The special education service delivery continuum
By the IEP Atlas editorial teamLast updated
Short answer
Special education service delivery models run along a continuum from the least to the most separate: consultation, supports in the general classroom, co-teaching, push-in, pull-out resource, special classes, separate schools, and home or hospital instruction. Federal law requires districts to have the full continuum available, and the IEP team picks the model for each service from the student's needs, not from what a building already offers.
A service delivery model is the way a district gets a service to a student: who provides it, where and in what group. Districts must make a continuum of alternative placements available, from regular classes to special classes, special schools, home instruction and hospital instruction, with supplementary services such as resource room or itinerant instruction alongside regular class placement.[1] Each student's placement is decided at least yearly, based on the IEP, as close to home as possible.[2]
The continuum exists because of the least restrictive environment rule. Students with disabilities are educated with nondisabled peers to the maximum extent appropriate, and removal happens only when the nature or severity of the disability means education in regular classes with supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily.[3] For how each service lands on the IEP, see the pillar on IEP services and minutes.
The continuum at a glance
| Model | What it looks like | Typical provider | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Consultation | Specialist works with the teacher; little or no direct time with the student | Special educator, SLP, OT, PT, behavior specialist | General classroom or planning time |
| Supports in general education | Accommodations, supplementary aids, para support, peer supports | General educator, para under direction | General classroom |
| Co-teaching | Two teachers share one class daily | General and special educator | General classroom |
| Push-in | Specialist delivers a service inside the class | Special educator, SLP, OT | General classroom |
| Pull-out resource | Small-group instruction outside the class for part of the day | Special educator, related service provider | Resource room |
| Special class, part or most of the day | Students with IEPs taught together for core subjects | Special educator with paras | Special education classroom in a general school |
| Separate school | Public or private day school for students with intensive needs | Specialized staff | Separate building |
| Residential | Education and care in a residential setting | Specialized staff | Residential facility |
| Home or hospital instruction | Instruction where the student is, often short term | Itinerant teacher | Home or hospital |
The first five rows usually keep the student in a general education placement. The model is chosen per service, so one student can have co-taught English, pull-out reading and OT consultation at once. The push-in vs pull-out guide compares the two most common direct models, and co-teaching models covers the six ways a co-taught class can run.
How placement is reported
Districts report each student's time inside the regular class to the state using bands: 80% or more of the day, 40% to 79%, and less than 40%, plus separate schools, residential facilities and home or hospital settings. NCES publishes the national picture from these reports.[4] The time-in-general-education figure is calculated from the location field on the services page, which is why the location must be exact.
One student across four years
This is a fictional, illustrative case. It shows a student moving both ways along the continuum.
Student: Andre, identified with a specific learning disability in reading and written expression in 2nd grade.
2nd grade, October 2023. Reading: 22 words correct per minute in grade 2 text. Services: pull-out reading SDI 5 times a week, 45 minutes; writing SDI push-in 3 times a week, 30 minutes. Time in general education: about 88% of a 1,950-minute week. Andre spends 225 minutes a week in the resource room.
3rd grade, October 2024. Reading: 61 words correct per minute. Progress is strong, but the gap to grade level remains. The team keeps pull-out reading at 4 times a week, 40 minutes, and moves writing to co-taught ELA. Time in general education rises to about 92%.
4th grade, spring 2025. Andre starts refusing work and leaving class. An FBA finds escape from long writing tasks. The team adds a behavior support plan and adult support during writing, a supplementary service, before considering more pull-out. They write it into the IEP as a 6-week trial with data: on-task intervals during writing, taken twice weekly.
5th grade, October 2026. On-task data improved from 35% of intervals to 80%. Reading: 98 words correct per minute. The team reduces pull-out reading to 3 times a week, 30 minutes, and fades the writing support to a check-in at the start of writing. Time in general education: about 95%.
At no point did a building's program decide Andre's model. Each change came from data and the question the LRE rule asks: can this goal be met in the general classroom with supports?
Rules and where states differ
| Topic | Federal rule | Where states differ |
|---|---|---|
| Continuum must exist | Yes, regular class to hospital and home[1] | States name and code the models differently |
| Placement basis | Decided by a group including the parents, based on the IEP, reviewed at least yearly[2] | Some states require a separate placement form |
| Nonacademic settings | Students take part with nondisabled peers to the maximum extent appropriate[5] | Rules on lunch, recess and electives vary in detail |
| Co-teaching | Not defined in federal rules | Some states have co-teaching guidance or count it differently in data |
| Caseload or class size limits | Not set federally | Many states set limits for some models; many do not. See caseload caps |
| Reporting bands | Federal data collection uses time-in-regular-class bands | State systems compute the percentage differently |
Questions for administrators planning a program
- Does every building offer the models students actually need, or do students move schools to reach a model?
- Are students placed in a model because a program has open seats? That reverses the order the rule requires.
- Can the master schedule support pull-out without removing students from core instruction? See building a special education master schedule.
- Does a service matrix show, for each staff member, which model they deliver and to whom?
The CPIR guide on considering LRE in placement decisions is a plain-language reference to share with teams.[6]
Frequently asked questions
Is inclusion a service delivery model?
Inclusion usually describes the goal of educating students with disabilities in general education with the supports they need. Co-teaching, push-in and supplementary aids are the service models that make it work.
Can a student be in more than one model at once?
Yes. Models are chosen per service. A student may have co-taught math, pull-out reading and consultation from an OT, each written as its own row on the services page.
Who chooses the service delivery model?
The IEP team, including the parents, based on the student's needs and the least restrictive environment rule. The choice should not depend on which programs a building happens to have.
Use it in IEP Atlas
- LRE in the IEP glossary
- Continuum of placements in the IEP glossary
- Service minutes in the IEP glossary
- Resource room in the IEP glossary
- Self contained classroom in the IEP glossary
Related guides
- IEP services and minutes: how to write the services page
- Service matrix template for a resource program
- Building a special education master schedule
- Caseload caps and staffing ratios by model
- Co-teaching models explained
- Least restrictive environment, with examples
Sources
- 34 CFR §300.115: Continuum of alternative placements, U.S. Department of Education (IDEA website)
- 34 CFR §300.116: Placements, U.S. Department of Education (IDEA website)
- 34 CFR §300.114: LRE requirements, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
- Students With Disabilities (Condition of Education), National Center for Education Statistics
- 34 CFR §300.117: Nonacademic settings, U.S. Department of Education (IDEA website)
- Considering LRE in Placement Decisions, CPIR
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.