Report to the Ranking Minority

Report to the Ranking Minority

Member, Committee on Health,

Education, Labor and Pensions,

U.S. Senate

United States General Accounting Office

GAO

May 2003

SPECIAL

EDUCATION

Clearer Guidance

Would Enhance

Implementation of

Federal Disciplinary

Provisions

GAO-03-550

In the districts and schools in the three states GAO studied, disciplined

Special education students were primarily placed in in-school suspension

Rooms or out-of-school suspensions at home, according to survey

Respondents. These short-term settings were used most frequently because

Most of the special education students in these schools and districts were

Removed from their regular educational settings for periods of 10 days or

Less, according to respondents. Special education students who were

removed for longer than 10 days were primarily placed in alternative schools

Or homebound placements. In addition to considering the length of the

Student's removal when deciding where to place disciplined special

Education students, school and district officials considered the cost and

Availability of placement options and the nature of the student's offense and

Corresponding disciplinary action.

Schools and school district officials in the three states reported that they

provided a range of services to disciplined special education students.

However, how the schools and school districts provided these services

varied significantly. For example, some school districts used self-paced

instructional packages to provide educational services to disciplined special

education students. Other school districts, however, used tutoring by special

education instructional personnel to provide educational services for similar

students. In addition to educational services, some disciplined special

education students had access to other services such as counseling.

The Department of Education provided guidance and oversight to states and

school districts for special education disciplinary placements by providing

information on federal requirements and reviewing state self-assessments,

improvement plans, and data and conducting on-site data collection visits in

selected states. However, according to some state and local officials, this

guidance has not been specific enough. In particular, the regulations do not

provide illustrative examples specifying whether the days of in-school

suspension should be counted as days of removal under the 10-day rule. In

addition, Education's IDEA oversight system may not detect possible

noncompliance because it relies on state monitoring efforts, including state

self-assessments and discipline data that have been shown to contain some

inaccuracies. Education's next generation of its oversight system has

recently been approved by the department and will be implemented in

calendar year 2003. This new oversight system includes a component to

validate data used by the system to make federal oversight decisions.

In the 2000-01 school year, more

than 91,000 special education

students were removed from their

educational settings for

disciplinary reasons. Under the

Individuals with Disabilities

Education Act (IDEA), schools are

required to provide educational

services to special education

students who are removed from

their educational settings for more

than 10 days in a school year.

The Committee's Ranking Minority

Member asked GAO to determine

where disciplined special

education students are placed, the

extent to which local school

districts continue educational

services for these students, and

how the U.S. Department of

Education provides support and

oversight for special education

disciplinary placements. To

address these objectives, GAO

conducted a study, using surveys

and site-visits, of special education

disciplinary placements in three

states--Illinois, Maryland, and

North Carolina.

GAO recommends that the

Secretary of Education issue

supplemental