Scheduling pull-out services without missing core instruction

By the IEP Atlas editorial teamLast updated November 1, 2026

Short answer

To schedule pull-out services without missing core instruction, map the student's full week, mark core instruction as protected, and rank the other times from least to most costly to miss. Place each session in the least costly slot that fits the provider's schedule, rotate sessions that must touch a class, and check the finished week against the IEP before the schedule starts.

Pull-out services take a student out of the general classroom. Every minute in the resource room or speech room is a minute missed somewhere else. The job of the case manager is to make sure that "somewhere else" is never the core instruction the student most needs, especially the subject the service is meant to support.

The IEP states the frequency, location and duration of each service.^[1] It also has to explain the extent, if any, to which the student will not participate with nondisabled children in the regular class.^[1] A sloppy pull-out schedule quietly makes that number larger than it needs to be. For the decision to pull out at all, see push-in vs pull-out services. For the building-level timetable, see building a special education master schedule.

What you need before you start

The student's IEP services page, with every pull-out row.
The student's class schedule for the full week, including specials and lunch.
Each provider's days and open windows.
The general education teacher's weekly plan, so you know when new content is taught and when it is practice.

The steps and how long each takes

Step	What you do	Time it takes
1. Map the week	Lay out the student's day in 15-minute blocks for 5 days	15 minutes
2. Protect core	Mark core instruction in reading, writing and math, plus the subject each service supports	5 minutes
3. Rank the rest	Rate other times from least to most costly to miss	10 minutes, with the teacher
4. Get provider windows	Collect each provider's open slots	1 email; replies in 1 to 3 days
5. Place sessions	Put each session in the lowest-cost slot that both sides share	20 minutes
6. Rotate the hard ones	Rotate any session that must overlap a class	10 minutes
7. Check against the IEP	Confirm minutes, group size, location and time in general education	10 minutes
8. Share and review	Send the schedule to the teacher, provider and family; review in 4 weeks	15 minutes, then 10 minutes at review

About 90 minutes of work up front for one student, plus a short review later. The time is repaid the first time a parent asks why their child misses math.

Step-by-step

Step 1: Map the week

Use a grid of 15-minute blocks for Monday to Friday. Fill in every class, special, lunch, recess and transition. Mark days that differ, such as early release Wednesdays.

Step 2: Protect core

Shade core reading, writing and math instruction. Also shade the subject each service is meant to help: a student pulled from math to work on math skills loses the very teaching the service supports.

Step 3: Rank the rest

With the classroom teacher, rate every unshaded block:

Cost to miss	Typical times
Lowest	Intervention or WIN block, morning work, independent reading, study hall
Low	Unstructured practice, centers that repeat the week's skill
Medium	Science or social studies on non-lab days
High	New content in science or social studies, labs
Avoid	Specials the student relies on, lunch and recess, unless the IEP or the family agrees

Lunch and recess are not free time to take. They are often where the student practices social skills with peers.

Step 4: Get provider windows

Send each provider the student's ranked grid and ask for their open slots. Providers who serve several schools may only have 2 days. Start with them.

Step 5: Place sessions

Fill the lowest-cost slots first, with the provider who has the fewest days. Then fill the rest.

Step 6: Rotate the hard ones

If a session must overlap a class, rotate it across the week or the month so the student does not miss the same content every time. A Monday-Wednesday slot that alternates between 9:30 and 1:15 spreads the cost across two subjects.

Step 7: Check against the IEP

Count the minutes for each service. Check group size and location. Recalculate the time in general education and compare it with the IEP.

Send the schedule to everyone involved. Ask the teacher to flag any week where the student misses something important. Review in 4 weeks using the providers' logs.

Worked example

This is a fictional, illustrative case.

Student: Sofia, 5th grade. Day: 8:30 to 3:00. Core: ELA 8:45 to 10:15, math 12:30 to 1:30. Intervention block 10:20 to 11:00. Science or social studies 1:35 to 2:20. Independent reading 2:25 to 2:55.

Pull-out rows on the IEP:

Service	Frequency	Minutes per week
Reading SDI	4 x 30 min	120
Written expression SDI	2 x 30 min	60
Speech-language therapy	2 x 30 min	60
Counseling	1 x 30 min	30

Total pull-out: 270 minutes a week.

First draft (copied from last year). Reading SDI at 9:00 daily during ELA, writing SDI at 1:00 during math, speech at 1:45 during science. Sofia missed 120 minutes of core ELA, 60 of core math and 60 of science each week.

Rebuilt schedule:

Reading SDI: Monday to Thursday, 10:25 to 10:55, intervention block. Core missed: 0.
Written expression SDI: Tuesday and Thursday, 2:25 to 2:55, independent reading. Core missed: 0.
Speech: The SLP is in the building Monday and Wednesday only, and her intervention-block slots are full. Monday is placed at 2:25 (independent reading) every week. On Wednesday the SLP's 2:25 slot is free only every other week, so Wednesday alternates between 2:25 and 1:50 (social studies). Core missed: 0; social studies missed: 30 minutes every other week.
Counseling: Friday 10:25 to 10:55, intervention block. Core missed: 0.

Check against the IEP. All 270 minutes placed. Sofia now misses no core ELA or math. The only content time missed is about 15 minutes a week of social studies on average, and the social studies teacher sends the notes for those days.

Four-week review. The SLP's log shows 2 Wednesday sessions coded "PC" (provider conflict) because IEP meetings for this school were set on Wednesday afternoons. The case manager asks the office to book that SLP's meetings on Tuesdays, and both missed sessions are made up the following week.

Common mistakes

Weak: Copying last year's times forward. Better: Rebuilding from the new class schedule every year.

Weak: Pulling a student from math to work on math goals. Better: Scheduling math SDI in the intervention block or as push-in during math.

Weak: Taking lunch or recess because it is "free." Better: Treating lunch and recess as time with peers, used only with team agreement.

Weak: Same slot during the same class all year. Better: Rotating sessions that must touch a class.

Weak: No review after the schedule starts. Better: A 4-week check using the providers' service log status codes to find slots that keep failing.

The IEP service log template shows a filled log with those codes. For how SLPs handle their side of the puzzle, see SLP caseload management.

Frequently asked questions

Can a student be pulled out of core instruction for services?

Sometimes it cannot be avoided, but it should be the last option, and never from the subject the service supports if another slot exists. If it happens, rotate the time and tell the family which class is affected.

Who decides when pull-out services happen?

The IEP sets how often, how long and where. The exact time slot is usually set by the case manager and providers with the classroom teacher. Families should be told the schedule and can raise concerns.

What if a provider only has slots during core classes?

Raise it with the building administrator. It is a scheduling problem for the school to solve, for example by changing the provider's days or adding an intervention block, not a reason to cut the student's minutes.

Use it in IEP Atlas

Sources

34 CFR §300.320: Definition of individualized education program, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School

Written and checked by the IEP Atlas editorial team under our editorial policy. This guide describes general practice and federal rules. It is not legal advice; your state may add requirements, and the IEP team makes the decisions for each student.