Special Education Placement Options in Pennsylvania

In an effort to hold schools responsible for educating students in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE), Pennsylvania requires that Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) categorize the type of special education supports and services a student receives as Full-time, Supplemental, or Itinerant.

Full-time supports and services are provided by special education personnel for 80% or more of the school day. Supplemental means that special education supports and services are provided by special education personnel for more than 20% of the day, but less than 80% of the school day. Itinerant supports and services are provided by special education personnel for 20% or less of the school day. The amount of special education supports refers to the total amount of time in a typical school day that the student receives special education supports from special education teachers and related services providers; services by paraprofessionals are not included.

Additionally, Pennsylvania requires schools to report the percentage of time students spend inside the regular classroom. Pennsylvania aggregates this information for all students receiving special education throughout the state and sends the data to the federal government. Collecting this information is called Penn Data Reporting. You will find this in Section VIII of your child’s IEP.