Disciplined Students Were Primarily Placed in In-School Suspension Rooms and Out-of-School Suspensions at Home

Disciplined special education students were primarily placed in one of two  short-term disciplinary settings: in-school suspension rooms or out-of  school suspension at home, according to survey respondents in three  selected states. Because most disciplined special education  students were generally removed for short periods of time, these two  short-term disciplinary settings were the most frequently used. In addition to the length of the student’s removal, school and district  administrators reported considering several other factors when making  placement decisions, including the cumulative number of days the student  had been removed during the school year, the cost and availability of  placement options, and the student’s offense. Schools and School Districts Provided a Range of Services to Disciplined Special Education Students

In the 2001-2002 school year, schools and school district officials in the  three states that we studied reported providing a range of services to  disciplined special education students. However, how schools and school  districts provided educational and other services varied significantly. In another district,  educational services in disciplinary settings included active instruction,  such as tutoring by special education instructional personnel. Education’s Guidance and Oversight of Disciplinary Placements Has Been Limited

Education provided guidance and oversight to states and school districts  for disciplinary placements of special education students 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. In addition, Education’s oversight system may not  detect possible noncompliance. Education’s next generation oversight system,  known as the Continuous Improvement and Focused Monitoring System,  has been recently approved by the department and will be implemented in  calendar year 2003, according to Education officials. However, according to some state and local education  officials, this guidance was not specific enough. However, some school and district  officials indicated that being provided with examples that illustrate how to  determine whether the days of in-school suspension should be counted as  days of removal under the 10-day rule would assist them in ensuring that  disciplined special education students are not without their IEP services  for more than 10 cumulative days in a school year. In addition, Education plans to conduct site visits in  selected states to validate data used by the system to make federal  oversight decisions. Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

The Ranking Minority Member of the Senate Committee on Health,  Education, Labor and Pensions asked GAO to determine: (1) where special  education students are placed when they are removed from their  educational settings for disciplinary purposes; (2) to what extent local  school districts in selected states continue educational services for special  education students who are placed in disciplinary settings while they are  disciplined and what types of services are provided; and (3) how  Education provides support and oversight for disciplinary placements  used for special education students. To respond to this inquiry, we conducted an in-depth review of the use of  disciplinary placements for special education students at middle and high  schools in three states—Illinois, Maryland, and North Carolina. These  states were selected because they represented different levels of  disciplinary activity, such as the number and percent of special education  students who were disciplined and the number of disciplined special  education students who were removed from their educational settings on  either a short-term (10 days or less) or long-term (more than 10 days)  basis.
Why GAO Did This Study

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. Congress 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.

What GAO Found

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.