year
30 minutes 2x6wks = 12 sessions/year	30min 1x3wks = 12 sessions/year
30 minutes 3x6wks = 18 sessions/year	30min 2x4wks = 18 sessions/year
30 minutes 4x6wks = 24 sessions/year	30min 2x3wks = 24 sessions/year
30 minutes 5x6wks = 30 sessions/year	30min 3x4wks = 27 sessions/year
30 minutes 6x6wks = 36 sessions/year	30min 3x3wks = 36 sessions/year 30min 4x4wks – 36 sessions/year
30 minutes 7x6wks = 42 sessions/year	30min 6x5wks – 43 sessions/year
30 minutes 8x6wks = 48 sessions/year	30min 5x4wks = 45 sessions/year
30 minutes 9x6wks = 54 sessions/year	30min 4x3wks = 48 sessions/year
30 minutes 10x6wks = 60 sessions/year	30min 5x3wks = 60 sessions/year
30 minutes 11x6wks = 66 sessions/year	30min 9x5wks = 64 sessions/year
30 minutes 12x6wks = 72 sessions/year	30min 6x3wks = 72 sessions/year
30minutes 13x6wks = 78 sessions/year	30min 9x4wks = 81 sessions/year
30minutes 14x6wks = 84 sessions/year	30min 7x3wks = 84 sessions/year

DESCRIPTOR OF RELATED/OTHER SERVICES SUGGESTIONS:

Please note that you are not required to see the student for 30 minutes. This is a guideline and a student can be seen more or less depending on their specific need. Please be sure to describe how the services will be implemented per service period. For example, “The student will receive direct (indirect) _______ services for 30 minutes 2 times a 3 week service period. Services will be provided ______ (weekly, twice weekly, bi-weekly, etc) and adjusted as needed to accommodate for special student/school activities (i.e. assemblies, state testing, etc.) for 2 weeks with no direct services during the 3^rd week. Weeks without direct services, will allow the service provider to collaborate with classroom teacher and/or monitor student for carryover of skills.”

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