Criteria for Determining Eligibility for Extended School Year Services

Extended school year (ESY) services has been an understudied area of special education research. There is limited information available regarding ESY practices by local education agencies (LEAs) in determining eligibility as well as who receives what types of services. We surveyed special education directors across the nation to examine ESY practices by LEAs. Most notably, approximately two out of three special education directors (63%) reported that ESY services were only received by students in self-contained classrooms in their LEA. These LEAs that had no students outside of a self-contained classroom receiving ESY services also had a significantly lower percentage of students receiving ESY services as a whole. We recommend that this practice be discouraged as it effectively excludes students in inclusive settings who could benefit from ESY services and can steer parents away from inclusive placements if ESY services in the future will cease.