MADDIE DALY Armstrong vs. Kline

Before the lawsuit… Background information- 5 plaintiffs, all severely handicapped, attending school in Pennsylvania. Severely handicapped students often regress during the summer break and lose some of their acquired skills from the previous school year, so the plaintiffs wanted to extend their school year. Before filing a lawsuit some of the plaintiffs tried to challenge the 180 day school year rule.  Gary and the due process hearing

Armstrong vs. Kline five handicapped children and their parents filed three class action lawsuits against the then Secretary of Education (Caryl Kline). The plaintiffs argued that the 180 day rule violates their rights under the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, Section 504, Equal Protection under the 14 th amendment, and state laws.

What was the defendants side? The defendants acknowledged the plaintiff expert’s testimony that severely impaired children do regress during breaks, but they attributed it to other reasons. They concluded that the absence of programming over the summer is of no significance.

Court Ruling The court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs. The 180 day rule violated the plaintiffs protection under the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, so it was not necessary to address the other alleged violations. The Pennsylvania schools must provide extended school year services to those students in special education.

What does the literature say about ESY? Olmi and colleagues study: Schools use regression/recoupment eligibility for determining ESY services Children who are emotionally disturbed, multiply disabled, and learning disabled are less likely to receive ESY services The larger the school district, the more likely a student is to receive ESY services

What does ESY help with? ESY was generally effective in maintaining skills, and particularly decreasing hyperactivity and noncompliance (Cross, 2013). Full time ESY was the most helpful in increasing community self sufficiency when compared with no ESY and part time ESY (Eicher, 1989). ESY helps prevent students with learning disorders from experiencing regression in reading skills (Cornelius & Semmel, 2001).

ESY and School Psychology Extends the job of the school psychologist to coordinating IEP’s over the summer, helping teachers, and being knowledgeable about ESY Another way to help struggling students make more progress May help in the long run to reduce amount of effort devoted to recoupment

Who gets ESY? Anyone eligible for special education is eligible to receive extended school year services. The decision is made by the IEP team, and is usually based on:  The nature of the student’s disability  Degree of regression and recoupment  Degree of progress towards IEP goals

ESY in Indiana Each public agency must:  “ensure that extended school year services are available as necessary to provide free appropriate public education  provide extended school year services only if a student's CCC determines, on an individual basis, that the services are necessary for the provision of free appropriate public education for student  may not limit extended school year services to particular categories of disability, or unilaterally limit the type, amount, or duration of those services” Extended school year services. In Indiana protection & advocacy services. Retrieved from 19

Reflection Some previous knowledge of ESY Expanded knowledge of legal history behind ESY, what it helps, and how it works Potential practicum experiences with ESY

References Armstrong v. kline. Retrieved from Browder, D. M. & Lentz, F. E. (1985). Extended school year services: From litigation to assessment and evaluation. School Psychology Review, 14(2), Cornelius, P. L. & Semmel, M. J. (1982). Effects of summer instruction on reading achievement regression of learning disabled students. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 15(7), Cortiella, C. (2010). Services beyond the school year for students with IEPs. In Great schools!. Retrieved from rights/658-services-beyond-the-school-year.gs?page=3 Cross, E. R.(2013). Regression among students with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Examination of extended school year programming. Retrieved from UMI Dissertation Publishing. (UMI ). Eicher, D. D. (1989). An investigation of the effects of the extended school year programming for students with moderate intellectual abilities. Retrieved from UMI Dissertation Publishing. (UMI ). Extended school year services. In Indiana protection & advocacy services. Retrieved from Katsiyannis, A. (1991). Extended school year policies: An established necessity. Remedial and Special Education, 12(1), Heward, W. L. (2010). Legal challenges based on IDEA. Retrieved from Kraft, R. (2000). Extended school year services (ESY) what the courts have said. Future Reflections, 19(1), Retrieved from fr/fr19/issue1/f htm McMahon, J. (1994). Extended school year: New directions and implications for school social workers. Social Work in Education, 16(4), Olmi, J., Walker, D. W. & Ruthven, A. J. (1995). Extended school year services: Prediction, description, and impact of judicial precedence. The Journal of Special Education, 29(1), Osborne, A. G. (2012). Extended school year services. Retrieved from Pinkerton, D. (1990). Extended school year. Eric digest #E471. Retrieved from Reichow, B. & Volkmar, F. R. (2013). Extended school year services (ESY). Encyclopedia of Autism Spectrum Disorders, 1189.